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He just stares at me.
“Mr. Law,” I say again. “I’m Captain Grant Faircross with Redhaven PD. I’m on your side. If you want me to help Ophelia, you’ve got to tell me more.”
“The letters,” he repeats in a fading whisper. His grip on my arm goes lax.
Goddammit.
His eyes lose focus and his head falls back against the pillow, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
“I... I was there,” he breathes, but I don’t think he’s talking to me anymore. “The night that boy... that night th-they ran him off the road. I was there...”
...that boy?
“Ethan?” I gasp, catching his arm. “You talking about Ethan Sanderson? Did someone run him off the road?”
And he’s gone.
Eyes rolled back, closing as he goes slack, his hand falling away to dangle from the bed like a broken doll.
Fuck me.
Looks like I’ve got some serious digging to do. An old case to reopen and answers to find, even if it pounds what’s left of my heart into slag.
I turn to head out again and this time no one stops me.
I stop by the nurses’ station and let them know he woke up, asking them to let me know if he does it again, and to record anything he says.
A quick glance at Angela’s room shows her alone now.
Ophelia and Nell are gone.
Damn.
I’m on the verge of something massive. I can feel it.
I just have to find out what.
Whatever I have to do to keep Ophelia Sanderson safe.
* * *
The forest clearinglooks like a battered anthill that was kicked around by some bored kids when I get there.
The whole area has that wet earthy smell of fresh-turned mud you always get in October.
My team is mostly on the sidelines, talking with a few of the folks from Raleigh forensics as they bag and tag more soil samples for evidence. They mostly defer to Lucas to determine what we keep and what goes off to the Raleigh lab for more analysis.
“Anything interesting?” I ask, settling on the hood of Lucas’ patrol car.
Our combined weight makes it sag on its front tires.
Together, we watch while the Raleigh crew digs up these neat segmented squares, carving out one orderly piece of ground at a time.
“Full human skeleton. Scraps of clothing, but I’m guessing you knew that. The teeth in the skull are intact, I guess.” He glances at me, his cat-green eyes flashing. “Sounds like they might try dental records to get an ID.”
I just grunt.
I don’t need to say it.
