Chapter 47
“You’re unstoppable,” Jasper said with a sigh as he leaned back against the pillar next to me, as we watched the lobby of the ice rink roar to life with people and excitement.
The charity game was officially in motion, even if it looked a little different than it was supposed to. In a way, I was pretty sure the team change-up brought more people to the rink in the end. Cedar Bluff loved a good scandal.
“I couldn’t have done this without you,” I said, leaning my head on my best friend’s shoulder and taking it all in. “Honestly, Jasper. I don’t know where I would be without you.”
“Well, lucky for you then, you’re never going to find out.” He rested his head on mine with a sigh. “However, if you plan another charity event in the next six months, I will quit Honey good, hardworking people like we all were, just forced out and left with no option but to start over somewhere new.
That same anger I’d felt when I faced down those women attacking Rhea’s character in the grocery store built in my gut again, and I knew I had to try to help. “Show me the names.”
Samantha pulled a file out of her bag and flipped through some pages before turning it to face us. “There is a total of six names that somehow or another were cross-referenced between two or more towns affected. But as far as Anastasia and I can tell, none of them match anyone here in Cedar Bluff.”
I skimmed the names with Jasper leaning over my shoulder to read them as well, hoping one would stick out and make the connection we needed.
But none did. Not a single name rang any bells.
“What happens if we can’t connect anyone to Cedar Bluff?” Jasper asked when Samantha took back the paper, disappointment on her face.
“Then there is no case against Bakewell for your community.”
“No justice, you mean.” I whispered, angry at the prospect of Cedar Bluff not getting the closure we all craved.
Samantha shrugged sadly, “It seems like Anastasia has enough to get them for some of the other towns at least, but it won’t connect all seventeen if we can’t find a link here.”
“Damnit.” I cursed, turning away and pinching my forehead as I tried to figure something out.
“What if they changed their names?” Jasper asked, drawing me back in. “I mean, why would a criminal keep the same alias in all of these situations?”
“Could that be?” I asked, walking back up. “Is there some other way to track them?”
“Um,” Samantha paused to think and then shuffled through her papers quickly. “I have photos!”
“Show us!” I all but ripped the papers from her hands when she flipped to a sheet of pictures, some from driver license’s, some from other forms of official IDs. All of the names matched the list she had shown us originally, but I still scanned all the faces.
My heart fell into my stomach the second I got to the last photo on the list.
“Oh, my God.” Jasper gasped, gripping my arm. “No way!”
“Who?” Samantha crowded in on my other side, looking at who we were staring at. “Who do you recognize?”
“Him.” I pointed to the face of a man I despised more than I liked to admit out loud. “Chief Tolbert.”
Rhea’s Chief, the man who ran the entire fire department for Cedar Bluff, was on the page. “But the name is different.” Jasper said, “He changed his name?”
“James Walker.” I read the government ID his picture was attached to, “But his name is Daniel Tolbert.”