Chas motioned for Starks to remove the cuffs. As much as he hated to admit it, he really had no reason to hold Abbott. And boy did he hate to admit that. He would have liked nothing better than to lock the sonofabitch up and toss the key in the garbage. Instead, he met Abbott’s gaze. “If you had nothing to hide, why did you run like you did?”
Abbott glared at Chas. “Because I figured you were going to do something exactly like what you did. I didn’t want to spend the day in jail. So am I free to go now?” Abbott stood up abruptly.
Chas thought things over. He knew Trace was right—whoever had shot Maddie Croft had done so in the bathroom with the door shut. The spatter was there to prove that fact. There was no way Abbott could have stood in that bathroom, in such close proximity, and shot her without getting blood spatter on himself at the same time.
“You can go,” Trace said, obviously reading Chas’s mind. “We may have more questions for you later.”
Abbott let out several choice curses as he turned and stormed out of the office.
Chas sat down at his desk, his head in his hands.
Trace sat down across from him. “I don’t understand why someone would have killed Maddie. And why here? She was in a police station, for cripes sake! This building should be the safest place to be in town.”
Chas just shook his head dejectedly. His heart was broken for Maddie. While he’d been tired of her pushing and prodding him about their relationship for the past few months, he’d liked her. She’d been a friend. And she’d been a fellow officer. Losing one of their own was a hard pill to swallow.
“I can’t help but keep wondering why the door was unlocked. It’s always locked after hours. Even though there’s a desk clerk on duty, the doors are always locked. Only immediate personnel would have had a key.”
“Maybe they didn’t need a key. If she knew the person, she might have just let them in,” Chas said, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.
“She had some enemies,” Trace said thoughtfully. “She could be a bit…”
“Abrasive,” Chas filled in for his brother.
“That’s one way of putting it. Do you think this was something personal? I mean you dated her. You probably knew her better than I did.”
“I went on a couple of dates with her, I did not date her. It was barely a thing ,” Chas snapped, rubbing at his stubbly chin. “I know she saw other people. She had other guys around.”
“Like who?”
“Hell, Trace, I don’t know. She partied a lot. She had friends. Call them. I wasn’t that close to her. That’s the honest to God truth.”
“I’ll talk to her family. I know they live in the city.” Trace was quiet a moment. “The thing is, this is normally a quiet place to live. I can’t help but feel that three murders in a week have to somehow be connected.”
“So what’s the connection? Abel Flannigan, Myra Tavish and Maddie Croft weren’t exactly friends. And besides Myra, they have no connection to Dinah Tavish. My gut is telling me that somehow Myra’s murder is connected to her.”
“I don’t know what the connection is. But we need to find out, and fast. All hell is breaking loose here.”
“I’m not arguing with you. I just don’t know what to think. None of this is making any sense. We should talk to Maddie’s friends, her family, and start there. I need to follow up on Abel Flannigan and what happened at Myra Tavish’s house. Dylan and Tabitha are still missing. The longer they’re gone…”
“I know, you don’t have to tell me. By the way, I fielded two visits from Loretta Kennings yesterday, while you were at the detention center. She’s beside herself. She’s on a chain smoking, drunk binge.”
Chas winced. “Did you mention the situation between Tabitha and Abel?”
“I did. She didn’t take the news well. She freaked out, as you can imagine. In her defense, Abel’s barely cold. I’m sure she’s torn down the middle. She doesn’t want to believe he was a child molester, on top of everything else.”
“If I ever put some fat ass drunk on the same pedestal as my kid, slap me around, will you?”
“I don’t see that happening, but yes, you have my word,” Trace assured him.
A few minutes of silence passed as both men contemplated their next moves.
“Word’s travelling fast around town,” Josh said, suddenly stepping into the office. “We need to release a statement of some kind.”
Chas grimaced. He hated when the media got involved in a case. It always created a circus. He’d managed to keep things rather quiet, having their representative make only minimal statements until now. But a police officer had been murdered. There was no keeping something like that quiet—especially considering where Maddie had died.
“The mayor called too. He’s on his way in. He’s a little upset, if you get my drift. There was also a call from the city station. In light of the situation, they want to send some guys in to help out over here. What do you want me to tell them?” Josh gave Chas a sympathetic look.
Chas wasn’t looking forward to guys from the city station coming in and sticking their noses in things. It would only make a bigger mess for them to muddle through. He didn’t really see any way around it though. While he and Trace were technically in charge of the Cavern Creek substation, they still had to answer to the higher-ups at the city station. And the truth was, they were getting in over their heads at this point. “Tell them to send whoever they can spare.”
Josh nodded. “I’ve got someone coming in to take over the phones. I’m going to get back on rounds. You want me to stop and grab you a change of clothes?”
Again, Chas looked down at his blood stained shirt. He felt sick to his stomach instantly. “No. I’m going to go home and shower and change.”
“Okay. Well, Roxy’s still out front. I tried to get her to go home with Luci but she refused.”
Thinking about Roxy made him cringe. Earlier, she’d been a huge help to him. She’d called for an ambulance and then helped him do CPR on Maddie. She’d kept relatively calm throughout the entire crisis, which was a little concerning, considering her history. “I’ll take her back with me.”
