The important thing was that she was starting to feel good about the case. They were definitely heading somewhere, and she didnt think one more stop by a locals home would derail them at all.

Besides, it was still early. Depending on the length of DeMarcos Skype call, she figured they could be in Richmond by noon. And if Kate could be in the same city where their likely guilty part was currently being housed and where her daughter was wrestling with having just dodged a scary situation, Kate would consider that a win.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Kate was fully expecting no one to be home. She arrived at Jack Kramers house at 8:40, figuring he was probably at workat the body detail shop that Bill of Bills Tire had seemed to scoff at. But when she pulled into the small gravel driveway, she saw a single truck parked in the driveway. The house itself was rustic and simple and, like a lot of the trailers tucked just off of the back roads, looked like it was just a few years from falling in on itself.

The lawn looked as if it had been freshly cut and that was about the only positive thing she could say about the property. Out to the back, the yard stopped suddenly, overtaken by weeds for several yards before the forest took over. An old doghouse sat to the side of the yard, along with what looked like a few old lengths of copper wire.

Kate walked up onto the thin porch. The wood was partially dry rotted. A wasp nest clung to the far corner, thankfully quiet. Kate knocked on the door and it sounded like the door was just as weak and rotted as some of the boards of the porch.

She heard footfalls approaching quicklyso quickly that she could feel the reverberations through the old porch boards. The door opened about halfway, a man of about forty or so peering out at her. He wore no shirt and his hair was wet, indicating that he had just gotten out of the shower. He looked perplexed to see a woman standing there in front of himand even more off his game when she showed him her identification.

Im Agent Kate Wise, FBI, she said. Im in town investigating a man that Im told you recently had a physical altercation with.

His eyes suddenly seemed to focus and his posture relaxed a bit. Nick Sanders? he asked.

Thats the one.

Doesnt surprise me. That asshole is a mess. And believe me…Ill tell you everything you want to know.

Do you have a few minutes?

Sure. I dont have to clock in until ten.