Wedding Day of Murder (7 page)

“Find anything?” Arroyo asked.

“It’ll be in my report,” Jason
said, making the snap decision not to draw the pictures to their attention. Just
because he had to come clean over their existence didn’t mean he had to do it
now. To put such information out there now might lead them down a wrong trail.
Jason wanted to make sure they were on the right scent before he released the
hounds.

“I guess I’d better get going,” the
mayor said. “I trust you boys will keep me informed of any developments.” He
left without waiting for a goodbye. Jason waited until he was gone to speak.

“What was that about?”

Arroyo gave him the look, the one
that said he was the senior officer and Jason’s impertinence bordered on
insubordination. Jason didn’t back down. The mayor was shady, as Jason learned
when he set some thugs after Lacy awhile back. He didn’t want to share
information with a man he didn’t trust. At last, Arroyo smiled and leaned
against the table again. “Ah, you know the mayor. Anytime the breeze is
blowing, his gums are flapping. He likes to think he has a hand in what goes on
here, and the sheriff allows it so long as he doesn’t actually interfere. Politics.”

“Hmm,” Jason said, not sure he was
convinced.

“Anyway, I need you to help with
the interviews. We’ve been saving the best for last.”

Uh-oh. Arroyo’s gleeful tone didn’t
bode well. If there was one universal code among cops, it was to always make the
younger guy suffer as much as possible. They didn’t have much in the way of job
perks, but seniority was one. The greatest day in Jason’s career occurred when
he attained enough seniority to make a rookie clean up a drunk’s puke from the
back of his patrol car. Of course the guy didn’t clean it right and Jason had
to redo it, but still. He had pulled rank, and it had been fantastic. Arroyo
had that look now, the one that said Jason was in for it big time.

“I take it we’re interviewing the
protesters now,” Jason said.

“We’ve been through most of them,”
Arroyo said. “They’re not a cohesive group. None of them had much to say about
our vic. Of course, we still haven’t talked to the leader.”

Jason groaned. “You wouldn’t.”

“She’s waiting for you in interview
one,” Arroyo said. He reached in his pocket and tossed Jason a small container
of mentholated rub. “Here’s a gift. Smear some under your nose; it’s been a
long time since Janis Joplin had a shower.”

“Thanks a lot,” Jason said. He
opened the container and smeared a glob of the rub over his lip.

“Just trying to be a mentor and
give you lots of detecting experience,” Arroyo said. “Let me know how it goes.
I’m going to stay in here and be thankful for deodorant.”

Jason tossed the container onto the
table and left the room, dreaming of the day when he would be the one to lord
his status over a deserving underling.

The woman sat in the room, swaying
back and forth with her hands held aloft. Jason glanced at Arroyo’s notes and
found them lacking. The woman identified herself as “Rain,” but that was likely
an alias. He sat silently across from her, observing while her eyes were
closed. He supposed she might be considered attractive in an earthy kind of
way. She was petite and pale with brown hair and a smattering of freckles over
her nose. The mass of dreadlocks overwhelmed her figure and even though the
eucalyptus smell under his nose was strong, it wasn’t strong enough to combat
her stench. He could have handled body odor, but her hair smelled like dirt,
and her clothes smelled like incense. Combined, it was like having a front row
seat at Woodstock.

“Your name is Rain,” he said to get
the ball rolling. This was a volunteer interview. For now, she wasn’t a
suspect, so he needed to be friendly and hope for her cooperation.

“What are names? Badges of Western
oppression,” she volunteered before he could answer. “I don’t need labels to
define me.”

“I’ve found names to be a helpful
form of identification,” he said. “People will always find some way to identify
each other, don’t you think? Otherwise things would get confusing. Personally,
I prefer ‘Jason’ to ‘guy with dark hair.’”

She stared at him, humorless.

“What I’m trying to say is that I
would appreciate knowing your real name,” he continued.

