“We’re heading to question Neva Bolz now, right?”
“Yep. I have her address. But we’ll drive through and grab burgers on the way. I’m famished.”
Her stomach rumbled at his comment. “Sounds good.” Terra was anxious to question the woman and didn’t need her stomach growling in the process.
They purchased the fast food and ate as he headed toward Neva’s, finishing up quickly.
Jack glanced her way, his features drawn. “I have to tell you I have a bad feeling about this.”
She sighed. “I had hoped it was just me. I’m with Dallas in that I don’t think Neva’s relationship with Jim was romantic. Nor would he be meeting with an insurance client in those woods. Pauline made mention that Jim wasn’t into the artifacts until he’d met ‘that woman.’”
“Right, so Neva Bolz could be another connection to the things we found in his cabin.”
“And to his murder,” she added. “Except I can’t picture her committing the crime, then transporting him to the cliff and dropping him over.” Terra stared at her cell, hoping to bring up more information about Neva Bolz on the drive.
“If she killed him, she had help. Disposing of the vehicle also would have required help. The vehicle was driven to the lake. Whoever was driving would need a ride back, unless he or she hitchhiked back or stole a vehicle.”
Jack slowed as he steered to the home address and then parked at the curb of the upper-middle-class neighborhood. Neva Bolz’s home backed up to the forest.
“Her car is in the driveway. The same car that’s in the photograph. She’s home.” Terra opened the vehicle door.
Jack met her at the sidewalk. “Let’s not waste time. I’ll get right to the point. If there’s a door into questions about the artifacts, then I’ll let you ask those. Depending on her reaction, we might invite her downtown for a thorough interrogation.”
At the porch, he lifted his shoulders and rang the doorbell. He waited a few moments, then rang it again. Still, no one opened the door. “Maybe she isn’t in a hospitable mood.”
Terra knocked. “Ms. Bolz, I’m Special Agent Terra Connors, and County Detective Tanner is here with me. We just want to ask you a few questions.”
Terra listened for signs of movement, trying to determine if the woman was inside. Someone could have picked her up, which would explain why her car was still in the driveway though Neva wasn’t home.
A muffled sound came from inside—glass breaking? She and Jack drew their weapons at the same moment. He signaled that he would check the perimeter. She hopped from the porch and crept around the front of the home but couldn’t see through the windows because of the mini blinds covering them.
“Stop. Police!” Jack’s voice echoed off the neighbor’s house.
Terra ran around the back.
A man in a gray hoodie sprinted into the woods at the back of the houses, and Jack ran after him. Terra called for backup. This was a repeat of last night, only at someone else’s home. Terra wanted to follow, to be Jack’s backup, but she needed to check to see if Neva was in the home, after all.
That bad feeling she and Jack had shared overwhelmed her.