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“It’s my mother who deserves the sympathy. But I’ll admit, it’s weird to wish something hadn’t happened when that something was what led to your existence.”
“I’m sorry that you have to live with that knowledge.”
“It’s all part of who I am. I’ve come to accept it. For the most part.” He gave her a sad smile. “Let’s get out of here. We have an investigation to conduct and confronting him was only step one.”
“Where to now?”
“Back to the rental house. From there we can make a few phone calls.”
Cate watched Malachi as he arranged meetings with a couple of guys from the church Ezekiel James attended.
After ending the call, he smiled. “Charlie has time now. Feel like taking a trip up the mountain?”
“Let’s do it.”
They arrived at Charlie’s homestead shortly after three. Cate followed Malachi and wondered again what she was doing here with him. Spending this much time with him would inevitably lead to heartbreak when he decided he wanted someone who could be home every night and not traveling all over the state tracking wildlife.
A man came out of the house as they climbed the front stairs. “Malachi, I presume?”
“Yes. And this is my girlfriend Cate.”
The designation surprised her. It seemed early in their relationship to add labels, but from what he’d shown her of himself so far, she sensed he didn’t like games and said what he thought. She smiled and shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for talking with us.”
“Certainly.” He held the door open for them to enter and they shuffled inside. They were led into an office that looked to function as a library as well. What showed of the walls was paneled, but they were lined with floor-to-ceiling shelving and packed with books. Except for one wall behind the desk where a massive buck head was mounted. Certainly not the most appealing of decor in her eyes. And none of the titles she saw made her want to open a book, either. Seemed Charlie was a history buff. Enjoyed reliving the civil war.
He took the seat behind his desk and gestured for them to take the two chairs positioned in front of it. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t have much of a problem with my neighbors. They kept to themselves for the most part. And I heard from some that the new guy didn’t allow drugs and believed in protecting children, so I figured at least that was an improvement.”
“Where’d you hear that?” Malachi leaned forward in his chair.
Charlie frowned. “I think it was from Hector. He’s across the street from here, down about a half mile.”
Malachi’s focus never wavered from the other man’s face. Cate studied them both. The subtle shift in Charlie’s gaze made her think he was lying. She wondered if Malachi thought the same. “Do you think he’d talk to us?”
“Don’t see any reason why not.”
The men continued their conversation for another fifteen minutes with Malachi only getting bits and pieces of hearsay from him before he stood. Cate pasted on a smile and hoped the next interview would yield better intel.
Becky’s eyes never left Reece as she returned his cell phone, careful to avoid banging it as it hit the table. She held her breath as she tiptoed across the room to the door. Please don’t let anyone be waiting outside this time. The last thing she needed was another confrontation. Eunice appeared to be open to working with her, but she wasn’t sure she could trust her. And making the wrong decision could get her a bullet to the back of the head.
She hadn’t been able to get a signal from her tent when she’d tried to call Ezekiel. When she’d wondered about it to Eunice, the other girl had told her it was because Reece used some sort of booster, but she didn’t know a thing about it. The girl seemed to know what she was talking about though because when she got closer to the camper to make the call, it’d gone through without any problem.
She eased the door shut behind her as a Kid Rock song blasted from the phone she’d just returned. If she’d been a second later, she would’ve been standing there with it in her hand. Easing her way around the camper, she lingered near the window and listened as he answered the call, his voice groggy from sleep. He must’ve hit the button for speaker phone as someone else’s voice rang through loud and clear.
“There’s a couple of people down here asking about you. The man’s mannerisms suggest he might be a cop, so I assume the girl with him is his partner. They didn’t come right out and say they knew who you were, but I ferreted it out of them. They know your name and suspect your whereabouts.”
“Did you get a name?”
“Malachi James.”
An aggravated groan reached Becky, and she cringed inwardly. This was it. He’d kill her.
“I may know who that is. He’s a park ranger near here. A little out of his jurisdiction down in West Virginia, isn’t he?”
“Park ranger? Why would he care about you?”
Reece made a humming sound. “I may have a clue to that. It didn’t occur to me when I met him. James is such a common name and Rebecca went back to her maiden name after Ezekiel’s arrest, but she recommended we come to Worlds End to scout out properties nearby. Something tells me Becky Groves can tell me everything I need to know.”
“You think?”
