“Yes. It’s good news, Bailey.” His voice shook slightly. “Dixie Jenkins is alive.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in. When they did, her knees went weak with relief. She grabbed the car door for support. “Please tell me this isn’t a joke.”
“Not a joke. She ran off and got married.”
“But her car … the way she left it—”
“Pretty crazy, right.” He searched her gaze. “You know what this means, Bailey? They’re releasing Logan. Within the hour, his lawyer said.”
With a whoop of joy, Bailey threw her arms around him. He hugged her back just as tightly. She turned to Stephanie and hugged her. “He’s coming home, Steph! I knew he didn’t do that. I knew he couldn’t!”
Stephanie hugged her back. “Go. You’ll want to be there when he walks out.”
Bailey looked at Paul. “Will you drive?”
“Of course.”
“Steph, you want to come along?”
She smiled. “Nope, there’s something I have to do. But give Logan a congratulatory hug from me.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
Thursday, April 24
5:55 P.M.
Bailey made it to the parish jail just in time to see Logan walk out of the facility, a free man.
“Logan!” she cried, and ran to him. He took her in his arms and held her, his face buried in her hair. Hers in the crook of his neck. They stood like that for a long time, aware of people passing them, of the lawyer and Paul’s stilted conversation. Of Paul’s not so subtle clearing of his throat.
They drew apart, though only inches. Bailey drank in his face. He looked like he had aged five years in the past twenty-four hours. She wondered if she did as well, although by the way he was looking at her—as if she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen—she thought not.
Paul clapped him on the back. “Glad you’re coming home, man.”
“I’m not there yet. Let’s get out of here before they change their minds.”
Logan and the attorney spoke briefly before they parted ways. Paul drove while she and Logan sat in the backseat, holding hands. Bailey had so much to tell him, but the thoughts wouldn’t form on her tongue. And she was glad. They would have time for talking, but for now she was content with the warmth of him next to her, the feel of her hand encased in his.
Paul glanced at them in the rearview. “They told you about August?”
Beside her, Logan stiffened. “Oh, yeah. With pleasure. They asked me if I knew he was an addict. I didn’t. You have any idea?”
“None.”
Bailey jumped in. “Raine knew. She said he’d struggled with drug dependency in the past. But that he was over it.”
Logan looked at her, frowning. “She never mentioned it to me.”
Paul spoke up. “Makes sense, that of us all she would have known. Birds of a feather and all that.”
Something about the way he said it felt small and unnecessary. Bailey laid her head on her husband’s shoulder.
“They asked me a lot of questions about the gun,” Logan said.
“Really?” Paul sounded surprised. “Why?”
“I don’t know. They were curious why he had it, if he was a hunter. As far as I knew the man had never hunted in his life. It didn’t seem his style at all.”
Paul agreed. “Funny how you can be friends with someone, work with them for years and not really know them at all.”
“They asked about his relationship with Henry.”
“Henry?” Paul repeated, obviously surprised. “Why?”
“Think about it. They say Henry was shot by a hunter—”
“And a hunter uses a rifle. Maybe the same kind found at August’s place?”
“No,” Bailey said. “August couldn’t hurt anyone.”
“There was something about their questioning— Never mind.”
Paul met his eyes in the rearview once more. “No, what?”
“I had the feeling they knew, or suspected, something they weren’t telling me but were wanting me to confirm.”
“Like what?”
“No clue, man.” He made a sound, part weariness, part disgust. “But that’s what cops do, try to get you to confirm their accusations, no matter how far-fetched.”
She knew he was thinking of Billy Ray and curled her fingers more tightly around his. “It’s over now.”
“For now,” he corrected. “He’s not going to stop.”
“So, let’s stop him,” she said, tipping her face up to his. “It’s an abuse of power, a personal vendetta.”
Paul agreed. “This could be the ammunition you need.”
Logan sighed, leaned his head back against the seat. “All I want to think about right now is being home and in the arms of my beautiful wife.”
At that, they fell silent. They rode the rest of the way without speaking, arriving at the farm to find Raine waiting for them.
She ran to her brother and embraced him. “Thank God … thank God … I was so afraid I’d lost you, too!”
“I’m home, Raine.” He stroked her hair while she held him and sobbed. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“No … no, maybe not. I—” She struggled to pull herself together. “There’s something I have to tell you, something I should have told you a long time ago. You might … hate me after. But I have to do it anyway. Alone. Okay?”
She meant to tell about True’s baby, Bailey realized. The abortion.
He looked over at her in question; even though her heart hurt for him and she wished she could keep it from happening, she nodded.
“We’ll be in the study,” he said.
A moment later, he and Raine disappeared into the house.
She turned to Paul. “You don’t have to stay.”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“I think so.”
She didn’t share and he looked hurt. “They may need me. I’ll hang around.”
“Raine might. Logan has me.”
“Right.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Old habits.”
“Let’s go in, the mosquitoes are starting to bite.”
It was nearly an hour before Logan and Raine emerged from the study. It was obvious they’d both been crying. Wordlessly, Paul took Raine’s hand to escort her home. She let him with a murmur of thanks and a glance back.