by Janice Kay Johnson - Cop by Her Side (The Mysteries of Angel Butte)
Clay didn’t dare say anything.
“And...well, I told you already,” Jane continued. “Lissa and I haven’t been talking much.”
“Why? Did you have a fight?”
Jane stole a look at him. Color had risen in her cheeks, making him suspect he wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “This was back in, I don’t know, June, maybe? She was being snotty, talking about how important her job was and how lucky that one of them was working and how Drew seemed happy enough to take all the time off he wanted. And he was there! I could see him shutting down. Sort of shrinking before my very eyes. So when I got Lissa alone, I chewed her out. It didn’t go well.”
Given what Jane had said about their relationship, Clay wasn’t surprised.
“Anything between her and Drew was none of my business,” she said. “So I could just back off. Except she put it more profanely.”
Yeah, he could imagine.
“I have, but I guess I came down on Drew’s side. He is job hunting! He tells me about it. He’s actually been offered a couple of positions, but of course they weren’t around here, and they weren’t so irresistible he was willing to put his foot down and say, ‘we’re going.’”
Pansy. Clay was a little disconcerted to realize he heard the description in his father’s voice, despite the conscious effort he’d been making lately to shut out his voice. He didn’t like it, even though he shared the basic sentiment. Pretty clearly Melissa was the dominant partner in that relationship. Dad was old school enough to say she wore the pants.
What irritated him was the sympathy fairly oozing from Jane. Poor, sensitive Drew, whose wife was being unfair and unkind. Clay didn’t suppose she’d hinted that he might consider standing up for himself.
“I suppose you wouldn’t have had any trouble putting your foot down,” she said tartly, and he realized she’d read his expression with unerring accuracy.
“No, I wouldn’t have.” He raised a hand when she showed signs of wanting to launch an assault. “Jane, this isn’t about me. It’s not about us. I need to know about Drew and Melissa. Is this new behavior for them? Has she always taken the lead? Have you ever before sensed she feels some contempt for him, or is it new?”
She bit her lip. The pink in her cheeks became brighter. “You’re right. I’m sorry. And no, I really thought they loved each other. Maybe Lissa is the stronger minded of the two, but I thought that was okay. She needed someone easygoing enough to let her moods slide off his back. You know?”
Was that what she needed, too? Clay wondered, appalled. Or, at least, thought she needed? Man, he hoped not.
Repeat to self, this isn’t about me. It’s not about us.
“So things have been going sour since he lost his job,” Clay said thoughtfully.
“I... Maybe.”
“You noticed more than you thought you did, then.”
Jane nodded unhappily.
Clay went back to eating, and she did the same. After a minute, between bites, he told her about his visit to Stillwell Trucking. “You ever met any of her coworkers?” he asked.
“Sure. Speaking of the Fourth of July, the owner always throws a big shindig. He has a really nice place out of town. He always has everyone who works for him over for the holiday. Barbecue grills, potluck, great view of the fireworks, families welcome. I’ve gone a couple of times with Liss and Drew and the kids.”
“This year?”
She nodded.
“Who does she like? Not like?”
Jane stared at him, her eyes wide, the color...bewitching. A word that had never so much as crossed his mind before.
“Why does it matter?” she asked. “What are you thinking?”
He hesitated. This investigation was his. She was family. Could he trust her not to repeat things he said to her brother-in-law?
Yeah, he was surprised to realize. He thought he could. And face it, his speculation was just that so far.
“I’m not thinking anything yet. I’m...casting a fly on the water, looking to see what rises,” he admitted. “If your sister really just had an accident and Brianna was grabbed by a stranger who happened to stop, then I have absolutely nothing to go on. Finding her is going to be purest luck. One of the tips people are calling in panning out. You know how those work. The guy stops for gas, has to take the little girl to the restroom and somebody sees and recognizes her picture on the five o’clock news.”
Jane nodded again.
“I’m not saying that isn’t what happened. I hope not.”
She shuddered, not needing him to explain. Stranger abductions were the worst.
“We’re checking into registered and suspected child molesters in the area, for what that’s worth.”
Another nod told him she understood how unlikely it would be for them to find Bree that way.
“But there are these little mysteries digging at me,” Clay continued. “Why was Melissa so insistent about not taking her daughter with her? With her working full-time, it’s surely natural for the kid to want to spend some time with her. Why didn’t they go where your sister said they were going? And why did the accident take place so far out in the country, not on the way to anywhere logical?”
Her lips tightened. He guessed she had asked herself all those same questions.
“Do you remember all the stuff that happened last winter,” she said, “when Colin produced the long-missing Maddie Dubeau?”
Surprised by the abrupt right turn in topic, Clay said, “Sure.”
“Did you know one of the attempts on her life took place at that falling-down resort so close to where Melissa ran off the road? The one you said is some kind of group home now?”
“No,” he said slowly. “I didn’t.”
