At that sight, Sue Ann’s stomach sank almost to the floor. She tried to go into Floyd’s office but one of the men stepped in front of her.
She screamed, “Floyd!”
Floyd was there in the doorway immediately and said, “It’s okay. Let her through.”
The suit returned to whatever he’d been doing when Sue Ann stormed into the room.
She looked up at Floyd and he said the words she’d been dreading all the way over there, “Hennesey has Penny.”
He pulled her into his office and over to the armchairs on the other side of his desk and sat her down. There was another man in a dark suit sitting behind Floyd’s desk talking on the phone.
“What happened?” If she didn’t find something out pretty soon, she was going to fall completely to pieces.
Floyd’s eyes were moist when he looked into her eyes and said, “Hennesey apparently lured one of my deputies out behind old Mrs. Perkins barn and knocked him out. Then he took his keys and let himself in here when everybody else was out there.”
He shook his head, ran his hand over it then said, “Crystal said that Hennesey came in here waving a handgun and dragged Penny out with him.”
She started to ask him something when his cell phone rang. He looked down at it and said, “I’ve got to take this Sue Ann. That’s my secure cell phone only a few people have that number.
She only nodded as he punched a button on the phone and answered it. She listened in to his side of the conversation.
“Thanks . . . No, the FBI is in charge, but they’re letting me in on every little thing that they do . . . No . . . Yeah, thanks. I’ll take all the help I can get at this point.”
With that, he disconnected and turned back to her. Just then, the man at Floyd’s desk hung up the phone and looked over at them.
Floyd stood and said, “Sue Ann this is SAC Norton. He’s the Special Agent in Charge of the Springfield FBI office.” He turned to the other man. “This is my fiancée, Sue Ann Vickers.”
Norton nodded at Sue Ann then turned to Floyd. “We’re in the process of trying to make contact with DEA’s undercover agent in this area. We think he might be able to give us some help with how to find Hennesey.”
Floyd snorted. “Don’t worry about that. I just got off the phone with him and he’s pledged to do all he can to find out where Hennesey is.”
Norton gave Floyd a strange, disbelieving look. “How did you make contact with him?”
Floyd snorted again. “I made enough noise with DEA last week that they had him contact me. I don’t know if you’re authorized to know who he is so I won’t tell you yet.”
Norton shook his head again. “That’s okay. I don’t care about that. Right now the important thing is that he knows the situation and is going to cooperate.”
Floyd nodded. “You got that right.”
Sue Ann was amazed at the amount of negative energy that seemed just to rise off both men as they played their political games. It was starting to make her angry.
The other man turned to leave the room but she stopped him. “Hey, I don’t know what to call you, but I would like to tell you something before you go.”
He turned back with a puzzled look on his face. Floyd even gave her a questioning look too.
“I want you and whoever else is working on this case to throw all your petty political jealousies out the window and concentrate on finding Penny . . . alive.”
With that, she turned back to Floyd. “I’m going back to the shop. If you find out anything let me know.”
She stepped up to him, kissed him on the cheek, and was out the door before either man could speak.
But as she went through the door, she heard the FBI guy say, “Boy, I sure wouldn’t want to cross her.”
Floyd said, “You already did. Why don’t we try and see if we can do what she told us to do.”
* * *
Floyd was amazed at how much good Sue Ann’s little outburst with Norton had done. The man was much more cooperative that ever now. Floyd finally felt like he was in the loop where he belonged.
He and Norton were discussing how to use all the detectives that Springfield PD and neighboring counties had sent to them to help when Bev buzzed him from the front desk.
“What is it Bev?”
“Sheriff. Daisy Thomas and Bert are here to see you. She says it’s urgent.”
Floyd shook his head. They’d already had so many false leads called in and people showing up at the station that he couldn’t handle them all.
“I’ll send a detective out to talk to them.”
“Sheriff, she said that Bert saw something that you need to know.”
“Okay Bev, send them back and I’ll talk to them.”
Norton grunted. “You can’t waste your time talking to every lead that comes in Sheriff.”
Floyd shook his head. “Yeah, I know but this woman runs one of those half-way houses for what they call challenged adults. Bert is one of her residents.”
Norton’s frown grew more severe and he started to speak.
“And before you say anything. A couple of weeks ago, we had a hit and run downtown. And none of the witnesses could give me anything to go on. This guy, Bert, was standing under a tree nearby. He can’t read or write but he’s a fairly good artist so he drew the license number in the dirt with his toe.” He snorted. “And we caught the guy.”
He didn’t wait for a response from Norton but met Daisy and Bert halfway down the hall and escorted them into his office.
With Norton standing behind him, Floyd said, “Hey Bert.”
“Hey Mr. Sheriff.”
Floyd placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you have something to tell me Bert?” Bert nodded without looking up at Floyd. “What did you see Bert?”
Bert scratched behind one ear then the other. Then he shifted his weight from one foot to the other and finally said, “I saw a mean man take your daughter out.” He shifted. “She was yelling at him.” He had been looking down but looked up and said, “But you didn’t come.”
