Finding Sheila

by Anne Hagan

  He greeted Mel warmly as stepped out of her county Sheriff’s SUV. “I haven’t seen you in more than twenty years, but I’d have recognized you. Still look identical to your sister?”

  “We ah…she colors her hair different. Makes it easier for people to tell us apart.” Mel looked him over. She could see Robby in the man, but she realized she didn’t remember him.

  He stuck his hand out. “Tyrell Bragg. Nice to see you again, Melissa…or should I call you Sheriff?”

  As she shook his hand, she said, “Mel is fine.”

  “You don’t remember me, do you?”

  She grinned. “You’ve got me.”

  “My wife used to drop Rob off down there in the summer and on the occasional school break when he wanted to go down there and hang out. I usually picked him up. Never stayed long. That Terry, he didn’t like me much. Rob pointed you and your sister out to me a couple of times.”

  “I think he had a thing for Kris, back then.”

  He chuckled and said, “You’re twins. Probably for the both of you.”

  Mel let it go. Instead, she asked, “What’s he up to these days?”

  “Joined the Army right out of high school,” Tyrell reported, beaming. “Got his degree in there, went to Officer Candidates School, and he just made Captain. He’s had ‘bout seventeen years in now. Planning on doing thirty and getting his full pension…hopefully make full-bird before he retires.”

  “Full bird?”

  “Colonel.”

  “Oh, awesome. Good for Robby…I mean Rob. Sounds like he’s grown up quite a bit since we were all teenagers tubing down the river.”

  “That he has. Made a man out of him. Now then, let’s go on in and chat inside. There’s a chill in the air today. Didn’t mean to keep you standing out here.”

  “Sheila had two kids before she married Ford.” He saw the look of surprise flit across Mel’s face. “Didn’t know that?”

  She shook her head. “I only knew about Jennifer. Jennifer Coventry, now.”

  “Lives over in Bath…Akron area, right? But yeah, she also had a son…out of wedlock, just like the girl. Davis Perrott.”

  Mel made a note of the name. “Where’s he now?”

  Tyrell spread his hands. “Beats me. Sheila might know, she might not. He’s been estranged from her…hell the whole Perrott side of the family - my mother’s side - for years. He was older than Jennifer by a couple of years.”

  “Sheila must have had them very young?”

  “I think she was 16 when she had Davis. Named him after her granddad. His supposed daddy was another high school kid like her. Far as I know, he never amounted to anything. Probably hasn’t seen Davis in years either.”

  “They don’t have the same dad?”

  “No. She actually got pregnant again, right out of high school with Jennifer. Married that one…shotgun wedding. Didn’t last though. He was gone by the time the little girl was walking. Couldn’t deal with two toddlers running around. Cramped his style, I guess. Her father ran him off after forcing them to marry in the first place.”

  Mel backtracked. “Why is Davis estranged from the family?”

  “One word, Ford.”

  “Terry Ford?”

  Tyrell nodded. “Yup. The one and only. He wanted nothing to do with the man and his clan.”

  Mel wasn’t Terry’s biggest fan. The man had been a cheater and philanderer, but she’d never thought of him as a bad all-around person. “Why? What was his beef? I mean, I know he was older by the time Terry came along, but it’s not like he had any sort of a father figure in his life, from what you’re telling me, right?”

  “No. Sheila never married again until she married Ford.” He looked away from her and then back, before dropping his eyes to the floor. “I don’t know what the specific deal was between Davis and Ford and I won’t speculate on that. I can tell you that most of my mom’s family has never had much contact with them. They all seemed to be a bunch of lay-abouts and schemers. They’d work a job long enough to pay a bill and then quit.” He looked up again, but away.

  He’s knows more. He’s just not going to tell me. “So, Sheila met Terry Ford in Virginia and they moved to Ohio? Maybe to get away from the struggle with her family?”

  “Don’t think so. I think Sheila met him in Tennessee during a family vacation. He started coming to Virginia and mooching off the family, staying for weeks at a time.”

  “So, how’d they end up in Ohio? How’d you end up here, yourself?”

  “We were actually the first ones to move. I was following a job. Been here a while now…over twenty years. No wait; I take that back. Jennifer was technically here first. She was in college here, Ohio State.”

  “Why’d she go to school here? Why not in Virginia?”

  “Band scholarship. She was a clarinet and flute player back in the day. She got married right out of college and stayed here. I moved here, probably her junior year, as soon as Rob graduated. His sisters finished school here.”

  “He has sisters? I don’t remember him ever mentioning them.”

  “Yup. Twins like you and your sister but not identical. They’re ‘bout five years younger than him. He wasn’t much interested in them when he was fifteen years old. Said all they did was bug him.”

  “So, then Terry settled in Ohio. Why?”

  He shrugged. “Probably being lazy. Cut his distance to see Sheila in half. Wasn’t he livin’ free somewhere for a while?”

  “Funny you say that; my mom and dad were just talking about it. He stayed in a cabin a family friend of ours had, apparently until he married Sheila. I was a teenager, so I’m fuzzy on it. They say they were fixing up the house they have now…they had, up until his death.”

  “Until she shot ‘im?”

