The Sleeping Beauty Killer

52

After Alex left with Mark Templeton, Laurie phoned Ryan’s office and asked them to come back. When they came in, she said, “It’s been a long day. Let’s wrap it up.”

“Not to step out of bounds,” Ryan said, “but shouldn’t we talk about why Mark Templeton was here?”

Of course they should. But she knew Alex had a point. At this point, there was no longer reason to suspect Mark Templeton of murdering his friend Hunter. It was only because she had threatened to cast him suspiciously that he’d felt the need to violate his nondisclosure agreement with the Raleigh family. Laurie had seen the kind of influence General Raleigh was willing to wield to protect his family’s name. The fewer people who knew Templeton’s secret, the better.

“I can’t talk about it right now.”

“What do you mean you can’t talk about it?” Ryan pressed. “Our last day of filming is tomorrow. Once we’re done with Casey and her family, we’re supposed to wrap it up.”

Jerry held up an impatient hand. “If Laurie says she can’t talk about it, she can’t talk about it. That’s how we do things here. We trust each other.”

His words felt like a punch in the stomach. Jerry was showing her the kind of faith that she hadn’t had in Alex when he’d asked for it. “Go on home. We can see where things stand in the morning.”