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Marnie looked harassed and unapologetic as she recalled something she claimed to have forgotten weeks before during questioning. He knew she was lying but he was relieved she came forward. The Morgan girl must have gotten to her.

“I don’t care how it looks, he didn’t do it,” Marnie said when she finished telling him what really happened. “Cam and Jace have been friends since the fifth grade. Why would he kill him?”

Sheriff Wilson wanted to talk to Lindsay alone and Marnie went outside to wait. He lit a cigarette and smiled.

“I don’t know how you got her to crack, but I thank you. We’ve hammered her for weeks and she stuck with that story. Now we know enough to arrest him on suspicion.”

“Then what happens?” Lindsay asked.

“Then that fancy lawyer of his comes in and bails him out, either way we charge him and it’s for the courts to figure out.”

Lindsay looked panicked to think Cam would walk around free until then. “But I thought he would be in jail?”

“Lindsay, he doesn’t have any priors and isn’t considered a flight risk. We can’t hold him until he goes to court.”

Lindsay considered the fact Cam would know she turned him in and he would figure out Marnie helped get him arrested. She shivered despite the warmth of the office. Had she known, she would have hesitated to help out of fear. After what Cam tried to do to her she realized how unstable he was. Knowing he wouldn’t be locked up until she left Little Bend made her nervous.

“What if he comes after me and Marnie?” she demanded and glared at him. “After what he did to Jace, you’re just going to let him walk around free?”

“I wouldn’t, but the judge plays golf with his dad, Lindsay. It isn’t up to me. We both know they won’t hold him until they take this to trial,” he explained and looked concerned too. “Look, he’s facing a murder charge. He wouldn’t risk coming after either of you right now.”

“I told you he threatened Marnie and you know he’s guilty!”

“Lindsay, it’s the law! I’m disgusted too, but there’s enough evidence to arrest him and the prosecutor does the rest.”

“What if they drop the charges?”

Sheriff Wilson thought of the DNA results and agreed. The DNA they found on Jace’s body wasn’t Cameron’s but another’s. Without a confession they had circumstantial evidence against Cameron Chase. The ring only proved he was a thief, not a murderer. But in the meantime, he would walk around free and was a threat to both Lindsay and his ex-girlfriend Marnie Slade.

“Let’s hope he breaks during interrogation, Lindsay. I’m going all out on his ass. I’m not letting up until he admits it.”

“What if he’s as sick as I think he is?” she asked in dread.

Sheriff Wilson looked at her in sudden interest. “Would you consider wearing a wire, Lindsay? If you could confront him, get him to admit it, we could use it.”

She looked shaken. “I think he drugged me the night I got that ring, Sheriff. I know this is all off the record and I trust you won’t tell my mom?”

“No, whatever you say is off the record.”

“I had some schnapps, not a lot, just enough to take the edge off,” she said quietly and looked down, her hands shook in her lap. “I don’t remember anything after that. I woke up in his bedroom. I’m sure nothing happened to me, but I’m not willing to put myself in that situation again.”

“Why didn’t you come to me? We could have had you tested for the drugs,” he said in annoyance. “We could have gotten him for attempted rape at least, Lindsay!”

She got mad then. Sheriff Wilson was more concerned with catching Cam than her almost getting raped. Lindsay stood and eyed him with anger in her gaze.

“I’m done! No wires! You’re on your own, you and Dan. I already put myself out there enough and look what almost happened to me? Now you tell me you can’t even keep him in jail!”

Sheriff Wilson sighed and stood as well.

“I’m sorry, Lindsay, about what almost happened to you. I didn’t ask you to go out with him, just tutor him for Christ’s sake! Consider what I asked? He’s gonna be mad at both you and Marnie when he’s arrested and we hit him with what we have. There’s a chance he might be too mad to watch what he says.”

Lindsay shook her head. “I’m done. I even dragged Marnie into this now. What if something happens to her? Can you guarantee our safety?” At his resigned look she gave a bitter laugh. “You had me do all of this thinking Cameron would be stupid enough to confess? He’s smart, even if he is failing half his courses! He knows you don’t have anything on him that can stand up in court!”

“We have the ring,” the Sheriff replied and glared at her, realizing she was right.

