Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3)(20)

Becky held her gaze, then looked away. “No.”

She was lying. “I think he’ll probably call. When he does, could you tell him I need to speak to him as soon as possible?”

“I’m not your messenger.” Becky went to polish a row of shot glasses on the back cabinet.

Claire nudged Kate. “Let’s go.” She laid five dollars on the bar top.

“What about Whitney Peece? Were you working the night she disappeared?”

The woman’s blue eyes turned even colder. “When did you get a deputy badge? I already talked to Sheriff Colton about what I saw. Or didn’t see would be more accurate. Now if you’re finished interrogating me, you can leave.”

Two men entered the bar and Kate sighed, then nodded. If Becky had been cold before, she was downright glacial now. Kate dug out a pen and jotted down her cell number on a napkin. “Here’s my phone number. Please call me if you hear from him.”

Becky stared at her with expressionless eyes. She picked up the napkin and dropped it into the trash, then moved past them to talk to the men at the other end of the bar.

Kate shrugged and followed her sister out into the sunshine. “That was a waste of time.”

“You never know. Paul could be watching her, or she may tell him we came in and harassed her. That might convince him to give you a call. At least we tried.”

Kate forced a smile. “And we’re right here by the ice cream shop. That’s reason enough to get some maple nut ice cream and forget all about the way she acted.”

When they exited the bar, Kate saw Kevin in his warden-service truck and waved. About six-two, with chiseled features and reddish-brown hair, he attracted female attention wherever he went, but he never noticed once he’d married Mallory, who was sitting in the passenger seat. He pulled to the curb and got out, then opened the door for his wife. “I was just about to call you. I got the information you asked for about Drake Newham.”

Marriage agreed with both of them. Kate hugged Mallory. “You’re going to have a baby!” She’d graduated with Mallory but hadn’t seen her until she moved back to Folly Shoals when her father was murdered. Her teenage romance with Kevin had quickly rekindled.

Mallory had cut off her long, dark hair, and the short style suited her. She touched her rounded belly. “I’m barely showing. Most people haven’t noticed. We’re due around Thanksgiving.”

“Congratulations!” She glanced at Kevin. “Come get ice cream with us and you can tell me what you found out.”

They fell into step beside Claire and Kate. Kevin took a piece of paper out of his pocket. “You probably already figured out your guy isn’t hurting for money. He didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth though. He came by his money the hard way and has a successful hobby-drone business. His drone designs are pretty unique, and Newham Drones is booming. He’s on the board of several charities, and he’s a deacon at his church. When his dad retired as a union ironworker, Drake told his parents he’d buy them a house wherever they wanted to retire, and they went to Costa Rica. He might regret that now because he doesn’t see them much.”

Kate stopped outside the ice cream parlor. “He sounds like quite the paragon. No vices or faults you could find?”

“Well, he’s a bit of a daredevil and likes flyboarding, if you call that a fault.”

Kate blinked, remembering when she’d seen men flying over the water on the jet-propelled hoverboards. “That’s pretty extreme and more than a little dangerous for a man who has two little girls to raise.”

“Some guys need a little thrill from time to time.” Kevin grinned and draped his arm around his wife.

“It’s not something I want to watch.” Kate shivered, then stepped through the door he opened for them. Everything she’d learned about Drake intrigued her more and more.

*

Kate dragged her attention from the view outside the window and held her breath as Sheriff Colton lumbered into his office. He was so tall that he ducked coming through the doorway. His basketball days with the Celtics were far behind him, but he still exuded competence. She exchanged glances with Claire. Danny wouldn’t be happy they’d talked to Becky, but they’d both decided he should be informed.

He settled into his chair, then pulled his computer closer and plopped a pair of reading glasses on his nose. “Paul was spotted up near Machias this morning. So we know he’s in the area. I thought maybe he was headed for Canada, but it’s hard to say. You didn’t see him out there today, right?”

“No. But someone was using a crossbow, and that’s his weapon of choice.” They’d been through all this last night when Danny and Jonas showed up in response to Luke’s call.

The sheriff leaned back in his chair, and it squeaked in protest. “Lots of hunters use a bow. There was nothing definitive about the bolts either. Easton Carbon Raiders.”

“That’s what Uncle Paul uses.”

“So do I and a dozen other hunters I could name off the top of my head.” He tossed his reading glasses onto the desk. “I tend to think it might have been an accident. Claire was lucky.”

Everything in Kate rebelled at the thought. “We saw Becky Oates yesterday too. I wanted to see if she’d heard from Uncle Paul. She says she hasn’t.”