North Country(66)

Logan’s jaw tenses.

Another knock sounds.

Tossing his napkin to the table, he eases out of his seat and walks toward the door.

“Emery?” A tinge of hysteria laces Annie’s voice.

“There’s no need to worry. Logan did nothing wrong.” I force a smile for a woman who has earned every right to panic when the police show up at her door regarding her son. “They’re doing their job.” And I’m going to make sure Terry does it right. I leave the table, slipping on my shoes and jacket on my way after Logan.

“… speaking to anyone who was at the Bale House—”

Terry’s words cut off as I step onto the porch.

“McAllister.” His mouth hangs open a few beats. “You’re here.”

“I am. The Landrys graciously invited me to dinner.”

“You didn’t mention that earlier.”

“Didn’t I? Huh. You’re here to ask Logan if he saw anything unusual on Friday night as it relates to Holly Monroe’s disappearance, correct?” I gesture toward Logan and then lean back against the porch wall, folding my arms while I wait for him to continue.

Terry recovers quickly. “That’s right. I have a few questions about your interaction with Holly Monroe that night.”

“Yeah?” Logan peers over his shoulder at me before meeting Terry head-on. “What about it?”

“Can you tell me what happened?” He’s a different person now—calm, cordial, the eager listener.

Hoping to catch Logan in a lie.

“I went to use the washroom and when I came out, she was standing in the hall, waiting for me.”

“Why?”

“She said she wanted to apologize for throwing a rock through my window the weekend before.”

“And why’d she do that?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask her. ”

Terry cocks his head. “What else did you two talk about on Friday night?”

Logan studies him a moment—either searching for some clue that he already has the answer or to decide how honest he wants to be. “She was flirting with me—”

“In what way?”

“She stepped in close and touched my shirt. I told her I wasn’t interested, and then Emery showed up. I saw her in the parking lot with her friends when I left a little while later, and that was it. I came home.”

“Here.”

He juts his chin toward the garage. “I live there.”

“And you stayed there all night?”

“Yeah. I’m on probation and have a curfew of 10 p.m.” He smirks. “As I’m sure you know.”

Terry scribbles his notes down, casually asking, “Can anyone corroborate that?”

“That I have a curfew?”

“That you were home all night for it.”

Logan stares at him.

Meanwhile, my heart is racing. Yes, he has an alibi and I’m it. “I told you, I was home all night.” His irritation grows in his tone.

“I hear you, but come on … You’re a smart guy, right? You can figure out why I’m asking. Do you have anyone who can back you up?”

Without a solid alibi, Logan will remain a suspect until someone else looks better for it, and everyone on this porch knows it.

“No,” he says at the same time that I blurt out, “I can.”

For the second time since I stepped onto this porch, Terry’s caught off guard, his eyebrows popping before he can school his expression.

The front door swings open then, and a stony-faced Holt strolls out, followed closely by Jon.

“Good evening, Officer,” Jon says jovially.

Holt cuts to the chase. “I hear you’re looking for witnesses to that girl’s disappearance.”

“Uh … Yeah,” Terry falters, still snagged on my admission. “I am. ”

“Jon and I were at the Bale House with Logan that night.”

Terry flips the page in his notepad. “And you are …”

“Holt Landry and Jon Sutter.”

Terry scribbles their names down. “Did you see Holly Monroe?”

Holt shrugs. “If I did, I didn’t recognize her.”

“Have you met her before?”

“Sure, she’s been over to the stables a few times with Emery’s daughter, Isla. Pale blond hair, right?”

“Right. You?” Terry nods to Jon.

“Oh. Same,” Jon echoes. “It was packed in there and we weren’t payin’ much attention to anyone except our group.”

“And what time’d you leave?”

“Had to be around ten?” Jon looks to Holt for confirmation.

“Yeah, sounds about right.”

Terry’s lips twist. “So, you don’t know if you saw Holly and you didn’t see anything helpful. Is that what you came out here to tell me?”

“Logan and his cousin Jack left earlier than we did. We got home and then headed over to his apartment. Hung out there, shootin’ the shit.” Jon slaps Logan’s shoulder. He might as well be patting a tree, as rigid as the man is. “Catching up on all the missed years.”

“You two were with Logan on Friday night?” Terry studies them.