Chương 8
“A photograph is intimidation, but it does not tell us what he intends to do next.”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
The bluntness stopped her.
Rusk continued.
“I want screenshots of every message, including timestamps, and I want them preserved somewhere other than that phone.”
Logan opened his old device.
“I can photograph the screen.”
“Do that for now.”
Amelia held her phone flat on the kitchen table while Logan captured each message.
He photographed the sender information, the full thread, and the time displayed at the top.
His hands stayed steady.
Amelia watched them.
“You really are different,” she said.
Logan looked up.
“What?”
“At the diner, you looked humiliated.”
“I was.”
“Now you look like nothing touches you.”
“That isn’t what’s happening.”
“It looks like it.”
He lowered the phone.
“Looking calm and being calm aren’t the same thing.”
She searched his face for a second.
Then the landline rang.
Both of them turned toward it.
Nobody called that number except telemarketers, Amelia’s mother, and the pharmacy when prescriptions were ready.
Rusk said, “Let it ring once.”
It rang again.
Logan picked up.
“Hello?”
A man breathed once on the other end.
Then Nora said, “Logan?”
He felt the tension in his shoulders ease by one degree.
“Yes.”
“I closed early.”
Amelia moved beside him.
“Are you okay?”
Nora hesitated.
“For a woman who just told three truckers their pie was going into boxes whether they liked it or not.”
“What happened?”
“Deputy Krall came in.”
Logan put the call on speaker.
“What did he want?”
“Coffee first.”
“That all?”
“No.”
Nora sounded offended by the question.
“He drank half of it and asked whether Amelia had been in recently.”
“What did you say?”
“That she had lunch there today.”
“Anything else?”
“He asked whether she left anything.”
Amelia gripped the back of a chair.
“What did you tell him?”
“That people leave things every day.”
“Nora.”
“That is true.”
Logan almost smiled.
“Did he ask about an envelope?”
“Eventually.”
The room tightened again.
“What exactly did he say?”
“He said, ‘If Amelia Mercer left paperwork here, the sheriff needs it.’”
Rusk spoke for the first time.
“Ms. Bell, this is attorney Daniel Rusk.”
Nora went silent.
Then she said, “Well, that sounds expensive.”
“It can be.”
“Are you Logan’s lawyer?”
“Provisionally.”
“That sounds even more expensive.”
Rusk ignored the remark.
“Did Deputy Krall claim to have a warrant?”
“No.”
“Did he order you to produce anything?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten you?”
Nora paused.
“Not in words.”
“What did he do?”
“He leaned on my counter.”
Amelia frowned.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Nora’s voice changed.
“He mentioned my grandson.”
Logan stood straighter.
“How?”
“Said he hoped Tyler was doing better after the trouble last spring.”
“What trouble?”
“He got caught with marijuana in his truck.”
Nora sounded embarrassed.
“He’s nineteen and stupid.”
Rusk asked, “Was he charged?”
“No.”
“Who handled it?”
“Krall.”
That was not nothing.
Logan looked at Amelia.
She had heard it too.
“Then what?” he asked.
“Nora, tell me exactly.”
“He said boys make mistakes and sometimes good judgment from law enforcement keeps mistakes from becoming records.”
Rusk said, “Did he connect that to the envelope?”
“No.”
“Did he have to?”
Nora asked.
Rusk was quiet for half a second.
“No.”
Nora continued.
“He finished his coffee, left three dollars, and told me to have a nice night.”
“Where is the envelope now?”
Logan asked.
“I’m not telling you over the phone.”
“Good.”
“And before you ask, I’m not staying at the diner.”
“Where are you going?”
“Also not telling you.”
Logan felt a flicker of relief.
“Nora, do you have somewhere safe?”
“Yes.”
“Someone with you?”
“Yes.”
Rusk said, “Ms. Bell, I’d like permission to give your number to an investigator working with my office.”
“What investigator?”
“Former state investigator.”
“No offense, counselor, but I’ve met enough officials for one day.”
“That is a reasonable position.”
Nora softened slightly.
“If I change my mind, I’ll call Logan.”
Rusk said, “Fair.”
Nora added, “And somebody better come fix my security recorder before morning.”
Logan glanced at the clock.
“Don’t go back alone.”
“I’ve owned that diner longer than you’ve lived in this county.”
“That doesn’t make you bulletproof.”
The words came out harder than he intended.
Silence followed.
Nora finally said, “No.”
Her voice had lost its dry edge.
“It doesn’t.”
Logan closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
Nora sighed.
“I’ll stay away tonight.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t make me regret helping your wife.”
Amelia stepped closer to the phone.
“Nora.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
Nora did not answer immediately.
“I know you are.”
Then the line disconnected.
Amelia sat down.
Her knees seemed to give up before the rest of her.
“This is because of me.”
Logan pulled out the chair opposite her.
“This is because Vance chose to intimidate her.”
“I put the envelope there.”
“Yes.”
“So I involved her.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him sharply, maybe expecting comfort.
He did not give her a lie.
Her eyes filled again.
“I thought it was clever.”
“It wasn’t terrible.”
“That is the nicest thing you’ve said in an hour.”
“It was better than keeping it here.”
“That’s not much better.”
“No.”
Rusk cleared his throat through the speaker.
“I need both of you to hear something before guilt makes you stupid.”
Amelia looked toward the phone.
“Most retaliation cases get worse because people panic and start moving evidence, deleting messages, confronting suspects, or trying to secretly record dramatic confessions.”
Logan said, “I wasn’t planning that.”
“I’m saying it for both of you.”
Amelia folded her arms.
“What should we do?”
“Tonight, preserve what you have and stop creating new contact.”
“What about Nora’s recorder?”
“I can arrange for a licensed investigator to approach her if she agrees.”
“And the envelope?”
“Leave it where she put it.”
“What if Vance takes it?”
“Then that fact may matter.”
Amelia frowned.
“That sounds insane.”
“It sounds like law.”
May you like
Rusk’s tone remained dry.
“Evidence is not more valuable than people.”
