“We didn’t kill no one.” Larkin’s hands trembled, making the chains on the table rattle. “We were afraid, so we did what we were told. The pigs don’t care what we feed them—but you know it takes a sick mind to stand there and watch them chew up a body. We never knew when it would be the two of us. I’ll speak to my wife if I’m allowed, and we’ll plead guilty to the disposal of bodies and the assault of Deputy Raven.”
“May I have a moment with my client, please?” Cross waited for Jenna, Kane, and Carter to walk outside.
Through the glass, Jenna noticed the surprised expression on the lawyer’s face. He nodded slowly, looked across the room at Jenna, and waved her inside. She led the way and they took their seats again. “Okay, what decision have you come to?”
“I will prepare a statement for my clients, agreeing to plead guilty to what we discussed.” Cross stood. “I’ll give you a copy and send one to the DA. I hope he’ll be lenient with my clients for their cooperation.”
With no further need to interview Mrs. Larkin, Jenna led the way outside the interview room. She turned to Cross. “I honestly can’t believe that went so easily. It’s as if he wanted to go to jail.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” Cross shrugged. “I can’t figure out why, as he knows that Wade Cutter is deceased. He acted as if you had a knife to his throat. In truth, you have nothing apart from the unwarranted attack on your deputy. There is no proof that they fed bodies to their pigs. Someone could have done that while they were sleeping. The evidence is circumstantial at best.”
“Can you get everything done in the next half hour?” Carter tipped back his cowboy hat and looked at Cross. “I need to refuel the bird before we head back to Black Rock Falls.”
“Not a problem.” Cross smiled. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Anytime.” Carter smiled and looked at Jenna. “Are you good to go?”
Jenna nodded and followed the guard back to the warden’s office. “We’ll be waiting in the warden’s office. I’ll use the time to upload some files to the server.”
As Cross and Carter followed other guards to different areas of the prison, she turned to Kane. “I know why Larkin wants to spend time in prison.”
“He’s frightened—anyone can see that.” Kane walked beside her. “It’s as if he knows who murdered Cutter.”
An icy chill slithered down Jenna’s spine. “Yeah, and now he’s in fear of his life. The man we figured was an accomplice must be a bigger threat than Wade Cutter.”
Forty-Five
After stopping at a store to buy throat lozenges, Beth ambled slowly along Main, stopping to look in storefront windows. Every muscle in her body ached but she kept her back straight and took her time on the way to Aunt Betty’s Café to meet Rhett. She browsed in a small antique store in one of the alleyways and purchased a small bronze figurine of a dog. Tucking it inside her tote, she stepped outside just as her phone chimed. “Hi, Rhett, are you at Aunt Betty’s already?”
“Nope, I’m afraid not. Just a second, I need to speak to someone.” Rhett turned away to issue instructions to someone about horse supplements. “Unfortunately, my lawyer needed to go to County to represent a client. He’s on his way back now but it will hold me up for at least another hour. Will you be okay? I would take you back to the ranch myself, but I don’t think I’ll get back here in time for the lawyer’s appointment. I need to sign some important documents, so I can’t delay it until Monday.”
The thought of having another hour to herself in peace and quiet, doing whatever she wanted, would be like taking a vacation. “No problem at all. I’m enjoying myself in town. I haven’t had this much time to myself for ages. I’m heading to Aunt Betty’s now to enjoy a cup of their delightful coffee and maybe a slice of cherry pie.”
“Okay.” Rhett chuckled. “Well, you rest up in Aunt Betty’s Café and I’ll be by as soon as I’m done. Catch you later.” He disconnected.
Beth had the ability to sit in an eatery and think about absolutely nothing. She liked to observe people, surreptitiously of course, and it gave her an insight into human behavior. She noticed how women leaned slightly toward their male companions as they chatted. She smiled. Usually, she did the complete opposite. Another thing she noticed was how women always complimented the other one’s children and wanted to know how they were doing at school and if their babies had any more teeth. None of these questions ever entered Beth’s mind because she didn’t really care—and it wasn’t for lack of trying. She had reason to believe that Styles was attracted to her. He understood her better than most, but she figured he kept his distance because he wasn’t sure how she would react to him. He’d seen something in her that no one else had. Maybe he’d got a glimpse of the Tarot Killer. Many times, when she’d killed the monsters, she’d noticed how they changed in a split second and how their eyes became dark bottomless pits of nothing. Was that how she looked when she killed someone?
Considering her psychopathic traits, Beth finished her coffee and ran the tip of her finger through the cherry juice on the plate. She had the ability to enjoy food. In fact, psychopaths had an enhanced ability to taste. She had empathy for animals and that included birds. She’d once found a dead eagle in the forest and sat down and cried, nursing the broken bird in her arms. Somewhere deep inside her, a real person hid from sight. Maybe one day she’d step out of the darkness and be free. She looked up as a man walked toward her. He was strangely familiar but she couldn’t remember where she’d seen him.
“Are you Beth?”
Beth nodded, scanning her memory for the name of this man. He must be someone from the ranch. “Yeah, that’s me. What can I do for you?”
“Mr. Lawson asked me to give you a ride back to the ranch. He’s been held up with his lawyer. My truck is just outside.”
She frowned. “I just spoke to him a few moments ago. He told me to wait here—I’ll call him.”
“He would have called you back, but he got a call about his new job.” The man shrugged nonchalantly. “He needed to go right away. He asked me to come get you—but if you want to wait, that’s fine. Maybe call him in an hour or so. He should be through by then.”
Not wanting to disturb Rhett if he was speaking to his new employer, Beth gathered her things. “Okay, sure, I’ll take the ride. It beats sitting here for hours. I’ll eat myself into a coma.”
“Yeah, this place does that to you.” He indicated toward the door. “It’s the Lawson’s Ridge truck parked in the alleyway.”
Beth immediately noticed the way he pulled his hat way down over his eyes, the plaid shirt, and the cowboy boots worn down at the heels. Was this the guy from the cabin? “Lead the way. I don’t know my way around town.”
Carefully watching the easy confident way he walked, she figured he would be around thirty-five to forty. She’d noticed the hands on the ranch often wore work gloves but found it a little strange for him to be wearing black leather gloves in the middle of summer. Had she walked into the clutches of a serial killer—no, the serial killer and accomplice of Wade Cutter? She couldn’t contemplate the odds of her running into him twice in one day, or that he probably considered her to be his next victim. Good luck with that. Had he seen her in the forest? Was he planning to take her out before she had time to tell the others?
Could she be mistaken? What if this man was just giving her a ride? She chewed on the inside of her cheek and somewhat reluctantly climbed into the truck and dumped her tote between her front legs. She unzipped her jacket but prevented it from falling open to display her shoulder holster. She ran the meeting between them through her mind again. He’d never mentioned his name. Could he be concerned about someone overhearing him?
