Page 119 of The Woman Left Behind

Harry got him.

“Your take?” Rus asked Cade.

“Well, we know the man’s a narcissist,” Cade began. “But narcissists know right from wrong. They just have the ability to twist a wrong into a right if it serves their purpose. That said, murder is extreme for them. Emotional and physical abuse of significant others, loved ones, common. Murder, it can happen, but not as common.”

“We know he didn’t pull the trigger, Cade,” Rus said. “How did you feel about what you saw in there?”

“He had no idea Sonny and Av were dead,” Cade answered. “And he’s freaked right now, blustering for all he’s worth, because he’s got Ballard’s situation hanging over his head, and now this.” Cade glanced at the window. “I don’t know.” He came back to the men in the room. “If I had to call it, I’d say he was fucking with Sonny and Avery just so there’d be something to report to the insurance company so the Dietrichs could get a payout. But also because they got on his bad side, and that’s the man he is. He’d know there wouldn’t be enough evidence to push through an arrest, and definitely not a conviction. There’s so much reasonable doubt over the little they had, a lawyer fresh from passing the bar would get them off, a prosecutor would know that and therefore wouldn’t touch it. The fuck of it is, Sonny and Avery didn’t know it.”

Yeah.

That was the fuck of it.

Or at least one huge fuck of the many fucks of it.

“He could have planted something, something more than the obvious plant of the thumbprint, if he really wanted to get nasty,” Cade went on. “But I don’t see it. The goal was to get his friends out of a financial situation. That happened. How Sonny and Avery ended up dead is not going to come from Dern, because he had no idea it went that far.”

“Did you know the Dietrichs?” Rus asked.

Cade shook his head. “Of them. It’s a small town. They got around. But we never met.”

“You know Muggsy Ballard?” Harry put in.

Cade shook his head again. “Nope. Though I know Roy Farrell was a waste of space. And I know Karl Abernathy gave me a wide berth, which was suspicious. But that’s all I got for you on that.”

Harry blew out a sigh and said, “Thanks for coming in, Cade.”

“Anytime, and anything for Sonny and Av, Harry. Anything,” Cade replied.

Harry nodded.

Cade took off.

“I’ll be sure he’s processed then I’ll get home,” Rus said. “Nothing more we can do, so you get home too.”

There was one other thing Harry had to do, and it was time to do it so he could get to Lillian.

He and Rus said their goodnights, and Harry headed to his office.

He closed the door and got his phone out.

He then made the call.

A couple of rings, Rita Zowkower answered.

“Hey there, Harry. You hear something about my boy?”

“Actually, yeah, Rita. He called his ex-wife a few days ago and made some statements to her that made her uncomfortable.”

Silence, then, “You mean he called your girlfriend.”

“One and the same,” Harry returned. “Now, just sayin’, I know you’re worried about him and don’t know where he is. But just in case you know someone who can get word to him, remind him he’s got three warrants for his arrest in Fret County. If he’s seen around here for any reason, odds are, he’s going to be a guest of the state for a good while.”

That got him only silence.

“You there, Rita?” he called.

“I’m here, sheriff,” she said. “Haven’t talked to my boy in a while, but, you know, his ex-wife just took a blow, and she meant the world to him. He might get in touch with his momma so I’d send her flowers or somethin’, and I’ll share what you said if he does.”

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