Camera Never Lies (26 page)

“You don’t think they’re going to arrest your mum, do you? You didn’t discover the strange scent on her, did you?”

“Uh, no.” Though I’d put Mom’s possible guilt out of my mind repeatedly, Spencer’s comment sent a new tendril of fear through me.

I’d been so focused on Peter smelling like cloves that I hadn’t even considered Mom with her various perfumes. Because she’d taken up smoking again, the smell masked much of her perfume. Of course, it was supposed to be the other way around. But a thought hit me. Had she taken up smoking cloves and I hadn’t noticed, her perfume somehow masking that particular scent? I swallowed, a lump growing in my throat.

Once we arrived at the ranger station, I jumped out of the car and looked in the open window at Spencer.

“Let me go in by myself and see if the ranger is even here. I only see two cars. He could be anywhere. He could be at home with his wife, for all we know. You stay in the car with Emily. She’ll be safe.”

I trotted up the steps and pushed through the door. A dark-haired ranger with glasses stopped what he was doing at his desk when he saw me and stood. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for Ranger Jennings.”

“He’s not here. Is there something I can help you with?”

My gaze flicked to his desk. I saw a memory card and wondered if it were mine. “Um…probably not. Do you know where I can find him?”

“Sorry, ma’am.” He shook his head and focused on the computer screen again.

I asked if he could try to contact Ranger Jennings. While I told him it was about the murder case, I managed to walk around to see the pictures he was looking at. I recognized them at once and explained that those were my shots.

With that, he took me seriously and radioed. A frown quickly appeared. “Sorry, ma’am, he must be out of range. If you know something, you can tell me.”

“I’m not talking to anyone but Ranger Jennings.” I marched through the door, got into the car, and sped from the parking lot. I saw him exit the log cabin in my mirror.

“Polly, I don’t like this. What’s going on? What did you say?” Spencer gripped the armrest and door handle.

“I told him I knew something about the murder, but he couldn’t get Ranger Jennings on the radio.”

“Why didn’t you just tell him everything and leave it at that?”

“Because if I have to explain everything from the beginning in detail, it might take too long. I think something’s wrong. We need to hurry.”

Once back at the lodge, I said, “Hillary was leaving the infirmary today. I don’t know where she lives, but let’s go down to the basement and talk to someone there.”

We bounded down the stairs to the basement, where I’d first cornered Hillary. The large woman who’d interrupted us in the restroom saw me from inside the laundry room and came out to greet me—a kind way of putting it.

“I need to find Hillary. Can you tell me where she lives?”

“You have the nerve to come here and ask me that?” She put her hands on her large hips.

“It has to do with the murder. It could be a matter of life or death.” I could tell by her frown that I wasn’t making points. “If you won’t tell me how to contact her, let her know that I need to speak with her. She’s a grown woman, she can decide for herself.”

I wanted to stick out my tongue, but I resisted, turned, and left. Spencer and Emily followed me. Footsteps above let us know that someone was on their way down the steps. I hoped it wasn’t the ranger from the station and almost suggested we turn around when Hillary appeared.

“Oh, thank goodness I found you! Polly, you’ve got to help me. I told Cliff everything.” A sob escaped. “Only it all came out in a jumble. I’m afraid he misunderstood. He’s…I’m scared.”

“Okay, Hillary. Tell me exactly what you mean. Why are you scared?”

“He said he was going to finish things once and for all.” She spoke in a high-pitched frenzy.

“Wait a minute. What exactly did you tell him? How did he misunderstand?”

“I told him everything I told you. Only, he thinks I was having the affair with Peter!”

I grabbed her to steady her.

The large woman appeared on the steps below and glared at me. She charged up the stairs. “You let go of her this minute, or I’m going to beat you to a pulp.”

Hillary gathered her wits enough to protect me. “May, stop it. Polly’s here to help.”

I took over from there. “In fact, May, you can help, too. Get her a cup of tea, something to calm her. I’ve got to find her husband.”

“No, I want to come with you,” Hillary said.

