The Other Path

Chapter 42

Rick surveys the manicured lawn and precisely trimmed shrubbery around a hotel near a river gorge. His eyes briefly take in a man with a prosthetic limb before turning to Jeffrey Evans. "You and your crew do great work."

"We all work very hard," Evans agrees. "My brother, he's gone now, was a vet. And I hire vets when I can. We form a very efficient unit. Are you a recent arrival in Fayetteville, Mr. Castle? I've lived around here most of my life, and I've never heard of a famous writer taking up residence. But tourists do occasionally fall in love with the place."

"Actually, my wife and I just arrived," Castle replies."I wanted to get a feel for the area and what services are available. And I'm looking at writing about how towns cope when mines shut down."

"It is a big problem." Jeffrey gestures toward the gorge. "We're lucky to have this state park and some other tourist spots. Tourism is where most of Fayetteville's revenue comes from now."

"A lot of fishermen?" Rick inquires.

"They love it," Jeffrey confirms. "If that's your thing, a buddy of mine operates a charter. I can steer you in his direction. He does a good job."

"That's something to think about. Anyone do any spearfishing?"

Jeffrey's eyes narrow. "That's not usually a thing for tourists. It's only legal from July through September and not for game fish. But some folks enjoy it. If they go for bullheads, they can sell them to the mink ranches. I know a guy who works on one. He says the minks love them. But why would you want to know about spearfishing?"

"Writers are naturally nosy," Rick replies. "And it popped into my head because of Senator Menkin's murder."

"Have you heard anything about that?" Kate asks.

"I'm not interested in politics," Jeffrey claims. "And I've got to get back to work. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Castle, Ma'am. If you settle on grounds around here that need caring for, you give me a call."

"Wow! Did you hear that?" Rick queries as he and Kate climb back into their rented truck.

"You mean that he hires vets because of his brother, knows the rules about spearfishing, and shut down at the mention of Menkin? Yeah, I heard it."

"And he wouldn't just associate the Menkin name with politics," Rick adds. "He probably knows who Petal is and that Paulson's accusing Marion of the murder. Paulson is huge down here. So, you think Jeffrey killed Joe?"

"It's possible. Still, I don't see Jeffrey leaving Petal, Violette, and his business to go off to New York. But I think he knows who did. And chances are he'll want to talk to whoever it is."

"So, stakeout?" Rick asks.

"Yeah, but he's already seen the truck."

"No problem. I can call to have a swap vehicle delivered to us. It's part of the sapphire concierge service."

"Sometimes, I forget the advantages of marrying rich," Kate teases.

Rick leans in for a quick kiss. "You are always invited to take advantage of me in any way you desire."


"Looks like they're breaking for lunch," Rick observes from a Ford Explorer.

Through folding binoculars, Kate follows Jeffrey's movements. "Evans is leaving. He's getting into an F-150."

Rick groans. "He would drive the most popular vehicle on the road."

Kate puts her hand on the ignition key for a quick start. "I'll just have to be careful not to lose him."

"He's not going to see Petal," Rick realizes as Jeffrey turns north. "We're on the trail of the killer, Kate."

"We'll see, Babe. For all we know, he's picking up his dry cleaning."

"Seeing as we just passed a dry cleaner, I don't think so. He's in the left turn lane at the light." Rick studies the map on his phone. "Jeffrey can't be going far this way unless he's heading into the park."

Kate nods. "Hanging back."

Jeffrey pulls into a lot in front of an equipment rental store and jumps from his truck. Kate parks in the most distant slot possible. "Babe, who owns that store?"

"Checking. Parker Rentals. Owners, Luke and Ellis Parker. From the picture in the local business guide, I'm guessing brothers, not father and son. The LinkedIn profile of Luke Parker says he's a former Navy Seal. I assume he'd know how to kill with a spear or anything else. And an equipment rental store might have some lying around."

Kate presses her fingers to her lower lip. "I wonder if Luke served with Grover Evans."

"That's probably more info than I can get on my phone. But doesn't Espo have a contact with access to military databases?"

A smile tweaks the corners of Kate's mouth. "Yes, he does."


Rick hunches over a laptop in a deluxe Fayetteville Arms suite. "I managed to hook into my home system so I can access my small newspaper search engine. There's some stuff about the Parker family. Luke and Ellis' father was a coal miner. He was one of the many that Joe Menkin managed to screw over. Both brothers were star high school athletes. So they made the local papers a lot. When Luke went into the service, Ellis stayed back to start the business and help out the family as best he could. According to this, Luke threw in his hazard pay to get the business off the ground. I also found blurbs about the two of them winning various fishing contests over the years."

"Anything about spearfishing?" Kate asks.

"No, but if Jeffrey Evans was right about it being illegal to use spears on game fish – wait, I'm opening another window. Uh-huh, he was telling the truth. Nothing caught that way in West Virginia would win any prizes. I doubt any spearfishing would show up in the papers. But the catch would make good bait. That could go along with selling equipment. Minks also eat it, but mostly the scraps and stuff. I think Jeffrey was throwing us a red herring, so to speak. Any word from Espo yet?"

"He said he was meeting his friend for a beer. So we probably won't hear anything about Luke Parker until late tonight or in the morning."

"Well, no reason to waste the evening. We could hunt up a restaurant, or the hotel has room service. I skimmed the menu. Overpriced, of course, or it wouldn't be room service. But the selection isn't bad. They're claiming fresh-caught wide-mouthed bass and traditional West Virginia specialties like venison, chicken-fried steak, and homestyle meatloaf. The fare also includes grilled burgers."

"I don't suppose they're offering milkshakes."

"No such luck, but the wine list is reasonably comprehensive."

"Burgers and red wine?" Kate suggests.

"You want dessert?"

Kate wraps her arms around Rick's neck. "We can look into that later. I wouldn't mind putting my mouth around something crème-filled."

Gulping, Rick picks up the house phone. "An extremely promising menu."


Rick blinks as morning light leaks around the edges of the hotel drapes. "We should visit West Virginia more often."

Kate props herself up on her elbow. "It's had its high points. But Simmons and Gates are both expecting me back. I'm hoping we hear from Espo before we have to leave."

"Our tickets are for a two pm flight," Rick recalls. "But I can change them. Did you want to sniff around some more, maybe stake out the Parkers?"

"I don't know what we'd see. But if it turns out Luke served with Grover Evans, I want to talk to him. I hope Espo's friend comes through within the next couple of hours. But I could use some breakfast."

Rick eases down the sheet and blanket covering them. "Yeah, me too."