“Who did this to her?” he said and fumbled into his pocket for the pack of cigarettes. “What motherfucker would stab her in the neck and … Fuck!” He lit the filter tip with shaking fingers, cupping the cigarette with his free hand as he drew in hard. “Son of a … goddamn!” Another drag and, a bit calmer, he asked, “Who? Who did that to her?”
“We were hoping you could help us with that. Give us a list of the people who might have held a grudge against her.”
“Maybe one of those religious nuts around here. You know, the go-to-church-on-Sunday, holier-than-thou hypocrites who preach about loving thy neighbor and all that shit, but do anything they can against anyone who don’t believe like them.”
“Anyone in particular?”
“Nah.”
“Who was it that let you know about the police here?”
“The neighbor.”
Reed glanced up and down the narrow road and didn’t see lights from a house anywhere near in this lowland filled with brush and trees. “What neighbor?”
“Childers. The guy who lives on the other road. To the west. He uses this one sometimes because his land backs up to here.” Granger motioned to the woods on the far side of the road. “I went to school with his kid.”
“Otis Childers?”
A neighbor of Billy Huber. Reed hadn’t thought about it until now, but obviously the acres of the Childers’ property sat between the two roads that ran somewhat parallel to each other, at least in this part of the county. The Hubers’ place as well, and possibly the Wheelans’. Their parcels backed up to this road and though they sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the next road over, only scrub pine and weeds ran along the fence line on this road as the houses and outbuildings weren’t visible. Scrub pine, weeds, and berry vines blocked any view of the houses and outbuildings that were accessed by the next road over. And yet they were all neighbors and lived in close proximity.
“He drove past, I guess. I don’t know.” He swiped at his eyes with the arm of his jacket.
“I could drive you to the station for a statement.”
“Fuck, no.” He sniffed loudly. “I can make it on my own.” Frowning deeply, he glowered at the ambulance as it drove away, toward the distant glow of the city. “This is fucked.”
With that, he jammed his Camel into the side of his mouth and headed toward his truck.
Nikki arrived at the scene just as the ambulance was leaving—and, with it, Jeanne LaRoux’s body.
She spied the forensic team’s van partially hidden by brush and parked on the other side of the gate. Had it not been for the temporary floodlights that had been brought to the scene, she wouldn’t have seen it.
“Don’t even think about it,” Pierce said when she approached him as he stood with two of the deputies assigned to secure the area.
“About what?”
“Going down there.” He hitched a thumb toward the overgrown lane that had already been cordoned off with crime-scene tape. She stopped but peered into the shrubbery, hoping for more than a glimpse.
“If I could just look around.”
“And what? Come home with some rescue chickens and hogs?”
The joke fell flat. She was in no mood for any attempt at humor. She’d left the house as quickly as she could, right in the middle of Chloe’s bath, when she’d heard the news from her contact in the department. She’d plucked her daughter from the tub, still filled with bits of foam from the bubble bath and a flotilla of toys that swirled slowly as she’d drained the tub.
She’d dried Chloe, put her in a fresh pair of PJs, and even run a comb through her wet curls before dumping her unceremoniously in Lily’s room. “Do you mind putting her to bed in an hour if I’m not home?” she’d asked her sister.
“Where’re you going?”
“Just out for a while. I’ll owe you.”
Lily had arched a disbelieving brow. “I’ll add it to your tab. I take it there’s another murderer you have to chase down.”
“Shhh,” Nikki admonished, glancing at her daughter, but Chloe wasn’t interested in their conversation, not when there was Ophelia’s unattended makeup vanity with its interesting bottles of nail polish and tubes of lip gloss shining beneath the glowing bulbs of the vanity’s Hollywood lights.
“She’s not paying attention.”
“Good.” She wasn’t ready to explain to her toddler that both Mommy and Daddy were involved with solving murders or even what a homicide was. Nikki didn’t even know when that day wouldcome, but she hoped not for a long, long while and certainly not tonight. “Thanks. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
