That gossip was probably more important the most of the other news.
Carson stopped outside of the closed gate. He put the car in park and hopped out, opening the gate before driving us through and closing it. Trees lined the long driveway. A two-story red brick home with white shutters sat in the middle of the yard. A red barn sat to the side, and behind it, a more dilapidated wooden barn sat farther back.
“They got animals?”
“They don’t have any animals. The old barn was abandoned back when we were in high school, and the new one is used for storage.”
Amber opened the door as we approached the porch.
She opened her arms wide for Carson. “Well, isn’t this a nice surprise. I wasn’t sure who Lucy was going to bring.”
“Amber. It’s good to see you again,” Carson said folding her into his arms, like a hug between good friends.
“Daddy is going to be thrilled you came.”
“We can only hope,” I whispered under my breath and followed the others inside.
“Carson!” Farley exclaimed as we walked in the door.
“Master Sergeant.” Carson shook the man’s hand.
“You know better than to call me that at home.”
“You’re right.” Carson blushed. “Arthur, are you okay with Amber inviting us to dinner?”
Arthur turned his gaze on me. “Dr. Bray stood up to me today. Not many people would do that, especially in a town full of strangers.”
“Lucy’s good like that. I’d do the same for her.” Carson tossed his arm over my shoulder.
“He did do the same,” I answered and clasped my hands together in front of me. “Believe it or not, Mr. Farley, I’m on Carson’s side.”
“I told you, Daddy,” Amber said, disappearing into the kitchen. “Come on, Lucy. Let me get you a glass of wine, and we’ll take a walk so I can show you the property while those two catch up.”
“No wine for me, please. Water would be better,” I said, going against what I would normally do. If I was going to get answers, I needed to bring my A-game, and muted feelings were like the no-see-ums we’d encountered in Panama City Beach. You knew they were there because they were biting you, but you couldn’t pinpoint their actual location to kill the suckers.
“Sure,” she said, pouring me a glass of water and herself a wine. We stepped out the back door and kept walking.
“Carson is a great guy. He was a friend when I didn’t have any.”
“I know the feeling,” I said, remembering when Carson wanted to give me a weapon and no one else on the team would even consider it. “Proving Carson innocent is the only reason I’m still here.”
She glanced in my direction. “I hope so. There are some people in this world that are just good souls, and he’s one of them.”
I could feel the desire and lust coming off her in waves of unrest. She cared for Carson, but if I were a betting girl, I believed she cared for him not like a best friend but like a lover.
“Carson told me you were best friends, but has there ever been anything more?”
“God no.” Amber blushed. “I think my daddy always wished there had been, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have turned him down if he’d asked me out. But you know Carson. He’s always had his eye on leaving this town.”
That didn’t sound like the Carson I knew with the Fifties man cave. “I have to admit I’m kind of surprised that your daddy didn’t warn Carson about his brother Michael dating his ex, Janet Anderson.”
“I guess Daddy thought he knew,” Amber said as we stepped up to a wood fence. I rested my hands on the top as Amber climbed up and straddled the fence that separated her from her neighbors. “Those are the Dawsons I was telling you about.”
Across the yard, three men sat on a wooden porch, shotguns propped up against the house, while they drank out of jugs that looked like they contained water.
“Is that moonshine?”
“Yep.” She leaned in and whispered, “They have a distillery on their property, and even though it’s illegal, no one is brave enough to tell on them or try to raid the place.”
They looked like mountain men. They looked like Mikey from the diner, and just as I was about to ask, Mikey and Betty stepped out onto the porch. She was shuffling a deck of cards as if she were about to deal some poker. Within seconds they were all jumping to their feet and helping.
“Is Betty related to them?”
“Yep,” Amber answered. “She’s their momma, but don’t be fooled. She’ll slit a deer’s throat and collect the blood to drink from her boot. She taught those boys everything they know.”
That made sense. I’d thought Betty had her finger on the pulse of this town, and I guess I’d been right. If she was in charge over there, and Amber thought they were running the show, then there had to be some type of truth to what I was feeling.
“Do they have any animosity toward the Tines? Any reason to want to see Drake Tines dead?”
“I can think of one,” Amber said. “Rumor has it that, after Carson’s mom was killed, Drake would get sloppy drunk on the Dawson family moonshine. It worked faster and was harder than anything at the bar.”
“That’s no reason to kill.”
“A birdie told me that one night, when he was getting liquored up and drowning his sorrows, that he and Betty got together and her boys threatened to kill him.”
“That’s motive,” I announced. “What did they have against Cody? I can’t imagine Cody bullied anyone in that family.”
“You’d be right,” Amber said, swinging her legs back over to her side of the fence.
Betty and I locked gazes in that exact moment, and all of the Dawson family men turned to stare.
“I haven’t figured out their connection yet unless it stems from when I want to high school. I caught Cody behind the bleachers with one of the Dawson girls. Maybe I wasn’t the only one to see them together.” Amber shrugged. “It wasn’t too long after that one of the girls mysteriously left during the night. Rumor has it that she got knocked up and was sent down south to live with relatives. That was around the same time that Cody went missing.”
