“Let’s go,” Donovan said.
LuAnn looked at him. “Go where?”
“You follow me in your car. I’ll be checking my rearview mirror. If I see anyone who remotely looks like they’re following us, then I pick up my cell phone and you go to prison.”
“I’m not following you anywhere.”
He leaned into her face and said quietly, “I think you might want to reconsider.”
“I don’t know who you are or what you want. You said you wanted to meet. Well, I’m here.”
Donovan looked around at the line of people making their way into the tavern. “I had in mind a little more privacy than this.”
“You picked the place.”
“That I did.” Donovan jammed his hands in his pocket and stared at her in obvious discomfort.
LuAnn broke the silence. “I’ll tell you what, we’ll go for a drive in my car.” She stared at him ominously and spoke in low tones. “But don’t try anything because if you do, I will hurt you.”
Donovan snorted for a moment and then just as quickly stopped as he stared into her eyes. An involuntary shiver swept over him. He followed her long strides to her car.
LuAnn got on Interstate 64 and put the big sedan on cruise control.
Donovan turned to her. “You know, you threatened me back there with bodily injury. Maybe you did kill that guy in the trailer.”
“I didn’t murder anyone. I didn’t do anything wrong in that trailer.”
Donovan studied her features and then looked away. When he spoke next, his tone was softer, calmer. “I didn’t spend the last several months tracking you down, LuAnn, in order to destroy your life.”
She glanced over at him. “Then what did you track me down for?”
“Tell me what did happen in that trailer.”
LuAnn shook her head in frustration and remained silent.
“I’ve dug through a lot of dirt over the years, and I can read between the lines with the best of them. I don’t believe you murdered anyone,” Donovan said. “Come on, I’m not a cop. You can check me for a wire if you want. I’ve read all the newspaper accounts. I’d like to hear your version.”
LuAnn let out a deep sigh and looked over at him. “Duane was dealing drugs. I didn’t know anything about it. I just wanted to get out of that life. I went to the trailer to tell him so. Duane was cut up very badly. A man grabbed me, tried to cut my throat. We fought. I hit him with the telephone and he died.”
Donovan looked puzzled. “You just hit him with the telephone?”
“Really hard. I guess I cracked his skull.”
Donovan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “The man didn’t die from that. He was stabbed to death.”
The BMW almost ran off the road before LuAnn regained control. LuAnn stared over at him, her eyes wide. “What?” she gasped.
“I’ve seen the autopsy reports. He did have a wound to the head, but it wasn’t fatal. He died from multiple stab wounds to his chest. No doubt about it.”
It didn’t take LuAnn long to realize the truth. Rainbow. Rainbow had killed him. And then lied to her. She shook her head. Why should that be such a big surprise, she thought. “All these years, I believed that I had killed him.”
“That’s a horrible thing to carry around inside. I’m glad I could clear your conscience on it.”
“The police can’t still be interested in all this. It’s been ten years,” LuAnn said.
“That’s where you’ve run into some incredibly bad luck. Duane Harvey’s uncle is the sheriff in Rikersville now.”
“Billy Harvey is sheriff?” LuAnn said in astonishment. “He’s one of the biggest crooks down there. He had an auto chop shop. He ran gambling in the back rooms of the bars; he was into everything you could earn a buck from illegally. Duane kept trying to get in on it, but Billy knew Duane was too stupid and unreliable. That’s probably why he ended up selling drugs over in Gwinnett.”
“I don’t doubt it. But the fact is he’s sheriff. Probably figured the best way to avoid trouble with the police was to become the police.”