Emma felt her back and neck tighten. “I don’t really care that they were unhappy. If the police had listened to me, Mrs. Pearson and that paramedic might still be alive.”

“I know that,” Jackson said. “I’m on your side, believe me, but you’re going to have to talk to them. Your neighbor has probably been dead a couple of days, but with the eye thing…detectives have finally connected the dots and they all point back to you.”

Emma felt tears well up in her eyes. Every time she thought she was going to finally escape, everything got worse. “Why Mrs. Pearson? It doesn’t make any sense. We’re neighbors but we’re not particularly close.”

Jackson nodded. “Nothing in the house was disturbed but I noticed footprints in the dust in the attic.” He pointed at the small window on the front of the house near the roofline. “Right below that window. I think he was watching you from there.”

Emma stared at the window, then looked across the street at her house. Her skin began to itch. “When does it end?”

“Soon,” Jackson said. “Ron’s girlfriend is at the precinct right now filing a complaint. I told the lead detective on the paramedic murder about the domestic abuse complaint and what Shaye found out about David and Ron serving together. They’re looking for him. He’s exposed now. It will be over soon.”

Emma nodded. She could tell by his expression that Jackson was telling her the truth, and she wanted to believe him, but she’d invested too much hope in things that had never materialized, and she simply couldn’t afford to any longer. She’d celebrate when Ron was behind bars. Not a moment before.

“What do you need me to do?” Emma asked.

“Can you come down to the police station now so we can get everything documented?” Jackson asked. “It will take a while and we have uncomfortable chairs and horrible coffee, but you’ll be safe there.”

“You make it sound so enticing,” Emma said. “Once you have my statement can I leave? New Orleans, I mean?”

“Just leave us a way to contact you, and you’re free to go wherever you’d like,” Jackson said. “You’re the victim here, Emma. If anyone tries to make things hard on you, remind them of that.”

“Thank you,” Emma said. “I know you’ve been helping Shaye.”

“I’m afraid I wasn’t much help. Shaye put the entire thing together.”

Emma glanced over at Shaye, who looked slightly uncomfortable with the compliment. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without her,” Emma said.

“You’re stronger than you think,” Shaye said quietly.

“Then let’s get this over with,” Emma said. “Can we go now?”

“Absolutely. I assume you want to drive yourself and meet there?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Jackson said. “I’ll go let my superior know I’m heading back to the station.”

“Do you need me right now as well?” Shaye asked.

“We’ll definitely need you, especially once we have Ron in custody. The DA will need your testimony to build the case against him, but it doesn’t have to be today. If you need to get back to your mother…”

Shaye nodded agreement, but the expression on her face wasn’t one of concern for her mother. No, Emma had seen that look before—like a dog with a bone. There was something Shaye wanted to get away and do, but Emma would bet anything that it had nothing to do with Corrine.

“Go straight to the station,” Shaye said to Emma, “and call me when you leave.” She looked at Jackson. “Can you send someone to pick up her things at the hotel while she’s being questioned? I don’t want her returning there. In case he’s watching.”

“I’ve got it covered,” Jackson said.

“Thanks.” Shaye gave Emma a quick hug and headed off down the sidewalk.

Jackson stared after her several seconds and Emma felt a tiny quiver in her stomach when she realized his interest in Shaye was deeper than this case. She wondered if Shaye had noticed, but guessed that she hadn’t. A man would probably have to advertise in neon before Shaye paid attention. But still, a tiny sliver of happiness ran through her. Every day was an opportunity for something better. Maybe her horrible situation contained a silver lining after all, for Jackson and Shaye.

It was something she planned to daydream about on her long drive to California.

Only happy thoughts from now on. Even if they were about other people.

###

Shaye jumped in her SUV and took off. As she drove, she pulled out her cell phone. On the way to Emma’s house, she’d received a call from Charlie Evans. She hadn’t answered because she’d been on the phone with Eleonore, but he’d left a message that she’d listened to just as she’d pulled up to the curb at Emma’s house.

She pressed Play on the message and Charlie’s voice boomed over her truck speakers.

Hey, uh, this is Charlie Evans from Wellman Oil and Gas. You talked to me the other day about David. I thought of something I wanted to tell you. Anyway, I’m at home if you want to call.

She hit the Call button and Charlie answered on the first ring.

“This is Shaye Archer.”

“Oh, yeah. I remembered something…I don’t know that it means anything, but you said to call…”

“You never know what might be important. What did you remember?”

“One night offshore, one of the engineers got real drunk and was acting a fool. We were all laughing at him and David said he was dumber than Dugas.”

“Is Dugas another employee?”

“We ain’t got a Dugas working here. I didn’t think about it at the time because I got a cousin Toby that says the same thing, but then I remembered it and thought you might want to know.”

Shaye frowned. If there was a point to Charlie’s story, either he hadn’t made it yet, or she had missed it entirely. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Shit. I’m not explaining it good at all. Dugas was a half-wit that lived in the place Toby grew up. The people that live there say it, but I don’t see why David would know it, unless he was from there too or had been there at least.”

Shaye’s pulse quickened. “What’s the town?”

“I don’t know that it’s a town, really. More like a spot in the road a couple miles from Port Sulphur. My cousin called it Hamet, but I ain’t never seen it on a map.”

“Port Sulphur…Highway 23?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

Shaye pulled into the nearest parking lot and used her phone for a quick Google maps search. No surprise when Hamet didn’t pull up, but Port Sulphur was only a forty-five minute drive. She tossed her phone on the passenger seat, but when she went to put her SUV in gear, she stopped and reached for the phone again. This time, she searched “David Grange” and “Hamet.”

Then she gasped.

Bayou News, June 2000

Hamet Boy Drowns

A ten-year-old boy from Hamet drowned last week. A local fisherman pulled the body out of the bayou and identified the boy as David Grange Jr., son of resident grocery store owner David Grange Sr. and wife Abigail Grange. The family could not be reached for comment.

The next link was an obituary for David Grange Sr. His death was one week after his son’s drowning and no cause of death was given. The timing made Shaye wonder if it was suicide. Surely if there had been any indication of foul play, in either death, the police would have investigated. She did a search on the wife and came up with an address in Port Sulphur. No phone number, but then the questions she had weren’t the kind you asked people over the phone.

She pulled out of the parking lot and headed the opposite direction of the city. Emma was safely tucked away at the police station and would soon be far away from New Orleans. The police were looking for Ron, and with any luck, he’d be behind bars soon. The worst was behind her client, but if Shaye could get Emma answers about the stranger she’d married, it would be the icing on the cake.