“Everything centers around you. I think you’ll only fuel the fire if you’re there.”

She sagged into May, who nodded, reassuring me that she would take care of Hillary.

“Where do you think he was going?” I asked.

“To find Peter. He was so angry. I’ve never seen him like that.”

I sped up the stairs, Spencer and Emily in tow. Peter could be conducting a boat tour or at the island. “Spencer, why don’t you ask Amber if she knows where Peter is?”

He grabbed my elbow and ushered me to the wall. Holding my shoulders, he peered at me, his face close. “Why do you have to carry this so far? Give the information you have to that other ranger. It’s no longer your fight.”

What he said hit me hard. Why
did
I have to find Ranger Jennings, stop him from confronting Peter? Peter was guilty, after all. But Hillary made it sound like her husband planned to harm Peter. She almost made me consider Ranger Jennings as a suspect in Alec’s murder all over again.

I’d started sleuthing to make sure that Mom wasn’t found guilty. Then Hillary asked me to help, and I’d agreed. There was also Emily to consider.

But the real reason I had to do this? “Because, Spencer, if something happens that I could prevent, I’ll never forgive myself. Especially since I encouraged Hillary to tell her husband everything. How can I stop now? There’s something else. I’ve always wondered if I’d handled things differently, would Brandon be here today? If I’d not given up on him when, after days of searching, the authorities had? I have to see this through to the end.”

His face had been inches from mine, but at the mention of Brandon, he pulled away. I hoped I hadn’t hurt him.

Emily and I waited next to a wall behind a large indoor tree while Spencer found Amber. Emily’s eyes were wide as she scanned the tourists, looking for her husband. I hadn’t had much time to ask her more about him and felt bad.

“So what does he look like?” Speaking the words made me more aware that I hoped I didn’t see him. I wished I were wearing a wig and tattoo at that moment, though he wouldn’t be looking for me. I slid behind the greenery a little farther.

“You need to act natural. You look like you’re hiding. Come out a little. And put an attitude on your face like this.” She allowed her face to go slack and her eyes to roll just enough to look like she was bored out of her mind and hated everyone.

I laughed. “You’re very good, you know.”

“My husband is tall and good-looking, not unlike your Spencer.”

A spark of jealousy coursed through me at her reference to Spencer. I shrugged it off.

“He usually wears expensive suits. But when I saw him today, he was dressed like some sort of mountain climber. I don’t know. Wait, like the Brawny paper towel man, that’s it.”

“He looks like a lumberjack?”

“Today he did. He could have been here for days, Polly, and I wouldn’t have known.”

Spencer returned. “You ladies look like you’re hiding.” “You found us easily enough,” I said.

“I suppose that doesn’t bode well for you if I could find you. But I have good news. Amber thinks Peter’s at the island. She said he likes to take a few of the kids over there after hours to—how did she put it? Party.”

“But if Ranger Jennings found him first, he didn’t make it. Still, that’s our best bet.”

“Ah, but you’ve forgotten something.”

I angled my head.

“We need a boat to get there.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

G
eorge!” Spencer cocked his head to one side.

“The groundskeeper, remember? He’s got a boat. Come on, we’ve got to hurry.” I pushed through the doors, hoping George would be somewhere on the grounds.

“Why don’t we spread out? We can find him faster that way.” Spencer had made his decision and was already walking in the opposite direction. “I’ll meet you back here in twenty minutes.”

“Wait, maybe Emily should go with you.” I didn’t like to think what would happen if her husband showed up. I couldn’t possibly protect her against him. Hopefully her disguise would work.

Emily went with Spencer, which I think he agreed to a little too quickly for my comfort.

My twenty minutes of searching the grounds was unfruitful. Doubts assaulted me. I hoped that Spencer and Emily had better luck than I’d had as I made my way back to our meeting place. Spencer was pacing. Alone.

“Where’s Emily? Oh no! Her husband didn’t find her, did he?”

