I stood a few feet away, unable to breathe.
Carl had said Lucas was gone.
Evelyn had believed he fell into the lake.
Daniel and Thomas had believed the same.
Yet Lucas had been beneath Lenora’s house.
“How?” Daniel asked.
Lucas looked toward the open door.
“Close it.”
One investigator objected, but Daniel explained that Lucas might have evidence essential to the case. The officers allowed us privacy while a camera continued recording from the doorway.
Lucas drank water before speaking.
His voice was rough from disuse.
“The night of the boat f/i/re, Lenora’s men pulled me from the water.”
Evelyn gripped his hand.
“I saw you fall.”
“I thought you were still on the boat.”
“I escaped through the rear hatch.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“All these years.”
“Why were you here?” I asked.
My voice caused him to turn.
He studied me with an expression that made my heart ache.
