Mattie stood at the door, not wanting to waste time. She told them about Tess’s phone call. “I need to go out there. Tilley continues to call into Dr. Walker’s office several times a day trying to contact him. It seems suspicious.”
Stella frowned. “Sit for a minute. Let me brief you on Tilley’s status.”
Mattie perched on the edge of a chair with Robo at her side.
“Gus Tilley was diagnosed with schizophrenia decades ago and has been more or less stable enough on medication to take care of himself,” Stella said. “A relative that used to check in on him died a few years back, but she set up a trust that sends him a monthly check. Evidently there was a problem in the system, and those checks stopped for a time. Our county social worker has the information now, and she’ll look into it. But as you already know, his medications have stopped coming too, and that’s the most pressing problem she needs to straighten out first—she’s probably working on it as we speak.”
“So his condition isn’t stable at this time,” Mattie said.
“That’s right, but I’ve researched his history and background. There’s no record of previous violence, charges, or arrests. His primary symptom is paranoia, and he has delusions that someone is out to get him. When that happens, he withdraws and isolates himself. Evidently, the recent news reports on television about terrorism have fed into that problem.”
“Is he safe living at home by himself?” McCoy asked.
“He’s taking care of his home and his animals, and there’s no reason to suspect he’s a danger to himself or others. Taking him out of his environment for no reason would only make things worse for him.”
Mattie couldn’t believe he wasn’t a danger to others. “He might have hurt his horse. He might have killed Candace Banks. He might have kidnapped Sophie Walker.”
Stella studied Mattie for a long moment. “He might have done all that, but there’s no evidence to support it. The evidence tells us he’s a harmless man who’s having a rough time because he’s been without his medicine.” She paused, staring at Mattie, as if to emphasize her point before turning back to McCoy. “That said, under the circumstances, we can’t dismiss this call for help. Did he hear screams inside his own head, or did he really hear a scream in the forest? We have to go check it out.”
If I have sit here any longer, I’ll scream!
“Then let’s go.” Mattie stood, shifting her gaze between Stella and the sheriff. It had been twenty minutes since Tess called, and it would take a half hour to drive out to the Tilley place.
“I’ll ride along with you,” Stella said.
“Deputy Brody hasn’t returned yet, and I expect the first news crew to arrive within a half hour,” McCoy said. “I need to be here for that. Do you want Deputy Johnson to go with you as backup?”
Mattie didn’t want to wait for him to be called in. “If Stella’s right about Tilley, there’s no danger from him.”
Stella gave her a look. “I agree there’s no danger. This is little more than a welfare check. We can handle it.”
Chapter 25
Mattie loaded Robo and then jumped into the driver’s seat, strapping on her seat belt while she fired up the engine. Flipping on the overhead emergency lights, she drove toward the highway. Thank goodness she knew exactly where she was going. Once she hit the highway, she quickly brought the Explorer up to ninety miles per hour. She hoped to cut the time required to get there by pouring on the speed now, since she couldn’t on the dirt roads.
“Don’t go all cowboy on me,” Stella said.
Mattie caught Stella’s warning look out the corner of her eye. “You know me better than that.”
“That’s just it. I know you very well. This case is pushing all your buttons, and you’re not fooling anyone. Brody even asked me if there was something going on with you and Dr. Walker.”
Mattie shrugged it off. “Geez. Brody?”
“He was concerned you were letting your emotions get in the way of your judgment.”
“He’s one to talk.”
Stella made a sound of agreement before turning a serious face toward Mattie. “True. But I’m concerned too.”
Mattie threw a sidelong glance at her. “I can handle this.”
Stella pursed her lips, a furrow of worry on her brow. “You talk a good line, Mattie Cobb, but can you follow through? Innocent until proven guilty. This man deserves your respect.”
Astonished, Mattie gave her head a slight shake. “I know that. I’ve treated him with respect, and I will. There’s no need for the lecture on police sensitivity.”
“Brody also said that lately he’d had his first experiences of playing good cop to your bad cop instead of vice versa. Surprised the hell out of him.”
“Bet it did him some good to try out a new role for a change. When did you and Brody have this conversation?”
“Before he left with Heath and friends. Said as your supervisor, he needed to get my perspective and my opinion about you being on the case. It’s a fair question.”
“Nice to be included in the discussion.”
“I’m including you now. It’s not just this case, Mattie. I’ve been concerned about you for weeks. You’re not yourself. You look exhausted, and you’re irritable as hell. It feels like you’ve got rage simmering inside of you.”
Not wanting to prove Stella’s point, Mattie bit off an angry retort. “Look, can we not talk about this right now? I’ve got to pay attention to my driving.”
Stella paused long enough that Mattie darted another glance at her, finding herself squarely the focus of the detective’s probing gaze. Stella turned away and looked out the windshield. “You’re right. Later.”
Mattie sped down the highway, slowing to turn onto the dirt road that led to Tilley’s place.
If Robo can pick up a trail, just a trace of scent that leads somewhere, that’s all we need. Just a trace of scent.
“Cut the overheads when we turn into his place,” Stella said.
“I was going to.” They were about a quarter mile away, and Mattie flipped the switch that turned off the flashing lights. “I’ll shut them down now.”
“Good.”
Mattie turned into the drive and parked beside the yard. Tilley was nowhere to be seen.
“I’ll go up and knock. You wait back here,” Stella said, stepping out of the Explorer. She strode up to the porch and rapped on the door. Mattie unsnapped the strap on her holster for easy access to her Glock, exited her vehicle, and stood beside it.
The door opened an inch, and Stella spoke to the man behind it. “It’s me, Mr. Tilley. Stella LoSasso. We’ve had a report that you heard screams coming from the forest. I’m here to investigate it for you.”
The door opened a bit more, and Gus hovered at the threshold, baseball bat in hand, his face pinched with fear. Dodger scrambled through the partially opened door and came forward with his tail wagging to greet Stella like an old friend.
“It’s the deer,” Gus said. “They’re in trouble, I tell you. It’s terrorists. They’re coming for us.”
“Not if we have anything to do with it. Where did you hear these screams, Gus? Where were they coming from?”
“Down the road.”
“Were you inside your house when you heard it?” Stella asked, probably trying to determine if the screams were real or figments of the man’s imagination.
“No. No. I was at the barn. Taking care of Lucy. They hurt her eye, you know. I need to go out there and watch over her. I need to go.”