Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

An hour after Everson’s visit, Wolf, Rachette, Waze, and Patterson congregated in the squad room around Patterson’s desk, summoned by a group text message from Patterson to meet her there.

“What’s up?” Waze asked.

She turned in her chair, shaking her head. Her hands splayed open. “They don’t have any footage at the Prickly Pines gas station.”

“What?” Waze asked. “That’s impossible.”

“Their system turned over yesterday and erased the footage from the previous week.”

“And they don’t have a backup or something?” Rachette asked.

“No,” Patterson said. She raised a finger. “But I did talk to the gas station manager and the owner and confirmed that a man calling himself Adam did come in. According to the owner, he was driving a blue Ford F-150.”

“Dent on the side?” Waze asked.

“He didn’t know about that. ”

“Of course, he didn’t.”

“The owner said he engaged him in a conversation about the cabin for rent, and the owner handed over the number.”

“What was the description of the man the manager and owner gave?” Wolf asked.

She turned around, picking up her notebook. “Not much different from Everson’s, but…I’d say a bit more vague.” She shook her head, tapping the page. “Gray hair. White male. Late fifties or early sixties. Wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, so they had no idea about eye color. Height of five-eight to five-ten. No identifying tattoos or scars they could recall.” She dropped the notebook.

“Damn it,” Waze said.

“How about a receipt?” Wolf asked.

“None.”

“He paid cash, of course,” Waze said. “Have you called the men up in Doyle to ask about the Ford F-150? Maybe they have a report of one of those being stolen.”

“No, sir. Not yet.”

Waze’s eyes glazed over, his lower jaw jutting forward. “Wolf, you got their phone number?”

“You want me to call them?”

“No. I want you to give me the number. I’ll call.”

Wolf pulled out his phone and relayed the number while Waze tapped his own screen.

Waze put the cell up to his ear. “I’m not gonna sit around here with my thumb up my ass, ducking calls from senators and governors all afternoon. I need some answers, damn it. Hey, hello?” He walked away to the nearest window. “This Sheriff Brandenburg? Yeah. This is Sheriff Gregory Waze, down in Sluice-Byron County…good. Listen, ha ve you had a report of any stolen vehicles over the last few days? Specifically, a beat-up dark-blue Ford F-150.”

“With a scratch and dent on the rear,” Rachette said.

“Yes.” Waze relayed the info into the phone. “No?”

Waze walked back, shaking his head, running a hand through his hair. He paced back and forth, listening.

“Nothing? Okay. Got it. Listen, I’m going to send up my detectives on this.”

Wolf exchanged a glance with Rachette and Patterson.

“Yeah, I understand that, but I have two dead bodies in my county, and we’re just as deep into this investigation as you are. We may as well pool our resources and see what we can come up with. Yeah, well, the only lead we have brings us up to you, so…”

Waze walked away quickly toward his office. “I understand,” he said, but his tone said otherwise. He disappeared inside the room, still talking.

Wolf followed, stopping outside the office to listen.

“…very capable. Okay? Okay, it’s settled. They’ll be up tomorrow morning, and you can take it up with him. My lead detective is David Wolf…that’s right.”

Wolf rounded the corner and looked in through the open door. Waze sat behind his desk with his chair pushed back, a fake grin plastered on his face.

“…great. Ha, don’t worry. Look, I have a lot of pressure down here to make moves on this, and I really appreciate it. I’m sure you get where I’m coming from. I’ll talk to you soon. You have my number. Goodbye.” The smile disappeared as Waze pulled the phone from his ear, pecked at the screen, and threw it onto his desk with a clatter. “Prick. ”

Waze put both hands to his eyes, rubbed hard, then lowered them. “Wolf! Oh…Wolf, get in here.”

Patterson and Rachette were already standing next to him, so the three detectives walked inside.

“What was that?” Wolf asked.

“You guys are going up to Doyle. They’re expecting you tomorrow morning.”

Wolf blinked. “Okay.”

“We need answers, and we’ve run into a brick wall here. I’m not sitting on my ass for who knows how long while we wait for these guys up in Doyle to relay what they have or haven’t figured out. They couldn’t even call Patterson back earlier, and we were going to let them run this investigation? We need to know what they know.”

