Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

S hane stood in Sheriff Dawkins’ office at eight o’clock sharp for their meeting, the air between them tense. Dawkins leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, his eyes sharp. "So," he said, voice taut with impatience, "tell me you have something concrete."

Shane’s jaw tightened. He knew what case Dawkins was talking about. As far as the department was concerned, there was only one case right now. Everything else was on the back burner. He dived in with what he had.

“CSI is clearing out of the Colburn’s property as we speak. I asked them to rush the DNA, but you know how that goes. I guess GBI will help it along some, though.”

“That’s all you’ve got?”

“No.” Shane pulled a sheaf of papers from the folder under his arm and put them on the desk in front of the sheriff, before taking a seat. “Here’s the final report from the medical examiner.”

Dawkins flipped through them and Shane could see him trying to keep his expression bland, but he cringed when he got to the first photos. When he finished, he looked up and a tic could be seen working quickly in his jaw.

“What else?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“Phone records are coming soon. Jane’s eldest daughter knew her Facebook password and I looked at it briefly but will go through it more thoroughly today. Willis doesn’t do social media. We don’t have the passwords for anything on Seth and Erin yet, but I’ll look through their posts.”

That was the next task he was handing over to Taylor.

“Kuno and I talked to Willis’s brother, Clyde Colburn. He’s got an alibi at the scrap yard, though …” He hesitated, knowing Dawkins wouldn’t like the answer. “They don’t have a time clock or badge system. I had to go by the boss’s word.”

Dawkins scoffed, slapping his hand on the desk. “So we’re just taking his word for it? Damn it, Shane. We need something solid here! If we don’t start narrowing down suspects, this whole thing’s gonna slip through our fingers.”

“I’m aware,” Shane replied, struggling to keep his own irritation in check. “But for now, Clyde’s in the clear. I checked it out. His boss confirmed and the camera at the gate has him pulling in and parking. We already have his DNA in the system and, if it shows up in that house, we’ll put him at the top of our list. I also talked to one of Willis’s close co-workers who was around during the whole Chinese espionage case. He says he and Willis had no idea there was spying going on and weren’t a part of the discovery. Willis definitely wasn’t the whistle blower.”

Before Dawkins could respond, the door creaked open, and Dottie from dispatch appeared, her face white as a sheet. She clutched a file in her hands, her fingers trembling slightly.

“What is it, Dottie?” Dawkins asked, his brow furrowing at her expression.

“Sheriff, there was …” she trailed off .

“Spit it out. What’s going on?” Dawkins said.

She let out a huge sigh, her eyes wide with fright. “There was a 911 call made from the Colburn house on Christmas Eve,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “But … no one said anything on the line. It sounded like maybe it was at a party, and it disconnected.”

Sheriff jumped to his feet, his face flushed with anger.

“And you’re telling me that no one checked it out?”

She took a step back. “Deputy Penner was dispatched to check it out but reported back that the gate to the property was locked. He decided not to go further, and we both thought it was a false call.” She swallowed, glancing at Shane, then back at Dawkins.

Dawkins shot up from his chair, his expression hardening. “Are you serious here? Penner went to the scene and didn’t investigate further?”

Dottie nodded, her eyes dropping to the floor. “Yes, sir.”

Shane felt a pit form in his stomach. That call could have been a lifeline—a chance to intervene and maybe even save one of them. And it was squandered.

Dawkins gritted his teeth, and his voice dropped to a dangerous low. “Thank you, Dottie. Get Penner in here. Now.”

Dottie hurried out, and the office fell into silence, thick and charged. Shane could feel the tension radiating off the sheriff, the frustration simmering beneath the surface. Moments later, Deputy Penner shuffled in, his face red, shoulders hunched.

Dawkins didn’t waste time. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us about the 911 call?”

Penner’s face fell, his gaze dropping to the floor. “I … I was ashamed, sir,” he mumbled, voice barely audible. “I didn’t think it was relevant at the time. The gate was locked, there was a no trespassing sign on it, and I had no reason to enter without probable cause … ”

Dawkins clenched his fists, barely restraining himself. “Ashamed? Ashamed that you left a potential crime scene unchecked? You might have had the chance to stop this tragedy, and you’re telling me you kept it quiet out of shame? This is going to make us look like a pack of damn fools to the GBI team.”

Shane couldn’t take it anymore. He stepped forward, his voice calm but firm. “Sheriff, if I may—it’s standard protocol. If nothing was said on the call, the gate was locked, and there was nothing else suspicious to go on, crossing that gate would’ve been illegal entry. Penner was following the rules. It’s not his fault.”

Dawkins turned to him, eyes blazing, before finally exhaling in frustration. “Fine. Get out, Penner,” he barked. The deputy glanced at Shane, murmuring a quiet thanks before he hurried out, his face flushed with embarrassment.

Once they were alone, Dawkins took a deep breath, running a hand over his face. “You got anything else for me?”

Shane’s mind raced back over the notes he’d taken that morning. The reports from Taylor, too, though he couldn’t bring her name into it. Dawkins would have his ass if he knew she was working the case, even if only a tiny bit, remotely.

“Preliminary backgrounds on Colburn’s youngest daughter and her fiancé are good. The flat tire story checked out, and a call with Ronnie McGill’s brother was met with nothing but good stuff about his big brother protecting him when they were kids and now being some kind of spiritual gentle giant. I had Penner running reports from county probation officers. All their criminals are checked in and accounted for, nothing stirring up interest there. I subpoenaed the phone records for all four, to see who they were communicating with that morning.”

“Like I told you, GBI has one of their top guys on this now. He’s taking over the conference room and wants us to work together.” He looked at Shane, raising an eyebrow. “You in?”

Shane’s jaw tightened. He wasn’t ready to hand it off or share credit. “I’ve got Deputy Kuno for support and we’re doing just fine. I’ll move my stuff out of there now.”

Dawkins sighed, shaking his head. “Fine, but don’t get in the way of the GBI. They’ve got a top-of-the-line forensics team, and much more investigative technology sources than we do. This isn’t about who gets credit; it’s about finding justice.” He turned, grabbing his hat and slamming the door behind him as he left.

Shane bit the inside of his cheek, feeling the bitter taste of resentment settle in. They’d been just fine using their own technology and outsourcing forensics. This was personal now. He’d solve this one his way—whether Dawkins or the GBI liked it or not.