39. Terrific

THIRTY-NINE

Terrific

“It’s funny.”

“It isn’t funny, Jess.”

“Wrong,” Jace stated. “It’s seriously fucking funny.”

Rus was sitting at Moran’s conference table, his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at his ankles, his fingers linked behind his neck, and he was grinning at his chest.

Because it was totally fucked up.

But it was still funny.

“Okay, so we hauled in Ellen and Wendy and Dean and Lana, and none of them jumped Michael Mitchell, rang his bell, forced benzodiazepines down his throat, stripped him, trussed him, ball-gagged him and shoved a dildo up his ass, leaving him in front of the high school,” Moran said. “Now, my guess, we have about a thousand other citizens with a myriad of reasons why they might be moved to do this to Michael. What are my chances it’s a citizen taking justice in their own hands, and not the Crystal Killer frustrated with not finding Ezra, acting erratically?”

“Your chances are zero,” Bohannan answered. “He didn’t like doing that. He’s not gay. That’s why it was quick, clean, efficient, and he didn’t take it to climax. But somehow, we missed him, or he’s listening, and he heard about it. Ellen’s performance at the town council meeting. Rus’s reaction to it. And with Ezra holed up wherever he’s holed up with no one able to find him, he’s fidgety, wants to do something, and decided to clean up some local messes as presents for Rus.”

“Do I need to take Austin and Dylan into protective custody?” Moran asked.

“I wouldn’t,” Jess said.

“Jess,” Bohannan warned.

Jess and Jace exchanged identical smirks.

Bohannan was much like Rus, sitting in his chair at the table. Jace was in a chair in front of Moran’s desk, Moran was behind it, and Jess was leaning against a wall.

And in that “much like Rus” scenario, Bohannan’s tone might have held warning, but he was amused.

The amusement left the room when Moran asked irately, “How is this guy walking around my fucking town? We’ve been everywhere asking about him, he’s fucking watching Rus, and no one has seen him?”

“He’s very good at disguising himself,” Rus reminded him. “Not a single witness at any of his scenes had the same descriptions for the guy. He was shorter. He was taller. He was blond. He was bald. Heavyset. He had a lisp.”

“Could it be more than one guy?”

Rus shook his head but looked at Bohannan.

Bohannan shook his head too.

“So we got another victim, at least this one’s not dead, and otherwise nothing,” Moran groused.

“First, he might have come prepared for Molnar, but he didn’t come prepared for Michael,” Rus remarked. “You have a sex shop just out of town, we need to go talk to them and see if they have internal cameras. He bought Michael’s gear here. He might have taken the trip to Seattle so we couldn’t track him local, but that’s five hours in a car alone, much less finding somewhere to go and make his purchase. He’s got his ear to the ground and shit’s happening fast. My guess, he’s not wasting time driving.”

“I’ll send Dickerson out,” Moran decided.

Good.

“Next, Ezra is keeping tabs on news in town,” Rus said. “I know your deputies hit his friends for interviews, I want you and me to go back personally and lean on them in case he’s got someone he’s conned into thinking he’s still a decent guy. Someone who might be hiding him. Or bringing him supplies wherever he is. And when he does, keeping him in the loop about what’s happening.”

“Why isn’t he a million miles from here?” Moran asked.

“Twenty K won’t get you far, and he’s probably watched a least one cop show. He knows credit cards aren’t safe. He knows what a BOLO is. And he still thinks he can swing a deal,” Rus replied.

“Remember,” Bohannan put in. “He’s had people taking care of him all of his life. He’s just waiting for whoever is going to do that next to slide in.”

Moran huffed out an aggravated breath.

So Rus hated to do it, but he had to when he said, “We got people to talk to, brother.”

Moran pushed out of his seat.

Rus did the same.

* * *

“Listen,I don’t know why you guys keep coming to me. He’d come to our Super Bowl parties because my wife is friends with Sherri. If we were one short, we’d ask him to complete a foursome for golf. But I really didn’t ever like the guy,” Justin Ingram told them.

Rus’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

“Honestly, if I heard from him, the first thing I’d do is call you,” Ingram went on.

“We’re trying to be thorough,” Moran said as Rus pulled out his phone.

“No offense, I can tell you’re not twiddling your thumbs,” Ingram returned. “But wish you could be more thorough in some other way and find this asshole. I heard what happened to that Mitchell kid. Don’t know him, but I also heard what was said he did. Just desserts, but this town is fucking crazy. Dead girls in the lake. Dead girls in the motel. Wives texting videos to everyone in town of their cheating husbands doing kinky shit. Naked guys on the lawn of the high school with sex toys shoved up their ass. What the fuck?”

It might be the case getting to him, but Rus was having trouble not laughing.

He looked to his phone and saw he had a text from Lucinda.

He opened it.

I know you’re busy, but I need to ask if you can find time to swing by the hotel. Jaeger wants to speak to you, and he won’t be put off. I don’t want him to find you and there be an issue. I’m sorry, but do you mind?

His thumbs moved over the screen. I’ll be there in thirty.

“I completely understand,” Moran responded to Ingram.

Ingram looked sorry for Moran as he replied, “I bet you do.”

“We’ll leave you to your Sunday,” Moran ended it.

“Thanks, and good luck. I hope this ends soon for you and all of us,” Ingram bid.

Rus dipped his chin to the guy, and they moved away from his front door.

“I need to get to the hotel. Jaeger’s there and he wants to talk to me.”

“Coulda called that,” Moran muttered. “Should have warned you.”

This was new territory for Rus, so he asked, “You got any advice?”

Moran stopped at the cruiser and turned to Rus.

“My take?”

Rus nodded.

“Jaeger didn’t want to lose Cin. He let something stupid get in the way of what was important. So he lost Cin. He lost time with his daughter. And he was too damn proud to admit it and move back. He’s living with that fuckup. I thought they’d reconcile when he came back when Alice was taken. But Cin’s too smart for that. She doesn’t need a lifetime of juggling a man’s insecurities. This situation is going to tweak him, and he’s gonna wanna know you have it in hand. But he’s not a dick. He’s a good guy.”

Moran took a breath.

And then they hit Bro Time.

“I like you. I like working with you. Never worked with a partner as simpatico as it’s been working with you. I respected you right off the bat. Just so you know, Jaeger’s my friend. We’re not tight anymore only because he left. And I told him not to leave. But he didn’t listen. We’re still friends, we keep in touch. Because of this, I know he’s going to be protective of what’s not his anymore, it’s yours. And because I’m getting to know you, I know it might get under your skin. Last, because I like you both, you need to go in knowing he’ll always be Madden’s dad, and you can’t fuck this up.”

Terrific.

“Lucinda says he’s got another partner,” Rus remarked.

“I know he does,” Moran returned. “But I think we both know, there’s only one Cin.”

Yeah, they both knew that.

And Jaeger did too.

He thanked Moran for his advice with a clap on the arm, rounded the cruiser and got in.

He received another text from Lucinda as they pulled out.

Just so you know, Dad’s here too.

Fantastic.