Page 47 of Beneath Still Waters

Chatter around the table silenced as they focused on her. Ferd shifted in her seat and tried to look at every face so she wouldn’t miss if anyone tried speaking to her.

Connor said, “Whether they want you to stay or not. This is your home, and you’re welcome here. I don’t want you to stress about this.”

If only his words could stop it.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Packing was the worst. Ferd folded her favorite sweatshirt and held it to her chest. Nothing about going back felt right.It’s because you’re terrified of Hunter. What kind of officer are you if you can’t handle a little stress?

She tossed the sweatshirt into her bag. Her phone buzzed from somewhere on her bed under the stack of clothes she had to tame. She shoved the pile over and retrieved it.

“Hello?”

“Kevin called and said he lit a fire under the guy at the lab. They already have the preliminary results from the can. Wait . . . am I catching you at a bad time?” Duke said.

Ferd laughed as she slouched in her favorite chair. “I’m just packing. What did the results say?”

He went silent for a second. “Packing? You really don’t think they’ll let you stay, do you?”

She couldn’t answer him. Her gut said her time at Wayside was ending. “I don’t know. I’m preparing.”

“Huh,” he paused. “Carl’s prints were on the can taken from Bailey’s apartment. The saliva on the top matched too.”

She shot straight up in her seat. “Wait, that means the blood under Bailey’s fingernails belonged to?—”

“Carl,” Duke finished.

“He wasn’t even on our list until the end.” What if they’d never seen that argument?

“Did he lie about not having a key?”

She heard Duke’s slight intake of breath as he grinned. “I may have tricked him. I didn’t ask him the question in a way that I would get the answer we needed just then. I asked him if anyone ‘had given him a key’. I didn’t ask if hehada key.”

She laughed. “So, if you find Bailey's key in his possession, one of two things is true. Either he lied, making him a bad witness, or he stole the key from someone, which also makes him a bad witness.”

“Exactly. Either way, I’d get what I wanted out of the question. When we get a warrant, I have no doubt we’ll find Monica’s pink keyring in one of his junk drawers. I doubt she came to that houseboat often, meaning she likely didn’t leave it here.”

“Likely not. So, we think he was leaving the beers at Bailey’s apartment, but that doesn’t prove murder or drug activity. Even Carl’s blood under his fingernails isn’t enough for a jury to convict him.”

“It’s a good start though. When are you heading out?”

“Tomorrow evening. Connor is driving then staying at my apartment until we find out if I’m coming back or not. He seems to think I’ll be coming right home. I hate doing this. If he has to leave me there, then I’ll have to come all the way back to get my car. I’ll have to catch rides to work.”

“Assuming they want you to,” Duke interrupted.

She closed her eyes and imagined sitting at one of the administrative desks back in Cody. Could she do that job for a short time to do what she really wanted to do later? Maybe.There was always the chance Hunter had poisoned her boss against her enough that she'd spend the rest of her career behind a desk. A pain shot through her neck, and she sat up straight to relieve it.

Nope. Desk work was not for her. She folded the copy of the letter Brendon had given her and tucked it safely into the side pocket of her bag. “I’m making my assumptions based on lived experience.”

“Well, you’ve got one more evening and part of the day tomorrow. I’d planned to go over there and arrest Carl on suspicion of murder. My hope is that he’ll confess once I pull the cuffs out and we can call this closed before you head out of town. Sure would be nice if you didn’t have to worry about it.”

If the case was closed, she also wouldn’t be getting any calls later to update her. “Yeah, that would be great.”

“I’ll be out there in twenty to pick you up.”

Prompt as a stopwatch, Duke pulled in precisely twenty minutes later. She opened the passenger door and climbed in. “Did you speed? Just to make sure you followed your own rules?”

He laughed as he backed the truck out of the parking spot.