Taggart leaned closer. “I’ll read you in on this case since you’re working as a private investigator and protecting Rae.”
Rae’s heart jumped. This was good news. The sheriff was taking them seriously.
Liam nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
“I informed Mr. Astor of the news we received this afternoon. That an anthropologist evaluated Simon Astor’s remains. His skull was fractured, and that’s believed to be the cause of death.”
“Fractured?” Liam said. “As in . . .”
“Murdered.” The sheriff adjusted his hat. “Since we now have that evidence, it takes our search for Tawny Davidson into new territory.” He peered past Liam to Rae. “What you’ve told me about your sister-in-law could be part of this, as you’ve already suggested. But she’s missing now, and our priority is to find her. We don’t have enough to necessarily draw the conclusion that Enzo Astor abducted or instructed others to harm her, but neither can we dismiss it since we have a possible motive.”
“Thanks, Sheriff,” Rae said.
“How did Astor take the news about his brother?” Liam asked.
“He was pensive when he answered the door. Angry when I told him. Said he was going to head to Colorado to look into his brother’s murder.”
“Do you believe he’ll do that?”
“I guess we’ll find out. What are you going to do now? Follow me back?”
“No. We’ll stick to our plan and see what he does next. We’ll follow him.”
This mode of investigation might get them nowhere fast, and Rae needed to convince Liam they should split up. They could accomplish much more. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d been in dangerous situations when investigating.
“Be careful.” Sheriff Taggart tipped his hat, then headed back to his vehicle.
Rae gasped. “Liam, when I approached Enzo earlier today, he said he would agree to talk to me. His exact words were, ‘If a story about my brother’s death can help find his killer, then I’ll do anything.’ We’ve speculated all along that Simon was killed and possibly by Zoey—in self-defense, of course. It’s been our rationale for following Enzo and now . . .”
“And now, we could have our confirmation that Astor knew his brother had been murdered before the sheriff delivered the news.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
4:15 p.m.
Liam rolled his neck to ease the tension. He would have to text the sheriff regarding Rae’s earlier conversation with Enzo Astor, building the case for storming his home, little by little. Often that’s all they could do. Chip away until they uncovered the truth.
A truck exited the driveway. Liam lifted his binoculars to check the passengers.
The truck stopped where the drive intersected with the road and then pulled out and turned north, towing a trailer loaded with two snowmobiles. This wasn’t what Liam had expected.
“Is he in that truck?” Rae said.
“Yes. Along with his usual sidekick.”
“Aren’t we here to see if he responds to the sheriff’s news?” she asked.
“And this is his reaction. Strange, but there it is.”
“Since he left his house, this might be a good time to hike the woods and get closer to the house. Look through binoculars. Take pictures with a zoom lens.”
“Or now might be a good time to follow him and see where he goes after learning his brother was murdered five years ago, though he’s known that for a while, it would seem. I’m not convinced he doesn’t know who killed his brother either.”
“You mean Zoey.”
“We can’t know that she killed him.”
“The timeline works. If you had seen her when she came back—”
“I hear you. But something seems off. I don’t know what it is yet.”
“Let me know when you figure it out.”
“You’ll be the first to know,” he said as he continued to follow Astor’s truck.
Liam hung back as far as he could and ended up stuck behind a snowplow and two additional cars. He didn’t dare pass them on the bridge. The truck turned onto a road and left the snowplow behind. By the time Liam’s vehicle approached the turn, he could no longer see the truck. But he’d seen it turn, so he followed. A “Road Closed” sign sat off to the side.
He kept going. “This is where following them gets tricky. The road hasn’t been plowed, and the snow is getting deeper. I’m not worried right now. My truck has four-wheel drive and a plow on the front. But at some point, Astor’s truck will have to stop. I suspect that’s what the snowmobiles are for.”
“What are they doing? Having fun? Why would they be out having fun after the news of his brother’s