Page 75 of Glimmer in the Darkness

That made sense. But… “I thought you were heading the investigation. Why didn’t you interview him?”

“Had a lead elsewhere. Turned out to be nothing.”

“And you won’t consider, after everything, that Eugene is guilty?”

Vince lifted one shoulder. “It’s possible, I suppose, that Eugene is our guy. Hard to believe, considering how busy the campground is in the summertime. If he was going to do something like this, you’d think he’d do it when he was bored, not busy. What time were you shot at today?”

“It was about… one o’clock. It took us some time…”

Vince was already shaking his head. “Eugene was at the police station about then. I’ll call ’em, and we’ll confirm it, but, seriously… you really think he could pull off three kidnappings and two murders?”

“Four kidnappings. Cassidy was kidnapped, too. Where was Wilson when Eugene was at the police station?”

“At the campground, I assume.” Vince’s lips pressed together until they turned white. “I’ll look into it, see if anybody can put Wilson at the campground this afternoon.”

“And find out if he stole our food. I think it’s worth digging into. Eugene’s got a learning disability, but he’s not stupid. And he can shoot. Wilson and Eugene go hunting every fall. Have ever since they bought the campground from Dad when I was a kid. We used to keep an eye on things when they were out of town.”

“None of that changes what I have to do right now.”

The gnawing feeling in the pit of James’s stomach that had been growing ever since the first loud knock expanded. “Which is what?”

“Cassidy Leblanc is a fugitive from justice. There’s a warrant out for her arrest. I warned you to tell me if she got in touch with you. You didn’t do that.”

“She’s not guilty, Vince. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That’s not for me to decide, and it’s not for you to decide. You had a responsibility to report it when she contacted you. You’ve left me no choice. Stand up.”

James stood, and Vince clamped a hand on his shoulder. “You have the right to remain silent…”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ella was asleep, back in the cave, when the man returned. It was dark again. He shook her shoulder. “Maryann, wake up. I wanna show you something.”

She wanted to tell him to go away, but she sat up, blinking in the light. One of her braids had come loose, and her hair was scratchy on her face. She brushed it away as he brought the lantern closer. He sat beside her on her blankets and pulled a bunch of papers from his pocket and handed them to her. “We’re all set.”

On the first paper was just a bunch of letters and numbers she didn’t understand. “What’s this?”

“That’s the information for our flight. It leaves in less than twenty-four hours. Isn’t that exciting? We’ll have a long drive before we get to the airport, though, so we have to leave later today. I just have a few things I have to take care of first.”

Today? They were leaving today?

“Remember how we used to dream of going on an airplane, flying far away to somewhere Mommy could never find us? We’re finally gonna do it.”

Daddy had taken her to California once to visit her mother. She’d loved looking out the windows at the clouds below. And, when they were landing, the cars looked like ants at a picnic.

The man tapped the paper in her lap. “I got us IDs, so we’ll have no trouble getting into Canada and on the plane. And guess what?” He looked at her like he was waiting for her to guess.

She shrugged.

“Sleepy girl.” He bumped her shoulder. “Mommy won’t have any idea where we went. Isn’t that awesome?” He took the papers from her, flipped through them, and found another one. “And this is where we’re going.” His voice was filled with joy, as if he’d just presented a strawberry birthday cake, not another flat piece of paper.

She looked at the picture. A beach with palm trees and a pretty building beside it. It was hard to make out much in the dark cave, and she didn’t care. She didn’t want to go to his beach anyway.

“That’s our new home. Isn’t it beautiful?”

She popped her thumb in her mouth.

“Admit it, Maryann. It’s beautiful.” His voice suddenly wasn’t joyful but scary, like he was about to get really mad. “I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to do this for us.”