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“I need you to find out how I can take down a certain asshole,” Merrick said.
“Taking down assholes is what I love to do man, who is he?”
Merrick gave his cousin all the information he had, including a bit of background about how he’d shot as his girl and put a few bullets in his truck. Giovanni assured him that if there was any dirt on the guy, he’d find it, and promised to get back to him as soon as possible.
After Merrick hung up, he almost felt like he was getting back under his control. He lifted his glass into the air and made a promise. “Sheriff Buck, you’re about to get fucked.”
Chapter Sixteen
After their meeting with Sam at the bar, Holly waited with Jimmy for a tow-truck. The tow-truck driver took Jimmy car and Holly drove Jimmy to his house. She stopped by the Mail Boxes Incredible and made a Missing Person flyer, then went home, hoping that she’d just wasted good money on a needless flyer. But the apartment was as quiet and empty as it had been when she’d left it, with no sign of Jana. Despair gripped at Holly’s heart.
Holly had a few hours before her shift, so she cleaned her apartment to try and distract herself. As she worked, she kept going over in her mind, everything that had happened, as she tried to make sense of it. The security footage had been an eye-opener, but it hadn’t helped her find Jana. What she and Jimmy did know, however, was confirmation of what she’d suspected all along. Sheriff Harold Buck was at the root of Jana’s problems.
Jana hadn’t said much about what had happened to her the night she had shown up on Holly’s doorstep, dirty, bruised, and scared. She’d only insisted that she wouldn’t go to the hospital, wouldn’t see a doctor, wouldn’t talk about what happen
ed, and absolutely wouldn’t go back to her boyfriend’s house to get any of her things.
Jana had become increasingly withdrawn after almost a whole week. Depressed, and feeling hopeless. Holly was really worried about her, and hated to leave her home alone while she went to work. When she talked, which was rare, all she did was apologize for being a burden, and assure Holly that somehow she’d find a way to get her car fixed. And then she’d go to Florida and get out of her hair.
But with her car in need of several hundred dollars’ worth of work, and the rest of her things still hostage at her ex’s house, Jana couldn’t see a way out. She wanted to get a job, but she’d become agoraphobic, afraid even to go outside for a second. When Jana spotted the article on the front page of the Misty Falls Journal announcing a talent show Friday night – Jana’s mood improved. Overnight, she had a purpose, a reason for being – and her depression faded away as she focused on preparing for the show.
The phone rang, pulling Jana away from her memories. “Hello?”
“This is Mail Boxes Incredible. Your flyers are ready.”
“Great,” Holly said. Leaving the last few dishes wet on the drying towel, she grabbed her purse and keys and headed out.
She paid for the box of flyers and took one out to look at it. She had used a picture of Jana from her phone, and she winced at seeing her friend’s face. Would she ever see it again? Was Jana still alive?
She read the flyer:
Missing, Jana Peters, age 26
Last seen Friday night
Double XX Bar and Grill
Last seen driving off with the owner of this vehicle.
She listed partial plate number and added her contact information, despite some reservations that she might be putting herself at risk. She bought a roll of clear tape and headed down Main Street, intending to paper downtown with Jana’s face.
But after an hour of trying, almost every business on the main drag, she gave up in frustration. Not one of the small business owners would let her post the flyer. They were nice about it, citing antisolicitation policies, which Holly knew was utter bullshit—especially as several already had other kinds of leaflets posted in their windows. A school play here, a book club meeting there. When she recognized one of the shop owners as a person she’d seen helping with the cleanup at the Double XX, it suddenly became clear. These people were in the sheriff’s crosshairs, and none of them wanted him to direct his ire at them. Chicken shits.
Eventually, she gave up trying to do store windows and switched to posting her notices on trees and lampposts. The tape wouldn’t stick to the trees, so she barely had half a dozen flyers posted by the time she gave up and sped home so she could get ready for work. Uniform dawned, she took the box of flyers with her. She’d hand them out to the customers, when the boss wasn’t looking.
The diner was the hub of gossip in town. She’d get the word out.
When she arrived at work, Holly asked her boss about putting a flyer in the window. To her delight, the owner agreed. It was crazy busy so she put the box in her locker along with her purse and went about taking care of the rush.
As the night went on, a few of the patrons noticed the flyer in the window, and she could tell people were talking about it. The diner buzzed. People were talking about what happened at the Double XX. No one seemed to know about the gun toting sheriff, but everyone heard that the place had been trashed and someone had stolen the prize money.
Holly listened to their conversations like she always did, even though people spoke in whispers while looking over their shoulders. “My brother would have been the sure winner, but they only had two acts before the robbery.”
At eight o’clock, the owner of the Double XX came into the diner. The staff and the patrons perked up at the sight of him. Sam was always handing out free drink and food tickets for his bar, and everyone in Misty Falls thought he should run for mayor—he was that loved. But when they saw his face, those who knew that his bar had been trashed told those who didn’t to give him some space. He wasn’t there to pass out free drink tickets. It was clear that Sam was unhappy.
“What’s wrong?” Holly said as she plopped a cup of Joe and a menu on the counter.
“My wife, she never came home,” he said. “I’m hungry and I don’t know how to cook.”
