Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“Whispering?” Agent Norrs asked.
Kohnex nodded. “Yes, they want you protected, but there is a force after you.” He shook his head and then stopped abruptly, staring down at the wooden table. “There are actually two forces after you, Agent Snow.” He lifted his head and his pupils dilated. “You have to be very careful. It’s not just your life you need to protect.”
She barely stopped herself from reacting. “What do you mean? Please clarify.”
He shook his head. “That’s all I know, except . . .” He clasped his hands together. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way.”
He had something worse to say? Laurel studied him. “What is it?”
“There’s going to be another body found by a river.”
Laurel already knew that there would be another body if she didn’t catch this killer. “Do you know when?”
“Very soon,” he said instantly.
Agent Norrs gave her a look. Laurel nodded. They definitely needed to investigate Kohnex more deeply than they had so far. “How do you know?”
“I had a dream,” Kohnex said.
“Who is the victim?” Agent Norrs asked.
Kohnex shook his head. “I don’t know. All I see is a blond woman face down near a river.”
“Pretty much what you saw when you found Teri Bearing?” Agent Norrs grunted.
Kohnex nodded.
“Is there anything else?” Laurel asked.
“No. I just want to help. I hope you’ll let me help. Too many times, nobody does,” Kohnex said, his voice rough.
Sherry poked her head in. “Hi, a younger blond woman is out front freaking out, and the reporter from next door just ran outside.”
Laurel briefly closed her eyes. This was all she needed. “I’ll go.” She stood.
“Right,” Agent Norrs said. “Mr. Kohnex, you can stay here with me and run me through everywhere you’ve been during the last couple of weeks, minute by minute.”
Kohnex stretched his long legs out even farther, his lips turning down. “This is why I don’t like to help. Now I’m a suspect when you should be looking everywhere but at me.”
“We’ll look everywhere,” Agent Norrs said, clapping him on the shoulder. “But for now, let’s take a look at you.”
Chapter 21
Laurel tucked her gun at the back of her waist and drew on a jacket over her light sweater before walking through the office and down the stairway with the cancan girls seeming to dance next to her. She burst into the vestibule and then took a deep breath before stepping outside into the chilly, windy day.
Haylee stood next to one of the vehicles with Rachel Raprenzi holding out a microphone as a beefy camera guy recorded them.
“There she is,” Haylee yelled, spittle flying from her mouth as she pointed at Laurel. “There she is. All of this is her fault. She’s the killer. Don’t you get it? Don’t you get it?”
Laurel frowned. “Haylee, are you okay?”
The girl wore a torn sweatshirt and jeans with muddy tennis shoes. Her blond hair was partly up in a ponytail and partly falling wild around her face. Her eyes were wide and she hiccupped. “No, I’m not okay. You set up my fiancé for murder, and now he’s out free and won’t talk to me. I can’t find him. I’m sure you’ve killed him.”
Laurel cocked her head to the side. “Have you been drinking, Haylee?”
“I have to drink all the time.” The young woman threw up her hands. “You’ve ruined my life.”
Rachel pressed closer. “You said that you believe Agent Snow is a killer. Could you expand on that allegation?”
Laurel turned and faced the reporter. “Keep in mind slander laws, Ms. Raprenzi.”
“This isn’t slander,” Haylee yelled, her face turning red. “I saw you.”
“What did you see?” Rachel asked quickly.
Tears fell from Haylee’s eyes, and she wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I was there. I was out at the church. I saw her drive by. I did.”
“What are you talking about?” Laurel asked, forgetting the camera for a moment. She’d deal with that later.
Haylee shook her head wildly. “Your hair is impossible to miss, that red. I saw you.”
The cold started to seep through Laurel’s clothing to her skin. “Haylee, why don’t you come inside for an interview?”
“No,” the girl yelled. “Don’t you see? She’ll just kill me, too.”
This was becoming tedious.
Rachel stepped closer to Haylee as if trying to protect the woman, a small smile playing on her lips. “Now, Ms. Johnson, take a deep breath. We need to be careful about slander here. Without going into supposition, tell me what you saw and what you’re talking about.”
Haylee blinked. “Supposition?”
“Guessing,” Rachel said instantly. “Without guessing.”
“Oh, okay.” Haylee’s brow smoothed out. “Early Thursday morning of last week, I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been just driving around the mountains and town trying to find Jason. He was an avid camper, and so I hoped that I would come upon one of his campsites.”
“Go on,” Rachel said encouragingly.
Haylee looked at Laurel and then sidled closer to the reporter. “I drove outside the city over by the church. Jason and I used to go there once in a while, and I feel a sense of comfort there. I saw Agent Snow drive by. It was the day Mrs. Bearing’s body was found. It was still dark out.”