her: the back door she’d walked through multiple times had come off its hinges like someone had knocked it in.
CHAPTER 15
Kori became almost frantic. What had happened at Nora’s? Had she left in a hurry? Kori knew in her heart that hadn’t been the case. She was almost certain that Nora had been kidnapped.
But Kori wasn’t sure who had taken her.
She mentally scanned through their four suspects—Karin, Joline, Peter, and now even Ria—and asked herself who had the most motive. From what they knew, the answer was easy. Karin Rivers, Marty’s wife. With a cheating husband and a hefty life insurance payout, she had the most to gain and least to lose.
Kori ran back outside and jumped in her car, leaving the dogs to their own devices. She sped over to Karin’s house and in her panic couldn’t remember if she was supposed to be a life insurance representative or a newspaper reporter. She supposed she should have come up with a persona that would have worked with any of their suspects.
Oh well, there wasn’t time to worry about that now. She wasn’t here for either of those reasons anyway. She just had to find Nora.
Kori parked once again in the driveway, completely surrounded by trees. No one would have even seen Karin bringing Nora inside. Her house was totally blocked off from her neighbors.
And one of her neighbors was Joline. Would Joline even care? They couldn’t be on good terms anymore, even if Karin had been Joline’s initial link to Marty. Or rather, especially because Karin had been her link
Kori ran up the steps of the porch and knocked loudly on the front door. Nothing. Then she turned around and saw that hers was the only car in the driveway.
Did she want to risk breaking and entering? Not really, but this was her best friend’s life she was playing with. It wasn’t like she really had a choice.
To minimize the huge risk she was about to take, Kori drove back out to the road and parked a couple driveways down, pulled just off to the side of the road. Would Karin remember her car if she drove by? Kori hoped not.
Then she ran back up Karin’s driveway and for good measure knocked again. Still no answer.
Kori tried the front door, which unsurprisingly was unlocked. Being this far out of town and with no visibility to neighbors, what did she have to worry about?
Or maybe Kori was thinking about it all wrong. Maybe since the neighbors weren’t visible, she should have been considering the fact that Karin’s house was also not visible. If Kori ran into trouble, she was completely on her own.
She pushed that thought out of her mind as she pushed open the front door. She didn’t particularly care about her own safety right now. She was only worried about Nora’s.
Once inside, Kori slowed down. Last time she’d been here, she’d had one mission: find out if Karin was Marty’s killer. Now her mission had changed and she started taking in her surroundings.
Karin’s house was old. Every step Kori took would probably send boards squeaking and squealing, giving away her location if Karin was indeed inside with Nora somewhere. But she’d already knocked, so it wasn’t like she was approaching stealthily.
Kori walked through the entryway into the kitchen that they’d passed through last time to get to the living room. Instead of going quickly from room to room, Kori paused and looked around.
What she noticed scared her nearly to death. In almost every corner, and tucked away on every tall piece of furniture or appliance, was some kind of gun or rifle.
This woman is crazy , Kori thought to herself. Or she was an avid hunter. But either way, Kori didn’t really want to come face to face with her on her turf.
Just as quickly as the thought passed through her mind, Kori heard a car drive into the driveway and she looked out a kitchen window to see Karin step out of the driver seat of a car. She tried to read Karin’s body language to see if she was in a hurry or worried about hiding
CHAPTER 15
Kori became almost frantic. What had happened at Nora’s? Had she left in a hurry? Kori knew in her heart that hadn’t been the case. She was almost certain that Nora had been kidnapped.
But Kori wasn’t sure who had taken her.
She mentally scanned through their four suspects—Karin, Joline, Peter, and now even Ria—and asked herself who had the most motive. From what they knew, the answer was easy. Karin Rivers, Marty’s wife. With a cheating husband and a hefty life insurance payout, she had the most to gain and least to lose.
Kori ran back outside and jumped in her car, leaving the dogs to their own devices. She sped over to Karin’s house and in her panic couldn’t remember if she was supposed to be a life insurance representative or a newspaper reporter. She supposed she should have come up with a persona that would have worked with any of their suspects.
Oh well, there wasn’t time to worry about that now. She wasn’t here for either of those reasons anyway. She just had to find Nora.
Kori parked once again in the driveway, completely surrounded by trees. No one would have even seen Karin bringing Nora inside. Her house was totally blocked off from her neighbors.
And one of her neighbors was Joline. Would Joline even care? They couldn’t be on good terms anymore, even if Karin had been Joline’s initial link to Marty. Or rather, especially because Karin had been her link
Kori ran up the steps of the porch and knocked loudly on the front door. Nothing. Then she turned around and saw that hers was the only car in the driveway.
Did she want to risk breaking and entering? Not really, but this was her best friend’s life she was playing with. It wasn’t like she really had a choice.
To minimize the huge risk she was about to take, Kori drove back out to the road and parked a couple driveways down, pulled just off to the side of the road. Would Karin remember her car if she drove by? Kori hoped not.
Then she ran back up Karin’s driveway and for good measure knocked again. Still no answer.
Kori tried the front door, which unsurprisingly was unlocked. Being this far out of town and with no visibility to neighbors, what did she have to worry about?
Or maybe Kori was thinking about it all wrong. Maybe since the neighbors weren’t visible, she should have been considering the fact that Karin’s house was also not visible. If Kori ran into trouble, she was completely on her own.
She pushed that thought out of her mind as she pushed open the front door. She didn’t particularly care about her own safety right now. She was only worried about Nora’s.
Once inside, Kori slowed down. Last time she’d been here, she’d had one mission: find out if Karin was Marty’s killer. Now her mission had changed and she started taking in her surroundings.
Karin’s house was old. Every step Kori took would probably send boards squeaking and squealing, giving away her location if Karin was indeed inside with Nora somewhere. But she’d already knocked, so it wasn’t like she was approaching stealthily.
Kori walked through the entryway into the kitchen that they’d passed through last time to get to the living room. Instead of going quickly from room to room, Kori paused and looked around.
What she noticed scared her nearly to death. In almost every corner, and tucked away on every tall piece of furniture or appliance, was some kind of gun or rifle.
This woman is crazy , Kori thought to herself. Or she was an avid hunter. But either way, Kori didn’t really want to come face to face with her on her turf.
Just as quickly as the thought passed through her mind, Kori heard a car drive into the driveway and she looked out a kitchen window to see Karin step out of the driver seat of a car. She tried to read Karin’s body language to see if she was in a hurry or worried about hiding
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