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“Drew Hurst? You’re sure?”
“Positive. His dad gave it to him when he was a kid.” Cord pointed toward the gold end cap. “Drew engraved his initials. See?” Kaden leaned forward to detect the faint scratches in the gold. He supposed they might have been a “D” and a “H.” “He never went anywhere without it,” Cord continued, lifting his head to meet Kaden’s suspicious gaze. “Where did you find it?”
“In the alley behind Porter’s Grocery Store.”
“Seriously?” Cord shook his head, as if baffled by Kaden’s answer. “What was it doing there?”
“I’m assuming it must have dropped out of his pocket,” Kaden smoothly lied.
If Cord was responsible, he’d know exactly what the knife was doing there. If not . . . Kaden didn’t want to give away why he was interested. Not until he could identify the culprit.
“Oh, I remember. He said he’d found something and he wanted to—” Cord snapped his lips together, as if he regretted his words.
“Wanted to what?”
“Nothing. Just that he had some stuff to take care of.”
“Did it have anything to do with the skeleton?”
Cord’s face flushed. Either Drew had found something that was connected to the skeleton or Cord was more cunning than he appeared.
“I really gotta get home and help my dad with the chores.” Cord nodded toward the knife. “I can take this to Drew if you want. I’m heading back to the hospital later today.”
“That’s okay.” Kaden plucked the knife out of the boy’s hand before he could shove it in his pocket. He had an unshakable feeling Cord intended to toss the small weapon into the nearest dumpster. Guilt? Fear? Protecting someone else? “I can take it to his family,” Kaden assured him.
“No problem.” Cord waved his hand in an uncomfortable motion as he backed away. “See ya around.”
Kaden watched as the boy turned to hurry down the street, his hands shoved in the pockets of his letter jacket and his head bent forward as he battled against the stiff breeze.
“If that’s Drew’s knife, someone else used it to slash your tires,” Lia said from directly behind him.
Kaden turned to face her. She was right. Drew had been lying unconscious in the hospital when his tires were being destroyed.
“Did it seem like Cord was being cagey?”
She nodded in agreement. “But why? Because he’s guilty?”
“Or he knows who is.”
Lia parted her lips, but before she could speak a gust of wind scooped up the snow coating the yard and swirled it through the air. The tiny tornadoes hit them with icy pellets that made Lia shiver.
“Let’s get out of the cold.”
“Good idea.”
Kaden led the way past the swelling crowd of gawkers toward the side of the house and around to the backyard. He might return to snoop around after the crowd had wandered away, but for now he needed to get the blood flowing again. It felt as if it’d been frozen in his veins, leaving his toes and the tips of his fingers completely numb. Never a good thing.
They didn’t speak until they were back in the Jeep with the heater blasting on high. Carefully, Kaden backed onto the frozen street and headed toward the grocery store. He hadn’t forgotten Lia’s warning that Wayne would have his picture plastered all over the Internet if he ended up in a ditch. She’d been teasing, but he had enough pride to want to avoid that humiliating fate.
“Now what?” Lia asked once he hit Main Street.
“I’ll drop you off at your store and then I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I’ve been kicked out of my hotel.”
“Kicked out?” She repeated his words as if she thought he was joking. When he didn’t laugh, she stared at him in confusion. “Why?”
“Apparently, the owner is expecting a mad rush of holiday guests.”
“In Pike?”
