Page 122 of Jack

She gave him a bleak smile and slid out. He’d found a canvas jacket for himself in his car, making her wear his parka, which hung on her, the arms dangling. She joined him in the bath of headlights as Sheriff Davidson knocked on the door.

No answer, and one of his deputies handed him a phone. He nodded, then handed it back and proceeded to attack the door with a door jack.

“S’pose that was a judge, issuing a warrant?” Harper asked.

“Or Tallulah, giving her permission,” Jack said. “I find that people are pretty willing to help when they think someone is in trouble.”

The door swung open, and Harper drew in her breath as the sheriff went inside.

He emerged, shaking his head. Came over to them. “Empty. And now the county owes Tallulah a new door.”

Jack gave him a grim look.

“She’s not here, Jack. And it’s cold out.” Davidson walked to his car.

Jack didn’t move.

“Jack?”

He looked at Harper. “I just . . .” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Harper. I thought I could find her.”

She stepped close and put her floppy-coat arms around him. The night whisked up wind and snow around them.

Sheriff Davidson had already started back to the frozen shoreline, and as she and Jack got into the Geo and Jack turned around, she spotted the searchers headed for their cars.

Not like this.

“This isn’t . . .” She looked at Jack. “Stop.”

He obeyed, put the car into Park.

“Why would Walsh try to kill Tommy if Penelope was dead?”

“Maybe he thought Tommy could identify him?”

“No. Tommy already gave his statement to the police. However, he did leave out a break-in and stolen laptop a couple weeks earlier. Penelope knew about it. So maybe he thought she’d found something on the laptop. Maybe from her conversation with Kyle. Maybe something else, but Walsh was looking for it, or looking forher. That’s why he tracked down Tommy. Because he knew Tommy was sweet on Sarah, would protect her.” Her breath caught. “He asked me who I was.”

“What?”

“In the car—I think he thought I was Penelope. At first—and then, yes. He didn’t expect me to be there. He expected Penny.”

“Which means she’s still alive.”

A beat as his words settled. “Maybe she got away that night, took off. And he thought she went to Tommy?”

Jack nodded. “Okay, let’s what-if,” he said. “I’ll start. How did she survive?”

“What if she got away?” Harper said. “We know she was in the car with Ty, saw him get shot. What if she got out, ran away?”

“But that was at the Duck Lake dock.”

“Maybe she’d gotten all the way to the Motor Lodge.”

“Sure. Kyle was already going to kill her, leave her body there.”

“So he what—hits her? Because he can’t kill her in the Motor Lodge parking lot. Too many lights.”

“He gets his car, runs her down.”