Floyd was about to question him more when Daisy spoke up. Floyd had always admired the woman. She was an RN who could be making triple what the state paid her to run that place. She was a looker too with shoulder length silky brown hair and eyes that were almost green.
“Sheriff, remember at that accident how he drew the number in the dirt? Well, when he didn’t come home for lunch, I went out looking for him. And I found him out behind this building just outside the gate that goes into your parking area.”
“Did he . . .”
She smiled at him and said, “Yes he did and he was standing there until someone came along to take the number.”
She held out a piece of paper. “I wrote the number down and brought him in here right away.”
Floyd took the paper to his desk, grabbed the phone, and called dispatch to give them the number. A moment later, he turned back to them.
Before he could say anything, Bert looked up at him through his eyelashes. “Did I do good Mr. Sheriff . . . again?”
Floyd almost laughed. “Yes Bert you did great and I’ll be forever grateful to you for what you’ve done. Thank you.”
He turned to Daisy. “I hate to chase you two out, but right now, we need to follow up on that number. I hope you understand that when I ask you to leave it’s because I have to.”
She smiled up at him. “That’s okay Sheriff, I understand.”
He called out as they started down the hallway. “Hey Bert be thinking of what kind of meal you would like and I’ll treat you to it as soon as this is all over.”
Bert grinned back at him. “Okay Mr. Sheriff. I surely will.”
Floyd mumbled to Norton, “The kid has a hollow leg when it comes to food.”
He turned back to the phone and said, “Get that description out to everyone and . . .”
He listened a moment. “What? Okay, I want Hollis picked up anyway and brought in here for questioning.”
H
e slammed the phone down and looked at Norton.
“The number belongs to a pickup registered to . . . Wait a minute.”
He jumped over to the door and closed it. When he stood next to Norton again, he lowered his voice and said, “It belongs to a man by the name of Hershel Hollis. He is the one that our DEA agent says is the new drug ring leader in this area.”
Norton whistled. “That’s good, let’s bring him in.”
“Not so fast. Hollis reported his pickup stolen about the time all this started going down. But I’m still bringing him in because I know in my gut that he’s involved in this up to his eyeballs. I’m just going to work him over until he tells me where Penny is.”
Norton held up his hands. “Now slow down and think Sheriff, you don’t want to blow this case out of the water before we even have one do you?”
Floyd stepped up to Norton and put his face inches away from the other man. “I don’t care what it takes. If I have to go around a few rules or even a law or two, I’m going to get my daughter back. And you or nobody else is going to stop me.”
They each busied themselves doing things that didn’t require them to talk or even be near each other for a while after that.
An hour later Floyd was sitting at a table in an interview room. Norton was beside him and an extremely belligerent Hershel Hollis was sitting on the other side of the table.
Floyd reached out and turned on the recorder sitting between them. “Okay Hershel, you know why you’re in here so save us all a lot of time and tell us where Hennesey took my daughter.”
Hollis’ laugh was loud and almost shrill. Then he cleared the mirth off his face and said, “You think I’m going to give you the time of day Sheriff after you killed my cousin Jake?”
Floyd opened his mouth to start yelling at Hollis but he felt Norton’s shoe bump his under the table. He looked at the FBI agent and realized the guy wanted to take over. He fought with that in his mind for a few seconds then realized that the old ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine might just work on Hollis. So he nodded his head toward Norton.
Norton cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Hollis I’m Special Agent James Norton with the FBI. I would like to ask you a few simple questions if you don’t mind.
Hollis turned to Norton and his face lost most of the anger and hatred that was there a moment before.
Floyd couldn’t help but think grudgingly that Norton just might have been right in taking over when he did.
“Now, Mr. Hollis. When was the last time you saw Mr. Hennesey?”
Hollis laughed again. “You’re not going to trick me into saying I saw him when I haven’t.”
“Okay, how about this question. When was the last time you saw the pickup that you reported stolen this morning?”
Hollis grinned at Norton. “Now that one I can answer. I drove it over to my brother’s place about a mile away and back this morning.”
“When did you get back?”
“Bout eight.”
“Was that the last time you saw your pickup?”
“Yeah. Well, no it wasn’t. Bout a half hour later I thought I heard the motor out front and went to the door in time to see it going down the lane away from the house.”
“Did you get a look at anyone in the pickup?”
“Nope. Couldn’t see anyone.”
Norton looked at Floyd and motioned with his head toward the door.
They stepped out into the hallway and Norton said, “I think you’re right Sheriff. He knows.”
Floyd slammed his palm into the wall. “But how are we going to get it out of him?”
Norton looked Floyd in the eye. “Why don’t you let me go back in there alone and see if he’ll loosen up without you around?”
Floyd hated to admit it but Norton was probably right.
“Go ahead.”
Fifteen minutes later, Norton joined Floyd in the viewing room next door. As they both watched Hollis sitting in the next room through the one-way glass, Floyd knew they weren’t going to be getting anything from Hollis.
* * *
Sue Ann was still shaking from a combination of anger, frustration, and fear when she stormed back into the coffee shop. She didn’t want to talk to anybody right then but one look at Jo and the twins and she knew she had to at least fill them all in on all that had happened so far.
