“She must have known something about Jeremiah. That’s what got her killed.”
“And she kept quiet about it for ten years?” Adam retorted, shaking his head. “That doesn’t sound like Breezy.”
“I know, but she was hiding something when we talked to her on Monday night.”
Reed’s head turned sharply as I said this. “Hiding what?”
“Breezy talked about how creepy it was that whoever took Jeremiah drove right past her trailer. She said she didn’t see anything, so I asked if anyone had spent the night with her in those first couple of days after Jeremiah disappeared. I wanted to know if there were other witnesses we should talk to. She said no, but I don’t think she was giving us the real story. She was protecting someone.”
“Any idea who?”
“No.”
Reed studied the body at his feet again. “Well, it looks to me like she’s already been dead for a couple of days.”
“It was probably that same night we were here,” I said. “She didn’t show up for her shift at the diner the next morning.”
He frowned. “Where’s her phone?”
I looked around the cramped confines of the trailer, but I didn’t see it. “It’s here somewhere. I heard it ringing when I called from outside.”
“Call it again,” Reed told me.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Breezy’s number. We heard it ringing, still muffled but louder than before. Her ringtone was Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” which fit for Breezy. The noise came from near my feet, and I realized the phone was under her body. Reed bent down with a gloved hand, nudged the body slightly at the hip, and slid out her phone with two fingers. I recognized the cheap silver pay-as-you-go phone that Breezy had used for years.
Reed tapped on the screen. He navigated to the call log and pulled up a list of dialed numbers. “What time did the two of you leave the trailer on Monday night?”
“About seven thirty.”
“She didn’t make any calls after you left. And there are no incoming calls either.”
“If she didn’t reach out to anybody, then why was she killed? No one knew we’d talked to her.”
“Maybe not, but the whole town knew we’d found evidence at the resort,” Adam pointed out. “This is Everywhere. News travels fast.”
“So she was a time bomb.”
Adam stared at me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, as long as we hadn’t connected Jeremiah to that resort, whatever Breezy knew didn’t matter. As soon as we did, she became a threat. The question is why.”
Not long after that, I said goodbye to Breezy for the last time. I still had trouble accepting the reality that I would never see her again.
Adam offered to drive Agent Reed back to Everywhere, so I was on my own. I exited the trailer into the winter night, where the snow was still falling through the swirl of lights on the police cruisers. Beyond the perimeter of the scene, I saw that a black SUV was now parked on the dirt road. Violet Roka stood outside the driver’s door, looking elegant and powerful in her long wool coat. It was dark, but she wore sunglasses, as if she were in disguise. Her hands were in her pockets. I got the feeling that she’d been waiting for me.
I headed her way. The snow made my hair wet and got in my eyes, making me squint to see. My brown uniform was bulky and unflattering. As always, I felt outclassed whenever I was around Violet.
“So it’s true?” she asked me.
“Yes. Breezy’s dead.”
Violet’s face didn’t react to the news. “That’s what I heard. The FBI media rep called the congresswoman to give her a heads-up. I wanted to get out here ahead of the reporters, but they’ll be all over this soon enough. I need to brief her before she gets any questions. What can you tell me?”
“Don’t get too sentimental, Violet. Try to hold it together.”
Yes, that was a cheap shot, but Violet took the hit without flinching.
“Look, I know we’ve never been close, Shelby. I know you think I’m an ice queen. Unfortunately, doing what I do, I can’t afford the luxury of getting emotional about things. It doesn’t mean that I don’t feel anything. Breezy was my friend, too.”
“Well, someone murdered our friend tonight.”
“You’re sure it was murder?”
“Agent Reed thinks so. Do you want to see her before they take her away?”
“No. I just want information.”
“You should talk to Adam about that. Or the FBI. Not me.”
“I want this to be unofficial for now. I’m a lawyer, Shelby. Lawyers like to know the answers before they start asking questions.”
“So what do you want to know?”
“Obviously, whether Breezy’s death is connected in any way to Jeremiah’s disappearance.”
“It’s too early to say for sure.”
Violet sighed. “I told you, this is off the record, Shelby. Not for the press, not for public consumption. Let’s not play games.”
“Okay. Is there a connection? Probably. But we don’t know what it is yet.”
“We’re very close to the old resort. That must mean something.”
“Could be.”
“Is there any reason to think Breezy herself was involved in Jeremiah’s disappearance?”
“Breezy? No, not at this point. Why would you think that?”
Violet took off her sunglasses. She looked uncomfortable, and I’d hardly ever seen Violet looking that way. “Let’s talk in my truck.”
“If you like.”
We climbed inside. The interior was still warm. She had three separate cell phones mounted on her dashboard, and I had to relocate a laptop and a dozen thick manila folders to sit in the leather passenger seat. In the thirty seconds it took me to get situated, two of the phones rang and went to voicemail, and one rang again immediately after that. That was the life of a congressional aide. I was sure Violet loved it.
“What’s going on?” I asked her. “What did you want to tell me?”
“This is private and sensitive information, Shelby. That’s why I’m telling you, not Adam, not Agent Reed. I hope I can count on your keeping it confidential.”
“Not if it affects a murder investigation, Violet.”
“I don’t know if it does. It’s probably irrelevant. But since it involves Breezy, I thought you should be aware of it.”
“Okay.”
“Three years ago, Breezy tried to blackmail me. It was during the first campaign. She wanted money, or she was going to go to the press with a story about me using cocaine.”
“Did you pay her?”
“No. I told her to go to hell.”
“And did she talk to the press?”
“If she did, they saw it for what it was. Malicious gossip. The story never saw the light of day. I’m only telling you this because I know Breezy has been struggling with money. If she stooped to blackmail once, she might do so again.”
“All right. I appreciate the information. But I do have to ask: Was the story true? Do you have a drug problem?”
“No.”
“Did you have one in the past?”
“No.”
“Breezy told me that you and she did coke together in high school.”
“That was a very long time ago. We were teenagers. Sometimes teenagers do stupid things. How is that relevant now?”
“Breezy’s dead. Someone murdered her. Everything’s relevant.”
“Well, I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re suggesting. Believe me, if I didn’t think it was worth paying blackmail over, then it wasn’t worth committing murder, either.”