PART 5
The waitress from the diner.
Her apron was gone.
Her hands were shaking.
Her face was pale.
Sheriff Miller stood so fast his chair scraped the floor.
“What are you doing here?”
Marlene flinched.
“I brought the night deposit from the diner,” she said.
“You could’ve left it up front.”
Her eyes flicked to me.
Just once.
“I know.”
The room changed.
I saw it.
Miller saw it too.
He walked toward her slowly.
“Marlene, you’ve got a son at West Texas State, don’t you?”
Her lips trembled.
“Yes.”
“Be a shame if he got pulled into something ugly because his mama forgot how to mind her business.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
For one second, I thought she would speak.
Instead, she lowered her head.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
And left.
Miller turned back to me, smug again.
“See? That’s how town works. People know when to stay quiet.”
I looked at the closed door.
“No,” I said. “That’s how fear works.”
Henson laughed.
“You got a speech for everything?”
“Not everything.”
I looked at the clock.
11:38 p.m.
Twenty-two minutes until midnight.
Miller followed my gaze.
“You waiting for someone?”
I met his eyes.
“Yes.”
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
Then the front door opened.
Voices came from the lobby.
Deputy Ellis said, “Ma’am, you can’t—”
Marlene’s voice cut through.
“Yes, I can.”
The door opened again.
May you like
Marlene walked back in holding a small black flash drive between two fingers.
Sheriff Miller’s face turned gray.
