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“Meaning she did come to you?”
“Yes, but she didn’t make sense. She kept talking about her brother and how he was leaving her behind. She said she could bury him and his friends, if she wanted to.”
“Bury how?” Macy asked.
“She never would tell me.”
“And by the time you did know about Bennett’s situation, Cindy was gone.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Bruce Shaw that Cindy came to see you?”
“Yeah, I told Bruce.” As he stared at her, his trademark confidence faltered.
“What do you think happened to Cindy?” Macy demanded.
“Bruce told me he drove her to the bus station. He told me Cindy wanted to leave town.”
“Cindy was last seen with Bruce?”
Greene shook his head. “Bruce didn’t hurt his sister.”
“How do you know that?” Macy asked.
“He’s a stand-up guy.”
“If you know something about Bruce, you have to tell me. Bennett’s life might depend on it.”
“I only talked to Bruce,” he said, more to himself.
Matt called out to Greene, but the old man held his ground. “Be right there, buddy. Just talking to the agent.”
When the front door closed, Macy asked, “Did any of those guys on the football team have a chipped tooth?” Macy asked.
“A what?”
“A chipped tooth.”
“A few did. Football is a rough sport, and boys aren’t always smart about their safety equipment.” Greene was silent for a long moment. “You think a member of that team committed the rapes and killed Cindy.”
“I do. And if you had put aside your love of that team, you might have realized it, too.”
He frowned and folded his arms over his chest. “This is a small town. If I started questioning someone about murder and rape, the rumors would have spread like wildfire. I could have ruined a few very bright careers.”
“You also could have saved the lives of other women.”
He dropped his gaze, shaking his head. “You don’t know that.”
“The hell I don’t.”
He flexed his fingers as he thought about the rough calluses of his hands wrapping around the smooth, taut skin of Brooke Bennett’s neck. Exhilarating did not begin to describe the rush.
Brooke was a challenge he could not resist. She was a fighter now just as she had been back in the day. He’d been on the verge of killing her all those years ago, but the blare of a honking horn at the bonfire had distracted him. Nervous he could be caught, he’d run.
He should run now. Better to leave town and find new hunting grounds. Moving around had kept him safe for over fifteen years. But if he left now, he would have to leave Brooke behind or kill her quickly. And he wasn’t interested in either option.
This was just getting fun.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Thursday, November 21, 4:00 p.m.
Macy and Nevada rolled up at the assisted living facility. She was anxious, like she often was when she was close to solving a case. She wanted to hit Shaw with dozens of questions, but knew she had to keep her cool.
Once inside, Nevada asked to see Dr. Shaw. The receptionist informed them he’d called in sick.
“I want to see his office,” Nevada said.
“He keeps it locked.”
“Someone has a key,” Nevada said.
The receptionist looked taken aback. “I can call maintenance.”
“Do it now,” he said.
“You can meet Oscar down the hall by the third door on the right.”
Macy and Nevada approached his office. Nevada checked the door and confirmed it was locked. Minutes later an older man appeared with a ring of keys and tried several before he opened the door.
“Thank you,” Nevada said. He switched on the light.
The office was furnished with a large desk, two chairs in front of it, and a small conference table.
Macy was drawn to the wall behind his desk and the framed diplomas hanging on the wall. “He did his undergraduate work in Maryland. Graduated medical school in Georgia, and he interned in Charleston, West Virginia. It all matches up with the murders Andy pulled from ViCAP.”
Nevada stared at a framed picture of the Dream Team. Bruce was front and center. Rafe Younger, Paul Decker, and Kevin Wyatt stood around him. “Cindy goes to Greene and tells him that she’s the one who took Tobi to the bonfire. As devoted as the girl had been to the team, it was taking her brother away from her. Greene all but confirmed that no matter what she’d done to ingratiate herself to him, the team and Kevin had their hooks in him.”
“She knew who’d lured Tobi away from the bonfire.”
“And Tobi’s disappearance genuinely bothered her, so she tells Greene what she knows. Greene, instead of investigating, goes to Cindy’s brother, who is the only stable force in her life.”
“Bruce convinces Greene that his sister is overreacting,” Macy said.
“And then Bruce kills his sister?” Nevada asks.
