with Clayton. That night, unsure how Clayton would respond, he’d gone back to his house and made it appear as though he planned to spend a normal evening at home. Instead, once he turned out the lights, he’d climbed out the window in his bedroom at the rear of the house and trotted into the woods, Zeus by his side. Despite the rain, he’d stayed out most of the night, watching for Clayton. The next night, he’d watched Elizabeth’s; on the third night, he’d alternated between his house and hers. The endless rain didn’t bother him or Zeus in the slightest; he’d rigged a couple of camouflaged lean-tos that kept them dry. The hard part for him was working after sleeping only the last few hours before dawn. Since then, he’d been alternating nights, but it still wasn’t enough sleep for him to catch up.
He wouldn’t stop, though. The man was unpredictable, and he looked for signs of Clayton’s presence when he was at work and when he ran errands in town. In the evening, he took different routes home, cutting through wooded areas at a run and then watching the road to make sure Clayton wasn’t following. He wasn’t afraid of the man, but he wasn’t stupid, either. Clayton was not only a member of the First Family of Hampton County, but also in law enforcement, and it was the latter that most concerned him. How hard would it be to plant something—drugs, stolen items, even a gun that had been used in a crime—in Thibault’s home? Or claim that Thibault had them in his possession and arrange to have that evidence discovered? Not hard. Thibault was certain that any jury in the county would side with testimony provided by law enforcement over a stranger’s, no matter how flimsy the evidence might be or what genuine alibi he had. Add to that the deep pockets and influence of the Claytons, and it wouldn’t be hard to line up witnesses fingering Thibault for any number of crimes.
The scary part was that he could imagine Clayton doing any of those things, which was why he’d gone to see Clayton and told him about both the disk and the videotape in the first place. Though he had neither—he’d cracked and tossed the disk soon after taking the camera, and the motion-activated recorder had been an inspired invention—bluffing seemed to be the only option he had to buy him enough time to figure out his next step. The animosity Clayton felt for him was dangerous and unpredictable. If he’d been willing to break into Thibault’s house, if he’d manipulated Elizabeth’s personal life, the man would probably do whatever he thought necessary to get rid of Thibault.
The other threats—about the newspaper and the sheriff, the hint about informing the grandfather—simply reinforced the bluff. He knew that Clayton was searching for the disk because he believed Thibault could use it against him. It was either because of his job or because of his family, and a few hours researching the illustrious family history in the library on Sunday afternoon had been enough to convince Thibault that it was probably a bit of both.
But the problem with bluffs was that they worked until they didn’t. How long would it be until Clayton called it? A few more weeks? A month? More than that? And what would Clayton do? Who could tell? Right now, Clayton thought Thibault had the upper hand, and Thibault had no doubt that was only enraging Clayton even further. In time, the anger would get the better of him and Clayon would react, to either him, Elizabeth, or Ben. When Thibault didn’t follow through in the aftermath and produce the disk, Clayton would be free to act as he pleased.
Thibault still wasn’t sure what to do about that. He couldn’t imagine leaving Elizabeth . . . or Ben and Nana, for that matter. The longer he stayed in Hampton, the more it felt to him like this was the place he belonged, and that meant he had to not only watch out for Clayton, but avoid the man as much as possible. He supposed his hope was that after enough time, Clayton would simply accept the matter and let it rest. Unlikely, he knew, but for now, it was all he had.
“You look distracted again,” Elizabeth said, opening the screen door behind him.
Thibault shook his head. “Just tired from the week. I thought the heat was hard, but at least I could dodge