Page 106 of The Sister's Curse
“Great!” Monica said brightly. “Let’s get pancakes.”
I grinned. Maybe things were finally going to go my way on this case. If I couldn’t nail Sumner for murder, maybe I could nail him for drug trafficking.
Rod Matthews vomited up a surprising amount of information about the local meth trade. Monica took copious notes over the next few hours at the waffle house. I paid for a steady stream of coffee and hash browns to keep Rod singing. It was all hearsay at the moment, but if we could verify even a quarter of what he was telling us, then we had a pretty damn good case against Jeff Sumner.
Monica closed her notebook. “I’ll call Judge Chamberlain, see if we can get warrants for records at Copperhead Valley Solvents.”
“What about me?” Rod sighed.
“If you promise to stay put, I’ll put you up in a nice hotel room with a breakfast buffet.”
“That sounds better than jail.”
My phone rang. “Koray.”
“Hey, it’s Jasper. I heard back from my contact at EPA. Can we meet?”
“Sure.”
“Can you meet me at these GPS coordinates at dusk?”
I wrote down the familiar coordinates. “Did you find something?”
“I hope so. Just come.”
He hung up, and I frowned. I’d been all high on the idea of getting Rod Matthews to roll on Jeff Sumner, but now a chill crawled across my spine.
I didn’t trust Jasper. Not even close.
I just hoped this wasn’t a trap.
24
Unseen Allies
I met Jasper at the Hag Stone at dusk. The coordinates he’d given me were for the oxbow in the river, where I’d taken my water sample. I pulled into the lot and parked behind a sheriff’s office van, so this might be official business. Still, I had an uneasy feeling about this, and I brought Gibby with me.
I hadn’t been keen on leaving Nick. I’d checked in on him. He’d arisen in the afternoon and had been talking with lawyers, pacing the floors and gesturing into the air. I knew to let him be when he had these kinetic bursts of action. I kissed him on the shoulder before I left, and he tangled his fingers in mine.
“Anna.”
I paused, holding Gibby’s leash.
“I’m going to fight this.” His face flushed with anger.
“I know.” He knew when to fight for others, and now for himself. “And I’ll do anything to help.”
He nodded. “But if I lose…”
“If you lose, we’ll move to Alaska.” I meant it to sound light, but it came out like a vow.
In that moment, I loved Nick more than my entanglement with Bayern County. And I hoped that moment would last.
I climbed out of the car at the trailhead, and Gibby came with me. I didn’t turn on my flashlight. But I rested my hand on the butt of my gun as we ducked soundlessly under the chain gate and made our way to the river’s edge.
The forest was thick around us, closing over our heads, blotting out the stars. We walked, noiselessly, down the path to the river. In the dimness, I spotted a familiar figure holding a flashlight at the river’s edge.
I didn’t go to him right away. I held Gibby’s leash and scanned the dark, listening. Once satisfied that there was no one else here, I approached him.