“Rain is the name I’ve chosen with
which to define myself for this season in time,” she said.

What would next season be, he
wondered. Drought? Monsoon? “Okay,” he drawled. “Let’s get started. How long
have you known Carl Whethers?”

“Who?”

If he didn’t already know that the
hamster in her mind’s wheel was running on empty, he might have thought she was
joking. “The dead man, one of your protesters. The one in the green canvas
coat. He had a mustache.” He kept going because her face registered no
recognition.

“I called him ‘Forest,’” she said
when he finished.

“Because of the green coat?” Jason
guessed.

“No.”

His eyes dropped to his paper,
searching for something, anything to help. When this was over, he vowed never
to complain about trying to communicate with Lacy. “How long did you know the
man you called ‘Forest?’”

“What day is it?” she asked.
“Saturday?”

“Tuesday,” he said.

“Since Saturday,” she said.

“You knew him three days and didn’t
find it odd that he wanted to come here with you for a protest? Or was it his
idea?”

“We don’t own our ideas,” she said.
“If I speak a thought into existence, then it belongs to all of us.”

He was fairly certain that her
thoughts didn’t belong to him, but he was still trying to keep things friendly,
so he didn’t comment. “Are you telling me that you don’t remember whose idea it
was to leave the capital and come here yesterday?”

“I’m telling you that it doesn’t
matter. Nothing matters but who we are in this moment.”

Jason’s patience began to ebb. “In
this moment, I’m a police officer who is investigating a possible murder, and I
need a straightforward answer. Whose idea was it to come here?”

“Maybe Forest, maybe someone else.
The point is that when we arrived, this place became our destiny.”

“Do you think it was Carl Whether’s
destiny to be murdered and tossed on a dumpster?” he said. Perhaps a little
shock and awe was in order to make her understand the seriousness of the
situation.

“Who?” she said.

“Forest!” he snapped.

“Whatever happens to us is our
destiny,” she said. “If it was Forest’s time to go, then so be it.”

“That’s a calloused attitude to
take,” he said. “A man is dead, a man whose only connection in town was to
you.”
And Lacy.
“Start from the first
moment you met him, and tell me everything you know about him.”

“He wore a green coat,” she said.

Jason gritted his teeth. “I already
knew that.”

“I’m not responsible for your
knowledge,” she said. “I can only share mine.”

“Have you ever thought about
running for politics?” he asked. Her ability to say nothing was uncanny.

“I wrote myself in for president
last year,” she said.

“President of what?” he asked.

“The country,” she explained. “I
never heard how many votes I got.”

“I don’t even know what to say to
that,” Jason said.

“Can I go?” she asked.

Technically, yes. He couldn’t hold
her or compel her to talk, but he so desperately needed answers and a starting
point that he was willing to prolong the agony of the interview awhile longer.
“How can you go when you haven’t given me any answers?” he asked.

“I’ve given you all the answers you
need.” She thumped her fist over her chest. “Truth, brother.”

“Oh, geez,” he muttered. “Let’s try
again, okay? Besides the fact that he wore a green coat, what can you tell me
about Carl Whethers?”

“Wh…”

“Forest!”

“He….”

She made the word stretch for a
solid thirty seconds. “Yes,” Jason prompted when he couldn’t take it any
longer.

“Was…”

The way she took a breath before
the second word told him that it had the potential to go on for as long as she
maintained lung capacity. He smacked his palm on the table and she jumped.
“Talk!”

“Tired,” she blurted.

“What?” Jason said.

“Forest was tired. He napped a
lot,” she said, smiling triumphantly at having thought of something.

He almost didn’t want to ask.
“Anything else?”

“He…” she started again, staring at
the ceiling for clues.

“Never mind,” he said. He produced
his card and tucked it into her hand. “If you think of anything, please let me
know.”

