Her Last Word(85)

“Was it worth the cost if Jennifer and Erika had their lives taken?”

He touched her arm. “You’re not to blame. You were the only one who gave a shit to reopen this case.”

A gust of wind cut through the tree branches heavy with spring buds. They followed a narrow path through the woods into a clearing. There were a dozen cop cars from city, county, and state, the medical examiner’s state forensics vans, and a shiny black Lexus.

“Everyone’s here,” Adler said, parking.

She scanned the crowd for Hayward. “I don’t see him.”

Adler came around the car and joined her. “He’s in the police car. Blackstone is standing by Hayward’s city police car.”

Blackstone wore a charcoal-gray suit, a dark fitted overcoat, and a stoic expression. The age difference between him and Gina had kept him on the periphery of her crowd, but he’d been at that Fourth of July party. Several times that night she’d caught him staring at her. His expression had left her unsettled.

Another well-dressed man got out of an unmarked state car and strode toward Blackstone. They shook hands, but it was clear that tension simmered between the two.

“Who’s that?” Kaitlin asked.

“Trey Ricker. He’s with the Commonwealth Attorney’s office,” Adler said. “He negotiated the plea agreement.”

Adler kept their pace slow as they moved through the grass toward the line of cops. Several officers and sheriff’s deputies shook his hand, welcoming him back to the job. The line finally parted and allowed them access to Hayward’s car.

When they reached the patrol car, Quinn got out and tossed a look of disgust toward the backseat.

“How long have you been here?” Adler said.

“About twenty minutes,” Quinn asked.

“Did Hayward have any trouble finding the place?”

“Nope. He knew exactly where he was going. But he said he wouldn’t say a word about Gina until Kaitlin arrived.” Quinn eyed Adler. “Randy and I did have a chance to chat a bit in the car.”

“That so?” Adler said.

“Of course, we didn’t talk about the Mason case. But I let it slip I had a dog once when I was a kid. You remember me talking about Charlie, right, Adler?”

Adler nodded. “I do.”

“Turns out Randy had a teddy bear named Charlie,” Quinn said.

“Did he?” Adler said.

Quinn shrugged. “Small world.”

Blackstone regarded Quinn closely, then shifted his attention to Kaitlin. “Now that Ms. Roe is here, let’s get this started.”

When Kaitlin was younger, she hadn’t known what to make of Blackstone’s intense looks. Now, she recognized him for the dangerous predator he was.

“I’m ready when you are,” she said.

“Ms. Roe,” Blackstone said. “I wasn’t sure you’d be able to make it after your mishap.”

“Nothing would keep me away,” she said.

“You don’t look well,” Blackstone said.

She smiled and locked on his gaze. “Don’t worry yourself about me.”

Ricker extended his hand to her. “We owe this moment to you.”

“Let’s hope we find Gina,” she said.

Ricker’s frown deepened. “Let’s get started.”

“Remember,” Blackstone said. “My client has complete immunity regarding any and all of the Gina Mason abduction and/or death.”

“Understood,” Ricker said.

Quinn opened the back door of the squad car and hauled out Hayward, who drew in a deep breath, tipping his face toward the cloudy sky.

“Too bad the sun isn’t shining,” Quinn quipped.

Hayward winked. “Baby, it’s always shining when you’re around.”

Quinn gripped his arm even tighter and smiled.

Hayward shifted his attention to Kaitlin and slowly looked her over. “You smell good. And your skin looks so soft. Maybe when this is over we could meet again, and I can give you another interview.”

She didn’t draw back. “Let’s see how today goes.”

“I loved to come out here. I’d sit in my tree stand over there and just enjoy the view.” He looked toward a stand of trees and then back at Kaitlin. “Remember when we all used to come out here?” Hayward teased.

Blackstone shook his head. “No chitchat, Mr. Hayward. This isn’t a social call.”

Kaitlin couldn’t help but prod him. “The Fourth of July bonfire.”

He winked. “Remember the barn? We had a good time in there.”

The barn. That, she did remember. She couldn’t even blame booze for the stupid choices of that night. She’d made them all stone-cold sober. “I’m also remembering now that Brad, Derek, and you got into a fight. Brad looked like he wanted to take your head off. What did you say to him that made him so mad?”

“Don’t answer that,” Blackstone said.

Hayward chuckled. “You know how it goes—boys will be boys.”

“Looked pretty intense,” she pressed.

Blackstone stepped between them. “Show us what you promised to show us.”

“We just got here,” Hayward said. “I’m trying to catch up with my girl.”