Chapter 6 - The Sheriff’s Warning
Nora and Evelyn slipped through the back of the cabin and followed a narrow trail toward the creek.
They waited beneath a rock overhang while Sheriff Cresswell questioned Pike inside.
Even through the rain, Nora could hear the sheriff’s raised voice.
After twenty minutes, the patrol vehicles departed.
Pike found them beside the creek.
“You need to leave the county,” he said.
“No.”
“He knows Evelyn’s car came through town.”
“Then hiding is pointless.”
“This isn’t Texas, Nora. You don’t know who answers to whom here.”
“I grew up here.”
“You left twelve years ago.”
“And you stayed.”
The accusation landed harder than she intended.
Pike looked away.
“I stayed because someone had to.”
“Someone had to do what? Help Cresswell block roads?”
His expression tightened.
“I’ve spent four years copying reports he ordered destroyed.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Where are those copies?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“Do they include Caleb Hayes’s accident?”
Pike did not answer.
Nora moved closer.
“Jonah, look at me.”
He did.
“Was my father’s death an accident?”
Pike’s throat moved.
“The first deputy at the scene reported that the brake line had been cut.”
Nora felt the world narrow around her.
“What happened to the report?”
“Cresswell replaced it. He said the deputy had made a mistake.”
“Who was the deputy?”
“My father.”
Nora remembered Thomas Pike, a quiet man who had retired shortly after Caleb died.
“Where is he now?”
“Nursing facility outside Roanoke. Stroke.”
“Can he speak?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did you ask him?”
“He gets frightened whenever I mention the accident.”
Evelyn’s phone vibrated.
She checked the screen.
“It’s Adrian Lang.”
She answered on speaker.
The broker spoke rapidly.
“The signing has been moved up. Mason demanded we close this morning.”
“Do not release funds,” Evelyn said.
“I won’t. Claire Bennett found an ownership discrepancy.”
Nora exchanged a look with Evelyn.
“Found?” Evelyn asked.
“She says the deed was mixed into the property documents.”
“Is it the original?”
“I believe so. It has an embossed county seal.”
“Secure it immediately.”
“I already placed it in the office safe.”
A crash sounded over the phone.
Adrian stopped speaking.
“Mr. Lang?” Evelyn said.
Another crash.
Then Claire’s frightened voice came through the line.
“Someone pulled the fire alarm.”
The call disconnected.
Nora started toward the road.
Pike followed.
“You can’t reach town before Cresswell.”
“Then call the state police.”
“I have.”
“And?”
“They said county jurisdiction has not requested assistance.”
“Call again.”
“I’ve called every week for two months.”
Nora stopped.
“Why every week?”
May you like
Pike looked at Evelyn, then back at Nora.
“Because Luke Mercer isn’t the first person who disappeared near that cabin.”
