Page 29 of Engaging the Deputy

“He grabbed the shovel and brought it down on the man’s head. Knocked him out cold. My legs were so weak, I could barely stand. I was shaking all over. I thought Rob had killed him, but we went back the next day. Elden and his old truck were gone. But I’ll never forget the look on that man’s face when he raised that shovel. He was going to kill me and would have if not for Rob.” Emery picked up his drink and took a healthy gulp.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because,” he said as he put down his glass, “Rob saved my life. I would never have hurt him, let alone killed him. But I know who did. It had to be Rusk. I thought I saw him right as the tornado hit. I swear it was him, all dressed in black, his head covered. He looked right at me.”

“Why didn’t you tell the deputy this?” she asked.

He scoffed. “Come on. Who would believe me? How many times have people said they saw Elden Rusk out at Starling? I’d be the laughingstock, but worse, the deputy would think I was trying to save my own skin. Other than whoever killed him, I was one of the last people to see Rob alive.”

Olivia took a sip of her cola before she had to ask again, “Why are you tellingme?”

“I don’t know. I needed to tell someone who might believe me. Didn’t I hear that you once saw Rusk out at Starling?”

She suspected his motivation had more to do with having heard she’d been engaged to Deputy Sheriff Jaden Montgomery. “You think Rusk recognized Rob as the kid who’d coldcocked him and that’s why he killed him?”

“Why not? If you had seen the look in that man’s eyes when he had me down on the ground with that shovel in his hands…”

“You said he was loading something into his truck.”

Emery nodded. “Something heavy like…gold bars.”

“Then why would you and Rob still be looking for gold at Starling if Rusk had taken it?”

“Because we think he hid it all over the side of the mountain,” Emery said. “Maybe he didn’t get it all.”

“Are you really telling me that, after Rob knocked Rusk out, you didn’t go see what he’d loaded in the back of his truck?”

“We were terrified we’d killed him.”

“Even more reason to take the time to see what he had loaded in the truck.”

Emery looked away, seeming defeated. “It wasn’t gold. It was a bunch of old scrap iron he’d scavenged from the place.”

She let out a huff. “Did you and Rob start the rumor about the gold?” she demanded, pretty sure they had.

“I think I heard it before that,” he hedged. “The thing is, I didn’t kill Rob. I had no reason to.”

“You should tell the deputy. Coming from me wouldn’t carry any weight. I’m a suspect as well as you.”

Emery drained his drink and sighed. “Well, it was good to get it off my chest. I appreciate you listening.”

“Thanks for the cola.” She took another drink of it to be polite as she wondered if that was all Emery had wanted to tell her. She couldn’t help feeling like there was a lot more. “So, you and Rob have been good friends all these years.” He nodded, seeming a little distracted. “I know the deputy asked, but did Dean get along with Rob?”

“He and Dean were tight. It wasn’t one of us.” He lowered his voice. “It was Rusk.”

She felt a chill and was about to ask Emery if he could follow her home when he got a call. He excused himself and stepped away from the booth, leaving her to mull over what he’d told her. That he was running scared didn’t surprise her. His best friend had been murdered, and like her, he was a suspect.

“I’m sorry. I have to go,” he said when he returned. He looked even more nervous than he had earlier.

“Is everything all right?” she asked. Clearly, it wasn’t.

“Fine. It’s a friend who needs my help. Thanks so much for coming in and listening. You believed me, didn’t you?” She nodded and he smiled. “I hope things work out with you and Cody.” He grabbed up his jacket and headed for the door before she could tell him things weren’t going to work out between her and Cody—at least, not the way Emery probably hoped.

The bar was even more empty than it had been, the night even darker as she stepped outside. She couldn’t help feeling spooked after everything that had happened. She hurried across the nearly-empty parking lot, anxious to reach her car.

She was already opening the door and about to climb in when she realized she wasn’t going anywhere. In the glow of the neon bar sign, she saw that her driver’s-side front tire was flat. There was a screwdriver sticking out of the side of it.

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