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“A photo.”
“Of what?”
“My sister,” I said in a desperate push of air.
“What?”
I closed my eyes, trying to keep from crying. “It’s a photo of my sister tied to a bed.”
“Jesus, Harper!”
I tossed it down on the seat and it flipped over, revealing a handwritten message on the back.
Much warmer.
Chapter 34
“There’s a note written on the back,” I said, my voice shaking. “It says much warmer.”
“What does that mean?”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. “He told me I was cold and said Eddie Johnson paid the price. Maybe going to see John Michael Stevens made me warmer.”
“Especially if he had an accomplice.”
I closed my eyes, trying to clear my head. “At least this one didn’t come with a body part.”
“A body part?” She paused. “Shit! Are you saying you have Eddie Johnson’s thumb?”
“They left it with the note.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice steady, but I could tell she was spooked. “Let’s think this through. Barry Sylvester tried to protect Stevens, but we don’t know why. Maybe the person doing this is trying to point you toward Stevens’s accomplice.”
The dull pounding in my head began to throb. “But why would Stevens take the fall and not bring Sylvester down with him?”
“A bribe or a threat?”
“Stevens went to prison for life without parole, and his family disowned him. What good would a bribe do?” I asked.
“So maybe not a bribe. Maybe a threat? Surely there was someone Stevens cared about.”
“Maybe I need to look more into Stevens’s personal life.” Until I’d seen the man a few hours ago, he’d been a two-dimensional character who’d ruined our lives. It had never occurred to me to delve into what his life had been like prior to kidnapping my sister.
Louise said, “You have to tell the sheriff, Harper. You have to tell them what’s happening.”
“Like they’re going to believe me,” I scoffed. “They didn’t believe me about the break-ins in Little Rock.”
“You have proof this time.”
“Which they can say I made up. Toss in Eddie Johnson’s thumb and the fact I was at his house last night, and they’ll be charging me with murder.”
“You still have to report this, Harper.”
Four months ago, she wouldn’t have had to tell me that. I would have already done it. “Give me until tomorrow.”
“What do you think’s going to happen between now and tomorrow?”
“Just give me until tomorrow. Please. And if I don’t have this figured out, you can personally escort me to the sheriff’s office.”
