~ ~ ~
Sheriff Wilson was glad Dan was out on patrol when the girls arrived. He took them both separately in his office. Lindsay handed him the ring and he looked at it gravely. He didn’t need to take it to Amelia Warren to know it was the same one Jason Turner bought the day he died.
Marnie looked harassed and unapologetic as she recalled something she claimed to have forgotten weeks before during questioning. He knew she was lying but he was relieved she came forward. The Morgan girl must have gotten to her.
“I don’t care how it looks, he didn’t do it,” Marnie said when she finished telling him what really happened. “Cam and Jace have been friends since the fifth grade. Why would he kill him?”
Sheriff Wilson wanted to talk to Lindsay alone and Marnie went outside to wait. He lit a cigarette and smiled.
“I don’t know how you got her to crack, but I thank you. We’ve hammered her for weeks and she stuck with that story. Now we know enough to arrest him on suspicion.”
“Then what happens?” Lindsay asked.
“Then, that fancy lawyer of his comes in and bails him out, either way we charge him and it’s for the courts to figure out.”
Lindsay looked panicked to think Cam would walk around free until then. “But I thought he would be in jail?”
“Lindsay, he doesn’t have any priors and isn’t considered a flight risk. We can’t hold him until he goes to court.”
Lindsay considered the fact Cam would know she turned him in and he would figure out Marnie helped get him arrested. She shivered despite the warmth of the office. Had she known, she would have hesitated to help out of fear. After what Cam tried to do to her she realized how unstable he was. Knowing he wouldn’t be locked up until she left Little Bend made her nervous.
“What if he comes after me and Marnie?” she demanded and glared at him. “After what he did to Jace, you’re just going to let him walk around free?”
“I wouldn’t, but the judge plays golf with his dad, Lindsay. It isn’t up to me. We both know they won’t hold him until they take this to trial,” he explained and looked concerned too. “Look, he’s facing a murder charge. He wouldn’t risk coming after either of you right now.”
“I told you he threatened Marnie and you know he’s guilty!”
“Lindsay, it’s the law! I’m disgusted too, but there’s enough evidence to arrest him and the prosecutor does the rest.”
“What if they drop the charges?”
Sheriff Wilson thought of the DNA results and agreed. The DNA they found on Jace’s body wasn’t Cameron’s but another person’s. Without a confession they had circumstantial evidence against Cameron Chase. The ring only proved he was a thief, not a murderer. But in the meantime, he would walk around free and was a threat to both Lindsay and his ex-girlfriend Marnie Slade.
“Let’s hope he breaks during interrogation, Lindsay. I’m going all out on his ass. I’m not letting up until he admits it.”
“What if he’s as sick as I think he is?” she asked in dread.
Sheriff Wilson looked at her in sudden interest. “Would you consider wearing a wire, Lindsay? If you could confront him, get him to admit it, we could use it.”
She looked shaken. “I think he drugged me the night I got that ring, Sheriff. I know this is all off the record and I trust you won’t tell my mom?”
“No, whatever you say is off the record.”
“I had some schnapps, not a lot, just enough to take the edge off,” she said quietly and looked down, her hands shook in her lap. “I don’t remember anything after that. I woke up in his bedroom. I’m sure nothing happened to me, but I’m not willing to put myself in that situation again.”
“Why didn’t you come to me? We could have had you tested for the drugs,” he said in annoyance. “We could have gotten him for attempted rape at least, Lindsay!”
She got mad then. Sheriff Wilson was more concerned with catching Cam than her almost getting raped. Lindsay stood and eyed him with anger in her gaze.
“I’m done! No wires! You’re on your own, you and Dan. I already put myself out there enough and look what almost happened to me? Now you tell me you can’t even keep him in jail!”
Sheriff Wilson sighed and stood as well.
“I’m sorry, Lindsay, about what almost happened to you. I didn’t ask you to go out with him, just tutor him for Christ’s sake! Consider what I asked? He’s gonna be mad at both you and Marnie when he’s arrested and we hit him with what we have. There’s a chance he might be too mad to watch what he says.”