Patterson and Rachette eyed one another.

“How long are you planning on us being up there?” Wolf asked.

“How long?” Waze scoffed. “As long as needed. How about that? You get me answers fast, and everyone will be happy.”

“I’ll go up myself,” Wolf said.

“We’ll go, too,” Rachette said.

Patterson remained silent.

“Don’t you guys have a baseball game to attend tomorrow?” Wolf asked.

“The job comes first,” Patterson said. “Our families know how it goes.”

Wolf shook his head. “I’m going alone.”

Waze stared hard at Wolf, nodding. The color in his face had cooled to his normal tan. His breathing was long and relaxed now. “Good. Yes. You two stay. You can deal with our end of things and see your kids play baseball. You don’t want to miss that type of stuff. Pretty soon, they’ll be out of the house and calling you once a year.”

Patterson nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Rachette nodded reluctantly.

“Why don’t you two leave me and Wolf to talk privately, please.”

Patterson and Rachette left, shutting the door behind them on the way out.

Waze stood, folded his arms behind him, and faced the window, presenting his back to Wolf.

“Everything okay, sir?” Wolf asked.

“Yeah,” Waze said, turning around and putting on the same fake smile he had used with the Brandenburg phone call.

“What kind of pressure are you dealing with here? The council? The governor?” Wolf shook his head. “They can’t exactly demand you solve cases with the snap of a finger. These things take time. Sometimes, they’re not solved at all.”

“Yeah, about that.” Waze sat down. He pulled himself up to his desk and folded his arms. “Sit, please.”

Wolf sat.

“My first few months here have been quite a transition for me…in and out of the office. I’m sure you have deduced by now that I’ve quit drinking.”

“Yes, sir. Good job.”

Waze flicked a hand. “It sucks. But I needed to do it.”

Wolf said nothing, watching as Waze shuffled his thoughts.

“I hear you did the same thing,” Waze said.

“That’s right.”

“How was it? ”

“It sucked. But I needed to.”

The sheriff raised one side of his mouth. “The pressure they’re laying on…it’s complicated.”

“Try me,” Wolf said.

“Thatcher,” Waze said.

Wolf prickled with annoyance. “What about Thatcher?”

“He’s not happy about Jorel.”

“Yeah. You already told me. Tell him to join the club. The two suspects who killed Jorel and disposed of his body in some unknown way are dead. Their mother, the only person who could possibly know anything, is not talking.” Wolf turned up his hands. “I’m not sure what Thatcher would have us do.”

Waze smiled, but his eyes remained troubled. “Jorel’s father has been a lifelong congressman from New Hampshire. Did you know that?”

“We met him last year after Jorel’s disappearance,” Wolf said, sensing a troubling turn to the conversation. “What about him?”

“Senator Jorel and Thatcher, combined, are quite the influential duo. And…I’ll just be frank here…they’ve chosen you as their scapegoat for Jorel’s disappearance.”

Wolf shook his head.

“I know. I know.” Waze stood up again and walked to the window. “I’m just telling you what I know. Jorel’s father and Thatcher are certain types of men who need balance in a situation. A debit and a credit.”

“And I’m the…debit?”

Waze turned around and looked hard at him. “When the governor mentioned to me this morning that we’d better be looking very good on this case, or, and I quote, ‘We’ll be looking for you to make some big changes with your new department,’ you can see why I’m feeling a bit on edge here.”

Wolf shook his head. “Bastards.”

“Yes. They are all bastards.” Waze sniffed. “But they are bastards that control everything that really counts when it comes down to it.”

“So…what?” Wolf asked.

“So…do your job,” Waze said. “And do your job well. Just like you’ve always done. Personally, I want to look good while I’m in office, and losing my best detective is not the way to do that. Right now, they don’t have a stone to stand on. Don’t give them one.”

Wolf stared back at Waze. “Stones can be made out of thin air pretty easily. Especially by a billionaire and a congressman.”

Waze shrugged. “And what are you going to do about that?”

Wolf stood up. “I guess all I can do is my job.”

“Keep me posted.”

“I will.”