The Search The Secrets of Crittenden Cou - By Shelley Shepard Gray Page 0,35
Against her will, images of being with Perry filled her head. Reminding her of how little she’d known him. And how flighty she’d been, so happy that a man like him had turned to her after Lydia Plank had broken his heart. How she’d been so sure she could draw him back to his roots.
She’d been a fool.
“When you went to the farm . . . where did you go?”
Frannie closed the one eye that wasn’t bandaged, mainly in an attempt to buy herself some time. She knew exactly where they went. But could she tell the sheriff? That seemed foolhardy.
“Oh, we only walked around,” she murmured. “The Millers’ property is big, and not used much anymore.”
“It is big. And what you say is true. Much of their fields are fallow. So where did you and Perry walk to?”
Though it was no excuse, she couldn’t help adding, “A lot of people cut through the land. It’s in the center of town.”
“I’m aware other people walk through.” His voice was sharper now. Gone was his usual gossipy nature, when his words were slow and his voice was tinged with humor.
Now his tone echoed Luke’s. The difference was unsettling.
“Sheriff, I haven’t walked through the Millers’ land since. Since, you know . . . when Perry and I were still courting.”
“When you two walked, when you were still courting . . . where did you walk?”
“I’m not sure I remember, exactly.”
“Frannie, some honesty would be mighty appreciated about now. I’ve asked you the same question several times and you’ve done your best to not answer. I’d like you to answer me.”
His voice was as stern as she’d ever heard it. “Yes, sir.”
“Let’s begin, then. Where, exactly, did you two go, when you went walking on the Millers’ land?”
“Sometimes, we . . . we, uh, walked in the woods near the highway.” Remembering how secretive Perry had been, how emotional and tumultuous his moods had been, she added, “Perry liked to walk there, because it was hidden.”
“And?”
“And sometimes we would kiss.” She felt her cheeks flush. Here she was, twenty years old, practically covered in bandages. But still blushing.
“I want to know other places you walked on Millers’ farm, Frannie. Did you two go anywhere else?”
One image flashed forward as clear as day. Even though she’d tried so very hard to forget, it seemed determined to never go away. “Yes . . .”
He crossed one leg over the other and stared at her.
And that’s when she knew he knew the truth.
“Sometimes we walked in the Millers’ west field.” She looked at Sheriff Kramer. “Do you know the one I mean? It’s the field that begins right across from the high school.”
“The one with the well?” he asked softly.
“Jah.” She swallowed hard and told herself to speak clearly. To force back the worst images and concentrate on the facts. “The last time Perry and I went walking on the Millers’ farm together, we were in that field near the high school.”
“When was this?”
She swallowed hard. “December.”
“When in December?”
“The thirty-first.”
His gaze sharpened. “On New Year’s Eve. So you saw him right before he went missing.”
She nodded, feeling the dark emotions that had cloaked her while she’d been in Perry’s company return. “That last time we were together, it was near twilight. We were walking alone.” She paused for a moment as the memory sharpened. “Well, Perry was walking quickly and I was struggling to keep up.”
“Why do you think he was in such a hurry?”
“I don’t know. Back then I could never guess how he would act. Or the reasons.”
“Then what happened?”
“When I caught up with him, I knew he wasn’t safe to be around.”
“And why was that?”
“His eyes were glassy.” Though it hurt to do so, she wrinkled her nose. “It had become obvious that he’d been taking drugs again.”
He started scribbling in his notebook.
Hoping to finish the interview quickly, she said, “Anyway, we stopped, and I told him I was going to go home. We got in a terrible fight.”
“What was the fight about?”
It had been about a great many things, she thought. But mainly it had been about the fact that she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. “We fought because neither of us was going to change.” Before she lost her nerve, she shared the rest of the story. “Sheriff Kramer, we were fighting where he was found.”
“Where exactly?”
She was confused by his question. They all knew the place where Perry’s body had been discovered. “You know. Right by the