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“The boy wasn’t sick?” Nevada asked.
“No. He was fine. Why would you ask that?”
“Your daughter texted me and told me her son was sick and she’d be late.”
As a precaution, Nevada and his deputies all carried a phone with GPS tracking when they were on duty. He checked and searched Bennett’s location. “It says that she’s here.”
“She’s not,” Sandra insisted. “I’ve looked everywhere.”
“The phone is here.” Nevada turned his attention to the grounds surrounding the house as he called Bennett’s number. A faint ring echoed from behind a stand of bushes. He slipped on latex gloves and then rooted around in the shrubs until his fingers brushed the phone.
The phone’s display had a record of Bennett’s text to Nevada as well as several texts from Bruce Shaw. She’d also placed a call to her mother around ten last night. “Why did she call you?”
“She said she had questions about Bruce Shaw,” Sandra said.
“What kind of questions?” Nevada asked.
“I have no idea. We never spoke.”
“Deputy Bennett said she would get a cheek swab from Shaw,” Macy said.
Nevada called dispatch on his radio and advised them that Deputy Brooke Bennett was missing. He wanted all deputies searching for her immediately.
“I’d like to speak to Matt,” Nevada said.
Sandra hesitated and then nodded. “He’s in the kitchen. He’s upset, so go easy on him.”
“Of course I will,” Nevada said.
Nevada and Macy followed Sandra into the house and back toward the kitchen to where a young man who looked like his mother sat staring at his phone.
“Matt,” Nevada said.
The boy stood. “I’ve been waiting for Mom to call.”
“We’re trying to find her now, Matt. When did you last see her?” Nevada asked.
“It was about midnight. I heard her come in.”
“Where were you, Sandra?” Nevada asked.
“I was called back in to work.”
“Where’s that?”
“The Deep Run assisted living facility. I’m an on-call nurse there. I wasn’t scheduled, but the boss said several staff members didn’t show.”
“You must know Debbie Roberson and Beth Watson,” Macy said.
“Sure. It’s terrible what happened to Beth.”
“Who called you in to work?” Macy asked.
“Dr. Shaw.”
Macy and Nevada exchanged glances, but neither spoke in front of the boy. “Matt, what did your mother say to you?” Nevada asked.
“Just said she’d be here to drive me to school.” He glanced at his grandmother and then, dropping his gaze, said, “She was annoyed Grandma wasn’t here.”
Sandra shook her head. “I’m so sorry, pal.”
“What happened next?” Macy asked carefully.
“She came back upstairs and kissed me good night.” He shook his head. “I barely remember her. I was so tired.”
It was quiet for a moment as they all processed the situation.
“What if someone hurt her?” Matt asked.
“No one has hurt your mom,” Sandra said.
Nevada glanced toward Matt’s scraped knuckles. “Your mom is a smart deputy. What happened to your hands?”
The boy put his hands into his pockets. “It was a fight.”
“With whom?”
“Tyler Wyatt. He said some bad things about my mom.”
Nevada laid his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “What kind of things?”
His face flushed red. “Like how her cherry got popped at the Wyatt barn.”
“How would he know that?”
“I guess his brother told him. I don’t know for sure.” Matt lifted his gaze to Nevada’s. “I thought he and the other guys invited me to the barn because they liked me. But they just wanted to screw with me.”
“You don’t look so bad. What kind of shape is Tyler in?”
“I don’t know. But I got in a few good licks before he and the others ran off. Are you going to arrest me?”
Nevada patted his hand on the boy’s arm. “No. Let me talk to your grandmother. Mind waiting for us a few more minutes?”
“Sure. Whatever you say.”
Nevada and Macy walked into the living room with Sandra. “What can you tell us about Dr. Shaw?”
“He’s always been nice to me. The patients love him.”
“How does he get along with the staff?” Macy asked.
“Fine. He’s done a lot for the facility. Because of him, the new addition got built.”
“That’s the Adele Jenner Wyatt wing.”
“Yes, it’s state of the art. It’s been great.”
“I assume the money came from Kevin Wyatt.”
“Yes, he’s a big benefactor of the facility since his grandmother stayed with us.”
“You ever see Dr. Shaw with Beth Watson?” Macy asked.
“No more than usual.”
“Did he seem to show any special interest in her or any other woman?”
“Not that I noticed. Are you suggesting Dr. Shaw would hurt a woman?”
“I’m not suggesting anything,” Macy said.
Nevada dialed Bruce’s number. The call went to voicemail. He left his name and number and asked for a callback. “Sandra, is there somewhere else you and Matt can stay?”
“I don’t want to leave,” Sandra said. “What if Brooke comes back?”
“I’ll keep a deputy posted here. But it’ll help me to know you and Matt are safe.”
“Matt and I can go to Mr. Greene’s.” She looked up at
Nevada, almost apologetic. “He’s always looked out for Brooke, Matt, and me.”
“That’s a great idea,” Nevada said. “Mr. Greene will be the first person I call when I find Brooke.”
Matt appeared at the doorway. “I don’t want to go.”
“We’ll find your mom faster if we’re not worried about you,” Macy said.
“Get your things, Matt,” Nevada said. “I’ll have Deputy Sullivan drive you and your grandmother there.”
When the boy vanished into the house, Nevada asked Sandra, “Are there any security cameras on the property?”
“We talked about installing them but have never gotten around to it. They’re expensive,” she said.
“Has anyone made threats against your daughter?” Macy asked.
“There was a guy a couple of weeks ago. He called the house a few times, but she hung up on him.”
“Who was it?”
“She tried to brush it off and say it was a telemarketer. But I didn’t believe her. But when I pressed, she refused to answer.”
“Do you have the number?” Nevada asked.
“It’s on her cell, I suppose.”
Nevada scrolled through the numbers. There had to be over one hundred calls. He checked the texts. He spotted the ones from Stuart. “Was your daughter talking to the media?”
Sandra nodded. “Last summer. She was so mad about those untested DNA kits. Mr. Greene wouldn’t listen to reason no matter how much she pleaded with him.”
“So she leaked it to the press?” Nevada asked.
“But she’s not given them anything since,” Sandra said. “She just wanted those kits tested.”
“Was your daughter raped in high school?” Macy asked.
Nevada’s jaw tightened as he looked at Macy. The question caught him off guard. In all his dealings with Bennett, she’d never once let on that she had been raped.
“Why would you ask a question like that?” Sandra asked.
“That’s not an answer to my question.” And then in a softer tone, Macy said, “I’m on Brooke’s side. I’m trying to help her.”
Sandra’s face crumpled with sadness. “Yes.”
“Is that when she became pregnant?” Macy asked.
“Yes. But she hid it from me for months. She was nearly six months pregnant when I found out.”
Nevada calculated back to when Bennett would have gotten pregnant with Matt. Could Matt’s biological father be the rapist they were chasing? “Does she know who assaulted her?”
