Page 63 of Forever Gone

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The road toward Wallins Creek carried them deeper into the folds of the county.

Selena drove with both hands on the wheel, keeping the sedan five miles below the limit as the highway narrowed between wooded slopes. Late-afternoon sun moved across the road in broken patches. Houses appeared in small clusters, then vanished behind long stretches of trees, rusted fencing, and steep ground where old mine roads cut pale scars into the hills.

Kelly sat with Boyd Cutler’s file open on her lap.

For the first ten minutes, conversation amounted to directions.

“Left at the next junction?” Kelly asked.

“Yes.”

“Thirty minutes out?”

“About that.”

“Do you want me to call ahead?”

“No.”

Each answer closed the door a little harder.

Kelly returned to the disciplinary report. The scanned pages carried faded lines and missing words, but the basic account remained clear. Boyd had cornered Karen Sloane and another student near the gymnasium during a district event. A box cutter had been mentioned. So had threats, damaged property, and an expulsion that followed after several earlier suspensions.

More than two decades later, Karen had been murdered in a cabin and left without her tongue.

Boyd’s adult record strengthened the suspicion without proving anything. Restraining orders. Disorderly conduct. A dismissed assault charge. Complaints from women who said he would not leave them alone after relationships ended.

Kelly glanced toward Selena.

The passing sunlight sharpened the line of her jaw before the trees covered the car again. Selena had said little since they left the station. Her silence felt deliberate rather than distracted.

Kelly closed the file.

“I remember Mr. Latham,” she said.

Selena kept her attention on the road. “Who?”

“The gym teacher. He dyed his hair so black it almost had a blue shine.”

A pause followed.

Kelly continued, “There was that awful hot spell before summer break. We were all outside for track, and the dye started running down the sides of his head.”

Selena’s mouth moved before she could stop it. “It got onto his whistle.”

“He kept wiping his forehead with the same white towel.”

“By the end, it looked like he’d cleaned an engine with it.”

Kelly laughed. “He told everyone it was sweat.”

“It was black.”

“He said he had a medical condition.”

Selena gave a quiet laugh and adjusted the wheel as the road curved around a rock wall.