Page 56 of Last Seen
“Stay put,” he says and hangs up.
“Oh, God,” she says, stumbling to Anne, accepting the hug, her entire being shifting. Is this her fault? Has she caused her friend’s death?
Anne lets her go and sits down hard at the table. “They found Kater’s body?”
“Yes.”
“Was she murdered?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say.” Halley is in shock. She stares out the window into the black darkness, empty. She recognizes the sensations of disbelief and confusion. They were just together. Just talking. How could Kater be gone? How could she be dead?
Only a few moments later, the doorbell rings. Anne’s startled expression brings Halley back to reality.
“Listen to me. Tell Dad what’s going on. Tell him Kater’s body was found, and that they are bringing me to the police station. I don’t know if I’m a suspect somehow, which would be absolutely absurd, but just in case, I am going to say nothing until I make sure I’m not being arrested. I’ll call if he needs to get a lawyer down there to be with me. Okay? Do you understand?”
“I do. That’s very smart, Halley. This situation feels precarious.”
Banging on the door now. “Miss James? It’s Officer Meredith. I need you to come with me.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but please, go as soon as I leave. He’ll know what to do.”
Anne nods, and Halley grabs her backpack with the notebook and her phone. She opens it and texts Theo. Just in case, he needs to know.
Friend here was killed, chief bringing me in. No idea if it’s for questioning or security. I’ll be in touch if I can.
She confirms the message sends, then stows the phone in her pocket and opens the door. Officer Meredith—midthirties, former Marine, reddish-blond hair cut in a bristling flattop, powder blue eyes, the whole menacing-meathead act derailed by a smattering of freckles across his nose—looks downright relieved to see her.
“Come with me,” he says. She picks up her bag and follows him to the cruiser. The neighbors are out and watching, of course; Meredith was yelling at the door. She keeps her back straight and her eyes forward, ignoring them all. Then he steps around her to the front passenger door and yanks it open, and she lets out the breath she’s been holding. Not under arrest, it seems, at least not yet. Not that she’s done anything that would warrant being put into custody.
She climbs in, buckles her belt, and seconds later Meredith has the truck in gear and is pulling out of the drive.
She wants to ask what’s happening, but she also wants to be careful, so she doesn’t say a word, just waits quietly, timing her breaths with the siren, watching the town pass by in a blur as he flies to the station.
Less than five minutes later, he has her out of the truck, tucked into his side, and hustles up the back steps. He doesn’t relax his grip on her until the door swings closed behind them. He visibly relaxes and lets her go.
“Glad you’re okay,” he says gruffly. “Chief’s waiting on us. Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Meredith marches Halley through the halls into the chief’s inner sanctum. She takes a seat on the hard metal chair facing Early, and Meredith closes the door and leans against the frame with his arms folded across his chest.
Early dwarfs his government-issue desk. He is clearly upset; his face is red, and he is on the phone with someone, his tone clipped and angry.
“I don’t care. Figure it out,” he says, then slams the phone into its cradle. He takes a deep breath and rubs a big hand over his face.
“Halley,” he says finally.
“Do I need a lawyer?” she blurts out.
Early blinks in surprise, then shakes his head. “No. That’s not what this is about. I’m so sorry to tell you this. There’s really no doubt that Kater was murdered. We have a lot of investigating to do, but we found her body off the highway about five miles north of here.”
“How? How was she killed?”
“She was stabbed.”
Halley tries not to let the emotion of that blunt statement overtake her. An awful lot of stabbing in the past few days.
“Suspects?” she manages.