Josh left and Chas stood. He’d no sooner grabbed his car keys, when the mayor stormed into the office, his face red with anger.
“What in the hell is going on here? Why didn’t you call me yourself?”
“We’ve been a little busy here, Donovan.”
“This is my office too! I can’t believe I had to hear about this second hand. A murder!” The mayor glowered from Trace to Chas. “I was dead set against this proposal when the city council recommended it! I knew it was a mistake! We need a real police department here! Not some joke of an outfit that’s run by spares from the city.”
Chas found his eyes darkening. He was in just bad enough a mood to start swinging his fists. Apparently Trace sensed this because he pulled his brother back and sent the mayor a level stare. “You need to take a step back and calm down. We lost one of our own today.”
Mayor Dewitt had the decency to wince. He cleared his throat and spoke again, this time with a bit more dignity. “While I realize that, I’m concerned for the citizens of this town. It appears that everything is going to hell in a hand basket around here. I need to be briefed on this situation. I need details.”
“I don’t have any further details to give you.” Chas stood his ground. “City station is sending in extra help so you can rest assured that we’re not on our own here.”
“Well, that’s good.” Dewitt still looked tense. As if a light suddenly came on, he seemed to notice the blood on Chas’s shirt and pants. “I’m sorry for your loss. Maddie was a nice girl.”
“Yes, she was. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go change.” Chas didn’t bother waiting for him to respond. He headed for the front desk, where he found Roxy sitting in a chair by the window. She was staring off into space. She had a Spokane Police Department sweatshirt on that he supposed Josh must have dug up for her so sh
e could get out of her bloody shirt. Her pants were still stained red. Seeing the blood on her made his stomach churn. “Let’s get out of here and change,” he said quietly.
She got up without question and followed him out to the truck. Neither of them spoke on the way back to his house. When they got there, he let her use the shower first. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. He popped the cap off and took a healthy swig. He needed something to calm his nerves.
Ten minutes later, she came into the kitchen freshly showered, her hair wet. She was wearing a clean t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Her feet were bare.
“I’m all done.”
He nodded, setting his still half-full beer bottle down on the counter.
“Are you okay?” she asked cautiously.
“I’m fine.” The response came out more tersely than he’d intended. He avoided her gaze as he reached down and pulled off his shoes. “I’m going to go shower. Help yourself to anything in the fridge.” Once he got into the bathroom and shut the door, he leaned against the counter. Anger coursed through him. It was nearly uncontrollable. No matter how hard he tried not to think about it, he kept seeing Maddie’s lifeless eyes. His stomach rolled violently. He felt his skin break out in a cold sweat. He knew he was going to be sick and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
TWENTY-TWO
Roxy sat on the front porch of Chas’s house, breathing in the fresh scent of the late afternoon air. She knew Chas was upset. She knew he needed space. She really had no place else to go but outside. In light of what was happening all over town, she didn’t want to go anywhere alone.
So instead she’d opted to sit on the front porch and call Myles. Fortunately this time he’d answered his phone. When she’d filled him in on the gist of what was going on, his response was dead silence.
“Are you still there?” she asked, wondering if she’d lost the call.
“I’m here. I’m just wondering why in the hell you’re still in that godforsaken town. I’ll wire you money for a ticket home. It’s a done deal.”
Part of her wanted to jump at the opportunity to get the hell out of Cavern Creek. The other part of her knew she couldn’t do that. “I have to see this through, Myles. I know it sounds crazy, but they’re my brothers.”
“You hardly know them, Rox. This isn’t your battle.”
“It is.” She sighed. “I know it’s out of my character to see something through. I’ve spent my life running away from unwanted circumstances.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened to you when you were a kid? I know it’s something really bad.”
She thought that over. The truth was, she’d come close to telling Myles about her sister and her mother—about the way they had died. She’d never figured out how to get the words off of her tongue. Tonight was no different. “Maybe someday. It’s good to hear your voice. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. How’s Detective Studly-Pants?”
She grinned at that. “He’s had a rough day. He used to date the woman who was murdered.”
Myles let out a whistle. “That’s terrible.” He paused. “So just how involved with this guy are you?”
She hesitated, which was apparently all the answer he needed.
“You didn’t already sleep with him. You dirty girl. That’s not like you. He must be something else.”
“That’s one way of describing him.”
“Well if you want my honest opinion, I think it’s a good thing. I mean as long as you don’t get in over your head. It’s barely been a week since you met him. That’s fast.”
“I actually knew him when I was a kid. I punched his brother out on the playground.”
Myles laughed. “Ah, the romantic beginning. I love it.”
Roxy heard the screen door open behind her. “Listen, I need to get off the phone. I’ll call in a few days.” She disconnected the call and turned around. Chas stepped out onto the porch, now showered and shaved. He had changed into clean jeans and a fresh t-shirt. He had his shoulder holster back in place, his gun at his side.
“Who were you talking to?” He eyed her curiously.
“Myles. I was just checking in.”
