“Why would you tell him such a thing?” Charlie exclaimed. “Pete wanted to find out what happened to Abby for her parents. They deserve the truth. Pete did, too.”
Eddie smiled kindly. “Yes, of course, but after so long. . .” He held up the palms of his hands. “It seemed impossible and the more he dug into the case the more it took its toll on Pete’s health. Anyway, back to our argument, Pete got mad at me. I think he didn’t want to hear this because he believed not finding Abby after so long was his fault.”
“What about Junior, your grandson? Was he involved in Abby’s disappearance?” Boone revealed the note in Abby’s diary. “EHJ. That’s your grandson’s initials.”
Eddie’s face turned bright red. “Junior didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Abby and he wasn’t seeing her.” He rose unsteadily. “I won’t sit here and listen to you try to frame him for her death.”
“Why would she mention those initials particularly then?” Charlie asked. “She didn’t do it to try and frame Junior. There was something going on between them.”
Eddie turned on her with fury on his face. “There wasn’t. And I’m done talking to you. If you want to speak to me or Junior, you’ll have to go through our attorney.” With that outrage still ringing around the room, Eddie stormed out leaving a room filled with crackling tension in his wake.
“Well, that went about as I figured,” Boone told them, breaking the silence. “He won’t give up anything that might incriminate Junior. We’ll have to keep digging on our own.”
“You think this is all about missing funds?” Ryan asked. After so long, a case couldn’t be brought against Junior. If Eddie worried about public perception, he could repay the money and claim it was an accident or a teenage prank.
“I don’t think this is about money. I think it all goes back to Abby and either something she witnessed or some secret she knew.”
After so long would the truth ever come to light?
“I think we need to speak with Junior,” Charlie said. “Even if it’s with his attorney, we need to look him in the eye and see how he reacts.”
Boone nodded. “We can try, but without more to go on, I don’t think the attorney will let us speak to him and we can’t charge him with anything.”
Ryan ran a hand across his neck. “Any news on the drug used to kill Pete?”
“There’s no sign of a purchase by anyone in town,” Boone confirmed. “I think it was bought on the Dark Web.”
If so, they might never discover who bought it. They’d have to find another way to solve the case.
“On another note, I have a safe house lined up for you two.” Boone typed in a location on his phone. “And I guarantee no one will connect this to me.”
Ryan picked up the sheriff’s phone and smiled. “You’re right. That house is totally off the radar.” The cabin that butted up against the mountains on the opposite side of the mountain from Pete’s place had once belonged to an old prospector who passed away. It was off grid and had no electricity and the only people who knew about it were Boone and Ryan. They’d gone to check on the old guy only to find he’d passed away. He had nofamily. Boone kept the cabin up as best as he could and used it from time to time to pan for gold. So far, it was more for the fun of it than financial gain.
“Ya’ll got warm enough jackets?” Boone asked because it was going to be cold up there.
Ryan assured him they were prepared. There was an old shortwave radio up there for communication since cell service wasn’t a possibility.
“I’ll let you know once we’re there.”
Boone fished out a set of keys from his pocket. “Take my wife’s SUV. Just in case someone is watching the station. It’s parked around the back.”
Someone hovered in the doorway.
“What is it, Sarah?” Ryan asked once he got a good look at the dispatcher’s expression.
“This showed up with the mail.” She held an envelope in her hand. “It’s addressed to Charlie.” Sarah’s eyes darted to Charlie. “I didn’t open it.”
“Give it to me.” Ryan rose and grabbed some gloves before taking the envelope from Sarah. He brought it back to the table. “There’s no return address and it appears Charlie’s name was typed on the front.”
“The sender didn’t want his handwriting analyzed.” Boone came over and examined the letter with gloved hands. “Let’s see what he has to say.” He carefully opened the envelope and brought out the letter.
The sender wasn’t taking any chances. Like the envelope this, too, was typed.
Boone read the chilling words aloud. “Back off or end up like Pete.”
Ryan’s gaze locked with Charlie’s not missing her frightened reaction.
“He’s getting nervous,” he told her. “That means we’re getting closer to identifying him.”
