Camera Never Lies (25 page)

“You go on without me. I’ve had enough time out of my room as it is.”

I almost laughed. “Mom, you’re not a dog that needs to go back in her crate for a certain amount of time.”

We finished our meal without any sort of performance to speak of, which amazed me. I walked with her back to the room we now shared. Once inside, I closed the door behind me. “If you have any more of those sleeping pills, I want them now.”

She stared at me and blinked before turning her face away. I detected a slight rolling of the eyes, which made me feel once again like I was the mom and she the teenager. “Mother, need I remind you what happened last night? Hand them over.”

“Oh, all right. But I’m so tired, and I don’t think I can sleep without them.”

“Well, watch television or something. It’s the middle of the day. You don’t have to sleep.” I thrust my hand out, waiting for the pills. “I’ll check on you as soon as I get back from seeing Hillary.”

She handed over two more prescription bottles. I widened my eyes in horror. “Mom! What on earth are you doing with so many? These can’t be legal, can they? What doctor would prescribe so many at a time?”

“You have them. Now go.” She stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door.

“Okay, fine. But this isn’t over. I had better not come back and find you zonked out, you hear me?” I gave Mom a hard time because I loved her dearly. And she knew it. I left our room and walked the grounds while I gathered my thoughts.

I reviewed the information I had. Granted, most of it was taken on the word of others. There was nothing concrete in what I knew. But I decided the only person who needed to lie was the murderer, and at some point, the lies would become evident. I cringed at the thought, wondering how many I’d told to cover my sleuthing.

Hillary stated she’d hit Alec over the head. Emily said she found him dead in the closet, and Hillary said the same after she’d come back in a few minutes. What if Peter had gone into the room and found Alec on the floor unconscious?

Peter’s words resounded in my thoughts.
He was a scoundrel. Deserved to die. Any man who’d cheat on his wife or with someone who’s married deserves no better
.

That had to be it. Peter came into the room and found a person he thought was a scoundrel lying on the floor unconscious, so he finished the job, because to Peter, Alec deserved to die. But how would Peter know that Alec deserved to die?

Hillary might have the answer to that.

I had no idea if Hillary would still be at the infirmary, but I started there. I didn’t think she’d be at work yet, and I wasn’t sure where she lived. Nor did I want to run into her ranger husband. I needed to figure things out before then. For all I knew, he’d been looking for me to ask more questions. He’d promised to only yesterday. And since he hadn’t yet, what could that mean?

I strolled into the infirmary. When I found the room where I’d visited Hillary before, the door was cracked. I knocked lightly and entered. She was getting dressed and motioned me to close the door then turned her back to finish buttoning her shirt. “I told them I wouldn’t go all the way into town to the hospital. So they let me stay here for monitoring. Joyce stayed with me through the night to keep me company.”

“Joyce?”

“She’s one of the medical assistants and a friend. Knew I didn’t want to go home or be alone here.” Fear laced her voice.

“Why wouldn’t you want to go home?” Wouldn’t she want to be home with her husband? She’d be safe there. Or would she? “Hillary, who are you afraid of?”

She whirled on me, looking ready to fillet me alive. “Well, who do you think? The killer, of course. He thought he’d killed me. But I’m still alive.” A sob broke her lips. “Cliff didn’t come back to see me last night or this morning. He’s gone. Something to do with the investigation.”

So that explained why I hadn’t run into the chief ranger. “Well, you can rest easy. I know who hit you over the head. It wasn’t the killer. Just someone who is scared like you.”

“What are you talking about?” Confusion filled her face. “Then why don’t you report whatever you know to my…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, obviously remembering that I knew more than she wanted to share with her husband. “I haven’t seen your husband to tell him anything. But I think he knows about your affair.”

Covering her mouth with both hands, she slumped onto the bed. “How do you know that?”

“I suspect, that’s all. Who else do you think knew about your affair with Alec?”

Hillary stood and made up the small bed then fidgeted with the blanket before sitting again. “There was one other person who knew. My husband’s best friend.”

A new person had entered the equation. I shook my head. “His best friend?”

“He runs the boat tours on the lake.”

Peter
. With that, I knew my suspicions had been correct. Everything fit. To think I’d gone hiking with him, and he’d tried to point me to Ranger Jennings, his best friend of all people.

“Hillary, I need you to be completely honest with me. If I can figure this out, then you won’t have to be scared anymore. And I won’t have to worry that someone I love will be arrested for a murder she didn’t commit.”

Wary eyes met mine. “Well?”

“Why did Peter think Alec deserved to die?”

Her ragged intake of breath told me I was on the right path. The blanket seemed to fascinate her as she drew an invisible design. “You don’t think Peter could do such a thing, do you? No, I won’t believe it.”

“Yes, I think he might be the killer. Just tell me what you know. What did he have against Alec?”

“I think he’s in love with me. But he’s Cliff’s best friend, so he would never do anything about it. I know he knew about my affair with Alec, because he confronted me about it. But I don’t believe he would kill Alec because of it.” She shook her head as though the mere action could change the truth.

What would she think if she knew I’d suspected her husband at one point? It was hard to understand the mind behind a murder, but clues were pointing at Peter, and he even had a motive. “Look, can I help you get somewhere? Will you be going home from here?”

She frowned deeply. “Cliff was supposed to get me forty-five minutes ago. I’ll wait for him here. I don’t want him to come get me and not be here.”

I could wait with her and, when Ranger Jennings arrived, tell him what I’d learned about Peter—though honestly, I didn’t want to be the person to confront him with Hillary’s affair and Peter’s love for her and the subsequent act of murder. Part of me doubted my reasoning, but a quick check to see if Peter had performed his duties as the tour guide during the time when Alec was murdered would go a long way.

