“Walter Parker’s.”
“Who signed for it?”
The radio went silent for several seconds.
When the deputy answered, his voice had changed.
“Dale Parker signed for the medication.”
Carol’s knees buckled.
Mark caught her before she hit the ground.
Then the deputy added, “There is something written on the back of the receipt.”
“What?”
“It says, ‘If Dale runs, search the river house before sunset. He will go back for the only witness he could not silence.’”
June gripped my arm.
“What river house?”
Aunt Carol looked up, her face filled with terror.
“Our family has an old fishing cabin two miles downstream.”
Harris grabbed his weapon.
“Who is the witness?”
Carol stared toward the river.
For several seconds, she could not speak.
Then she whispered, “Dale’s twelve-year-old daughter, Sophie. She was staying with Grandpa the night he died.”
June looked toward the lowering sun.
“Where is Sophie now?”
Carol began sobbing.
“She was supposed to be at summer camp.”
Harris’s radio crackled one final time.
A child’s frightened voice came through the speaker.
“Please help me. My dad found me.”
Then we heard Dale shout in the background.
A scream filled the radio.
And the signal went dead….