  Mel nodded. “So, she moved here to be with him and close to her daughter?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “The rest of her family then is still in Virginia?”

  “Eastern; Norfolk area, same as what remains of mine.”

  “Are you in touch with any of them?”

  He shook his head. “Not me. Not really. I’m bad about that. The wife does the Christmas card thing and all. Every once in a while, we go back home for a reunion. Been probably five years since the last one though. Everybody’s gettin’ old. Kids, they don’t have time for that stuff.”

  “Do you think your wife has good contact information for Jennifer?”

  “An address. I don’t think they talk. Jennifer doesn’t have a lot of time for people like us, what with ‘good works’ and all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s all up there…her and her husband, really, with some big - I mean great big - church up there in Akron. One of those guys that broadcasts on TV. She’s runnin’ those kids and when she’s not, she’s volunteering for this and chairing that.” He waved a dismissive hand in the air.

  Church…another place to look that might actually know something if she’s that active.

  “Where is your wife? Could I talk to her?”

  “Grocery store.” He looked at his watch. “She coupons. Been gone a while. Hard to say how much longer she’ll be.”

  A silver Ford Focus swung into the driveway as Mel was attempting to back out. Mrs… She realized she didn’t even know Bragg’s wife’s name. She pulled back up, giving the woman room to get around to the left, closer to the front door, then jumped out of her truck.

  “Mrs. Bragg? Hi, I’m Mel Crane, the Sheriff of Muskingum County.”

  “Hi there. Sorry, I wasn’t here to chat with you.” She went around to the trunk and popped it open. “It’s a holiday week. There are lots of good deals and the stores are pretty empty on Monday morning, but the shelves are full.”

  Mel grabbed a couple of bags and followed her back inside.

  Tyrell squeezed past them in the hallway saying, “I’ll get the rest.”

  “I’m Sue Ann, by the way,” the other woman said as she dropped her cargo
on the kitchen island and indicated Mel should do the same.

  “Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?”

  “If you don’t mind me answering while I get stuff put away…great deals on lots of frozen stuff.”

  “Sure, sure.”

  “You know, I heard all about the…the shooting, and that Sheila was in jail for it. It honestly didn’t surprise me at all. That’s pretty much normal for the Ford family.”

  Mel was taken aback. “Manslaughter?”

  “Well no; that’s not how I meant it. Just what that whole family is all about. It seems like, over the years, all roads seemed to lead to Tennessee, even for her.”

  Chapter 13 - Dig Deep

  Monday Afternoon, November 23rd

  “Sounds like you’re driving?”

  “I’m on my way back from Bolivar. A cousin of Sheila Ford’s lives there.”

  “Any luck?”

  “I talked to him for half an hour. Found out some things I didn’t know, and I have a lead or two to follow up on. Nothing earth shaking. His wife said something in passing though that’s got me wondering.”

  “Like what?”

  “All roads lead to Tennessee.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Damned if I know, and she didn’t elaborate. She was all about telling me about her grocery deals, instead.”

  “Do I even want to know?”

  “No. That’s not important. So, what have you been up to today?”

  “We talked about Sheila’s medical records last night. I’ve been back through them three times now and I’ve researched every last detail. Something just isn’t jiving for me there. It doesn’t add up. She’s practically an invalid in the eyes of the prison administration, but their own doctor doesn’t seem to buy it and the records they sent you support that, Doctor Rutledge’s protestations to the contrary. Nothing from the hospital supports it either. I think it’s all a ruse. I just can’t figure out why they all signed off on it.”

  “The million-dollar question.”

  “Isn’t it? Listen, would it be possible for you to dig a little more into Sheila’s medical background, before prison? Get a hold of her family doctor and those records, maybe?”

  “Without a warrant or a subpoena?”

  “I have nothing else, Mel. It’s all dead ends.” She let out a sigh. “I mean, we could just tip the FBI with our suspicions and drop it. Do you really want to do that?”

  Mel couldn’t tell if Dana sounded hopeful or if she was purposely trying to keep her voice neutral. “If you want out, babe, just drop it and come on home. I can pass along what you’ve figured out so far and the little bit of new information I have to my FBI contact here, and we just walk away.”

  “And what does that do to your career? I lost a prisoner on your watch, remember?”

  “I’m elected. They can’t fire me…not easily, anyway. Besides, quite a few people know she’s disappeared and there’s been no uproar yet. Lots of people are on the lookout for her, though.”

  Mel grew quiet as she navigated traffic, almost forgetting Dana was still on the line until she came back with the question, “I just have to wonder what the reason was to get Sheila out of prison if the medical issues were all a ruse? I mean, she wasn’t serving a long term.”

  “The sentence was a half dozen years,” Mel said. “I don’t know about Tennessee. In Ohio, we’d have been lucky if she served half of that. She might have done two years here. She’s not that old. Sixty-one.She’d be out and still be in her early sixties. What gets me is, her daughter pushed for this, and if she’s not on the run herself, she sure is acting weird. She’s not been at all bothered to check in or to call in and give me hell over this or storm the place demanding answers.”

  “Did you notify her that her mother was in transit back to Ohio, Mel?”