She went into the kitchen and collapsed into a chair at the small table in the corner. The other three women followed her and stood around her. One of the twins set a cup of coffee in front of her and she tried to calm her shaking hands long enough to take a soothing sip of it.
She looked up at the others with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Hennesey attacked one of Floyd’s deputies. After he knocked him out, he took his keys. Then when everyone else was out there he let himself into the sheriff’s station and took Penny.”
She looked down at her lap, made fists of both hands and began pounding them on her thighs. “That poor little girl. How scared she must be.”
She looked back up and said, “That’s all they really know right now. The FBI is all over Floyd’s office and there are detectives from every county and city in this part of the state here to help.”
Gil’s mom stepped up beside her, wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, and just patted her gently. That was when she finally let the tears really flow.
Jo slid into the chair across the table from Sue Ann. She waited until Sue Ann dried her eyes and then blew her nose on some tissue Eunice passed her.
“Sue Ann.” When Sue Ann looked up at her she said, “Let’s all pray.” She looked at the older women. “Right now.”
She continued looking at the twins and they both nodded their heads. Sue Ann couldn’t help but note that this was the quietest that she’d ever seen the two of them.
Eunice started praying and they went around the circle with each one of them praying for Penny’s quick and safe return to them.
Sue Ann tried to keep her mind occupied on her work as they had an exceptionally busy lunch rush today. Everyone in town was buzzing about the kidnapping and all the law enforcement personnel there. But as soon as it started slowing down, she began to think again and she couldn’t stand not knowing anything about what all was going on. She couldn’t blame Floyd. He couldn’t take the time out of all the important things he was doing to find Penny to call her with updates. So she would just go to him and get the updates.
She went up to where Jo was sitting on her stool at the counter. “Jo Jo I’ve got to go back down there and be with Floyd. I can’t stand not knowing what’s going on. I can’t stay away any longer. And I also know he needs me but he’s too proud and stubborn to ask.”
Jo nodded and said, “Go ahead, Sue Ann. We’ll get everything cleaned up. You be sure to let us know when you find anything out though, you hear?”
Sue Ann nodded, grabbed her coat, and was out the door and in her car quickly.
When she walked into the front of the station, Bev buzzed her right in and she almost ran down the hallway to Floyd’s office again. She was almost out of breath when she stepped through the doorway.
She didn’t see Floyd but several agents of some kind gave her a look like they were about to run her out when the agent she’d yelled at before turned around from where he was leaning over the desk looking at some papers.
“She’s okay. She’s the Sheriff’s fiancée.”
With that, he turned back to what he’d been reading ignoring her. She was about to walk right up to him and make him pay attention to her when Floyd came into the room from Crystal’s office. That made her remember Crystal. Floyd had said she was taking it pretty hard.
When Floyd saw Sue Ann, he held out his arms and she walked into them and the silent tears began again.
After a minute, she leaned back, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and said, “How’s Crystal?”
Floyd frowned. “I guess she’s okay. The poor woman was scared out of her wits and now she’s blaming he
rself for everything. Tony came and took her home. He said he was going to take her by the hospital to see if they could give her a little something to calm her down.”
“Good. I hope she’ll be all right.”
He just nodded as she looked into his eyes. “Is there anything new?”
His frown was back. “Not really. We’re sure that Hershel Hollis is helping Hennesey but we can’t prove anything. He was driving Hollis’ pickup. We’re holding Hollis right now but won’t be able to for very long if we can’t come up with something to charge him with.”
She leaned up and kissed him briefly. “Where can I go where I’ll be out of the way and still be here if you need me?”
She could tell that he was about to argue but she added, “No! I’m not leaving you here with all these people who don’t know you or Penny. So don’t even try. I just gave you my only option.”
He almost smiled. “Okay, why don’t you go sit in one of the armchairs?”
She squeezed his hand and started that way when he said, “And Sue Ann. I don’t need to tell you that you can’t repeat anything you may hear or see in here today unless you clear it with me first. Okay?”
She turned back and nodded. “Sure.”
Sue Ann sat there and tried to stay quiet and out of the way yet still trying to hear the muffled conversations that were going on all around her. She must have fallen asleep for Floyd was touching her arm and saying, “Sue Ann. Are you hungry?”
She started to say no when she realized that she hadn’t eaten anything all day since breakfast and her stomach was telling her so loudly.
She nodded her head and he handed her a paper plate with a slice of pepperoni pizza on it and a can of Diet Coke.
She accepted the food and drink and said, “What time is it anyway?”
He looked at his watch and said, “Five-thirty. Why don’t you go home to be with your family?”
She shook her head so violently that her long blond hair flew all around her shoulders and into her face. She brushed it out of her eyes and said, “What part of the word fiancée don’t you understand? You’re my family now too, Floyd. Don’t you remember? We’re getting married. Besides, I called Mom and she’s explained everything to Andy. He’s taking it pretty hard but she’ll take good care of him.”
A Better Solution (Crowley County Series Book 2) Page 19