“Does Carson know about any of this?”
“It’s not really talked about if you catch my drift. Even whispers of them killing people would put you at the top of their hit list. Everyone in town is scared of them, even the sheriff.”
That might be the case for the people in the town, but they’d never had to deal with a certifiably crazy female who wanted answers.
“Come on. Dinner should be done,” she said, gesturing back to the house.
We started walking, and I glanced back over my shoulder to find Betty still looking in our direction with her hands on her hips.
Chapter 16
Dinner was uneventful listening to Carson, Arthur, and Amber reminisce about old times. More than once, when Amber was flirting with Carson, I could feel the lust rolling off of her, no matter how much she tried to mask it. When it happened, I’d always glance at Carson, who was oblivious to what was going on. No wonder the man was still single. I was going to have to spell it out for him later.
After dinner, we said our goodbyes and got back into the truck. Carson started the engine. “Well, what did you think?”
“Amber wants your body,” I said, buckling my belt.
“What?” Carson gawked. “No, she doesn’t. She’s my best friend.”
“Trust me, Carson, she wants to be more,” I said, wiggling my brows.
“Great, Lucy, now you just made everything weird. How am I supposed to look her in the eye next time?”
“She’d probably like it if you were looking her in the eyes while leaning over her taking her to new heights.”
“Lucy, I’m serious,” he growled.
“So am I.” I grinned. “So, why weren’t you two ever an item? I mean all good relationships have a best friend component to them. Was there no sexual heat on your part?”
“God, Lucy.” Carson shook his head as if my lin
e of questioning was making him bashful. “I dated Janet Anderson all through high school.”
“You were a lady’s man, weren’t you?” I chuckled.
“I was a chemistry nerd who liked to build things.”
“I guess both preferred brains over brawns.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure Janet hasn’t changed her mind. I mean, really, what in the hell does she see in my brother?”
“I’m no expert, but maybe she sees a little bit of you.”
“Michael was one of the popular kids in school, and well, you know about Bishop. He was shy, but he was good at sports, so no one really picked on him.”
“You were the outcast?” I asked.
“Still am.”
That made two of us. I sighed. “Why did you turn down Sloan’s job offer?”
Carson glanced my way and frowned. “You know about that?”
“Your buddy Arthur mentioned it when he met Sloan today. So, are you going to explain?”
Carson shook his head. “Nope.”
“Okay, then I’ll have to guess. The job would have required you to move and you were worried someone might break into your man cave, right?”
Carson turned on the road that traveled around the lake. “His company does private security.”
“I kind of figured that seeing how those two goons have been following us all day.”
Carson adjusted his mirror. “I figured they were friendlies.”
Carson turned into the driveway of the rented lake house I was calling home until this killer was caught.
Bishop was on the porch, his hands flailing as he talked to Sam.
“What is your brother doing here?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” he answered, and as soon as the truck stopped, we both hurried out. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re searching our house and have an arrest warrant out for you, Carson.”
Carson’s brows dipped. “For me? What for?”
“Murder,” Sam announced. “I’ve been trying to reach you guys for hours.”
Carson patted his pocket. “My phone is at the house.”
I held mine up. “Sam doesn’t have my number.”
I rested my palm on Carson’s arm. “If you run, I’ll stall them.” My eyes searched his.
“I didn’t do this, Lucy. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Carson, they must have evidence to get the search warrant.”
“What proof?” Carson asked, throwing his hands up.
“They confirmed Tony’s identity. Someone called in a tip to the Sherriff’s office about being a silent witness. Said that Tony told them he was going to meet you in the woods that night.”
“You’re kidding right?” Carson’s brows dipped. “After all this time, now they’re coming forward? Who called it in?”
“They wouldn’t give their name.”
“That’s convenient.” Carson growled.
“They claimed to have seen everything and said it was you, Carson. They even knew a knife was used as the murder weapon and said that you took it home with you.”
Carson shook his head. “I didn’t kill him and all of my collector knives are accounted for at home in the display case.”
“Sam, get me the SUV keys and a pair of handcuffs.” I pointed angrily toward the house.
Sam ran inside and back out and tossed them into the air toward me. “What are you going to do?”
“If they think Carson killed the sheriff’s son, then he won’t survive the night.”
“Noah and Grant won’t let anyone harm him.” Sam gawked.
They didn’t know what went on behind those bars, and in this godforsaken town, Carson wouldn’t stand a chance with the Dawson family around. “I’ve got to get him out of town. If I get stopped, they’ll see he’s handcuffed and think that I’m taking him in.”
“I’m not running,” Carson said.
“I can call in a friend to borrow a vehicle that they won’t recognize,” Bishop said.
“I’m not running,” Carson said louder.
“I can call Noah and report a sighting of Carson in town and headed in the opposite direction,” Sam said.
Sam, Bishop, and I began throwing out ideas on how to best get Carson out of town undetected and where to hide him when we succeeded.