She picked up the card, studied it,
and dropped it back onto the table. “I’m not a snitch, Pig!” She stood so abruptly
that the chair toppled. Jason let her go without comment. After she was gone,
he used a pair of plastic tweezers to drop the card into an evidence bag.
“Let’s see if Rain leaves fingerprints,” he muttered to the empty room.

His phone rang. When he saw that it
was Lacy’s grandfather, Mr. Middleton, he wasn’t alarmed. The two had formed
something of an unofficial Lacy tag team. Perhaps he was calling for a progress
report on Lacy’s surgery that morning since Frannie couldn’t be counted on for
a proper update.

“Hello,” Jason said.

“Jason, is Lacy with you?”

For the third time that day,
Jason’s heart took a dive. This time it had a harder time getting started
again. “No, why?”

“She seems to be missing.”

Five little words, and his world
came to a crashing halt.

                 
At
Lacy’s house, Jason felt like he was making as much progress as he had with
Rain. As it turned out, only he, Mr. Middleton, and Lacy’s grandmother, Mrs.
Craig, were upset over her disappearance. Jason expected Frannie and Riley’s disregard,
but he was shocked by Tosh’s cavalier attitude.

“Riley said she does this all the
time,” Tosh said. Jason hadn’t said anything confrontational, but he must have
given him a look.

“She does,” Frannie jumped in.
“Anytime she has medication she wanders. Remember, Riley, when she got her
tonsils out and we found her sleeping in the backseat of the neighbor’s car?”

“Not really. I don’t remember Lacy
wandering, but it sounds like her,” Riley said between bites of strawberry
shortcake. Apparently eye surgery hadn’t been enough to keep Lucinda Craig from
baking through her worry. She greeted Jason with the offer of a bowl of
shortcake on sight. By now he knew that it was her way, so he took it. But he
had barely touched it. He took a bite now. In his peripheral vision, she nodded
approvingly. He hoped the bite would be enough to hold her off for a while. The
cake stuck like a lump in his throat, choking him. Or maybe he was confusing
the cake with worry. Where was Lacy?

“So you’re telling me that Lacy has
wandered before when she had anesthetic,” he said.

“Pretty much every time,” Frannie
said. She took a delicate bite of the cake. Hers was minus added whipped cream
and sugar, so he figured she was watching her weight.

“And yet you left her alone while you
ran an errand,” Jason said. An awkward pall fell over the room. Frannie looked
at him uncertainly. He hadn’t meant to treat her like a suspect, but he
couldn’t help himself. How had she been so careless with Lacy? Especially
knowing that she was prone to wander?

“I’m very busy with wedding plans,”
Frannie said, her tone wounded.

Jason bit down on a reply, but he
also refused to apologize. Who cared about a stupid wedding when Lacy was
missing?

“What do you want us to do?” Mr. Middleton
asked, subtly bridging the awkwardness with an offer of action.

“Make a perimeter and search. When
did you leave the house?” he asked Frannie, trying hard to keep the accusation
out of his tone.

“Three or so?” she guessed.

“Is it possible that Lacy might
have slipped by you while you were still here?” he asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said.
She took another bite of cake. He turned his back on her and addressed Mr.
Middleton.

“It’s six. Lacy isn’t very fast.”

Riley snorted. He turned away from
her, too.

“If she walked continuously and did
four miles an hour, she could be as far as twelve miles by now. Knowing her,
she probably gravitated toward food or comfort; I don’t see her walking that
whole time. Has anyone checked the Stakely building or the bakery?”

“The bakery is closed,” Mr.
Middleton said. “I did swing by there. I also checked the Stakely building.
Joe’s keeping an eye out if she comes there.”

“Good,” Jason said. The Stakely
building was her most likely stop. Joe would be vigilant if Lacy’s safety was
in question. “We should call in some help and fan out.” He pulled out his phone
and dialed his office. He couldn’t issue an official bulletin or missing
person’s report, but he could call in a favor. His dispatch would put out the
word and the street units would keep an eye out as long as they weren’t on a
call. Next he called Travis.

