The Lost Bones (Widow's Island #8)(20)

“She doesn’t have contact information for him. He claims he doesn’t have a phone. She said he insists on being paid in cash and told her that when he has more pieces to sell, he’ll simply show up. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if he was one of the survivor island types.” Tessa wrinkled her nose. “She said he was rather fragrant.”

“That fits what we know of Rich,” said Cate.

The closest “survivor island,” Elias Island, was not far off the southwest tip of Widow’s Island. Named for the founder of Widow’s Island—who was an ancestor of Cate’s—Elias Island attracted people who wanted to be left alone or small groups of survivalists, which was how it had earned the “survivor island” name. There were a few other islands in the area with the same types of populations. The survivor islands didn’t have power or plumbing and weren’t meant to be inhabited, but people lived on them anyway. The county sheriff looked the other way as long as they behaved. True problems on the islands were rare; the few residents preferred to avoid each other.

“What’s her seller’s name?”

“John Wayne.”

“No, it’s not.”

Tessa laughed. “That’s what I said. He told Marsha his parents had been fans. She had decided his name didn’t matter.”

“Do we need to check out the survivor islands?” Cate asked.

“I think this guy Marsha met is too young,” said Tessa. “But it wouldn’t hurt to find out for certain, I guess.”

“Rich is a survivalist,” said Cate. “It makes sense that he would seek out a place like that.”

“I agree.”

Cate’s phone rang, and she didn’t recognize the number. “This is Cate.”

“Umm . . . you were at my place today,” said a woman very quietly. “You and another woman.”

“You live with Greg Ledford?” asked Cate. She tapped Tessa on the arm and excitedly pointed at the phone, mouthing Tammy.

“Yeah.”

A long silence followed.

“You got the card I left,” said Cate. “You must have something you need to share with me.”

“I don’t know.” Uncertainty rang in Tammy’s voice.

“You heard we were looking for Rich Causey. Did you know he’s a friend of Greg’s?”

“I’ve never heard that name before,” said Tammy. “I was more curious about what you said about someone murdering a little girl. Did that really happen?”

“We are almost positive,” said Cate, trying to remember what exactly she’d said about Jade Causey to Greg. “The father refused to take the child for medical care and then disappeared with her. We have new evidence that she didn’t survive, and we want to talk to her father about it.”

Tammy was silent.

“Did you overhear something about a little girl?” Cate softened her tone. “Her name was Jade. She was only three.”

“Maybe . . . I’m not sure.”

“Tell me what you heard. Even the smallest thing might make a difference in finding this man.”

“What if it wasn’t his fault?”

Cate closed her eyes. Tammy knew something. “Then he won’t be in trouble, will he?”

The woman went quiet again.

“Tammy,” Cate began. “I think you have something you need to get off your chest. You’ve made a step in the right direction by calling me.”

“Will he know it was me?”

Cate didn’t know if Tammy meant Greg or Rich, but it didn’t matter. “No. Not at all.”

The woman sighed loudly over the phone. “I heard Greg talking with his friends one time . . . it was probably a year ago. Maybe longer. They were talking about another guy who was hiding out from the police. They didn’t say exactly why, but I could tell these guys all thought it was pretty funny that the police couldn’t find him.”

Now that Tammy had decided to tell Cate her story, she wasn’t holding back. The words came fast.

“I was cleaning up in the kitchen. Greg had two other guys over for a barbecue and beers. I wasn’t paying much attention because they talk so much shit all the time, but I heard one of them say, ‘Too bad about the little girl. She was a cutie.’ And they all went quiet. That got my attention. Usually they never shut up.”

They knew. And no one said anything.

“After that they went on to talk about how this friend had been traveling around from state to state for a while. How he almost got caught a few times.”

Cate waited for more, but Tammy went quiet. “Anything else about where this guy could be?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Did Greg know you overheard their conversation?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Did he question you today after we left?”

“No. He just went out in the garage and fooled around with his motorcycle for an hour.”

“Did he call anyone?” Cate hadn’t heard back from Isla about any phone calls. “Did he ask to borrow your phone?”

“He didn’t. And I don’t know if he called anyone or not.”

“Where is he now?”

“Not sure. I heard him take off on his bike. He usually doesn’t tell me when he’s leaving. But that’s when I got your card and made up my mind to call.”