So she told him about the incident. How Maddie, who had suffered from amnesia, had driven straight to the resort by instinct, thinking it was important. How, after she had talked to the couple who now owned the place, she’d started down the driveway, only to have bullets shatter her car window. “She wasn’t hurt then. I mean, later the guy grabbed her and tried to kill her, you know that.”
“You’re thinking the two things are connected.”
“I really doubt it. How could they be?” Jane pushed the tray away, although as far as he could tell she’d hardly eaten a bite. “Coincidences bother me, that’s all.”
They bothered him, too. And that wasn’t all.
“There’s something you’re not saying.”
She lifted her eyes to his with obvious reluctance. “I kind of found out something I wasn’t supposed to. And I don’t want to tell you, because you might think you have to do something about it. And I really don’t think it has anything to do with what happened to Melissa or Bree.”
Maybe not, but she was wondering anyway. And Jane Vahalik had good instincts. They were what had made her a top-notch detective.
“What if I promise not to do anything about what you tell me?”
“Can you really do that?” She sounded skeptical.
He gave that a moment’s thought. No, he didn’t like giving blind promises. But now his curiosity was aroused, and...this was Jane.
“Yeah. As long as it doesn’t impinge on this investigation,” he said finally.
So she told him. The old Bear Creek Resort was indeed a kind of group home, but not a licensed one. In fact, it flew so far below the radar, it was as invisible as the stealth bomber.
He gave his head a disbelieving shake. “So the boys there are all hiding from authorities. This couple running the place is defying court orders, the kids’ parents and just about everyone else. And you knew about it.”
Her look was more sidelong than direct now. “Well...yes.”
“It didn’t occur to you that one of these runaway seventeen-year-olds might have
a thing for little girls?” His gorge was rising. “That this nice couple providing a bolt-hole probably don’t actually know much about the boys they have living there?”
“No. Not until... Well, I just got to thinking about it. When you talked about the weird location where the accident took place. And, um, the resort might have been a logical place for Bree to go for help.”
“You just got to thinking.” He was just getting mad. “Goddamn it, Jane!”
“I’m sure they vet the kids carefully. I really don’t believe—”
He swore and pushed his chair back, getting up.
“Wait!” Jane shot to her feet, too. “What are you going to do?”
“What do you think I’m going to do?” he said from between tight jaws.
“You promised.”
“You know I have to go check it out.”
Her misery was so apparent, his anger softened. “Jane, I have no choice. I didn’t say I’m going to turn these people in. But I have to pursue an all-too-realistic possibility. Would you want me to do any differently?”
She searched his face anxiously. “No,” she finally said. “If one of them hurt Bree...”
Hurt was a euphemism on a par with passed away, but Clay understood why she couldn’t make herself say words like raped and murdered in the context of her own niece.
A strange impulse seized him then. “You can come with me if you want,” he suggested, before common sense could jump to his rescue.
“Really?”
He liked the way she was looking at him, as if she thought he was a nice guy, too.
But after a moment she gusted a sigh. “I can’t. I promised to keep Alexis today. There’s no way Drew can have her with him if he’s going to stay here at the hospital.”
That was true. Staff would never let a kid that age go back into ICU, even supposing it would be a good idea for her to see her mother looking the way she did.
“But you’ll call me, won’t you?” she asked.
“I can do that,” he agreed, picking up his tray.
They bussed their dishes, Jane collecting the lunches she’d picked up for her niece and brother-in-law. Clay walked her partway, before their routes diverged. When they reached the place where the corridors crossed, he stopped.
“We got distracted. You never did say what you thought about the people Melissa works with.”
Tiny crinkles formed on Jane’s forehead. “I...actually don’t know. She seemed to get along with everyone.”
“What about the big guy? Did you see them together?”
There was a noticeable hesitation this time. “I guess she was a little flirtatious with him,” she said. “Nothing that obvious, though. He was sort of, I don’t know, gallant. Like he was flattered. I didn’t see any secret glances and they didn’t sneak off to meet somewhere.”
“You sure?”
“Positive,” she said firmly.
Clay found he didn’t want to give up that particular scenario, but he would set it aside for now. “All right,” he said. “Jane...”
His voice had come out rough. She suddenly looked shy.
“Take care of yourself, too, okay? Not just everybody else.”
“I do—”
“You barely ate.”
“Oh.” She appeared startled he’d noticed. “I’ll get something later, at home.”
“Okay.” Damn, he wanted to touch her. Kiss her cheek. Comfort her in some way. Or was he really wanting to lay a claim? Unsure of his own motivations, he only nodded and walked away, aware she hadn’t moved and was watching him go.
* * *
“THE BOYS WERE with us all morning,” Mrs. Hale told Clay.
With her graying hair in a braid and wearing Birkenstock sandals and a tie-dyed T-shirt, Paula Hale looked like, and maybe was, an aging hippie. Gray streaked her husband’s hair and beard, too.
