“Maggie told me,” Caddy said. “Ansley Cuthbert knows about all this. And she’s scared to death. If that girl y’all dug up had something to do with Brandon Taylor, she’ll know.”

“I’m worried about Ansley,” Tashi said. “What if she’s in trouble? Or someone is after her? She made it clear to us she didn’t want any part of this.”

Quinn picked up a piece of bacon, looking at the young woman, waiting for her to get to the point of what had really been bothering her. Tashi’s black hair pulled tight and tied in a ponytail at the back of her head. She didn’t have on any makeup and seemed even younger than when they’d first met, almost like a teenage kid.

“Some people have been following me and Jessica,” she said. “They were watching me on the Square two days ago. Last night they were parked outside the Traveler’s Rest Motel.”

“Why didn’t you call the sheriff’s office?”

“We did,” she said. “A patrol car came right after they left. Didn’t you hear about it?”

Quinn shook his head, taking a sip of coffee, exchanging a glance with Caddy. He didn’t like Caddy getting involved in sheriff’s office business. He already had to deal with Maggie’s personal ties to the story, but now Caddy, too. Some days it just wasn’t worth getting up in the morning. He drank some more coffee, thinking. “OK,” he said. “Did you see the men following you?”

Tashi nodded. “They had hats and sunglasses. One of them had a beard. They were driving a dark red truck. I tried to tell the deputy who came out last night about the make. But I’m not really sure.”

“OK,” Quinn said. “Were they white or black? Young or old? Did you see anything that might make IDing them any easier?”

“The guy driving had a beard,” she said. “He was white. Younger. All I could really see was some kind of gold symbol on his hat.”

“What color was the hat?”

“Black,” she said. “The gold symbol looked almost like a pocket watch.”

*   *   *