“The ring I stole from him only proves I’m a thief now too, and you know it!” she cried and felt tears threaten. “He’s gonna get away with killing Jace. I hope you realize he’s planning on going to Georgia Tech next year. Now I have to look over my shoulder when I leave here.”

“Lindsay, just be patient. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but we need you to wear a wire. If he confesses, all this stuff we got will convict him. Without it, we got him for grand theft. He would get probation more than likely and it would delay him starting school, but he would show up in Georgia eventually. You have to help us whether you like it or not.”  

“Leave Marnie out of this,” Lindsay snapped and kept her voice lowered. “I don’t altogether trust her not to get scared and tip him off we came here. Don’t ask her to wear one, she won’t.”

“Lindsay, if we don’t get him to trip himself up he walks.”

She looked ready to cry. “He’ll get away with ruining all these lives and there isn’t anything we can do.”

“Wear the wire,” he said fiercely. “You got more courage than I thought by going out with the guy. This is just a microphone under your blouse. You push him to say one incriminating thing and we have him.”

Lindsay wiped her stinging eyes and nodded. “I’m doing it for Jace, not for anyone else! He deserves for me to make every effort to help catch his killer.”

“Lindsay, if there was any other way I wouldn’t ask you. I can’t trust Marnie.”

She knew he meant what he said and nodded. “I know, but I didn’t know he’d walk out of here free when I agreed to spy on him either. You let me think that to get me to help you.”

“As I recall, you didn’t think he was guilty then. You defended him like Miss Slade did.”

Lindsay realized he was right. At the time, she refused to think she needed to be wary or that there was anything to the sheriff’s beliefs. Now she knew and felt terror run down her spine to think of being alone with Cam to get him to talk.

“I went to school with these kids since I was in kindergarten,” Lindsay said harshly. “Forgive me if I gave Cam the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t see this side to him.”

“He’s a psychopath, Lindsay. Make no mistake; he enjoyed what he did to Jace. I’ve seen it before. You take no chances with your safety. Confront him in a public place where you’re both visible but no one can hear your conversation,” the Sheriff instructed softly. “Tomorrow I’ll come to your mom’s place and fit you with the wire, show you how to use it.”

“I don’t want her to know about any of this,” Lindsay warned. “She wouldn’t let me near Cam if she did.”

“Don’t tell Marnie either. Something tells me she’s not on our side all the way.”

“She thinks Cam is going to rush in and claim the baby and take care of her,” Lindsay said in disgust. “She only came because she doesn’t want to be charged for lying to you.”

“I’ll call before I come. Dan is heading out about noon to help Bob at the crime scene.”

Lindsay turned to leave and felt her heart clench to think of anything going wrong. She went out in the lobby and Marnie was gone. She wasn’t surprised the girl bolted. She suspected Marnie would say whatever she could to stay in good with Cam and cover her with the police.

She drove back home and was relieved Sara was at school and her mom was at work. There was a message from the school guidance department asking her to call. She knew what it was. They wanted a tutor for Cam. Well, they could forget it. She wasn’t about to step one foot back into that house. The red button flashed and she hit delete.

Lindsay went to her room and lay down, emotionally drained from her conversation with Marnie and Sheriff Wilson. It was all too much for her. Right now she and Jace should be enjoying the last few months before college. None of it was right. He was dead and his killer walked around free. Anger burned inside her with an intensity that frightened her to think of what she’d do to catch Cameron.

Chapter Ten

Jace was laying down when he heard Daphne crying. He tried to ignore it as long as he could. He got up off the couch and went to Merrick’s spare room. He pushed open the door and swore under his breath.

Daphne was sitting up against the headboard wearing panties and a black tank top. Her round, perfect chest made him gnash his teeth and look away. Her husband had to be a complete idiot! The woman was gorgeous. He avoided looking at her amazing legs as he came to sit at the edge of the bed.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” he said and reached out to brush the tears from her cheek.

“I want my son, Jace,” she whispered in an anguished voice and began to sob brokenly.

“He’s safe with people who will care for him, Daphne. I know you miss him, but you have to try and concentrate on that.”

