Part 31 (1/2)

He was right, but Hilary didn't want to hear it. Her voice rose as she felt anger and despair carrying her away. 'You can't give them rope to hang around your neck. They're not going to care about the truth. All they want is to put you in prison. They want to take you away from me, and I am not not going to let that happen.' going to let that happen.'

Mark reached out and embraced her. She felt as if they were holding on with nothing but their fingertips, slipping out of each other's grasp. To make it worse, she was about to leave him alone for the night.

'Call Gale,' she told him, 'but don't mention the shoes. A lawyer can't advise you to destroy evidence. I still think you should get rid of them.'

'That's like admitting I killed him.'

'Why are you fighting me on this?'

'Because this time, I think you're wrong, and if I do it, there's no going back.'

'How long were you gone from the ferry line when you drove to Hoffman's house?' she asked.

Mark shrugged. 'Ten minutes. Maybe fifteen.'

'That's not much time.' 'They'll say it's plenty of time to get to his house, argue, struggle, and kill him.'

'For G.o.d's sake, Mark, whose side are you on?'

'Ours,' he said, 'but I'm not going to pretend. I'm in trouble. Lying and hiding won't get me out of it.'

Hilary saw the crew at the ferry dock waving to her. The other cars had already pulled ahead of her and boarded. She checked her watch; it was two minutes before four o'clock. The boat was leaving.

'I have to go,' she told him.

'What? Why? Where are you going?'

'Amy Leigh is missing. I got a call from her roommate at Green Bay. She hasn't seen Amy since last night, and Amy's not answering her phone. I'm going to Green Bay. We're going to talk to the police.'

Mark blew out his breath in disappointment. 'Of all nights, Hil. I really need you with me.'

'If something happens to Amy, and I didn't do anything to stop it, I'd never forgive myself. She called me. me. She reached out to me. I've got to do this.' She reached out to me. I've got to do this.'

'Let me come with you.'

'Not in those shoes. Not in those clothes. Go home and call Archie Gale.'

'Hil, let it go. I'm coming.'

She shook her head. 'Look at yourself, Mark. You're not in any shape to do this now. Plus, if you're there, the police will make this about you, not Amy.'

He opened the car door. Wind rushed in. 'OK. Go.'

'This might be our one chance to find out what really happened to Glory,' she told him. 'To prove it wasn't you. This coach that Amy talked about, Gary Jensen, I called a friend of mine at the school where he used to work. He was suspected of having s.e.xual relations.h.i.+ps with teenage girls.'

Mark climbed out of the car and leaned back in through the door with a sad smile. 'So was I.'

'd.a.m.n it, Mark, don't talk like that.'

'I'm sorry, I can't help it.' He pulled her face closer and kissed her. His lips were cool. 'I love you. Don't forget that.'

'I love you, too.'

He shut the door and walked away. After an instant of doubt, she put the Taurus in gear and drove on to the ferry. With the car parked, she got out and climbed the steps to the pa.s.senger deck. She stayed outside, hanging on to the railing as the boat eased away from the island. Beyond the shelter of the harbor, the wind on the open water intensified, and the ferry swayed under her feet. Back on the sh.o.r.e, in the parking lot, she could still see Mark's truck. She waved, and she saw the lights of the Explorer flash on and off. He was inside, watching her go.

Inside the bridge cabin, on the top deck of the ferry, a nineteen-year- old man named Keith Whelan watched Hilary at the railing. He was as thin as a telephone pole, with s.h.a.ggy black hair. He'd worked on the ferry runs for two years. The pilot at the wheel glanced away from the water and followed Keith's eyes to the woman on the deck.

'There's nothing s.e.xier than a woman in the wind,' the pilot said. 'Especially that one.'

Below them, Hilary turned and disappeared inside the pa.s.senger compartment. The deck was empty. They could barely see the land of the NorDoor five miles away.

'I see that woman going back and forth every day,' the pilot said, 'and I never get tired of the view.'

'Whatever.' Keith rubbed his nose and tugged at the crotch of his jeans. 'Gotta p.i.s.s.'

'Sure, go.'

Keith left the shelter of the bridge and took the steps down one deck. The boat rolled, but he didn't notice it anymore, even in the worst weather. He ducked through the door to the pa.s.senger s.p.a.ce, where half a dozen drivers read magazines and gabbed into their phones while they still had signal. Hilary Bradley stood off by herself, staring out the window. Their eyes didn't meet. With her gla.s.ses, she looked stuck-up and brainy. Keith didn't like women who pretended they were smarter than he was.

He slipped inside the phone-booth-sized toilet and locked the door. He grabbed his cell phone and punched in a number.

'It's Keith,' he said. 'You wanted a heads up, right? She's on the four o'clock heading to the mainland. No way she's going to turn around and go back on the five. I'm telling you, she's sleeping somewhere else tonight. He'll be alone in the house. If you want him, this is your chance.'

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

'I'm sorry, Sheriff,' Cab told Felix Reich. 'It's hard to lose a friend this way.'

Reich sat in the driver's seat of his Chevy Tahoe in the turnaround at the end of Port des Morts Drive. His hands were on the wheel, and he stared into s.p.a.ce down the tree-lined road. His chest rose and fell with fierce precision. After a long silence, Reich's head swiveled on his neck, and Cab saw a fury so deep and bitter that blood vessels pulsed in the man's eye.

'Let me tell you something, Detective Bolton,' the sheriff growled. 'I hate to say anything bad about a brother behind the s.h.i.+eld, but you know what? I don't like you. You race your Corvette into my county with your expensive suits and your spiky hair and your earring, and the next thing I know, a friend of mine is dead. I blame you.'

'I understand you're hurting, Sheriff, and I respect that, but let's lose the guilt trip, OK? I don't need it.'

Reich clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. 'Here's the way we're going to do this, Detective. You're going to tell me everything you know like a witness at a crime scene, which is what you are. When we're done, you're going to drive down to your luxury apartment in Fish Creek and pack your bags. Tomorrow I want you to get the h.e.l.l out of Door County.'

'Threats just make me more stubborn,' Cab replied.

'I gave you free rein in my jurisdiction because you were investigating a murder. Now so am I, and you're in my way. Go home.'

'If our cases are connected, we should work together.'

'If our cases are connected, it's because you didn't listen to me about Mark Bradley. He's mine now. You're going to have to wait your turn, and that'll be a long time coming.'