Page 30 of Lawman’s Witness

“What’s going on?” demanded a man’s voice from deeper in the house. She heard heavy footfalls headed in her direction.

“It has nothing to do with you, Robert,” the woman called as she turned to look over her shoulder as the gangly man appeared.

But Amy Sue only got a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze was on a table in the entryway covered with an assortment of framed photographs, one in particular catching her eye.

“That’s her,” she exclaimed, tears burning her eyes. She’d thought she’d never know the woman’s name, let alone prove she was dead. “That’s the woman I saw Jack Marshall murder.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Christine felt her first real stab of worry. Something was wrong. She knew her husband. They’d been together twenty-two years. On any day, she could tell by his mood what was going on with him. He loved his work; nothing about it upset him. Car sales were up and down, but he’d never worried about that since money wasn’t a problem.

There had been a few tense times over the years when he’d had to break off an affair that had gone sour and he’d seemed to take it hard. But those had been few and far between. In recent years, he’d let more time go between his affairs as if no longer needing other women as often. That had given her hope that the two of them might settle into a safer lifestyle.

The one thing she couldn’t bear was him getting caught cheating. It would force her into a very uncomfortable position and destroy the life they’d built together.

She knew that Jack had just broken it off with some woman a few weeks ago. By now he should have been in great spirits. What he shouldn’t have been doing was working late so much, as if he either hadn’t been able to break it off or had already jumped into another extramarital relationship.

Neither was like him. But then again, he hadn’t been himself in all that time. Her cell rang. A friend calling to make a lunch date. Another friend calling about an appointment with a charity group. A text to confirm a nail appointment.

She declined the call and did something she seldom did while Jack was at work. She called him. It was late enough that he might be in his office alone since the dealership would have closed by now.

It rang four times before going to voicemail. She didn’t leave a message. Where was her husband? Now she was really starting to worry. “Jack, what is going on?” She would never forgive him if he ruined everything.

Jack had lost sight of Liz. The call from his wife startled him along with irritating him. Did she really think he could care about this latest remodeling project of hers? He thought about picking up, but she would know he was in his car. She would be able to hear some of the interstate traffic noises even outside one of the more expensive cars he sold and drove any time he wanted.

Mostly, he was in no mood to try to hide the strain he was under right now so he let the call go to voicemail.

Ahead, he finally saw Liz’s car in front of an SUV. Her blinker came on as she prepared to turn off at Park City. He felt a tidal wave of relief that he hadn’t lost her as he followed a car length behind. When the SUV in front him pulled off the other way, he stayed behind Liz, taking his time, following at a distance for a few blocks until she parked in the drive of what he assumed was her house.

Driving on past, he parked up the street where he still had a clear view of the house in his side mirror. As he did, he saw the SUV that had been in front of him earlier. It pulled over in front of Liz’s house behind an old faded red pickup parked at the curb.

His breath caught as he recognized the SUV—and driver, without needing to see Amy Sue Brand’s face. He was just starting to ask himself what she was doing there when she got out and headed for the door Liz had disappeared through only moments before.

He swore, rubbing his forehead as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Amy Sue Brand knew Liz? That wasn’t possible, was it? If so it had to be the world’s largest coincidence.

A more logical conclusion would be that the two had met at the dealership. Amy Sue should have left before Liz had arrived. But if she hadn’t, was there a chance the two had met out in the parking lot? Why else would the woman be here?

Otherwise, if by chance the two knew each other, then this felt like a conspiracy. He thought the cops might agree. He knew he could sell it to Milt because there still wasn’t a body and, let’s not forget, Jack had an alibi.

He wasn’t naive. What could the two women have to talk about other than him as Amy Sue stood in the doorway. Jack tried to convince himself that there was nothing more he could do parked there on the street. He now knew where Liz lived in case he needed to come back.

As for Amy Sue… He found himself waiting for her to return to her vehicle. Going to her ranch, he had hoped to scare her enough that he didn’t have to deal with her further. Clearly, she didn’t scare easily. Maybe he hadn’t been direct enough.

He wouldn’t make that mistake tonight, he thought, as he decided to wait for her as long as it took.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Liz turned slowly, her legs already going weak before she saw the photograph the pretty blonde at her door was pointing to. “Whitney?”

“I was afraid I’d never know who she was,” the young woman said. “After I overheard your conversation with Jack Marshall at the car dealership, I had to follow you. I had to find out if Whitney Clark was the woman I saw him murder.”

“What? This is about that harebrained friend of yours, Whitney Clark?” Robert demanded. “This woman followed you home? Liz, what the hell is going on? If she saw Whitney get murdered, then why didn’t she go to the police?”

“I did,” the blonde cried. “They didn’t believe me because he’d gotten rid of the body.”

Liz felt her eyes fill with tears as the truth settled over her. The woman on her doorstep sounded unhinged, yet she had recognized Whitney. Hadn’t Liz feared her friend was dead? Hadn’t she known when she looked at Jack Marshall that he was lying? That he’d done something awful to Whitney, even worse than breaking her heart?

“Robert, leave. Now,” she said, sounding a little frenetic, but knowing that if he didn’t leave she might completely lose it. “Let me handle this.”