Chapter 29

TWENTY-NINE

The Whatcom County Sheriff Office is located in Bellingham, which is the county seat. I park on Prospect Street, and Sergeant Lucas meets us at the entrance with a scowl on his face.

"Was your meal satisfactory?" he asks.

I open the box we brought from the restaurant. "I brought you and the sheriff a peace offering."

Lucas looks inside. "Cherry cheesecake."

I say, "I thought donuts would be a little personal and we barely know each other."

Lucas says, "Sheriff doesn't like donuts."

I say, "I thought Donut 101 was a mandatory class at the Academy."

The three of us step through the metal detector setting off the alarm. Ronnie and I are both armed. Lucas nods at a deputy sitting behind thick glass in an office ahead of us and the alarm is silenced. The deputy buzzes us through and calls out to Lucas, "How goes it, Sergeant?"

Lucas smiles but I can tell he just wants to fob the conversation off. "We're getting there."

"Like the Greenwood case all over again, huh, Sarge?"

Lucas frowns at the deputy as if he's just given away a state secret but says nothing.

We follow Lucas inside another locked area and down a hallway to a door marked SHERIFF. Like our sheriff, Longbow has no need of ornate placards to declare his authority. Lucas knocks and a froggy voice tells us to enter. Once inside he explains the deal to Lucas and once again informs us we will do everything by the book.

Lucas hurriedly says, "I've put out bulletins to local law enforcement. I have the missing person report ready for Miss Marsh's signature when we go to my office."

Longbow dismisses us, and we follow Lucas. Lucas's office is crammed with stacks of file folders on the floor, on top of the filing cabinets, on top of his desk and the two visitor chairs. If he was a civilian, I would call him a hoarder but the stacks were divided into bundles tied with twine. I hope he has a system to remember what's what.

"We only have one missing person detective working this week and she's covered up with other cases, but she said she'd help out if we need her."

I say, "Judging by all the case files on your desk, it looks like you're a little busy, Sergeant." Or you don't do anything.

"Not all of these are active cases, Detective Carpenter. I know it looks like a mess but I've found many a career criminal by going through old unsolved cases. There's always some mistake made the investigator didn't catch. Sometimes that investigator was me."

This catches me off guard. It's good to be self-critical. Maybe Lucas is okay at his job after all.

"You said you've put bulletins out?"

"All surrounding counties and Canadian authorities. If you have a recent photo of your mother, Miss Marsh, I'll make up a poster and circulate it to my guys. Our missing person unit has a format for a poster and an email list that's quite extensive. The businesses put them on their counters and windows."

Rebecca says, "The bulletins are fine if they go to the police. However, my dad wouldn't like her face plastered all over the business community. At least not yet. He still thinks she'll come home when she's ready. Can we hold off on that?" Lucas looks at her a long while then nods. "Call me Rebecca so we know which sister you're addressing, Sergeant Lucas."

"Okay. Rebecca. Don't take this wrong but you've got some big bucks. Someone may target your family for that reason alone. The note that was found at the resort may or may not be relevant. Your dad said it was from a brother who is always begging for money. And the cryptic call you received telling you to stop looking for your mother. There's always the chance this is personal. You've had more time to think about it, so do you have any idea who might harbor ill feelings toward your mother?"

I ask him, "How is the call to Rebecca ‘cryptic'? It was a direct threat. So why haven't we gotten a ransom demand, Sergeant Lucas?"

"Since we're working together, just call me Lucas." He ignores my question. "Now, tell me what you have."

Ronnie says, "Dad told us very little about our mom's side of the family. I know we have an uncle on Mom's side, Vinnie Lombardi. Dad said Vinnie called Mom Dinky when they were kids. He doesn't believe Uncle Vinnie would do something like this but Uncle Vinnie was into drugs, alcohol and gambling, and so you may have a record on him. Megan and I think we should find him."

Rebecca says, "Maybe Vinnie is the reason we haven't had a ransom demand."

Lucas's expression slips a little. I think he knows more than he's letting on. Jerk. He hits some keys on his laptop, and I hear a printer in another office whirring. "I'll be right back."

He comes back with several pages and lays them out on his desktop. On top is a full-color photo of a hard-looking man in his forties. Jack told us Vinnie was Victoria's younger brother. It's hard to tell his age exactly because he looks like he's been beaten recently. Black bruises around gray eyes say he was still stoned when the photo was taken. Dirty, greasy-looking blond hair hangs to his shoulders. His face is thin and you can almost see the cheekbones through the flesh. Vinnie Lombardi. Jack said he was a drug addict but this is a death wish and it won't be long before his wish is granted. Now the note makes sense. He's desperate. Whether it's for another fix, or to pay off an arm-breaker.

