Black Water by Rosemary McCracken

Author:Rosemary McCracken
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, crime, suspense, murder, mystery, family saga, fraud, women sleuth, financial crime, white collar crime
Publisher: Rosemary McCracken

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Kerry’s Jeep had disappeared into the night when I pulled onto Highway 123. I drove into Braeloch and dropped Bruce off at the rectory. Then I turned the Volvo around and drove back to the highway.

“So?” I asked when we picked up speed outside of town.

“You can trust me,” I said when Tracy didn’t answer. I made a zipping motion across my mouth. “My lips are sealed.”

“I know, Mom, but…” She leaned back and fell silent.

The sky was studded with stars, and I hoped that meant we wouldn’t have to wait for Hank and his plow the next morning. I smiled, thinking that the weather doesn’t affect us nearly as much in the city.

Tracy slipped a CD from her handbag into the player, and the voice of k.d. lang crooning “Constant Craving” flooded the car. I turned the volume down.

“Mom!”

“What did Ruby have to say?”

She sighed. “All right. I promised, but I suppose I can tell you.” She paused. “Ruby said Jamie’s okay, that we should let her lie low for a while.”

“What else? You were gone a long time. You didn’t happen to see Jamie when you went outside?”

“No, I didn’t.”

I wasn’t sure whether I believed her, but I decided not to argue the point. “Did Ruby tell you why she’s lying low?”

Tracy said nothing for a few moments.

“Come on.”

“Jamie’s working on something.”

“She’s working on whatever Lyle told her in his letter. What was it?”

“Ruby wouldn’t say.”

Again, I wasn’t sure that she was telling me the truth. “And Foster? What did he want?”

“The usual. Where is she? Why hasn’t she contacted him?”

“Why did Ruby come to see you tonight? Jamie left you a message.”

Glancing at her, I saw I had her full attention.

“What message?”

We passed the Legion. Judging from all the vehicles in the parking lot, the party appeared to be still in full swing. I told Tracy what Bruce had said.

“Hmm. I guess she doesn’t want us to go back to her friends’ house.”

“That’s where she’s staying?”

“I think so, although Ruby didn’t come out and say it.”

I pointed out the Critchley place as we drove by it. The driveway gate was closed and crime scene tape was still strung over it.

“Jamie came here the day Lyle was killed?” Tracy asked.

“Someone with Jamie’s color of hair was seen on the property. Someone who was driving a Honda Civic.”

The next stretch of highway passed Glencairn Conservation Park, fifty acres of hiking trails through forest and around wetlands. We had just passed the park’s entrance when I saw a set of headlights in my rearview mirror. The vehicle—with its brights on, I couldn’t tell if it was a car, a SUV or a pickup—must have pulled out of the park’s driveway. It picked up speed and, in seconds, it was bearing down on us.

“Jesus! What’s that guy doing?” Tracy cried.

“I don’t know,” I said, gripping the steering wheels.

The vehicle bumped our rear fender. I pressed down on the gas pedal.

Seconds later, the Volvo was shimmying and sliding on the road. Black ice! I lifted my foot and remembered what I’d heard about driving on black ice.

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