Dead Even by Mariah Stewart

“I swear to you, I am not going to do a thing. I have served my time for what I done, and I do not want to ever go back inside that place again. Not ever.”
    “Well, I guess we’ll just have to stick around a while and see.”
    “You can stick around for as long as you want, but there won’t be nothing for you to see, ’cause I ain’t doing nothing the law needs to know about.” His face a grim and frustrated mask, Archer turned heel and stomped back to his place at the bar.
    “What do you think?” Miranda’s foot poked Will’s ankle under the table. “You think he’s going to renege on his part of the deal?”
    “Sounds like it, doesn’t it? I mean, without admitting that there might have been something he was expected to do, he’s pretty adamant that he’s not going to do it.”
    “You believe him?”
    “Do you?”
    “Now that he’s out of prison, I don’t see any advantage for him to go through with a deal he may have made with the deadly duo.” Miranda drained her glass and set it on the table. “Like you said yesterday, Giordano will never see the light of day again, and Channing’s dead. I’m having a hard time seeing this kid as a killer. I heard that when the police showed him photographs of Giordano’s victims, he nearly passed out. Remember, these were people who had crossed Archer, people who were expected to testify against him. People he wanted dead.”
    “And . . . ?”
    “According to Sean Mercer, the police chief down in Broeder who showed Archer those photos, the kid went totally green. Said he’d never seen a dead body before. He all but gagged.”
    “You don’t think he was faking for effect?”
    “I have yet to meet the person who can change the color of his skin just like that ”—she snapped her fingers—“and Sean said that kid went green in the blink of an eye.”
    “So you think maybe now that he knows we’re on to the game, and he knows he’s being watched, he’ll forget he ever met Channing and Giordano?” Will asked.
    “I think the odds are good. Just look at him, Will.” Miranda nodded toward the bar. “He’s a mess. You think he’s smart enough to plan, then carry out, three murders? You think he has the balls?”
    “Actually, no, I don’t. And that being the case, I suppose our work here is done.” Will drank the last of his beer.
    “First thing in the morning, I’m going to check in with the chief of police, let them know what’s gone on, what we suspect. Ask them to keep an eye on Archer for a while, let us know if he leaves town, that sort of thing. And we should probably check in with his probation officer while we’re at it.”
    “That’s a good idea. Hanging around Fleming waiting to see what, if anything, Lowell might do is probably a waste of time. I left a serial killer and two pedophiles on my desk, so it’s not as if there are no other cases either of us could be working on,” Will said, nodding. “You ready? Since we’ve made our impression on Lowell, we might as well head back to the inn. I want to read through the rest of the files that Jared left for me before we drop this in the lap of the Fleming police and head back to Virginia tomorrow. I want to make sure we haven’t missed something.”
    Miranda slipped her suede jacket on, then stood up, grabbed her purse, and followed Will to the door. She’d hoped to get back to the inn early enough to grab a good dessert and a cup of Barrie Lee Duffy’s delicious coffee. Pleased at the prospect, she was oblivious to the eyes that watched as she tucked herself into the front seat of Will’s Camry and the car left the lot to disappear into the darkness of Edgemont Road.
             
    Barrie Lee Duffy smiled a greeting at the handsome couple who wandered into the foyer.
    “Did you want a table?” she asked. “The kitchen’s pretty much closed, but I’m sure we can find something for you if you’re hungry.”
    “I’m heading up to my room,” Will addressed both