It was Adam. He stepped ahead of the other members of our team and squared his shoulders.
“Yes?” Reed said. “You have a question?”
“Yes, sir, I’m Adam Twilley. I’m Sheriff Ginn’s senior deputy.”
There was no such thing as a senior deputy, but that didn’t stop Adam from staking his claim to the job. Agent Reed looked Adam up and down from his boots to his curly brown hair and analyzed him like a computer. I could tell what the print-out in his head said, and I’m pretty sure Adam could, too.
Lightweight.
It wasn’t fair, but Adam didn’t always give the best first impression. He looked like what he was, a kid with a motorcycle.
“Okay, Senior Deputy Twilley, what’s your question?”
“I want to know what our role is going to be.”
Reed’s face bent into the tiniest smile. “Well, right now, I sure as hell could use a cup of coffee if you wouldn’t mind.”
The agents broke into laughter that went on longer than was comfortable for any of us. Adam’s face turned several shades of crimson.
“I’m kidding, Deputy,” Reed went on. “All of you have an extremely important role to play. You know this area backwards and forwards. You know the people. You know the roads, businesses, all the things that we don’t. So we’re counting on you to give us your expertise on everything local. Make sense? Sheriff, you on board with that?”
My father nodded his agreement. “We’ll give you anything you need. We know every inch of this county, that’s for sure. I’m sure you can count on our colleagues in Stanton to help on their end.”
“Excellent.”
“I have a suggestion,” Adam broke in, pushing his luck with Agent Reed. “You should probably designate a liaison between you and your team and the police here and in Stanton. Someone who can coordinate the flow of information between us. Make sure nothing gets missed.”
“A liaison. Are you volunteering, Senior Deputy Twilley?”
“If you want me to, sure. I’d be happy to do that.”
Reed stroked his chin with his thumb and gave Adam another careful look. “Well, the idea of a local liaison working directly with me is a good one. I like your suggestion, Twilley. However, the last thing I want to do is come in here and deprive Sheriff Ginn of his senior deputy. That doesn’t seem right.”
Adam’s face fell as he realized he was being passed over for the assignment that he’d suggested. Instead, Reed’s gaze floated around the room from person to person among the sheriff’s team.
It landed on me.
“You,” he said, jabbing a finger in my direction. “What’s your name?”
“Deputy Shelby Lake.”
“Not a senior deputy?” Reed said with a flash of his white teeth.
I couldn’t help smiling, too. “No, sir, just a deputy.”
“How long have you been with the department?”
“Seven years.”
Reed turned to my father. “Sheriff, do you have any problem with assigning Deputy Lake to me during this investigation?”
I watched Violet open her mouth to object, but then she closed it again without saying anything.
“None at all,” Dad replied. He gave me the fastest little wink.
“All right. Deputy Lake, if you’re okay with that, consider yourself conscripted.”
“Of course. Thank you, sir.”
“That’ll be all for now, everyone,” Reed continued. “You’ll have assignments in fifteen minutes, and senior staff will meet again before the press conference in three hours. Remember, everybody, we’ve got a ten-year-old boy out there. Let’s go find him.”
That was all.
I was afraid that Adam was going to have a stroke. He shot me a look that was black with jealousy and rage. Adam and I liked each other, and none of this was my fault, but I knew this was going to be a problem between us. As the meeting broke up, he stormed out of the basement without a word to anyone else. Agent Reed watched him go. He knew what he’d done, and he didn’t care.
Of course, I wasn’t dumb. I knew why Reed had picked me. He assumed I was young, I was pliable, and I would do what I was told.
“Deputy Lake?” Agent Reed towered in front of me. “The first thing I want to do is talk to the Sloans. I’d like you with me.”
“Absolutely.”
“Just so we’re clear, the parents are suspects until we prove otherwise. That’s not for public consumption, but when things like this happen, it’s usually somebody close to the child. Our first job is to rule the parents out, so we can move on to others. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Ditto the brother. What’s his name? Adrian? I want to reinterview him about exactly what happened out there.”
I wasn’t sure I should say anything, but I barreled ahead anyway. “In fact, sir, I’m a little concerned that Adrian hasn’t told us everything he knows.”
Reed studied me with a glint in his eyes. “Oh? How so?”
I explained about the Gruders and about the burs on their pants. I was ready for Reed to dismiss my suspicions the way my father and Adam had, but instead, he called one of his agents over immediately and asked for background research on Will and Vince. Then he turned back to me and gave me a thumbs-up.
“That’s an excellent observation, Deputy,” he told me. “Has anyone talked to Adrian about this yet?”
I glanced at Dad, who was close enough to overhear, and I felt like a traitor. “No.”
“Well, let’s talk to him right now and get to the bottom of this. If he’s hiding something, we need to know what it is. The fact is, I never met a sixteen-year-old boy yet who didn’t lie the first time you asked him a question.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Any affairs?” Agent Reed asked me.
I eyed him across the front seat of my cruiser as we drove down the highway toward the Sloan house. My guilt about Keith Whalen was the first thing that popped into my head, and I hoped it didn’t show on my face. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Dennis and Ellen Sloan. Is there any talk around town about either of them cheating?”
“Why does that matter?”
“When people try to cover up affairs, bad things tend to happen. We always have to be conscious of possible motives.”
“Well, there’s been gossip about Dennis for a long time. I don’t know whether any of it’s true. He also drinks more than he should. He’s had a couple of DUIs over the years.”
“And Ellen?”
“Not that I’ve heard about. She’s a straight arrow.”
“What about money problems?”
“I don’t think so. Ellen’s store does well, and Dennis must make a pretty good living with the forestry department. I imagine they’ll be inheriting money and land from her father now, too. He passed away a couple of weeks ago.”
“What about abuse? Violence? Any calls for domestic disturbance at their place?”
“No, nothing like that. We get our share of domestic issues, but I’ve never heard about a problem with the Sloans.” I added after a moment, “It must be ugly for you and your team, always looking for the worst in people.”
Reed watched the trees going by on the highway. His long legs were squeezed under the dashboard. “I find kids. We’ve got a ninety percent success rate doing that. Nothing else matters.”
“I wasn’t saying—”
“I know what you were saying, Deputy. And yes, you’re right. It’s ugly sometimes. The reason I ask these questions is that people who have secrets typically don’t like to share them. They lie to their spouses, they lie to their friends, they lie to their doctors, they lie to cops. Even when their kid’s life is at stake, they lie. Honestly, I don’t care where Dennis Sloan sticks his dick. I care whether he’s being blackmailed about it, or whether some girl he dumped has a grudge against him, or whether his kid saw Daddy doing something he shouldn’t and told somebody else about it. All those things make kids disappear.”