On the other hand, if I knew one thing about Bobby, it was that there wasn’t much short of death itself that could stop him when he set his mind to something. If he knew I was in danger, he’d be here—if hecouldbe here.
So, where was he?
Maybe Tripple had distracted him. Maybe he’d lured him away. Maybe I just needed to buy Bobby some time.
That ugly, heavy thing was still lodged behind my breastbone, but somehow, I made myself say, “You killed—”
“JT,” Tripple said. “Yeah, I did. I didn’t mean to, but I did. He put me in a bad spot. Let’s not have it happen again.”
“Were we right? Was it an argument?”
Tripple looked like he might not answer, but then the words came as though slipping out of him. “He kept getting in my face. I told him to calm down. I told him to take a step back. He shoved me. He said I was a fool. He said she—”
Whatever JT had said, Tripple didn’t seem to be able to say it.
“It was an accident,” I said, casting another glance at the gate. Still nothing.
“I didn’t mean to. I grabbed…something. I just wanted him to stop talking.” The light dusted the all-black outfit, resting fuzzily on his shoulders and hood. “A hammer. I hit him once. That was all. I didn’t mean it. Once in the head with a hammer. And that was it. My life was over.”
“It didn’t have to be, though. Isn’t that what—”
“Channelle told me. Yes.”
Yes, I was panicked. Yes, I was terrified for Bobby—and, admittedly, for myself. But I couldn’t help a flash of annoyance. Once, one time, I’d like to be the one who—
“I felt it the very first time I saw her,” Tripple said. “It was a call-out. A domestic. I worked a lot of the calls at the RV park. I knew people there. And the first time I saw her—” He stopped and swallowed. “I thought falling in love would feel like something else. I don’t know. But I knew she was hurting. I knew she needed someone to protect her. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. After that, every time I went to the Gull’s Nest, I saw her. And then there was another call-out. She couldn’t stop shaking. I was only going to put my arm around her, and all of a sudden, she was pressed against me. And that was it. That was when I knew she felt it too.”
Another piece of the puzzle clicked. “She told you she was going to leave JT.”
“She had some money she’d saved up. She was waiting for the right time.”
I wasn’t sure about thesaved uppart; my guess was that Channelle had stolen the money from JT and from the tenants at the park. But all I said was “And then Woody showed up. He said something to JT that made JT suspicious—Channelle had stolenmoney from Woody, too, when she left him.” Tripple didn’t say anything, so I continued, “JT found the money, didn’t he? And that’s why he and Channelle fought. And that’s when you got the call-out. You argued, and—”
“I was going to retire,” Tripple said, and he sounded weary—worn to the bone. “We were going to leave. I had my pension; that would have been enough. It had been an argument. I’d been defending myself. Why should I have to lose everything because I’d been defending myself?” Tripple’s gaze sharpened on me. “I should have realized, when I thought of using that boy’s clothes, that you’d get involved. At the time, though—let’s just say I wasn’t thinking too clearly. All I knew was that Channelle was right: it had to be someone else. I knew that boy had gotten into it with JT earlier that day. His clothes were right there, boxed up in the garage. Everybody in town knew he was trouble. Aggressive, violent, strange. I waited until it was late and went in through the back, and then I made the call to the station and pretended I was JT. Had a phone call with myself to push back the time of death. I called the motel and bothered May until she got the idea that JT was trying to get in touch with Channelle. And it all went the way I thought it would until I saw you at the station. You had to stick your nose in.”
“What happened with Channelle?”
His gaze sharpened as though he’d only now remembered me. He cleared his throat. “Story time is over.”
My arms were beginning to ache from holding them in the air. The flashlight’s weight seemed to have doubled. But I said, “You’ll never get to tell anyone else. I know you cared about her. I know you didn’t want to hurt her.”
“Ineverwould have hurt her.” The words were so vehement that they verged on a shout. In what sounded like a strained attempt to control his volume, Tripple continued, “I loved her. Iwanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I didn’t know she was—”
But he stopped.
And I said, “You didn’t know she was fooling around with Foster.”
A tiny laugh escaped Tripple, and there was so much hurt in the sound that, for a moment, I almost felt sorry for him. “She kept telling me she wanted to wait until she was divorced. She said she loved me, but she wanted to wait because it was the decent thing to do.” His hand holding the gun dipped slightly, and his voice softened. “I had a key to her room; I thought I was going to surprise her. I went inside and smelled her perfume. She’d been trying on dresses. I’d brought roses, and I just stood there, holding them. I heard her coming back. Heard her with…him. Heard her give him that necklace and tell him to pawn it. The necklace I’d given her. After he left…”
“You confronted her.”
“I told her I was done.Wewere done. I said I was going to tell the sheriff what had happened. I’d parked behind the motel because of the cameras, and she followed me. She kept trying to tell me I’d misunderstood. She kept trying to explain. But now that I’d seen, I knew.” That hurt, disbelieving laugh trickled out of him again. “I knew how JT felt. Only I hadn’t spent years believing the act, which I guess was a mercy. She got in the car. She checked her hair in the mirror. Wanted to touch up her lips. Then she tried—” His voice buckled, and under it was a silence that went down for miles.
I was the one who broke it, because now I knew. “You didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“She wouldn’t stop, so I hauled her out of the car. I was done talking. I started the engine.” He faltered again. “She wascrazy. She threw herself right in front of me. I couldn’t have stopped if I’d tried.”
Out on the water, what had to be at least a mile away, the blat of an old boat horn sounded like something from another world.