“I’m so mad! I remember some more. I saw a car circling the diner. I knew the car because I saw it outside our apartment before. It was Aaron’s boss!” she told him and cried harder. “He worked at an advertising agency and his boss was the one he cheated with. I told him if he didn’t quit working for her; I was leaving him. He was looking for another job.”

“You think the boss had you killed?”

“She did it, Jace,” Daphne said with a bleak look in her eyes. “She walked up behind me when I was looking for my car keys and she shot me. I saw her standing over me before everything went dark. She didn’t care I wasn’t ever going to see my son again. She wanted that worthless snake of a husband of mine! I would have given him to her to stay with my son.”

“I know, it’s ok Daphne,” Jace replied and brought her to his chest, hugging her and feeling her tremble in the horror of her own murder. He smoothed her hair and held her, realizing it was the last thing he should be doing. This attraction he had for her was bizarre given they were both dead.

“I’m so sorry for crying all over you,” she apologized as she pulled away from him and sat forward, burying her face in her hands, rocking back and forth. “She did it on her own because I was making him quit his job.”

“How do you know?” he asked quietly, his brown eyes meeting her tortured blue ones.

“I don’t know how I know, I just did when I looked up at her,” Daphne recalled and shivered from the memory. “She loved him. She thought if she killed me everything would go back as it was with them.”

“Does it help to know?” Jace asked, hoping it did. He still had no clue why Cameron killed him and suffered with it.

Daphne wiped her tears and smiled sadly. “You know, it does. I understand why now. It didn’t have anything to do with me. She didn’t even know me. She just wanted him.”

“Guess she got her way.”

Daphne shook her head at his words. “No, Aaron slept his way into getting that job but he broke it off with her when I found out about them. I think he used me as the excuse to break off with her. He was seeing someone else when this happened. I found her number in his phone. It was a new woman he was seeing by this time.”

“Your husband sounds like a real jerk,” Jace said and was glad to talk about something else and ignore his growing attraction to Daphne. Just sitting next to her dressed so scantily was reminding him of Merrick’s assurances they could still indulge in certain human functions he refused to think about right now.

“Yeah, but knowing he didn’t have a hand in this gives me hope for Jacob. Can you imagine losing both your parents?”

Jace looked away. Yeah, he could. He lost his Ma when he was seven and his Pa was never there. You could say he was an orphan when Dawn Turner died. He knew what that felt like. He was glad the baby would have a father in his life and Aaron wouldn’t get carted off to jail to pay for his wife’s murder.

“You know everything now. Just listen to Merrick and hopefully your stay here will be minimal.”

“Tell me about this girl you were going to marry,” Daphne urged. “I’d like to take my mind off all this.”

“Lindsay? I met her in the eighth grade. I was failing science because I missed too much time at school. She tutored me then. Before long she tutored me in everything. That was a hard year for me,” Jace recalled, not wanting to tell her about Evie for some reason he couldn’t explain.

“What does she look like?”

“Lindsay is beautiful and doesn’t even know it yet,” he said wistfully and smiled. “She has big blue eyes and a sweet smile. She’s short but she makes up for it in attitude, trust me. She has blonde hair and it’s naturally wavy. She never leaves it alone though. She’s always coloring it or cutting it. I told her to just leave it alone. When I was thirteen; I fell in love with her at first sight.”

“She sounds like a good girl.”

“She is,” Jace assured her, “and smart too. She wants to be a doctor one day. She picked out the college we were going to. I think she planned our whole life for us. I would have gone along with anything she wanted as much as I loved her.”

“Wait, she picked the college you two were going to?” Daphne asked and frowned. “You didn’t have anything to say about it?”

“I got a full ride from a scholarship funded by our town. I could have gone anywhere and trust me, I had offers from every school in the country.”

“Where would you have wanted to go?” Daphne persisted.

Jace had never given it much thought. Lindsay insisted Georgia Tech was ideal for them both. He never even looked at any of the others. He never thought about how much Lindsay decided things for them until Daphne pointed it out. He was suddenly annoyed, as if she was poking holes in the only perfect thing in his past.

“Well yeah, I had something to say about it,” he said in irritation. “I just didn’t care. I wanted to be with her. I didn’t much care for Georgia. I would have preferred Oklahoma or even Texas. She has an aunt in Savannah she’s close with. She wanted family near.”