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Back Parting Shot Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Dedication
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Copyright

“And I need you to talk to the locals here,” he added, “and have them keep a lid on things. At least for twelve hours.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Nothing gets out about what happened here beyond the fire.”

“I said I’d do my best,” Duckworth said. “And I’ve got a favor to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“We’ve got a missing-woman case. Carol Beakman. I think her disappearance is linked to this Calder character.”

Maureen suddenly sat up in bed.

“What do you think’s happened to her?” Weaver asked.

“I’m fearing the worst.”

“Shoot me a picture. I’ll keep my eyes open.”

“Will do.”

“Local cops are here,” Weaver said. “Gotta go. I’ll get the name of whoever’s in charge and text it to you.”

“Good. How’s the kid?”

“Jeremy?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s okay,” Weaver said. “Can’t get into it now, but there’s something not right there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Later.”

“Okay. And when the dust settles, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“What?”

“Later,” Duckworth said. He ended the call, set the phone down and stood up out of bed.

“Carol?” Maureen said.

“Nothing,” he said. “But Cal encountered Calder in Cape Cod. We know he’s been there, and still might be. I need to get on to the Mass state police.”

Duckworth reached for his pants, pulled them on, then went to the closet for a fresh shirt.

“What’s the thing you want to talk to him about?” Maureen asked.

Duckworth found a white shirt that still had a cleaning tag attached and removed it from the hanger. “Career advice,” he said.

Fifty-Eight

FIFTY-EIGHT

AS Cory inserted the key into the cabin door, he considered ways to get rid of the body.

He hadn’t thought things through very well when it came to his girlfriend. Carol’s car with Dolly’s body had to have been found by now. He should have taken more care, thought of a way that neither of those things would have been discovered for some time, if ever. He had to admit it. He’d panicked. Had he had more time to think things through, he could have run them off a bridge, for example. Left them at the bottom of a river.

He needed to do something like that with Carol’s body.

Once she was dead, he’d put her in the van and look for a suitable spot to dispose of her. Deep in a forest, say. Maybe he’d get lucky and find a shovel in the cabin somewhere that he could take with him. He’d dig a deep hole, toss her in, cover her up. Someone might find her some day, but it could be weeks, even years.