Page 97 of Edge of Steele
She didn’t need to be looked after, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she liked the look because it meant he cared enough to want to protect her.
Russ peered down the walkway at them, lips clamped closed.
“Finn had things in hand,” she said, the pride she felt for this fine man in her tone. “But I decided to cuff and search her. Found a knife at her ankle.”
“Armed, Ms. Nye?” Russ raised his eyebrow. “I’m Sheriff Russ Maddox, and I’d like to ask you some questions about Dean Keenan.”
“That creep,” she spit out. “Haven’t seen him in a month and don’t know what he’s done. So might as well let me go.”
Ryleigh held onto Carla and gave Russ the key to unlock the door. It groaned open as if tired from frequent use. Ryleigh ushered her charge into the room that held a simple queen bed, boxy nightstand, and matching desk with two wooden chairs. She pulled out a chair and settled Carla onto it.
Ryleigh dragged the other chair over the wild blue and green patterned carpet that held a heavy perfumed scent as if the maid had doused it with something to hide another odor.
Ryleigh faced Carla and took a seat. “Tell us about your relationship with Dean Keenan.”
“I’m married to him as I’m sure you know. But we split up when he took a swing at me.” She lifted her shoulders and thrust out her ample chest covered in a vintage Grateful Dead T-shirt. “Ain’t no guy, no matter how much I love him, gonna deck me.”
“You left him, but he doesn’t want to let go.” Russ stood next to Ryleigh.
“No.” Carla looked up at him. “Which means I need to get out of here before he finds me again.”
“You weren’t easy to find,” Russ said. “Even with our statewide resources looking for you.”
“Yeah, but I had to use my credit card for this room, and we have a joint account. He could see the charge.”
Finn stood on Ryleigh’s other side, his feet planted wide. “What are the odds that’ll happen?”
She shrugged. “He’s not the brightest bulb, you know? He’s a cash only guy. Doesn’t trust banks and never used the card. Never paid attention to our finances either. I’m hoping he doesn’t figure out he can call and ask about any recent charges.”
“He nearly found you at the Eckles’s place,” Ryleigh said.
“He did?”
Russ nodded. “Showed up the day after you left.”
“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell them where I was going.” She let out a long breath. “Did he hurt Pauline or Virg?”
Ryleigh shook her head.
“Thank goodness for that.” Carla lifted her hand to her chest and let out a long breath. “I would’ve hated to hear he smacked Pauline around in her condition. Or maybe she’s had the baby by now.”
“No to that too,” Ryleigh said. “At least not as of this morning when Sheriff Maddox talked to her.”
Russ rested his hands on his hips. “You seem like a good friend to the Eckles.”
“I am. So what?”
Russ looked Carla directly in the eye. “So, just because Keenan didn’t hurt them on his first visit, doesn’t mean he won’t go back.”
Carla’s eyes darkened, and she shot a panicked look around the room.
Russ stepped closer. “And you can help stop that from happening by telling us what you really know about Keenan’s whereabouts.”
Carla gnawed on her lower lip and looked down.
“I would hate to have Keenan show up at their house totally frustrated and a newborn in the house,” Ryleigh added to try to appeal to her sense of decency.
“I don’t know a lot,” she finally said. “He’s been getting increasingly bizarre. Talking a lot about setting off a bomb. He’d gotten frustrated that no one, not even the news media, pays any attention to him or the group anymore. He sent threats to Shadow Lake Logging. That much I know because he shared them with me in emails. One day, he packed a bag but wouldn’t say where he was going. I snooped before he left and found bomb schematics in the bag, so I took them to try to stop him from setting one off.”