“Kimber and Andy might want to
help,” Mr. Middleton said.

“And Michael. He’s such a nice
boy,” Mrs. Craig added.

“I’ll call Kimber,” Jason said,
conveniently ignoring Mrs. Craig’s suggestion. He didn’t know Andy, but he
figured that Kimber could contact him.

“I’ll start on this street and
check cars,” Tosh said. “I would prefer that Riley stay here. Her feet are
swollen, and her back has been hurting.”

“Fine,” Jason said. He wasn’t so
heartless as to make a pregnant woman pound the pavement.

“I’ll stay with Riley,” Frannie
offered. “We can work on centerpieces.”

Jason left the house before he said
something he might regret. Mr. Middleton joined him almost immediately. “I see
so much of her mother in her,” he said, somewhat resignedly. “I wish I saw more
of her Mom.”

For all that he was sometimes
terrifying, Jason couldn’t help but like Mr. Middleton, and he always had. In
high school, he had offered support and understanding devoid of pity. For
someone as proud as Jason, that had been vital. “Maybe it skips a generation,”
he said. “Lacy’s a lot like Mrs. Craig. And her grandfather.”

Mr. Middleton smiled. “That she is.
Let’s go find her.”

They set off in different
directions. Tosh emerged behind them and began making his way up the street,
pressing his face to the neighbors’ cars. Jason cut through a yard and headed
toward town. Joe was there, and so were Kimber and Andy, but he didn’t know
where else to go. Their town was an oasis in the middle of cornfields. If Lacy
wasn’t in town, he had no idea how to find her. If worse came to worse, he
would call in a favor and use the State Patrol’s infrared camera. Perhaps he
should do that now, but he didn’t think they were at that point yet. Plus, if
he called in the state, the media might become involved. Lacy would hate that.
The weather was cool but not freezing; they had a lot of time before the
situation disintegrated into an emergency. Besides, there were a few hours of
daylight left and a half dozen searchers. Surely she hadn’t wondered far;
surely they would find her right away. Wouldn’t they?

He refused to let himself dwell on
any answer other than “yes,” but three hours later, night began to fall, and
his hope began to wane. Before he took drastic measures, he gathered the
searchers together on the steps of the Stakely building for a report. Travis
had brought a map from the office. They spread it on the sidewalk and everyone
pointed to the areas they’d searched. Jason’s heart sank when he saw how much
of the town they had covered.

“Did you check your house?” he
asked Tosh. Lacy used to own the house. He had found her in there before; it
wasn’t beyond reason that she might sneak in again.

“Riley’s home now,” Tosh said. “She
checked the house and talked to the neighbors. No sign of Lacy.”

To their left, the protesters began
to chant and sing. Most of them appeared to be sleeping when the search party
arrived, but apparently they thought the group was there to see and hear them.
“Rain” stood and began to belt a Bob Dylan song as if she were performing on
Broadway. The group of searchers eased inside the opening of the building so
they could hear each other, but now a new annoyance loomed. Michael eased out
of his store and stood on his toes to view the map.

“What about that area?” he asked,
pointing.

“Those are empty fields,” Jason
said.

“The Little League baseball fields
are there,” Mr. Middleton said.

“Do you really think Lacy would go
there?” Jason asked. “I don’t think she even knows they exist.”

Mr. Middleton shrugged. He looked
as exhausted as Jason felt. Both men had gotten up early to take their
girlfriends to the doctor, but Jason had napped with Lacy. It was doubtful that
Mr. Middleton had slept.

“I guess it’s worth a look,” Jason
said, especially because it was the only stone left unturned. “After that, I’m
calling the state patrol for their plane.”

“I can look, if you want,” Mr.
Middleton volunteered, stifling a yawn.

“I’ll go,” Michael said. “I haven’t
looked anywhere yet, seeing as how no one told me she was missing until just
now.” His eyes settled accusingly on Jason.