Lindsay shook her head. “I’m done. I even dragged Marnie into this now. What if something happens to her? Can you guarantee our safety?” At his resigned look she gave a bitter laugh. “You had me do all of this thinking Cameron would be stupid enough to confess? He’s smart, even if he is failing half his courses! He knows you don’t have anything on him that can stand up in court!”
“We have the ring,” the Sheriff replied and glared at her, realizing she was right.
“The ring I stole from him only proves I’m a thief now too, and you know it!” she cried and felt tears threaten. “He’s gonna get away with killing Jace. I hope you realize he’s planning on going to Georgia Tech next year. Now I have to look over my shoulder when I leave here.”
“Lindsay, just be patient. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but we need you to wear a wire. If he confesses, all this stuff we got will convict him. Without it, we got him for grand theft. He would get probation more than likely and it would delay him starting school, but he would show up in Georgia eventually. You have to help us whether you like it or not.”
“Leave Marnie out of this,” Lindsay snapped and kept her voice lowered. “I don’t altogether trust her not to get scared and tip him off we came here. Don’t ask her to wear one, she won’t.”
“Lindsay, if we don’t get him to trip himself up he walks.”
She looked ready to cry. “He’ll get away with ruining all these lives and there isn’t anything we can do.”
“Wear the wire,” he said fiercely. “You got more courage than I thought by going out with the guy. This is just a microphone under your blouse. You push him to say one incriminating thing and we have him.”
Lindsay wiped her stinging eyes and nodded. “I’m doing it for Jace, not for anyone else! He deserves for me to make every effort to help catch his killer.”
“Lindsay, if there was any other way I wouldn’t ask you. I can’t trust Marnie.”
She knew he meant what he said and nodded. “I know, but I didn’t know he’d walk out of here free when I agreed to spy on him either. You let me think that to get me to help you.”
“As I recall, you didn’t think he was guilty then. You defended him like Miss Slade did.”
Lindsay realized he was right. At the time, she refused to think she needed to be wary or that there was anything to the sheriff’s beliefs. Now she knew and felt terror run down her spine to think of being alone with Cam to get him to talk.
“I went to school with these kids since I was in kindergarten,” Lindsay said harshly. “Forgive me if I gave Cam the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t see this side to him.”
“He’s a psychopath, Lindsay. Make no mistake; he enjoyed what he did to Jace. I’ve seen it before. You take no chances with your safety. Confront him in a public place where you’re both visible but no one can hear your conversation,” the sheriff instructed softly. “Tomorrow I’ll come to your mom’s place and fit you with the wire, show you how to use it.”
“I don’t want her to know about any of this,” Lindsay warned. “She wouldn’t let me near Cam if she did.”
“Don’t tell Marnie either. Something tells me she’s not on our side all the way.”
“She thinks Cam is going to rush in and claim the baby and take care of her,” Lindsay said in disgust. “She only came because she doesn’t want to be charged for lying to you.”
“I’ll call before I come. Dan is heading
out about noon to help Bob at the crime scene.”
Lindsay turned to leave and felt her heart clench to think of anything going wrong. She went out in the lobby and Marnie was gone. She wasn’t surprised the girl bolted. She suspected Marnie would say whatever she could to stay in good with Cam and cover herself with the police.
She drove back home and was relieved Sara was at school and her mom was at work. There was a message from the school guidance department asking her to call. She knew what it was. They wanted a tutor for Cam. Well, they could forget it. She wasn’t about to step one foot back into that house. The red button flashed and she hit delete.
Lindsay went to her room and lay down, emotionally drained from her conversation with Marnie and Sheriff Wilson. It was all too much for her. Right now she and Jace should be enjoying the last few months before college. None of it was right. He was dead and his killer walked around free. Anger burned inside her with an intensity that frightened her to think of what she’d do to catch Cameron.