“And if it’s not?”
Luke shrugged.
“Then we’ve got one angry ex-girlfriend trying to ruin a man.”
Scout closed the notebook.
“One way to find out.”
Luke raised an eyebrow.
Scout stood.
“Let’s go take a look at Riverbend.”
Two Days Later — Harper & Associates
Eleanor & Katie
The late-morning sun slanted through the tall windows of Eleanor’s conference room, striping the table in light and shadow.
Katie Martin sat at the far end of that table, arms folded, expensive boots crossed at the ankle, like she’d been at the sheriff’s department.
Eleanor flipped the last page of the report Burke’s office had provided in discovery and let it rest under her palm.
“Thank you for coming in, Ms. Martin,” she said.
Katie’s mouth curved in a humorless smile.
“I wasn’t aware I had a choice.”
Across from Eleanor, Scout Wilson shifted in his chair but didn’t say anything. He’d brought Katie over and then taken a seat at the side of the table—present, but silent. Observer, not interrogator.
“Sure you did,” Eleanor said mildly. “You always have a choice about who you talk to. And how much.”
Katie’s gaze flicked to Scout and back.
“So this is what?” she asked. “You trying to scare me out of talking?”
Eleanor kept her tone even.
“No. This is me trying to understand what you’ve already said. Because right now, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department thinks you may have given them probable cause to tear up half this county.”
Katie’s chin came up a notch.
“Good,” she said. “Maybe they should’ve done it eight years ago.”
Eleanor let the weight in those words hang for a beat.
Then she looked down at the legal pad in front of her.
“You told Deputies Wilson and Hale that while you were dating David Mercer, the two of you had an argument,” she said.
Katie’s expression went hard.
“That’s right.”
Eleanor glanced up.
