Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Rachel shook her head. “Unfortunately, the victim deserted Captain Rivers when he was just a baby. We do have to wonder what kind of psychological damage that may have caused him.”
“Ah, fuck,” Huck muttered.
Laurel winced and pulled the covers up above her waist. The room was chilly, but she’d been toasty and warm cuddling with the captain.
Rachel shook her head sadly as a picture of Huck came up on the screen behind her. He was dressed in his full Fish and Wildlife uniform and looked tough and intense.
“I feel like we need to connect the dots here, but I am not accusing anybody of anything,” Rachel said slowly.
A picture of Delta Rivers showed up on the screen, followed by photographs of Teri Bearing and Haylee Johnson. The picture of Huck’s mother had been taken years ago, and the scene appeared to be a picnic in Genesis Valley.
“Where’d she get the photo?” Huck asked, leaning forward.
Laurel squinted. “It looks like it’s out of a newspaper. We can go back through the archives. It appears as if your mother is just an attendee at the picnic.” There was no doubt that Rachel Raprenzi did her research and had excellent sources.
“Now,” Rachel said somberly, “there’s an obvious connection between Delta Rivers and her son, and who would know better that she’d be back in town just in time to be murdered? She must have reached out to him somehow, but the police are being incredibly quiet about this. Are they protecting one of their own?”
Laurel reached over and turned on her light. This was going to be a rough night.
Rachel pointed to Teri Bearing’s photograph, showing the woman smiling with a carnival behind her. “I have exclusive footage that we’ve already aired on The Killing Hour, that captures an altercation between the mayor’s wife and Huck Rivers.”
The screen behind her shifted to a video that showed the night Huck had arrested the intoxicated blonde. “As you can see,” Rachel said, “Mrs. Bearing hit Captain Rivers. Is his ego such that he cannot take rejection by any woman? Please note that all three of the victims are blond . . . like his mother.”
Huck drew in a breath but otherwise didn’t move. Laurel cast him a glance, then looked back at the television.
“Finally,” Rachel said, pointing to Haylee Johnson, “we all saw how Ms. Johnson attacked FBI Special Agent Laurel Snow. It was brutal, and you might ask me what that has to do with Captain Rivers. Snow and Rivers have been in an intimate relationship for months.”
Laurel lowered her chin. “Since that’s true, we can’t sue her for slander. But I would like to know who she’s using as her source.”
Rachel stared directly at the camera. “Is that the impetus that pushed Captain Rivers over the edge? Allegedly, of course. We’re just drawing comparisons between victims here. I am not accusing Captain Rivers of anything, though I have heard that he has been taken off the case by his superiors. One has to wonder, what do they know that we don’t?”
Rachel shifted in her seat and pressed her hands onto her plexiglass table.
“In an effort to be fully transparent, I must let you know that Captain Rivers and I were once engaged many years ago when we lived in Portland. He had a very tough missing persons case there and lost a child. By drowning. The same cause of death as these current victims.”
Her eyes widened. “I have to tell you, he changed afterward. He lost the light of humanity in his eyes. He broke our relationship off and moved up here to live alone in the woods with his dog.” Her shoulders slumped, perfectly conveying concern, dejection, and bewilderment.
Even Laurel could read those expressions on the woman’s face. “She’s really full of crap, isn’t she?”
“Aptly put,” Huck muttered. “This is going to screw up the entire case.”
Rachel shook her head sadly. “I have to wonder if it wouldn’t have been better if everybody had just left Captain Rivers alone to live on the mountain with his dog. Would these women still be alive?”
The screen cut to a commercial.
Huck scraped both hands down his face. “This will go viral within hours. I’m sure an article is already being written for the online version. Do you think we’ll see this in the Timber City Gazette in print later today?”
Laurel looked at the clock. “It’s after midnight, and I bet they’ve already gone to print, so it’s too late to hit the print deadline. My guess is that we’ll see an expanded article Saturday morning.”
“Great,” Huck said. “How soon do you suppose I get charged with murder?”
Laurel pressed the mute button on the remote. “If we’re lucky, not for a while.”
“When was the last time we were fucking lucky?”
* * *
Abigail watched Jason Abbott slump from his seat and nearly fall forward into the fire. Standing, she stood and planted her gloved hand on his head, pushing him back into the darkness. “Oh, Jason. You always thought you were so smart.”