“No. She saw him first. When we found George, we explained the situation. He didn’t need much convincing. Emily is with him. They’ve gone to the boat; they’re waiting for us.”

“Good. Her husband isn’t likely to look for her there.” Everything was happening so fast. My mind was slowly wrapping around the fact that I was hiding a woman from her husband—albeit an abusive drug dealer. I needed to do the right thing, but I hadn’t had enough time to consider what that was. Still, I managed to push that to the back of my thoughts. A bomb needed diffusing, and I’d told Hillary I would help. Strange how things had shifted from protecting loved ones to protecting complete strangers.

Spencer and I made the dreadful hike down the trail to meet Emily and George, who’d gotten a head start on us and had already powered up the boat.

After we climbed in, Spencer looked at me, concern in his eyes. “Polly, have you considered what we’ll do if and when we find them?”

The question had niggled at me since we began our search. “All we can do is try to keep another tragedy—another murder—from happening.”

Spencer stared at the island fast approaching. “And how can we do that, if, say, either one of them chooses to use a gun?”

I shook my head. “They won’t. I believe Peter killed Alec, but I don’t believe he’s a murderer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think it was a crime of passion, nothing premeditated.”

“Still, if this is the other part of a love triangle, there could be another crime of passion. We should have given this to the authorities.” He shoved both hands through his hair. “I mean,
other
authorities.”

“That’s why we’re going. To talk some sense into them. There wasn’t time to bring in another ranger. We’d have to explain everything, you know.”

It was already past seven. Darkness would close in on us before we made it back, I was certain. What was I thinking by doing this? I moved closer to George, cold wind gusting through my hair. I shivered, uncertain if it was from the physical cold or dread. “Do you have flashlights?”

“Dig around in there.” He nodded toward a small cabinet door.

I opened the door and shuffled through odds and ends. Spencer joined the hunt. We came up with two flashlights, but only one of them worked.

With an ominous expression, Spencer nodded as the boat slowed to dock. There were two boats already there. I stood up and looked at George, my hand on Emily’s shoulder. “Why don’t you and Emily stay here? If we don’t come back soon, you can go get help.”

“We’ll wait for you, but if I get a whiff of anything run amok, I’ll come looking for you.” With that, George pulled a shovel from under his feet.

I wasn’t sure how much it would help, but I hoped things wouldn’t come to that.

Spencer hopped out of the boat and held his hand out to help me. “You ready?”

“I think so.” The gravity of my decision to find Ranger Jennings and Peter finally hit me. My legs trembled. “Which way should we go?”

“Considering he brings the college-age volunteers here, which seems a strange thing to me, we might try looking for them first.” Spencer rushed up the boarded walkway to the path.

He’d pointed out the obvious. He stopped, and I almost bumped into him.

He turned to face me, grabbing my arms. “Listen, Polly. It’s not too late to go back. You don’t have to do this.”

“At this point, Spencer, if we turn back and something happens…” I shook my head as images flooded my mind. “I could never forgive myself.”

“But something could happen to you, Polly.” He peered into my eyes, emotion flooding his gaze. “I’m a fool to have allowed you to investigate to begin with.”

Afraid he would convince me, I pushed past him, freeing myself from his arms. “But you couldn’t have stopped me.”

“No. That’s why I asked to be included. You need to let me do the talking tonight, all right?”

Despite the weighted cloud of fear beginning to oppress me, a small grin slid onto my lips. Spencer, my knight in shining armor. He wanted to protect me. I hoped he wouldn’t have to.

Fire flickered through the trees, accompanied by the smell of smoke and the sound of jovial voices. Was I asking too much to find both men there? We broke through the trees. Seven or eight twenty-somethings, mostly guys, stood around the fire. A couple of girls huddled on a fallen tree. All of them, sipping from cups. The scene brought back memories. Considering the clutter usually left behind after such get-togethers, I questioned whether this was a sanctioned event. But maybe the summer volunteers were allowed this one deviation. And maybe that’s why Peter brought them—to oversee the activity and make sure things didn’t get out of hand.