Carson whistled, and talking ceased.
“I’m not running,” he said again. He took the handcuffs from me and slapped them on his wrist. “Take me in.”
“Carson, I know about the Dawson family.”
“Lucy, take me in. If you’re as good as you think you are, you’ll find the real killer before they throw the book at me.”
“Carson, please don’t do this.”
“Lucy, I’m not asking again. Take. Me. In.”
Against my better judgment, I did just what he asked. Sort of.
I drove him around the lake to his childhood home and helped him out of the SUV with handcuffs in place. Noah watched as we got out. He stepped off the porch and met us halfway.
“I’m sorry, Carson, but we have evidence.”
“Your evidence is wrong, Noah, and you know it,” I growled, angry that Noah would turn on one of his own men.
“We’ve sprayed luminol on the knife tips. One has traces of blood.”
I shook my head unwilling to believe it. “Someone planted it, then. He didn’t do this. Dust it for fingerprints. If it’s the same knife and has the victim’s blood then the killer’s identity could still be on it.”
“Lucy, don’t start. I don’t like this any more than you do,” Noah answered back.
“Really?” I said, gesturing to the men and women poking around in Carson’s house. “You’ve got a funny way of showing it.”
Noah’s eye ticked. “Well, maybe if you’re finally ready to work, we can catch the real person responsible. Until then, all I have Carson’s bloody knife.”
“You’re really something, you know that, Roth?” I said, narrowing my eyes. “He’s going to die in this hick town in that jail cell all alone unless you do something.”
“Lucy, it’s fine,” Carson said as Grant approached.
“Take her home while I take Carson in for booking,” Noah ordered Grant.
Grant touched my arm, and I rolled out of his hold, breaking the connection. “I’m not a child in need of coddling, or have you forgotten, Noah?”
I spun on my heels and got into the SUV, turning the key. I kicked up dust as I drove off to the lake house. Anger churned in my veins. Even if I’d wanted to go touch every single body in the morgue, my own emotions would cloud over everything, making it virtually impossible to connect.
I needed more information, and I needed it the old-fashioned way.
Chapter 17
I drove back to the lake house and parked out front without getting out of the car. Sloan’s protective detail parked nearby. I could only imagine he was getting updates. How was I going to do this without being able to touch anyone to connect to their emotions? No way had Carson killed anyone, much less five people, including his father and his brother’s lover. It was obvious he was being set up. The only question was why and by whom.
I shoved out of the SUV and stomped up to the porch, where Sam was waiting. We both sat down on the swing and began to rock. There was something soothing about the motion that helped me think.
“Get me up to speed. What else have they found, and have they IDed the other bodies?”
“The other bodies were people who went to the same high school, but years later. After Carson joined the Marines. There’s nothing to indicate that he even knew them. The common link is that they were science nerds in a chemistry club.”
“Do they have any other suspects?” I asked, folding my legs beneath me on the swing and letting Sam set the pace.
“Not really. The crimes happened so long ago that it’s hard to get anybody’s alibi, much less narrow down time of death.”
Someone was talking anonymously to the police.
I needed to know who. With Carson out of play, and without his knowledge of how things were in the past and the people that he used to know, I was almost sitting in the dark. I didn’t like being out of my element. I had a killer to catch. “Did you dig around in Amber’s sandbox?”
“There wasn’t really much there. She made straight A’s in school, but I think that had more to do with her father being a hard ass. After graduating, she went to college, where she graduated with honors in chemistry, psychology, and earned a teaching degree before she came back here. She doesn’t have any police records, hell, she’s only ever had one speeding ticket.”
“She’s an overachiever. What about her father?”
“He’s another story. Before Arthur Farley became Master Sergeant Farley, he got into trouble several times. Mainly bar fights or anything that set off his temper. He basically stayed out of trouble after joining the Marines. He rose through the ranks until he went AWOL for two days, extending a leave.”
“AWOL?” I asked. “Doesn’t going missing get you discharged?”
“The file doesn’t state why, just that his commander approved the leave in retrospect, two days after he returned. After that, he was transferred back to town as a recruiter. There is no reason given.”
That didn’t give me much to go on. Master Sergeant Arthur Farley knew how to help Carson stay out of trouble because he himself had been a troubled kid. “What about the Dawsons?”
“Who?”
I climbed off the swing and moved to sit on the railing instead. The swing wasn’t helping, and I couldn’t sit still. I had this feeling crawling over me that I should be out doing something like beating the truth out of people until they confessed. “Betty Dawson lives near the Master Sergeant’s property. She has five boys, including Mikey, and she seems to be the one in charge. Amber told me Carson’s father might have had a fling with her, and that Cody had a fling with one of the Dawson girls.”
“Are you saying that you don’t think Cody was killed for being a bully?”
“I don’t know what I believe right now, but until I can touch the bodies without my own emotions being in the way, this is all we’ve got. Do we know approximately when these people were killed?”
Killing Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 2) Page 8
