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Regis’s eyebrows scrunched. “You say that like I’m supposed to be surprised. I know he’s my brother. Half-brother. Same mama different daddies. But I figure you can gather that from our last names.”
Smug and annoying.
“Why didn’t you tell us this? He’s a suspect, and you should have divulged that information. You have a conflict of interest.”
“I don’t have a conflict of interest though. Cecil isn’t the Blind Eye Killer, Agent. Not to mention you have no evidence proving he had any involvement at all.”
“We have the leather pouches,” John said.
“Okay. So. He made a few pouches for friends he grew up with. Go ahead and put me on your list too then. I made some wood crafts for two out of four.” He laughed and Violet knew he was right. They had nothing but circumstantial evidence.
Violet moved slowly and ate up the distance between them. “Who says you’re not on my list? Maybe higher than your brother.” She sniffed and locked eyes with him. “I’m on the hunt.”
“Your scent’s off.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that you left the Swallow with Bella Dawn Saturday night? You never mentioned you were even there.”
Regis’s eyes widened. Now that news surprised him. “Who told you that?”
“Your brother for one,” she said flatly.
He inhaled sharply. “I went by to check on a friend. Couldn’t find her. The commotion was breaking out, and Bella Dawn was on the run. She’d been popped on the cheek with broken glass, but she was fine. I helped her outside to the parking lot. Asked about my friend.”
“What friend?”
His nostrils flared. “Ruby Boyd.”
“And then what?”
“Then I left Bella Dawn by her car and went looking for Ruby again. I couldn’t find her and gave up. The brawl was contained, and I went home. Period.”
Violet stared him down. “You’re no longer privy to any information on this case. Not until we officially clear your brother—and you.”
“Have fun with that.” Regis’s cocky words grated Violet’s nerves, but she ignored them and climbed back up the hill.
“I hate that guy.” She growled beneath her breath.
“He goads you because he has zero respect for you, but he also wants to sleep with you.” John wasn’t a fool. The lust clouding Regis Owsley’s eyes was unmistakable.
“Fat chance.” She climbed in the driver’s side, and John eased into the passenger seat. His head ached and his back felt like he’d been almost blown up. “If he’s not the killer, he’s at least complicit or hiding something. Could be hiding the fact he knows what’s going on and has been turning a blind eye—or engaging it.”
“Drugs and prostitution?”
“Why not? There are no rules up here.” She looked at John. “And that’s why I’m not playing by any.”
Chapter Nineteen
Monday, October 23
2:45 p.m.
Violet had left John back at the B and B. He needed to rest. Ty should be back from Whitesburg and hopefully had information from Ray Smith regarding Dr. D.J. Lanslow’s alibi. If Ray didn’t corroborate Dr. Lanslow’s alibi, then the doctor moved up on the person of interest list. He was hiding something and Violet’s gut wouldn’t let up. But now she wanted answers to something else.
Mother’s suggestion to let things go might be good advice, but Violet couldn’t let it go. She was closer than she’d ever been. Reeva might not admit to knowing Loretta Boyd, and Loretta might not want to talk about the past, but maybe she could get something from Ruby Boyd. Mother said Ruby didn’t know anything, but that might not be true. Ruby might know more than Mother realized.
She knocked on Ruby’s door and waited a beat. Two. A car was in the dirt drive. Someone was surely here. Violet walked around the back. The creek rushed and whooshed. The yard was kempt, and a few toys were organized in a row at the back of the house. She climbed the small deck stairs and rapped on the back door.
Ruby Boyd peeked out of the sheer curtain hanging over the window of the back door and dread filled her blue-green eyes. Violet expected as much.
