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“Anything else you can remember?”
“No, but, um—” he scratched his head “—seems like I remember seeing Billy Rose around. You might ask him if he saw anything.”
“Thanks,” Mason nodded. “We’ll do that.”
Daniel looked confused, troubled. Lacey looked at him.
“What is it?”
He jerked. “Nothing. Just thinking.” He looked at Troy. “You said she looked sick.” Troy nodded. Daniel looked at Mason. “We found a syringe.”
“You think she was drugged.”
“It’s possible. The syringe certainly indicates that.”
“And this woman just came out of nowhere to help her,” Mason said flatly.
Daniel shook his head. “I don’t buy it.” He held two bags, one that contained the piece of material he’d found and the other the syringe. “I’ll get these to the lab and beg for a rush on the contents of the syringe.”
“But if the person in the white car got out, Bethany would have run. Instead, she stayed on the phone, watching the car. Then she said ‘ouch.’” Lacey frowned, trying to work through a possible scenario of what had happened. She had to. Dwelling on the fact that she’d once again lost Bethany was killing her.
Mason rubbed his lips and nodded. “I agree. So the person who jabbed her with the syringe didn’t expect help to come along. Whoever the woman was that helped Bethany probably saved her life. Now we just have to find out who the woman is.”
“Who hates me so much?” Lacey whispered. “And—” she lifted her hands, palms up “—why?”
Daniel pursed his lips and looked at her. “You’ve really made an enemy in this town. Anyone in particular come to mind?”
“Just you,” she blurted, then spun on her heel and stomped to the car.
* * *
Surprise slugged Mason like a baseball bat to the gut. As soon as the words left her mouth, he could tell she regretted them.
But they made him think.
Shooting Daniel a look, he said, “I’ll be in touch. Let me know what you find out about the syringe and the white Buick, will you?”
Daniel’s jaw looked tight enough to shatter, but he managed to mutter, “Sure.”
Mason caught up with Lacey at the car. She had her elbows resting on the hood with her face buried in her hands. Praying? Probably. “Are you all right?”
“No. I shouldn’t have said that to Daniel. I owe him an apology,” she mumbled into her palms. “I’m very ashamed of myself right now.”
He sighed. “Do you really think Daniel would do the things that have happened to you?”
She looked up, eyes weary. He thought if he could see her soul, even it would look tired. She gave a tiny shrug. “I don’t know. He’s the only one I can think of that might be threatened by my return to town.”
“Why would you coming back here be a threat to him?”
Biting her lip, she looked away for a brief moment, then back. Straightening her shoulders, she said, “Because only two people know the truth about that day you found us together. One person wants the world to know that story. The other doesn’t.”
Skepticism found its way into his mind and by the look on her face, he didn’t hide it very well.
She waved a hand and gave a humorless laugh. “Why do I keep trying?”
“Lacey, I’m sorry. Daniel has been nothing but a friend to me. He was there in elementary school with me the day my mom left. He was the only one who understood because his mom left, too. We had a bond that—” He shrugged. “I can’t really explain it.”
She’d known Daniel’s mother had left shortly before Mason’s had, but hadn’t realized that had been the reason they’d become fast friends. No wonder Mason had such loyalty to the man. Loyalty to a man who’d once been a teenager who had betrayed his friend. Too bad Daniel didn’t feel the same way about Mason that Mason did about him.