“I’ll go,” Jason said. He didn’t
like Michael’s proprietary attitude toward Lacy. There was something off there
that he had never been able to put his finger on. He was far too comfortable
with her. He rolled up the map and handed it to Travis.

“Let’s split up and search one more
time,” Travis said. When Jason left them, Travis was handing out grid
assignments. The kid was growing up all right, he thought. If not for Lacy, he
would never have gotten to know him. If not for Lacy, he would probably never
leave his house, except to go to work. Before she came along, he had been an
island unto himself. Except for the occasional date, he hadn’t had much of a
social circle. Now his circle was filled with her family and friends who were
slowly becoming part of his life, too. They were filled to the brim with crazy
sometimes, but life was a little richer now that he was no longer alone.

He drove to the ball fields, trying
hard to keep hopelessness and frustration at bay. There was no way Lacy would
wander to the ball fields. They were in no way connected to her and never had
been. She hadn’t played softball as a kid, had probably never held a bat.
Unlike him. He had spent his childhood at these fields. After his brother died,
he used to ride his bike and practice pitching for hours. He parked and
wandered through the fields with a flashlight, checking under the small set of
rickety bleachers. He was about to call it a wash when he remembered the small
equipment shed at the opposite end from where he was standing. So sure was he
that Lacy wasn’t there, he almost skipped it. But he wanted to be able to tell
the state patrol that he had searched everywhere before he asked for the use of
their very expensive machine.

The door to the shed wasn’t locked,
which was strange. As a kid, they always had to wait for someone from the parks
department to unlock it before they could access the practice bats and bucket
of donated balls. Jason pushed open the door. At first he didn’t see anything,
but a second sweep of his flashlight revealed a pair of eyes. They blinked
sleepily at him.

“Lacy,” he said, relief and
confusion flooding him in a dizzying wave. “What are you doing here?” He knelt
beside her, but she made no move toward him, and she didn’t speak. He reached
out to touch her and found her burning with fever. “Come here.” He gathered her
close. She didn’t resist. “You must be so thirsty,” he said, more to himself
that to her. She seemed delirious again.

“She gave me water,” she said.

“Are you quoting
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
?” They had
watched the movie together when it was her turn to pick. Jason liked it better
than he would have thought. Lacy was famous for spouting random movie lines at
odd times, but now seemed especially arbitrary.

She didn’t answer. He smoothed his
hand down her hair a few times, relishing in the comforting security of holding
her close. The ordeal was over; she would be okay. “Let’s go,” he said. He was
going to take her to the emergency room, and he had no plans to run that by her
mother first. She had been gone all day after surgery, and she clearly had a
fever. If Frannie Steele thought Lacy’s “hardy constitution” could weather the
illness without assistance, that was fine. But Jason wanted her checked out for
his own peace of mind.

 
When he picked her up, something
clattered to the floor. He rested her weight against the wall and pulled his
flashlight free to look at it. The beam fell on a half-empty plastic water
bottle. Jason stared at it. “Lacy, did you bring water?”

“She gave me water,” she said. With
her mouth still swollen, she even sounded a little like Quasimodo.

“Did you find that water here?” His
flashlight beam scanned the dusty interior of the shack. He found a few stray
softballs, but no water.

“She gave me water,” she insisted.

He was baffled. “Who gave you
water?”

“Da man,” she said. She was getting
heavy, and she was shivering. When her teeth began to chatter, he took pity on
her and tucked her in the car. Before he left, he went back inside and bagged
the water bottle. Part of him felt like an idiot. Lacy had wandered away and
wound up lost in a shed. Either she had stumbled upon the water or she had somehow
taken it with her. Why was he being so over-the-top about this? He should toss
it away and forget the whole thing.

He didn’t, though. He carefully put
the bottle in a box in the back of the car, called Mr. Middleton, and drove
Lacy to the hospital.