He relaxed a little. “Look, I need to go back to the station. I don’t have anyone I can put on the house right now, but the locks are secure. Just stay inside and keep them in place. I’ll have someone patrolling the area periodically.”
His voice sounded cold and she felt the chill from it. “Okay.” She stood up, craning her neck to look up into his eyes. “When will you be back?”
“I don’t know.” He avoided her gaze. “It may be pretty late. Call me if you need to.”
“Are you angry with me?”
He finally looked at her. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because you’re being pretty frosty right now. I know you’re upset but—”
“I’m not mad at you. I have a job to do. It’s not just your aunt and your brothers involved here. It’s the entire town.”
“How do you know Maddie’s murder is connected to my aunt’s? Or Abel Flannigan’s for that matter? They may be completely unrelated crimes.”
“I don’t know anything for sure, Roxy. I just know that it’s my job to figure it out before anyone else gets hurt—or worse.” He opened the screen door and motioned for her to go inside. “Just let me do what I have to do. You’ll be safe here.”
Figuring she had no choice, she did as he asked.
When Chas got back to the station, he found Mayor Dewitt was still there. Trace looked as though he were about to pummel the man.
Along with Dewitt, Loretta Kennings sat in a chair in front of Trace’s desk. She was holding a tissue and sobbing. Apparently she’d just heard the news about Maddie and wasn’t taking it well.
“If someone killed Abel and Myra and Maddie, what about Tabby?” she cried. “Who would want to hurt my little girl? She’s just a baby.”
“We don’t know that she’s hurt, Loretta,” Chas interjected, walking into his brother’s office. All heads turned to look at him. “She may be hiding. She may be with Dylan Tavish somewhere. Until we have reason to believe she’s been harmed, let’s stick with that theory, okay?”
Loretta sniffled but slowly nodded her head. Apparently convincing Dewitt of that was going to be a little bit harder. He frowned.
“The girl’s been missing for nearly five days, McCall. Don’t you think that’s a bit worrisome, especially after what’s happened around here?”
Loretta started sobbing again and Chas had the urge to slap Dewitt. He tamped down on it and shot a glare at the man. “Until I have reason to believe that Tabby and Dylan have been harmed, I’m sticking with my theory. Now if you will both excuse us, we have work to do here.”
Dewitt continued to frown. Loretta stood up. She looked imploringly at Chas and he found himself softening. Her daughter was missing after all. Her boyfriend had been killed. Not only that, she and Maddie had been friends. She was having a tough few days. They all were.
“Listen, Rette. Just go home and wait things out. Tabby may come home on her own. She could show up at any time. I have no evidence that suggests otherwise, okay?”
She wiped at her red-rimmed eyes. “You’re not keeping anything from me, are you?”
“No. Not about Tabitha. I wouldn’t do that. I’ll call you if I hear anything.”
She looked skeptical as she sniffled again. “She’s no killer, Chas. I don’t want to believe that Abel was hurting her, but even if he was, she wouldn’t have killed him unless he left her no choice.”
He nodded his head, figuring this was a close as they were going to get to Loretta accepting Abel’s possible indiscretions with her daughter. “I know that, Rette. We’ll get to the bottom of this, but we need to get back to work to do so. I promise I’ll be in touch soon.”
Apparently she accepted that because she turned and walked away.
“I’m not as easy to snow as she is. Th
at child’s probably dead.”
Chas had finally had enough of the mayor and his annoying commentary. “Donovan, I don’t have time to sit here and argue with you. I’m going to tell you what I told Abbott and Loretta and Roxy Tavish for that matter too—let us do our jobs. Your constant interference isn’t helping anything.”
Dewitt opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off when a group of men in uniform strolled down the hallway. Chas immediately recognized them as Jason Denton, Will Riley and Tom Jordan. They were from the city station. At least the captain had sent them a good group of guys to help out.
Turning away from Dewitt, Chas greeted them, as did Trace. Apparently Dewitt realized he was no longer wanted. He finally left.
For the next few hours, they all pounded cups of coffee and poured over evidence in all of the cases. Chas pulled out the file on Dinah and Rachel Tavish’s murders as well. It was helpful to have more eyes looking things over.
“Where is Roxy Tavish?” Jason Denton asked, leaning back in his chair. He was a tall, thirtyish guy, with thinning brown hair and a gap-toothed smile. Chas liked him. He’d worked with him closely before in the city. He was a hard worker.
“She’s at my house. And before you ask, it’s a long story. Just know that she’s safe. I’ve got someone patrolling over there.”
Nobody commented, though a few brows arched. These men were all his friends, as well as his co-workers. They knew him too well. He knew what they were all thinking. At this point, he didn’t much care.
Trace broke the uncomfortable silence that had ensued. “I got a hold of Maddie’s friends and family earlier. They all pretty much said the same thing. She had no boyfriend or anyone they felt would be dangerous to her. She liked to party but she was responsible.”
Denton looked at Chas. “You had a thing with her, didn’t you?”
Tired of being reminded of that, Chas glowered at the guy. “What’s your point?”
Skeletons in the Mist (The McCall Twins) Page 17