I slapped both hands to my face. Spencer and Rene needed a ride back to the lodge, and it was already approaching the time when I should get them. “Well, I’ll leave you to wait for your husband. Please try to tell him everything. He needs to know.”

Hillary nodded in response, but I could tell by her expression her thoughts were far away. I ran back to my car and sped around the lake to the boat tour entrance, hoping I wasn’t too late to pick them up, making them hitchhike back or wait for me. I imagined they would think of all sorts of ways to make me pay.

A face appeared in my rearview mirror from the backseat.

I screamed, slamming on the brakes.

The car slid to the side of the road toward the two-thousand-foot drop.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

T
he car skidded to a stop, the back right tire near the edge. My heart in my throat, I yelled, “Emily!”

Through the rearview mirror, I watched her. Eyes closed, she rested her head against the seat and released a long breath. When she opened them, they brimmed with accusation. “What sort of driving do you call that? You almost got us killed.”

I twisted to face her. “Well, you scared me half to death.”

Emily slid to the right side of the car and peered out the window. Just in case we were in danger, I probably needed to see how close we were myself before I pulled back onto the road.

“I’m sorry about that, but it was unavoidable. Polly, he’s here. My husband is here!” The fear in her words was palpable. “I didn’t know where to go, and I had to hide quick. So I got into your car. It wasn’t so bad with the window cracked. What am I going to do?”

Part of me wanted to tell her just to inform him she wasn’t coming home. But I didn’t live in Emily’s world and had no understanding of a person like her husband. Thoughts of news programs about wives murdered by their husbands, even after restraining orders, came to mind.

“Well, neither of us can do much if we don’t get back onto the road. What do you see out that side of the window? I mean, my back tires are on the road, aren’t they?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

“Not good enough. I’d better take a look.” I started to get out of the car. For safety’s sake, I thought she should, too. “You coming?”

She eyed her surroundings, like she was afraid she’d see her husband jump from the trees across the road. “Yeah, all right.”

We climbed out of the car on the safe side. I marched around the vehicle. It had always amazed me how they carved roads into mountains. But why did they have to make them so narrow, leaving the road next to a dangerous cliff, especially on the curves?

“I think we’re fine as long as we don’t slide. Why don’t you wait here until I pull back onto the road?”

Her eyes grew wide, bulging even.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to leave you.”

The tires spun on the mixture of gravel and sand before they gained traction. Emily climbed into the passenger seat. Once we were on the road again, we both heaved sighs of relief—well, for the reprieve from one calamity. Now, to deal with another.

“I’m not sure what to do about your husband, but I’m headed to pick up Rene and Spencer. I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to occupy Rene with something else so we can deal with your dilemma. First, I’d like to wrap up the murder case.” “Are you that close to solving it?”

“I think so, yes. On the other hand, I’ll know soon enough if I have any skills as a sleuth.”

I drove into the parking lot where I hoped to wait for Spencer and Rene, not the other way around. Stragglers exited the entrance, breathless in most cases. Spencer came out alone. I jumped from the vehicle and waved, smiling to stifle my laugh when he bent over, grabbing his knees to catch his breath.

I made my way over to him. “Where’s Rene? Don’t tell me you beat her up the trail.”

“No.” He stood, still breathing hard. “She and Conrad left me.”

“Conrad? What was he doing?”

“He apparently had the same idea we did. Was on the tour. Water?”

“Uh, no. But hey, there’s some over there.” I dug out some change and jogged to the vending machine.

When I got back, he was already chatting it up with Emily, who’d gotten out of the car. He smiled and walked to the front of the vehicle, taking the bottle from me. After a long swig, he gazed into the woods, a deep frown on his face. He spoke in a low voice. “Where’d you find her?”

“Didn’t she tell you? Her husband is here.”

After another drink, he said, “Tough luck, that.”

I punched his arm. “Spencer. We have to help, of course. We detained her to begin with.” I glanced back at her.

Emily had closed her eyes. She reminded me of a frightened puppy.

“Well, I’ve come to a conclusion.” I climbed into the car while Emily moved to the backseat, allowing Spencer to sit up front next to me.

“You mean you know who killed Alec?” He swirled the last of the bottled water.

I looked over my shoulder as I backed out of the parking spot. “Maybe. But things are growing more dangerous, and with Emily’s predicament, I think we need to find Ranger Jennings and tell him everything we know.”

I looked in the rearview mirror at Emily as I said the words. Her eyes popped open.

“But what if he’s the killer?” Spencer asked.

“I think I know who killed Alec. But it’s a sticky situation, and all things being considered, we have to get Emily the protection she needs. Plus, what she knows will help shed light on things.”

“Hey, wait a minute. You’re talking about me like I’m not even here.”

As I managed the snakelike bends in the road, I glanced at her in the mirror again. “I don’t see that we have many options here. You need help, and what you told me helped me figure out who killed Alec Gordon. We need to give the ranger this information before it’s too late.” I punched the gas a little harder, sending us around a corner too fast for comfort.

“Polly, what do you know that you haven’t told us? The way you’re whizzing around these corners, one would think another murder is about to be committed.” Spencer put into words what I couldn’t put into a thought.

“Call it a woman’s sixth sense, or is it seventh? There was a love square, which is now a love triangle, and I’m hoping to keep it from changing again.”

“Huh?” Spencer and Emily voiced their confusion in unison.

I wasn’t sure I could explain the entire thing. This whole situation was wearing on me. “Let me put it this way. We need to find Ranger Jennings. I feel like something is about to happen, but I don’t know what.”