Marina smiled at them as Luke pulled up. “Thanks again.”

Adelaide opened the door as Luke hurried around to help her, then he jumped back in and they headed off. As he pulled out of the driveway, he looked over at her.

“Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital first?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be okay. Ask me again tomorrow after my back has had a chance to process everything.”

“Lumbar?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“You live long enough and well enough, you have lower back problems.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Forty-five.”

She nodded. “You’re not going to ask me how old I am?”

“Nooooooooo.”

She laughed. “Forty-eight. A very exhausted forty-eight.”

“Most people would already be prone if they’d had the week you have.”

“Prone sounds really good about now.”

“Let’s get this thing with the sheriff over with, then you can go home and lie around for a whole day if you’d like.”

She nodded but her mind was already whirling. Another visit to the sheriff’s department. Was the sheriff going to kowtow to Preston again? Would she somehow end up taking the blame for this too? And what would that mean for Avery?

“Can I ask you a question?” Marina asked. “It’s kinda out of left field but it’s something that’s been nagging at me.”

“Sure.”

“You said you’ve owed Adelaide a favor for a long time, but Adelaide said she didn’t know you well.”

Luke frowned and nodded. “Both those statements are true. I have faint memories of Adelaide from when I was young, maybe five or so, but then I didn’t see her again until I contacted her about applying for the game warden position. I wanted to get her take on things.”

“Why did you go so long without seeing her?”

“Because my mother and I moved out of state. My father was a cruel man and he took his failures out on her. The last time left her in the hospital. Adelaide heard about it through some family and drove straight there and wrote my mother a check. That money helped us get away. Probably saved our lives.”

Marina shook her head. “That’s incredible. It’s amazing all the wonderful things you never know about a person.”

“Marina?”

“Yes?”

“I just want to say that this has been the most interesting date I’ve ever been on.”

She smiled. “That’s me. Bringing creativity and visits to the sheriff’s department into the lives of others.”

Preston’s car was parked outside the sheriff’s department when Marina and Luke arrived. Marina blew out a breath. The sheriff’s arm was probably twisted all the way behind his back by now. Luke reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

“The fact that he left his own party and raced to get here before us says everything,” Luke said. “He’s scared because he knows how bad this is.”

“But he’s probably in there blackmailing the sheriff. The truth won’t matter. And the people who saw what happened probably won’t have the backbone to say anything.”