Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Wolf parked in the Anniston County Sheriff’s Department lot as the dash clock said 6:55 a.m.

He sat for a few minutes, downing the remainder of his coffee and eating the final bite of a plastic-wrapped pastry he’d bought at the gas station in town. He watched while the phone reacquired a signal for the first time since the previous night.

A message came in from Piper.

Don’t worry. I figured out everything and canceled the wedding plans.

He felt like he was in an elevator that just dropped two floors.

What the hell? Had she figured out the plans looked exactly like his previous wedding? Is that what she meant? And had she called off the wedding altogether?

He sighed and pressed the button to call her.

It went straight to voicemail.

Rubbing his forehead, he spoke into the receiver. “Hi. It’s me. I…I don’t know what to say. I need to talk to you. Ju st…” He lined up the excuses in his mind—that he’d wanted to tell her, but the timing never seemed right, that he had let the moment slip away—but they all sounded weak and ineffectual in his mind. “Just call me. Please. As soon as you get this.”

He put the phone back in his pocket as the clock ticked over to seven.

Swimming in troubled thoughts, he squinted against the low-angled morning sun and got out into the cool air. He went to the headquarters entrance and found the door unlocked.

The interior of the building was warmer today, smelling of coffee. A box of donuts lay half-devoured on the back table.

Nichols ducked out of Brandenburg’s office. “It’s Wolf. Good morning. You want a cup of coffee? There’s some donuts if you want one, too.”

“Coffee, thanks. Donuts, I’d better not. I just had some.”

“Your loss.”

Larkin pulled up in his truck outside, parked, and walked in carrying a shoulder bag.

“Hi,” he said, then walked to his desk. “Good night?”

Wolf nodded.

“Where’d you stay?”

“The Lamb.”

“Oh, right. Of course.”

Brandenburg walked out of his office and went to the coffee maker. “Wolf. How are you?”

“Not bad,” Wolf said, lying, his mind still on Piper. His phone remained silent and still in his pocket.

Shaking the thoughts away, he recalled the night before. “ Listen. Remember that photo I found on the floor of Irving’s room?”

Brandenburg frowned.

“This photo,” Wolf said, pulling his phone. He pulled up the picture and showed the pic of Irv and the man he now knew as Mitch to Brandenburg.

“Yeah. What about it?” Brandenburg went to the donuts.

Wolf told them about the night prior at D’s Diner—of meeting Mitch and the older woman he suspected was his mother and the biker that showed up, clearly watching him.

“Mitch Russell,” Larkin said, looking up from his computer.

“You know him?” Wolf asked.

“Yep. Mitch runs the place. With his mom.”

“Savannah?” Wolf asked.

“No,” Larkin said. “She’s Dolores. The ‘D’ in D’s Diner. Savannah’s the little girl. Mitch’s daughter. Her granddaughter.”

Wolf blinked, looking at Nichols and Brandenburg. They were both staring at Larkin with unreadable expressions.

Larkin upturned his hand. “I eat there all the time. Me and Nichols go in there a lot.”

Nichols remained still for a beat, then looked down at Wolf’s phone.

“Let me see that again,” Nichols said, reaching out a hand.

Wolf handed over his cell.

Nichols squinted, shaking his head. “I’ll be damned. That is him.”

Wolf watched the deputy, wondering if he was acting. And if so, how good of a job he was doing. The younger Mitch in the photo looked a lot different from the older version in the diner, with a lot less hair on his face and head. But there was the tattoo and there were the facial features. Had Nichols been lying yesterday about not recognizing the man in the picture? Was he lying now?

“Okay, so what?” Brandenburg asked.

“I don’t know,” Wolf said. “They were acting weird. He wouldn’t tell me his last name when I asked him. And she left right after giving me a drink. Like I said, she was skittish. I don’t know. And, oh yeah, she had a black eye.”

Brandenburg lowered his cup. “A black eye?”

“I think so.”

“You think so?”

He told them about the bloodshot eye and the swollen area underneath it. “She told me she fell.”

“You asked her about it?” Larkin asked.

“Yeah.” Wolf stared, a thought coming to him.

“What?” Larkin asked.

“The soccer ball,” Wolf said.

“What about it?” Brandenburg asked.

“What soccer ball?” Larkin asked.

“There was a youth soccer ball up at Lawrence Hunt’s house. In the backyard. You say there’s a little girl?”

“Yeah.”

“How little?” Say hi to Savannah for me.

“I don’t know,” Larkin said. “Like, seven? Eight? Something like that? She sits in the diner, sometimes coloring. Reading books or watching her iPad.”

Wolf nodded, looking at Brandenburg and Nichols. “It could fit.”

“What could fit?” Brandenburg asked .

“That Dolores, D , is Hunt’s girlfriend. She’s the one staying over at his house.”

Brandenburg grunted, his eyes flicking back and forth as if the new thought was taking a while to register inside his skull.

“Yeah,” the sheriff said. “I guess that could fit.”

Wolf turned to Larkin. “What do you think? Have you seen Lawrence Hunt and Dolores together before?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him in there.” He shook his head, looking at his boss. “I can’t be sure.”

Brandenburg sipped his coffee.

“If she is Hunt’s girlfriend,” Larkin said, “maybe they were roughing her up to get information on where he was.”

Wolf nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking.”

At that moment, Wolf’s cell vibrated, still in his hand by his side. He checked the screen and read Waze’s name.

“I gotta get this.” He put the phone to his ear. “Hey.”

Waze’s voice emerged from an ocean of static. “We got a hit on Lawrence Hunt’s truck.”

“Where?”

“Green River, Wyoming. A couple hours northwest of you. I’m texting you the address now.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Keep me posted.”

“Will do.” He hung up and pocketed the phone.

“What?” Brandenburg asked.

“They found Hunt’s truck.”

“Where?”

“Green River, Wyoming.”

Nichols set his coffee cup down. “I’ll drive. ”

“No,” Brandenburg said. “You two stay here and hold it down. Me and Wolf will go.” He nodded to Wolf. “I’ll drive.”

“Okay.”