‘He was just a contractor. Came into town looking for some temporary work. Nothing more.’
‘So he’s out of town?’
Bernie nodded. ‘He left almost straight away, I’m sorry to say. Did he tell you he’d be here?’
‘He said he’d be around.’
‘Well, I haven’t seen him for weeks.’
‘What about Miles Price?’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Miles Price. He’s another friend of mine. Did he conveniently happen to leave a few weeks ago as well?’
Bernie coughed and laughed sardonically, a bad attempt to dissipate the tension in the room. ‘Give me a moment to just check my files. I’m not up to speed with everyone who works for this company.’
‘That’s a shame. You should be.’
Bernie shot him a glance, then pulled out his phone and flicked at the screen. He used over-the-top gestures, to make it look like he was scrolling through notes. Another poor performance. King had seen a lot better in his time. Sweat broke out across the man’s brow. A thin droplet ran down his forehead.
‘Ah yes, here we are,’ Bernie said. ‘Miles Price! He only worked here for a couple of days. Even less than David. That was weeks ago also. I’m afraid you’ve missed both of them. Are you able to contact them?’
‘No.’
‘You don’t have their numbers?’
‘I have their numbers.’
Bernie cocked his head.
‘I think you know why I’m not able to contact them, Bernie,’ King said.
‘I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t say I follow.’
‘I think you know they’re dead.’
He feigned surprise. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘I think you’re in on this whole thing.’
‘What whole thing?’
‘You know exactly what’s going on. You’ve done a shit job of covering it up, too. So you’re going to tell me the truth; you’re going to tell me everything you know about why Miles and David are dead, and who bought this place a month ago, and why people are trying to kill me, and what exactly is going on behind closed doors.’
Bernie shook his head. ‘I’m afraid you’re awfully mistaken, Jason. You must think I’m someone I’m not.’
‘Oh, I don’t think you’re behind this. You’re sweating and shaking. You’re shitting your pants. This isn’t your gig. But someone is paying you to keep quiet, or use your facility. You need to let me help you, or you’re just going to end up the same way everyone in this town is ending up at the moment.’
‘I beg your pardon,’ Bernie said. ‘Was that a threat on my life?’
‘Not from me. But I can pretend you talked.’
Kate said, ‘We know enough already.’
King said, ‘They’ll kill you slowly if they think you divulged important information.’
Bernie scoffed and rose out of his chair. ‘I think we’re done here. You seem delusional, Jason. And as for you—‘ he turned to Kate, ‘—I don’t know why you’re hanging around with this lunatic. Surely you have better things to do.’
King got up slowly and took a step toward the door. Putting his bulk in between Bernie’s means of escape. Making sure he couldn’t take off running. ‘I’m just about done with all this stalling.’
‘I’m just about done with your ludicrous accusations,’ Bernie said.
Movement behind them. From the reception area. Hurried footsteps, urgent. King’s reflexes kicked in and he spun rapidly, ready to explode, primed for combat.
He didn’t expect to see another pair of familiar faces. Guns up. In uniform.
Kitchener and Dawes.
The trio recognised each other simultaneously. Dawes nodded a greeting, despite the tense circumstances.
‘Been a while, King,’ he said.
‘What the hell’s going on?’ King said. ‘Are you two in on this?’
They both looked confused.
‘In on what?’ Kitchener said. ‘Someone just called us reporting an aggressive visitor. Guess that’s you.’
‘I told my receptionist to call,’ Bernie said.
‘We’ve only been here minutes,’ King said. ‘You must have done that before you came out to greet us. So you know who I am.’
‘Enough with your assumptions!’ Bernie said, raising his voice now that figures of authority were present. Now that the risk of violence had dissipated. He stepped in front of King and approached the two police officers. ‘This man is insane. He’s accusing me and my co-workers of some kind of conspiracy. Please get him out of here.’
Suddenly Kate perked up, talking to Kitchener. ‘You need to listen to us. It’s—’
The female officer raised a hand, cutting her off. ‘Right now, it’s best if we just take you both to the station. We’ll sort everything out there.’
‘But—’
King made eye contact with Kate. He knew it would do no good to cause a scene here. ‘At the station, Kate. We don’t have a choice.’
Dawes grabbed him by the arm and led him back through reception to the parking lot. He saw their police sedan parked next to Billy’s. He was forced into the back seat, and Kate ducked in beside him. The doors slammed on either side of them. King watched the pair of officers approach Bernie and speak to him, their mannerisms calm. Bernie nodded along, playing the victim. Tears appeared in his eyes.
‘Piece of shit,’ King muttered under his breath.
‘Surely those two know something’s afoot,’ Kate said. ‘Didn’t you break out of their station yesterday?’
‘They know. But they’re not going to discuss it in front of him. At least, I hope that’s what’s happening.’
The pair walked back to the car. They opened the front seat doors. They got in. Kitchener turned in her seat and faced King. ‘You’d better have some answers.’
He started to speak, but she held up a hand to stop him. ‘Save it for the station. We’ve had a lot of shit to deal with lately. Let’s just have some quiet for a while.’
Dawes drove them out of the industrial zone, beginning the short trip back to Jameson. It seemed that whatever he did, wherever he went, King was unable to escape the pull of such a small town. He feared he’d never leave it alive.
CHAPTER 26
As they trawled back through the town, King noticed much of the road in front of Yvonne’s motel cordoned off. A forensic team scoured the crime scene. They’d hid the imposter’s mangled body from view, obscuring it with a tarpaulin sheet. It seemed like half of Jameson had come down to check out the scene. He guessed it would be the talk of the town for months, if not years, to come.
‘I’m guessing this was you,’ Kitchener said, pointing a finger in the direction of the commotion.
King shook his head. ‘No idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh, I’m sure.’
They carried on. As King stared out the window, he decided he’d seen enough trees for one lifetime. When he got out of here — if he got out of here — he would make a change of scenery as soon as humanly possible. Another forest would drive him insane.
They pulled into the Jameson Police Department. He and Kate were led through into a different room than the one he’d last been held in, this one much larger, much more open. A floor-to-ceiling window faced out onto the front yard. King noticed Dawes and Kitchener’s relaxed attitudes. There were no handcuffs. No hostility.
They sat down opposite him, and Dawes took a deep breath, as if releasing all the tension of the past twenty-four hours.
‘Let’s start from where we left off,’ he said.
‘I broke out,’ King said.
‘We know.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘We know that also. It seems like you’re doing the right thing, at least.’
Kitchener pointed at Kate. ‘How’d you get her wrapped up in all this?’