Clay had seen their wariness from the minute he parked out front of the old log building and walked to the front porch. They were itching to find out how much he knew about their operation, but didn’t dare ask any questions that would make him curious if he wasn’t already.
If not for what Jane had told him, he might not have thought much about it. People always looked alarmed when police cars turned into their driveway.
“You were gathered together when the officers arrived to ask about Brianna Wilson,” he said.
“That’s right.” Roger Hale stood protectively behind his wife, who was perched stiffly on a bench that served as seating for a long table. One of half a dozen long tables. Clay straddled the same bench at the other end.
The shabby interior of the former resort was set up to serve as home for a lot more residents than the Hales were admitting to. Clay had made note of the commercial appliances in the kitchen, the one indication significant money had been spent to update the old lodge.
He’d seen a couple of teenage boys when he’d arrived, although both had faded away immediately. Maybe he should suggest to the Hales they coach the boys to fake it better. That slow slide out of sight would catch the attention of any self-respecting cop.
“How long had this meeting you were holding with the boys been going on?” he asked.
“We started at ten,” Paula told him. “We do one every Saturday, regular as clockwork. Attendance is required, no exceptions allowed. Routine works well for these boys. We’d actually finished and were getting lunch on the table when the deputies arrived.”
“Did any of the boys leave at any time during those two hours?”
The couple exchanged a glance. Not a conspiratorial one, Clay didn’t think.
“A couple of them used the john,” Roger said. “For that matter, I did. Nobody was gone for more than a couple of minutes. I’d have noticed if the back door had opened or closed, or the toilet wasn’t flushed.” Reading Clay’s expression, he said, “Yeah, we get a bad apple once in a while. And some of the kids need time to settle when they come to us.” Code for they’re really screwed up. “We have a pretty stable group right now.”
“Looks like you could accommodate a lot more than you have,” he suggested.
“We could. Our numbers rise and fall. Just depends on referrals.”
Clay nodded. “All right. You understand I had to ask when I learned you have a number of teenage boys here who might have significant issues.”
“Of course we do.” Paula sounded as if she meant it. “You haven’t found the little girl? Does her mother not remember what happened?”
“Ms. Wilson hasn’t regained consciousness, although we still hope she will,” he said. “And no. Frankly, at this point we don’t have a clue. That leaves me pursuing all possibilities.”
Expressing sympathy, they saw him to the door together. There he paused, turning finally. “Sounds like you’re doing a good thing here. You ever need us, you let me know.”
Their faces relaxed. They wouldn’t like knowing how obvious their relief was.
“Thank you, Sergeant. We’ll keep that in mind.”
Getting into his Jeep, he caught sight of a couple boys, lurking almost but not quite out of sight. He nodded at one and smiled at the flare of alarm. Judging from their reaction, his smile was not reassuring.
He didn’t quite know how he felt about the Hales’ operation, but he’d keep his promise to Jane. And he’d seen too many kids returned by an overwhelmed court to an abusive home. He couldn’t help sympathizing, even though he also believed absolutely in the rule of the law.
Clay was struck during his drive back to town by how much he’d come to diverge from his father’s more rigid beliefs. A cop, too, his father would have turned in the Hales without a second thought. But then...he’d been only a small step away from abusive himself.
Instead of making Clay uneasy, the re
flection eased something in him. He did not want to be a reincarnation of his father. He didn’t like thinking he had been heading that way.
Maybe he and Jane could find common ground.
The trouble was, discounting the contempt for most of humanity his father had taught was one thing. Changing a gut-deep belief that a man took care of a woman, especially the one he loved, and didn’t stand back while she took care of herself—that was something else.
A gulf he didn’t know if he could cross.
CHAPTER SIX
“DREW,” JANE SAID the next morning at breakfast, “you need to stay home today.”
He stared at her in shock. “I have to be at the hospital.”
“No, you don’t. You should spend some time with Alexis. Take a nap when she does. If you want to go back tonight, fine, but you look really bad.” She shook her head when he started to speak. “I’ll sit with Lissa this morning for a bit. Then I need to go by the station, check on my apartment and grab a few things I forgot yesterday, maybe pick up some groceries. I promise I’ll go back by the hospital after that. They have your phone number. They have mine. If anything changes, I’ll call. I promise.”
Comprehension was slow to enter those bloodshot eyes, but it got there. He nodded slowly, as if even so minor a movement required energy he didn’t have. “I’m running on fumes,” he admitted.
“Alexis needs you. She’s scared.”
The five-year-old had fought sleep the night before even after Jane had welcomed her into bed with her. It seemed like once an hour, she woke up sobbing and clutching Jane, who was wearing down herself. Right this minute, she and Drew, bleary-eyed, probably looked like the parents of a newborn.
The home phone rang and he sprang to his feet. A moment after picking up the receiver, he slammed it back down without saying a word.
“Aluminum siding.” He sank back into his chair, looking dazed from what had probably been an adrenaline-inducing cocktail of fear and hope.
“Which phone number does Bree know?” she asked. “Home or cell?”