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“Stevens claims he didn’t know why Sylvester warned him. Chief Larson said he could never get a straight answer out of Sylvester when he questioned him multiple times. He said something about Stevens not getting a fair shake.”
“Like he thought he was being framed?” she asked in disbelief.
“I don’t know, but he wasn’t framed. When I saw Stevens today, he seemed pretty pleased with what he’d done to my sister. But I can’t help wondering if someone else was involved.”
“And that person got off scot-free? If so, then was Barry Sylvester protecting himself or someone else?”
“I don’t know. But there’s something else. Sylvester has two sons. One of them, Danny, acted out after his father was fired from the department. Larson said he had some minor drug convictions and was imprisoned for manslaughter after a drunken bar fight in Memphis. He recently got out of prison and lives up in Wolford.”
“What about the other son?”
I paused. “He’s a new officer with the Jackson Creek PD.”
“Drew?”
“Yep.”
“Shit,” she murmured. “What’s your gut on this?”
“I think two people are involved in what’s going on now. Whoever drove that van out to Scooter’s likely had help. Someone to pick them up.”
“You think this is related to your sister’s murder?”
“Yeah. I do.” Part of me wanted to tell her about the messages, but something was holding me back. Was it because James Malcolm felt too tied to them now? I had a feeling she wouldn’t approve if she knew I’d teamed up with him.
“How’d you end up talking to Chief Larson?”
“I just dropped by his house to confront him about Sylvester. Honestly, I thought he’d try to deny it, but once I told him I knew about Barry Sylvester, he invited me inside and shared plenty of things I didn’t expect.”
“So where does Eddie fit in?”
While I didn’t want to tell her about teaming up with Malcolm, I didn’t want to keep any more secrets from her than necessary, so I decided to confess at least part of it. “I went to see him last night.”
“You said you didn’t see him!” she protested angrily.
“That’s because I didn’t. He was already gone, and I’m pretty sure he’d been kidnapped from his house by the time I got there. The back door was broken into and there were drag marks in the grass, like someone had dragged a body.”
“And you didn’t report it?” she demanded.
“Eddie Johnson lived in Jackson Creek city limits, which means Larson was in charge of the investigation. Do you really think he was going to take investigating advice or suggestions from me? No. The signs were so obvious, it should have been staring him in the face, but this morning everyone was positive he ran off. They weren’t treating it like a kidnapping.”
“You have to do something, Harper!” she shouted over the phone. “That man was murdered, and you could help find who did it!”
“That’s what I’m doing, Louise,” I said in frustration. “This is all tied to Ava, which is tied to me. I got another note.”
“Oh, Jesus. What did this one say?”
“You’re so cold.”
“What does that mean?”
“He was telling me I was looking in the wrong direction with Eddie Johnson and Ricky Morris.” I glanced down at the passenger seat, remembering finding the note—and saw a new envelope with my name. “Oh, God. There’s another one.”
“Another note?”
I pulled over to the side of the road, then quickly snatched it up and opened the seal. A photo was inside, and my skin felt like it was on fire when I saw what was in the photograph.
“What is it, Harper?” she demanded.
