AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His jaw clenched, and he looked away before he turned back to me, his face hard. “I’d say turn it over to Peterman.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“We both know Malcolm’s behind it. That dead body behind his bar can’t be a coincidence.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “You can’t seriously believe that Malcolm would be stupid enough to leave a man he murdered behind his own bar. The man has evaded charges for years. He’s not dumb.”
His arrogant attitude came rushing back. “They all slip up sometime.”
“He has an alibi.”
His eyes narrowed. “And how would you know that?”
“By asking the right questions,” I snapped. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”
So much for our truce.
He shook his head, defeat filling his eyes. “It’s so easy for you to judge me when you haven’t been in my shoes.”
I leaned closer. “I can assure you that I wouldn’t do this.”
“You seem to be standing pretty tall on that moral ledge of yours, but what’s it built on, little girl?” he asked bitterly. “The death of an unarmed teenager and a murdered sister.”
His words felt like a slap in the face, but I refused to address the last statement and focus on the first. No matter what I did, I’d always be that hysterical girl, trying to tell him what had happened to her sister. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Chief, I’m not a little girl anymore.”
I marched past him out of the room and through the living room. When I walked out the door, he followed me onto the porch.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread this around,” he called after me.
I didn’t dignify that with a response.
I need to find out more about Barry Sylvester and his son Danny. I also needed to talk to Drew. Did he know more about his father’s past? It felt a little to on point that he’d come back to Jackson Creek about a month after my shooting incident. And after my break-ins.
I’d bet money that Hale had already gotten the information about Barry by now, and if his investigator was worth their salt, they would have discovered Barry’s son had a criminal history. But I didn’t trust Malcolm and Hale. Hale must have pulled some serious shit to arrange that visit to the prison. I was trying to clear my mud-covered name, not sink in the depths of a swamp. Besides, I was still pissed at Malcolm for not only making me face Stevens, but also accusing me of being an alcoholic. I knew someone else who could find the information I needed. Even if I hated asking her.
Louise answered with chipper tone. “Please tell me you’re just calling for a chat. I’ve had a day.”
The chief stood on the porch, watching me with a scowl as I pulled away from the curb.
I cringed, hating that I was probably about to make it worse. “Sorry. I need you to look into a couple of people. The first is a former Jackson Creek Police Department officer. He was on the force when my sister was murdered.”
“Okay…” she said with a sigh. “Any particular reason?”
“Sorry.” I shook my head, feeling even more like shit, which was saying something. “It’s been a weird day. I saw the man who murdered my sister and just had an interesting conversation with Chief Larson in his personal man cave.”
There was a pause before she said, “There’s so much to unpack there. You went to the prison to see the guy who killed your sister?”
“Yeah, long story, but bottom line, Stevens says the day he was arrested, an officer in the police department called to warn him that the police were on the way. Chief Larson admitted that it happened.”
“Whoa…”
“The officer’s name was Barry Sylvester, and last the chief heard, he was a police officer in Little Rock.”
“Oh shit!”
“I really, really hate to ask this, but can you do a search on him? I can look up a birthdate if you like, but I don’t have anything else to go on.”
“That’s insane! Why would a cop warn a murderer? Especially a child murderer?”
