She felt guilty about leaving the shingles in the road, but she absolutely could not make herself climb out of the car. Maybe they’ll help someone else, she thought. Keeping her foot firmly on the accelerator and willing the car forward with every ounce of energy she had, she finally made it up Bump’s River Road and pulled onto the hardtop at the store.

“Al,” she said, reading the tattoo on his chest, “I wonder if you’d mind answering a question for me.”

She took a ten-dollar bill out of her wallet and fingered it. “There’s a big old dumb guy down there, his first name’s Harold. Do you know who I mean?”

“Sure, I know him,” admitted the kid, his eyes on the money.

“What’s his last name?”

“Higham. Harold Higham.”

“Oh, really,” Lucy said slowly. She knew she’d seen that smile before. “Well, thanks for the information,” she said, passing him the bill. “I think I’ll take one of those small bottles of brandy behind you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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Lucy got back in her car and sat for a few minutes, taking small, unsteady sips of the brandy. She was surprised to see that according to the digital clock it was only two-thirty. It seemed like an eternity since she’d left the house for Bump’s River Road.

She turned on the radio and let the brandy do its work, spreading warmth through her body. Gradually her muscles relaxed and she stopped shaking; her teeth stopped chattering; all that remained of her fear was a hard rock in her stomach.

She didn’t think she would ever forget Harold Higham’s blank, smiling face as he’d raised the shotgun and aimed at her. Who was Harold Higham, she wondered, and what was the matter with him? How was he related to George? They certainly had a family resemblance, but that’s where the resemblance ended. George’s desk at Country Cousins was always neat and tidy, his navy blue blazer and gray flannel pants freshly pressed. She had just assumed he came from a solid middle-class background, but now she wasn’t so sure. She screwed the cap onto the brandy bottle and dropped it into her purse, then put the car in gear and turned onto the state road.