“Or he shares what she’s done with a teammate, like Kevin, and he kills her. They were thick as thieves.”
Nevada shifted his gaze to a black-and-white photo taken of an old farmhouse. “Judging by the terrain, the property is in the area, but I can’t quite pinpoint the location.” He snapped a picture of the image.
“DNA will identify Matt’s biological father and perhaps the killer. But none of this puts us closer to finding Bennett,” Macy said.
“Kevin still hasn’t given his DNA.”
She dialed his phone, and again her call went to voicemail. “And it looks like he’s now dodging me.”
Everyone left a digital footprint these days. Carry a cell, drive a car less than ten years old, or browse the Internet—someone was watching. This digital connection made it easier for guys like Nevada to find people. Give him a laptop and a few basic details, and he could find anyone.
Nevada sent Sullivan by Kevin’s house, and he discovered the residence was empty and locked up tight. Next Sullivan went to Bruce’s house, but there was no sign of him either, or of his car. Neither man’s cell phone was transmitting, and neither had used credit cards in days. Bruce’s car was finally tracked to a parking lot on the university campus, but a search of the vehicle revealed no sign of him. Kevin remained unaccounted for.
Rafe Younger wasn’t so clever about covering his tracks. He’d used his credit card to buy gas in Deep Run, beer in Staunton, and then to rent a room in a small motel an hour southwest of Lexington, Virginia.
Nevada and Macy parked in the motel lot where Rafe Younger was currently living. The motel was one story and consisted of fifteen rooms. Nevada got Rafe’s room number from the clerk, and he and Macy knocked on room 106. Each stood to the side with weapons drawn.
Inside the room a television switched off. “It’s Sheriff Nevada. Mr. Younger, you have five seconds to open the door.”
For a moment there was silence, and then footsteps moved toward the door and a chain scraped free of its lock. The door opened to Rafe Younger. A cigarette dangled from his long fingers.
“What is this all about?” Rafe asked. “Something happen to Debbie again? She’s not here.”
“She’s with her parents,” Nevada said. “I have questions about Bruce Shaw.?
??
“Bruce?” He took a long drag on his cigarette. “What about Bruce?”
Nevada and Macy swept the room to make sure Rafe was alone. Lying on the rumpled sheets of the unmade bed was a half bottle of Fireball, a pizza box, and an ashtray filled with cigarette butts.
Macy sat Rafe in a chair.
“What’s going on?” Rafe asked.
“I want to know about the night Tobi showed up at the bonfire. I want to know what happened.”
Rafe took another drag, still confused. “Nothing happened.”
“That’s not what Cindy Shaw said.”
“Cindy. Jesus. She was always messed up. Drank more than even me.”
“Earlier you said Cindy got Tobi drunk. Who took Tobi into the woods?”
“I don’t know about that. I told you I was drunk.”
“You know,” Nevada said, “you and your teammates were legendary when it came to sticking together. Your loyalty is going to earn you an accomplice to murder charge in about two minutes.”
“Murder? I didn’t kill anyone.”
“You’re protecting one of your boys.”
“Look, Tobi did get drunk, and maybe one of the guys popped her cherry, but no one hurt her.”
“Come on, you four boys didn’t have to chase girls because they came to you. You were rock stars. You also didn’t like any girl to tell you no. Which one of you four got carried away with Tobi?”
Nevada moved to within inches of Rafe, using his height to intimidate. Macy moved to the door and put the chain back on it.
Rafe shifted, dropping his gaze. “I don’t want any trouble.”
“Then answer the question,” Nevada said.
“We bent the rules,” Rafe said. “But I never was into hurting anybody.”
“What about Bruce Shaw?” Macy asked. “He preferred a type of girl, didn’t he? Young, with long dark hair. Remind you of anybody?”
“We all had types. Shit, I’ll do a blonde with big tits anytime. But that don’t mean I’m going to kill one.” He ground his spent cigarette into a nearby ashtray.
“Fair enough.” Nevada leaned in closer. “Let’s talk about Bruce.”
“Bruce was always there for the team. He was there for me. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend. Sometimes he blew off steam, but it was never anything extreme. Sex, booze, most of the usual stuff an eighteen-year-old would do.”
