Chapter 3
Evie felt Cam tense at the news. It was what she’d expected, having seen the scrap of Skye’s favorite top for herself, but hearing Rueger confirm the truth about the bones Bruno had found was devastating.
Had her friend really been buried in the nature preserve for the past fourteen years? It seemed inconceivable. Yet nothing else made sense.
“Ask your questions,” Cam said in a tight voice. “I didn’t hurt Skye.”
Rueger glanced at her. “I’m going to ask you to wait outside. I need to interview Cameron Walker alone.”
She frowned, glancing at Cam. “But you told us to come in together.”
“I know.” A flash of impatience crossed the detective’s features. “But that was to share the news with you. Now I need to speak with Cameron alone.”
“Fine.” Evie stood and moved toward the door. Bruno followed her as she left the interrogation room. She shot Cam one last look before closing the door behind her.
The plastic chair in the hallway was far from comfortable. Imagining what Cam was going through was troubling. She stood and paced, unable to sit still. Bruno stretched out on the floor, his dark intelligent gaze following her.
The interview took longer than she’d imagined. But finally the door opened. Cam stood there, his expression inscrutable. The only good news as far as she could see was that Cam wasn’t handcuffed. “Your turn.”
She nodded, stepping back to make room for him to exit. “Come, Bruno.”
Detective Rueger held her gaze as she sat in Cam’s vacant chair. “I see from my notes that you were good friends with Skye.”
“We were, yes.” She had to work hard not to shift uncomfortably under his intense scrutiny. She rested her hand on Bruno’s head to remain calm.
“Did you see her the night before Skye allegedly left town?” Rueger asked.
“No. I—” she abruptly stopped. The general rule of police interviews was to only answer questions that were asked. Not to volunteer information.
“What were you doing that night?” Rueger asked. “The night before Skye’s disappearance?”
“I was down at the lakeshore.” She narrowed her gaze. “I told you that. We worked twelve-hour days during the summer. When the sun went down, we stayed for a bonfire.”
“To be clear, you didn’t see Skye at all prior to her disappearance.”
She almost agreed, then caught herself. “No, that’s not correct. I’m pretty sure I told you that I saw Skye at lunchtime the day before she was supposed to leave town to visit her mother. She was down at the lakeshore while Cam and I were working our lifeguard shift.”
“Did you witness the argument between Skye and Cameron?”
That question caught her off guard. The issue of an argument hadn’t come up before. At least, not that she could remember. “No. I didn’t see them argue. Cam bought hot dogs for their lunch. He bought one for me, too, and the three of us ate together. They appeared to be fine.”
Rueger didn’t make any notes as they spoke, which concerned her. Had the detective already made up his mind? He held her gaze. “To be clear, the last time you saw Skye was at lunch the day before she was allegedly heading to Grand Rapids.”
Her temper flared. “Skye told me she was driving to Grand Rapids early the following morning to spend the week with her mother. That was her plan, there’s nothing alleged about it. She left the lakefront after having lunch with Cam, and I never saw her again.”
“And you didn’t see or hear about an argument between Skye and Cameron?”
That he kept pressing the issue bothered her.
She frantically thought back to that summer day.
Had Cam and Skye argued? She hadn’t paid much attention to them after they’d eaten their hot dogs because her job was to watch the people swimming to make sure nobody drowned.
“No. I don’t know anything about an argument. ”
“Did Cameron lose his temper often?”
“I never saw him lose his temper.” As the comment left her mouth, a memory flashed in her mind.
Cam had jumped down from his lifeguard stand when one of the football players, Dan Johnson, had forcibly dragged his girlfriend into the water against her will.
The fear in Tammy’s eyes was real, and Cam had quickly intervened, pulling Tammy to safety, then roughly shoving Dan to the ground.
Dan had jumped up and swung at Cam, who’d ducked to avoid the blow, but then had buried his fist in Dan’s gut.
Dan doubled over and puked up his lunch.
Others had joined into the fray, and the scuffle had ended without bloodshed.
Dan stalked off, and Tammy had broken up with him.
“That’s not true, Evie.” Rueger keen gaze seemed to read her thoughts. “Cameron got into a physical altercation while working as a lifeguard two days before Skye went missing. I heard all about the fight.”
“Dan Johnson deserved to be punched in the stomach. He was a bully who was forcing his girlfriend to go into the water. We both knew Tammy wasn’t a strong swimmer.” She lifted her chin. “Other than that isolated incident, I never saw Cam lose his temper.”