  “Well, yes. On Saturday. Actually, I had to leave a message.”

  “Which she never returned?”

  “No. After fighting to get her back in Ohio, that tells me something.”

  Chapter 14 - Church People

  Tuesday Morning, November 24th

  Mel leaned over Holly’s shoulder, staring at her computer screen. “You’re a genius,” she told her assistant and friend. She scanned the list of committee members for the mega-church Divine Christmas coral program.

  Holly gave her half an eye roll. “This is easy stuff, a basic search. If you’d have had Harding or Mason do it for you, they’d have laughed you out of the place.”

  Mel thought about her two detectives. “I’m sorry to put more work on you, but I don’t want to tax them with this stuff. Their caseloads are already heavy.”

  “While I’m not disagreeing, is it really that? Or is it that you’re embarrassed?”

  Mel’s face colored. Holly always saw right through her.

  Looking over her shoulder, Holly caught the creeping red tint. “It’s okay boss. We’re all on the same team. Stuff happens. You’ll find her.”

  Holly clicked over to the church website and scrolled through the calendar of events. She pointed at the screen. “What have we here?”

  “What? What are you looking at?” Mel leaned in again.

  The Sergeant turned administrator clicked on the calendar on Friday the 20th. “It’s called ‘Thankful before the Thanks’, a retreat for women of faith this Thanksgiving season. It runs through this morning.”

  “You think she might have gone?”

  “You tell me.”

  Mel shrugged. “It makes sense if she did, but what about her family? She’s married. They have a couple of kids…teenagers, but kids. Where are they while I’m blowing up her phones with calls and messages?”

  The parking lot of the Diamond Cathedral was about a quarter full. Inside the church, people - mostly women - were everywhere.

  A man wearing a name badge that said simply ‘John’ stopped her in the hallway. “Something I can help you find, officer?”

  “Sheriff.” Mel didn’t elaborate further. “I’m looking for a woman that may have been on a retreat that ended this morning.”

  “You’ll have to be more specific, Sheriff. We have thousands of members.” He smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “How many of them women that would have gone on that retreat?”

  “Oh. I see. Only a few dozen or so…capacity, you understand. Who were you seeking?”

  “Jennifer Coventry.”

  His face was a mask that showed no reaction. He thought for a second and then shook his head slightly. “Don’t think I saw her.”

  “But you know her?”

  Now his balding pate dipped toward her. “Yes, of course. She’s an active member. The Coventry’s are active supporters of all of our ministries.” His eyes flickered as a man in a black three-piece suit brushed by them.

  “Is there a pastor I could talk to?” Mel asked loud enough for the man to hear. She recognized him from his late night and early morning infomercial style commercials.

  Benson Raison stopped and turned back toward her. “Can I help you, Miss?”

  “It’s Sheriff,” Mel corrected him.

  “It’s all right pastor,” John began. “I’ve already explained to the Sheriff that the person she wants isn’t here.”

  Raison walked back toward them. “Whom might that be?” He smiled, showing off a set of perfect white teeth.

  Mel appraised the man in front of her; an expensive black suit, pure silk tie, diamond cuff-links and a diamond encrusted watch face to match. His hair was thick and slicked back with enough grease to hold it in place in a hurricane. He looked as smarmy in person as he looked on television. “Jennifer Coventry.”

  “Ah.” Raison nodded. He clapped the other man on the back and said, “I’ll take it from here, John. Why don’t you go and see how they’re progressing with the sanctuary set up for tomorrow night?”

  John dipped his head in acknowledgment, turned and walked away, without another word.
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br />   “Right this way, uh Miss…”

  “Sheriff. Sheriff Melissa Crane.”

  “Right this way, Melissa.” He moved to her right to take her elbow and guide her but she wasn’t having it. She pulled away reflexively and cautioned him under her breath, “Easy there. You don’t touch a law officer and you never want to block the gun side.”

  “Melissa, we are in a house of God!”

  “And there are crazy people everywhere, these days. You don’t know who could come in here with what.” Or, who would already be here and snap.

  He stepped back then and directed her through an open door to her immediate right, a small prayer room. “I was going to take you to my office but that’s on the other side of the great hall. I can’t have you scaring the congregants here today with wild accusations. Why don’t you just state your business and let me get back to tending to mine…to my congregation?”

  “It’s simple Pastor. I need to find Jennifer Coventry. It’s imperative that I find her soon.” He stood there listening but not moving. “She has a family issue going on which she may not even know about, and I don’t want her to hear it from anyone but me.”

  “Oh dear.” The man now fanned himself, despite the chill in the outside air. “Someone’s died?”

  “No. No one’s died.” At least, I don’t think anyone has. Not yet. “Did she go on that retreat?”

  “Yes,” he admitted. “But, she’s gone…er, not here. His eyes shifted away. “Her husband picked her up this morning before the final devotional. They had a family… event.”

  On a Tuesday. “How was she on that retreat, pastor? Did she seem normal to you?”

  “Well, I wasn’t there the whole time, you see. They began on Friday. I had to minister here Saturday night and on Sunday.” He looked back at her again. “You can rest assured, she was in very good hands. Our women’s ministry is strong and growing.”