Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,62

Kyla Devane?”

A chill ran through me.

“Why do you ask that?”

“I saw them together that afternoon. Sort of, anyway. But you can’t tell my folks, okay? I was supposed to be in school.”

“I won’t say a word.” At least not for now. What if Lisa was a witness to a murder? She’d have to speak to the police, wouldn’t she? Perhaps even testify. “What do you mean, you sort of saw them together?”

“In their cars. Piper was driving in front, like fast, and Kyla was real close behind.”

“You’re sure it was them?”

“It was their cars. Piper’s Honda had a dent in the door from where Ricky Maidlaw reversed into it in the school parking lot—my sister went to school with Piper and she told me—and Kyla had a fancy red BMW convertible her daddy bought her. Nobody else in town got one like that.”

“Where were you? At home?”

“When I was a kid, I had this den in the woods. I used to go there some days to get away from, you know, stuff. It was right by the road.”

“Which direction did they drive in?”

“This way. Towards town. I figured they were late for class, or maybe they were going to the mall. Kyla sure did shop a lot.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“If my pop knew I’d skipped school, he’d have killed me. I know I should have told someone, but…” She chewed on her lip, and from the redness, it looked as though that was a habit. “You promise you won’t tell him?”

The quake in her voice told me she was still scared of the man, and it was then that I noticed the bruise peeking out from under her shirt collar, a purplish splotch that must’ve been a few days old. She followed my gaze and caught me looking.

“I promise. Are you okay?” I asked. “There are people who could help you. I could make some calls, find…”

But she was already backing away. “Just keep me out of this. You promised.”

Then she was gone.

Holy. Shit.

Okay, detective work was back to being exciting. This was like a roller-coaster ride. I had to tell Alaric. Lisa was nowhere in sight when I hurried back to our table, and somehow, Alaric had managed to polish off half a portion of pancakes in my absence as well as clearing his own plate. Where did he put it?

“We need to leave,” I whispered.

“Why? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you in the car.”

To give him his credit, he didn’t question me further, just left enough cash to pay for our meal plus give the waitress a handsome tip and steered me outside.

“Don’t keep me in suspense,” he said once we were safely ensconced in the SUV.

“There’s a witness. Well, maybe. She saw Piper and Kyla on the afternoon Piper disappeared.”

“Who?”

“Lisa, uh, Handley, I think? I’ll need to check the list. I saw her at a house on Lakeshore Drive, and just now she was in the bathroom.”

“The redhead?”

“How did you guess?”

“Because she ran out of there like her heels were on fire. What did she say to you?”

I recounted the conversation to Alaric, careful not to leave anything out. I should buy one of those digital recorders like Dan had. Funny how easy it was for my brain to get confuddled in the heat of the moment.

“That’s everything?” Alaric asked.

“I believe so, yes. What should we do to help that poor girl? Call the police?”

“It’s not that simple. She’d most probably deny everything, and then she’d be in even more trouble.”

“We can’t do nothing. What if her father hurts her badly? Or worse?”

“I didn’t say we’d do nothing, but we have to watch our steps around here, and until election day, Kyla’s our priority.” Alaric stared over the steering wheel, talking almost to himself. “Piper and Kyla drove towards town, fast, but why? What was so important? A manicure? We know Kyla got there, but what happened to Piper?”

Laughter wasn’t quite the answer I expected.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“It’s been staring us in the face. We must’ve driven right past her a dozen times.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The lake. Piper’s in the damn lake. They weren’t late for class—the pair of them had a fight and Piper took off. Kyla chased her. One little tap, that’s all it would have taken, either on purpose or by accident. Either way, she covered it up. I bet someone repaired a dent in Kyla’s BMW not long afterwards. A fender bender. Fifty bucks says she claimed a scumbag ran into her car in