“Skye didn’t confide in you about Cam’s decision to break up with her?” Rueger asked.
“What? No.” Again, her thoughts whirled. She’d never heard about an argument between them, much less a breakup. “Why would Cam buy Skye lunch if they were breaking up?”
“He bought you lunch too.” Rawlings spread his hands wide. “Maybe Skye was jealous of the two of you working together every day.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Her throat was dry, and for the first time, she wondered where Rueger was getting his information. Certainly not from Skye. Had Cam told him about Skye’s jealousy? Or had someone else? No, that was impossible.
Evie had kept her attraction for Cam well hidden.
He was tall, dark, and handsome—and dating her best friend.
Sure, they’d joined forces after Skye’s disappearance, but she’d kept her feelings locked away.
So much so that she’d completely forgotten her high school crush after she’d moved to Grand Rapids to attend college while Cam had joined the army.
They’d gone their separate ways, and that was that.
Until now.
“Skye wasn’t jealous.” Evie kept her tone even with an effort. “Cam never cheated on her as far as I know.”
Rueger didn’t say anything for a long moment.
She resisted the urge to squirm, but Bruno must have picked up on her unease, as he kept looking up at her.
Curling her fingers into his thick fur helped keep her grounded.
She was starting to resent Rueger for his pointed questions now, tonight, after ignoring their concern fourteen years ago.
“What about Skye? Did she cheat on Cameron? Maybe that was the real reason they argued that night.”
“If Skye had cheated, she never confided in me.” Evie forced herself to meet Rueger’s gaze. “I don’t believe Cam would ever hurt Skye.”
Again, a long silence stretched between them. When she thought she might scream with frustration, Rueger glanced at his notes, then turned his attention back to her. “If Cam didn’t hurt Skye, who did?”
“I don’t know.” She leaned forward. “I swear, I don’t know.
Don’t you remember how Cam and I kept stopping in after Skye’s disappearance?
We told you she wouldn’t take off without telling us.
You thought she left of her own accord, but now we know that’s not the case.
If you’d have listened to us back then, you might have found her sooner. ”
Rueger eyes narrowed with anger. “And maybe Cameron was only pushing the issue to appear innocent.” He glared at her. “You’d best be careful about spending time with Cameron Walker, Ms. Tobin. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
Evie couldn’t suppress a shiver. Something bad had already happened.
“The gunfire at my mother’s house is likely a part of this.
Maybe you should be looking into who tried to kill me.
Cam was right beside me, so it wasn’t him.
” She abruptly stood. “Have you considered the possibility the same person who shot at me killed Skye?”
When he didn’t answer, she decided she’d had enough. “Come, Bruno.”
Rueger didn’t stop her as she left the interrogation room. Cam had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He abruptly straightened when she emerged.
“Let’s get out of here.” His voice was a low growl. No doubt, his interview had been worse than hers.
They didn’t speak until they were settled in her SUV with Bruno in the back crate area. She glanced at him as she left the police station parking lot. “I’m sorry, Cam. I feel like this is my fault.” Her gaze darted to Bruno. “Well, Bruno’s fault since he found the bone.”
He shrugged, his expression seeming to have been carved from stone. “It’s better to know the truth. Too bad, I don’t think Rueger is as interested in uncovering the truth as he is in finding me guilty.”
She reached over to touch his knee. “He’s just mad because he was wrong all those years ago. We kept telling him that Skye didn’t leave without saying anything to us. Now he’s faced with a fourteen-year-old cold case because he didn’t listen.”
Cam stared straight ahead. “I won’t blame you for moving into your own room, rather than sharing the suite.”
“You didn’t hurt Skye.” She tightened her fingers on his knee. “The person who shot at my house did. He’s the one Rueger needs to be looking for.”
He covered her hand with his for a moment, then released her.
He cleared his throat, finally seeming to relax a bit.
“Thanks for that. And I tried to tell Rueger the same thing. I pointed out that I came back to Grand Haven voluntarily. That I want to know who was responsible for hurting Skye all those years ago as much as he does.” There was another pause, before he added, “Maybe more.”
“He seems fixated on some argument you had with Skye.” She glanced at him. “I told him I didn’t know anything about a disagreement between the two of you.”
“It’s true, we did argue.” Cam grimaced. “It wasn’t that big of a deal, not the way he’s making it out to be.”