The barking started again and Maddie smiled. “You can’t tell that’s him from his bark.”

“No, there.” Connor pointed at the spot where Mr. Higginbotham disappeared into a clump of trees to the left of the house. “By your neighbor’s car.”

The barking grew louder and the neighbor’s kitchen light flicked on. Much more of this and the whole neighborhood would be up and roaming around, asking questions.

Ben must have sensed that danger as well because he rolled his eyes. “Oh, hell.”

But the real problem hit Connor. The dog but no owner. That couldn’t be good. “Where’s Winnie?”

Ben was already out the door and headed for the yard. “At this time of night, Paul walks him.”

Maddie gasped. “Then where’s Paul?”

They all ran now. Ignoring the night and the quiet, they called out for the dog. Ben whistled and Mr. Higginbotham barked louder. Connor searched the ground for the stray leash. He finally found it right as the sound of the barking cut off.

The return to quiet had Connor running. He reached for the leash, thinking the dog could bolt and send them all on another chase. He didn’t have to waste the energy. Mr. Higginbotham was sitting down now, staring at something and not making a sound.

Connor bent down to pick him up when he saw the slipper. “Shit.”

“Don’t touch anything but the dog.” Ben shifted past Connor.

Maddie caught up a second later. “Paul!”

Ben reached for his radio but he didn’t have it on him. Next, he pulled out the cell. The whole time he kept moving, checking for a pulse and searching the ground around the body.

His voice broke into the relative silence as a few neighbors filed out of their houses and hovered nearby. “I need an ambulance.”

Chapter 27

An hour later they crowded around the reception area in Doc Lela’s clinic. Maddie said every prayer she’d learned as a kid and half forgot long ago. She wasn’t a religious person but she would do anything—ask for anything—if it meant Paul would be okay. If it saved everyone else on Whitaker from her messed-up past.

Her life swept through town, taking out everyone in its wake.

How could anyone hurt Paul? That was the question she kept asking herself. He was a nice old man. A little bossy and nosy even though he claimed not to care about what other people did. He loved the dog and felt something for Winnie, though Maddie didn’t try to put a name on it because it wasn’t her business.