William moved to the door and stepped onto the porch, but even before he reentered the cabin, Lilly realized he’d reacted too slowly.
“They’re circling away,” he said. “But they must’ve seen my snowmobile.”
“They’re probably looking for a place to set down. Thank God they’re here.”
“Amen. Do you realize how lucky you are to have escaped Blue? None of the others did.”
“Millicent’s death mask.” She shuddered. “It was terrible.”
“I can imagine how awful it must have been for you, finding her body in the toolbox that way.”
She nodded. “But I suppose it was a good thing that I discovered it. By now Tierney has probably moved it, maybe even buried it while I was unconscious. I should have known something wasn’t right. He acted so touchy when I mentioned the ax to him after he went for the—” She broke off abruptly.
“Went for the what?”
“Wood,” she replied hoarsely. “He went for firewood.” She tried to lick her lips, although her mouth had gone dry. “Mr. Ritt?”
“Yes?”
“How . . . how did you know about the toolbox in the shed?”
• • •
“Hoot?”
“You’ll have to shout, Perkins. We’re in the chopper.”
“You?”
“What have you got?”
“Tierney . . .”
The rest of it was lost as the pilot executed a pivot that pinned Hoot more securely to his seat while his stomach remained airborne. “Say again, please,” Hoot shouted.
“Finally made contact with Mrs. Lambert.”
“Torrie Lambert’s mother?”
“Affirmative. Brace yourself.”
Hoot asked Perkins to repeat his message three times, until he was certain he’d heard it correctly. He ended the call with a terse thanks. Then, speaking into the headset and interrupting the tactical guys’ discussion on how best to get on the ground, he addressed Begley.
“Sir,” he shouted, “Ben Tierney was not, repeat not, Torrie Lambert’s abductor.”
Begley’s head swiveled around.
Hoot looked straight into the nutcracker. “He’s her father.”
CHAPTER
32
WILLIAM RITT REMAINED UNRUFFLED. “Pardon me?”
Lilly’s mouth was as dry as a husk. She had to push the words out. “I told you I had found Millicent’s body in the shed. I didn’t say anything about the toolbox. How did you know there was a toolbox in the shed?”
His feigned misapprehension lasted only a moment longer, then he shook his head with chagrin. “It wasn’t very clever of me to make that slip. But it was even less clever of you to bring it to my attention.”