Ronnie says, "My dad said he's paid gambling debts off for my uncle in the past, but he and Mom decided to stop doing so. Maybe Vinnie thinks my mom will take pity on him but I can't imagine a reason my uncle would kidnap her."

Lucas looks through the other papers. "He's had several arrests over…well, apparently since he became an adult. Drugs, illegal gambling, theft, robbery, assault, vehicle theft." He looks up from the pages and hands them to me.

I skim through them and ask, "Lucas, can you see if Vinnie showed a next of kin or emergency contact in the records."

He hands me the arrest records. "If he does, it will be in these records. There may be something in the jail, but I don't have access to their database."

There is no mention of an emergency contact in the papers. But there are dozens of arrests. Most are felony with a few misdemeanor battery charges. A few of the battery charges are on deputies. The arrests go back to when Vinnie had just turned eighteen. Not surprising to me because there wouldn't be a record of any juvenile arrests, but that doesn't mean there weren't any.

I say to the sisters, "According to the computer Vinnie's last arrest was in Blaine two years ago. Assault and attempted rape. He's used different addresses for each arrest and seems to use some more than others."

Lucas says, "Most probably those addresses are made-up or just places he's crashed for a night or a few days. He doesn't seem to stay put."

Ronnie and Rebecca give each other a look. I know they're thinking they had an uncle they'd never met and that he was a felon. No wonder their parents didn't talk about him.

This has been a bad day for the Marsh family. It's no wonder Jack didn't want anyone else involved. He was trying to protect his daughters from the truth. From experience I know that's still lying, but I protected Hayden from the truth about our mother and real father for the same reasons. I didn't want my brother to feel our biological father's evil blood that coursed through our veins. But now, just like Rebecca and Ronnie need to know the family secrets, I believe Hayden needs to know and come to grips with who we are and try to make peace with it. He deserves the truth from me and not the spin my mother will put on it. She has a master's degree in telling lies.

Lucas hits some keys. I hear the printer start up again. "I'm getting you all the detailed arrest reports for the brother. The last address we have for Vinnie is two years old. It's from when he was last arrested here in Bellingham. I'll call the jail to see if he listed a next of kin or emergency contact person. Current records don't show him in custody."

"What was Vinnie charged with in court?" I ask. Sometimes the police charge is changed by a prosecutor. In this case I'm hoping the attempted rape charge was erroneous.

Lucas consults the computer screen. "Sexual battery. Criminal confinement."

This just gets better and better. Poor Ronnie and Rebecca.

"Can you ask the jail if he had visitors?"

Lucas gives me a funny look and says, "But what are you hoping to get?"

"I'm not sure."

He looks at the clock. It's almost 4 p.m. "This might take a little while. Visiting hours are just starting at the jail. If you want to get coffee, there's a little café nearby. We have a breakroom with a coffeepot but Sheriff takes his so weak you can see through it. Go out the way we came in and turn left outside. You can't miss it. Come back here after. I'll tell the deputies downstairs to let you in."

We find the café and order four coffees to go. Sure enough, when we come back we are waived through the metal detector without a word. The deputies give Ronnie and Rebecca the once over again but ignore me. Ronnie makes heads turn wherever we go, and now I feel like I'm the comedy relief. What am I? Chopped liver? I dress for the job. No high heels or designer clothes. Just black lace-up boots, dark slacks, dark button-up shirt, and kind of a sport jacket.

We re-enter Lucas's office and he's just getting off the phone. We hand over his coffee and take our seats.

"Vinnie didn't list an emergency contact. The jail commander said he'd be happy to talk to you after visiting hours are over. You have an hour-and-a-half wait. Come back and get me and I'll go with you."

"Not necessary," I say. "I'll let you know if we get anything useful."

"Have you been in a maximum-security facility before?" he asks.

He would no doubt have something funny to say if I told him I just visited my mother in women's prison. So I don't.

Instead, I say, "I've been in a few." Not a lie. "I'll take you home before we do this, Rebecca."

Rebecca starts to say something but I shut her down with a look and pick up the computer printouts.

Lucas says, "I'm sorry if I came off as a jerk earlier. It's just I usually work alone these days. I had a partner a couple years back and it went south. And I didn't know you. Can I trust you?" He narrows his eyes and for a moment it almost seems like he's flirting. Would that be so bad? All in all, Lucas is a very attractive man, A little old for my taste, but he has a certain charm. I want to smash his face.

"Of course, Lucas." Until you can't anymore. He doesn't say anything more and we leave.

Back in my SUV I think about Lucas's about-face from his earlier rudeness. It seems contrived. But then, I might act the same way if the tables were turned. I still need him. He has the home-court advantage. He can get records. Knows the towns. Has connections. I'll take what I can get from him and keep him in the dark.