The Shadows We Hide by Allen Eskens

Author:Allen Eskens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: None
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2018-11-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

I could have sworn that I saw Mr. Lynch lick his lips as he considered my proposition. A good sign, I thought. It was a simple plan, really. First, pique Dad’s interest with the promise that my involvement could help get justice for his son. I may have overstated my clout on that point, but Moody was a fugitive from justice, wanted for murder; his options were somewhat limited. If I could convince Papa Lynch that my offer had value, he would convince Moody.

Now all that I had to do was sit back and wait for the call, and maybe work on my spiel to get Moody to surrender. I’d tell him that an innocent man doesn’t run. If he didn’t kill Toke, he should quit hiding and let the truth set him free. Those words sounded far loftier than what I really wanted to say, which was, “Stop dragging this thing out. Step into the light and let the chips fall where they may.” Because deep down, I think that my crusade had less to do with seeking justice for Moody Lynch and more to do with clearing a path for what I wanted.

I got back to town, satisfied with how things played out with Moody’s father and still well before Jeremy’s movie should have finished. As I pulled into the motel parking lot, I gave myself an attaboy for my good timing. Then I saw the door to my motel room standing ajar. I parked and ran into the room. The movie was still playing on my computer, but Jeremy wasn’t there. I ran to the bathroom. Empty. The room squeezed in around me. “Jeremy!” I yelled. No answer.

I raced outside, looking in every direction. Nothing. “Jeremy!” And then to myself, “Oh, fuck!”

I ran to the motel office. The door was open, but there was no clerk behind the desk. I looked for a bell to ring, and not seeing one, I yelled. “Hey! Hey, is there anyone here?”

Through a door behind the reception desk I could hear movement.

“Excuse me! I need help!”

More movement. Then the woman who had checked me in the first day came sauntering out of the office. “Yes?”

“Did you see my brother?”

“Your brother?”

“Yeah. Tall. Blond hair.”

“I think I saw him in the parking lot about…oh, maybe an hour ago. He was talking to that guy from room nine.”

“Charlie Talbert? He was talking to Charlie in the parking lot?”

“I don’t know the guy’s name, but he drives that red Lexus.”

I darted out the door, my eyes scanning the landscape; Charlie’s car nowhere in sight. I jumped into my car and fired it up. I should never have left him alone, not with Charlie in the area. I knew that when I did it. What the hell was I thinking?

I drove to the Sheriff’s Office, my car skidding into a parking space in front. I was about to charge in and report my brother missing or maybe kidnapped when I saw the red Lexus, parked halfway down the block in front of a redbrick building.

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