Free In This Town by Beth Andrews Page B

saying that because your instincts and the facts are
telling you she’s innocent? Or because you’re sleeping with her?”
    “I’m saying it as a cop with fifteen years’ experience.”
    “But you’re still not sure Dale York was guilty of the
murder.”
    “I had some questions,” Taylor admitted slowly. “Such as where
Mr. York spent the past eighteen years, why he disappeared off the face of the
earth. Why he came back if he was guilty.”
    Walker had those questions, too, especially the one about York
returning to town. He’d told the police he’d been out of the country and when he
heard that he was wanted for questioning regarding his lover’s death, he’d
sauntered into Mystic Point as if he’d done nothing wrong.
    Walker suspected York returned to Mystic Point because he knew
the police didn’t have any evidence against him pertaining to Valerie Sullivan’s
murder. With no evidence, there was no reason for him not to cooperate with the
police.
    But that didn’t mean he wasn’t guilty.
    “I don’t think Dale returned to Mystic Point just to cooperate
with the investigation,” Taylor continued. “He knew he was safe coming back
here, and we couldn’t get him to break on his story that he’d gone to the quarry
to meet with Valerie as planned but she never showed. He ditched his car there
and took a bus out of town. So why did he leave if he didn’t kill her? And what
was the real reason he came back?” He nodded at the envelope. “I’m guessing
something in there will lead to the answers to those questions.”
    “Or more questions.” Nothing new there. Oftentimes when one
layer of truth was peeled away, another truth was revealed. Or another lie.
    “Valerie Sullivan disappeared September 20, 1994,” Taylor
said.
    “I’m well aware of—”
    “Check the date when that bank account was opened. And the
amount deposited.”
    Walker flipped through the pages then used his finger to trace
the lines until he found the date. September 19, 1994. He whistled under his
breath. “Where the hell did a small-time convict like York get a half a million
dollars?”
    “That’s what you need to figure out. Once you do, I have a
feeling, you’ll find out who killed him.” Taylor put his sunglasses back on.
“And who really killed Valerie Sullivan.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    T ORI WIGGLED HER hips to the synthesized
song playing through her headphones, did a little shoulder shake that
undoubtedly looked better in her imagination than reality, but what the hell? It
was hard to worry about smooth moves when Beyonce sang about girls running the
world.
    Amen, sister. They didn’t need no stinkin’
men.
    If she felt the slightest twinge of guilt for the thought when
her son was in his bedroom, no one had to know but her.
    Doing a two-step shuffle, Tori added a package of ground beef
to the hot pan on the stove. She loved her son and in general liked men just
fine. They came in very handy for certain tasks including, but not limited to,
rodent disposal, unclogging drains and lawn maintenance.
    Yeah, yeah. She was more than capable of taking care of all of
that on her own. Being raised by Layne, the original self-sufficient,
hear-me-roar-while-I-burn-my-bra woman, Tori had no choice but to learn how to
take care of herself.
    And she did. But some tasks were better suited to the male of
their species.
    Hey, she may be empowered and independent and blah, blah, blah,
but that didn’t mean she had any desire to get within ten feet of a mouse. She
didn’t care how dead it was.
    She stirred the meat. Tapped the spoon against the side of the
pan then went back to dancing. God knew she was better off on her own. She’d
gotten so tired of always wondering, worrying if she was good enough for Greg.
If she was making him happy.
    The answers to the above were resounding hell nos . Followed by the realization that if she didn’t get free
from Greg, from his adoration and expectations, she’d do worse, much worse, than
make