“I think Brink underestimated you,” Darrell said. “Everyone underestimated you, didn’t they? They figured you’d fold. Quit. Run away. But you were tougher than they thought. A lot tougher. You had your kid to think about. So you stuck it out, no matter what the men did to you. After everything you’d been through at the mine, you weren’t going to let some lawyer scare you out of your job.”

In my head, their conversation began to go in and out, like poor reception on a television set. My breathing got ragged. I opened my mouth wide to suck in more air. I clutched the sides of the chair.

“See, I think you turned the tables on Brink,” Darrell went on. “You followed him from the resort. You saw him meeting with Kip and Racer, and you knew what that meant, didn’t you? The three of them were planning how to get rid of you. Right? Is that how it happened? You knew they’d come after you sooner or later, and you figured you’d better strike first. It was kill or be killed. It was self-defense.”

The pain inside me nearly lifted me out of my seat, shot me through the roof, sent me into space.

“How did it go down, Sandra? Did Brink leave? Once the plan was done, he wasn’t going to hang around in Black Wolf County. He’d want to be long gone when Kip and Racer grabbed you. Did you stay in the woods and wait for your chance? I studied the crime scene, so I know Racer was killed first. That makes sense. You wouldn’t have wanted to take them both on at the same time. Did you wait until Kip left, and you had an opportunity to confront Racer one on one? He was probably drunk. Easy prey. Easy to kill. And when that was done, you hung around until Kip came back, and you did the same thing to him.”

Sandra didn’t say anything. I’m not sure she was even paying attention to Darrell anymore. She was staring at me in horror.

“I don’t blame you,” Darrell went on. “I really don’t. Believe me, I know the kind of men Kip and Racer were. If they’d managed to get hold of you, they weren’t going to make it quick. Brink probably told them to enjoy themselves. Did you hear him talking about what they should do to you? Did they laugh about it? There just comes a time when you snap, Sandra. I get it. A time when you’ve taken all the abuse you’re going to take. Is that what happened? Is that why you killed them?”

I couldn’t stay quiet anymore.