He was just…checking on things.Splitting hairs.
But when had that ever stopped him?
Still, he waited until the end of his shift, when he was idling in his car at the station waiting to radio off and head out to Hope Town to pick up Sammy. He typed the guy’s name into his system. No priors, which Gard could admit was a shock. Really, not much info on the guy at all.
Except a certain address—listed asformer—that happened to be out on Dry Road.
Gard swore. Why was it all connecting? Of course, not in any way that offered a concrete answer. Not in any way that allowedhim to rush in and save the day or give up in defeat. Just enough to keep him low-level worried and second-guessing himself.
The Dani Fairhurst Experience.
He looked up at the sheriff’s department building, considering his options. Because this didn’t…meananything. Thisjobshe’d told her boss about could just be about drugs. With Dani, this kind of behavior wasalwaysabout drugs. And years and years of dealing with it meant he knew—heknew—he could not do anything for her until she chose to do something for herself.
Asking around like it was ever going to be something else would likely lead to nothing but professional embarrassment. And certainly not helping Dani in any way.
He’d learned the hard way barreling in when she was using always made things worse for everyone involved. Early on, making demands, dragging her out of bad situations, it had only ever made Dani dig her heels in— meaning she stayed low and used longer.
Shehad to come to the decision to stop.Shehad to hit her rock bottom. Or Sammy got hurt worse. Every single time.
And still he got out of his car, walked into the building, and went in search of Detective Beckett.
He found the man in his office, clearly getting ready to leave for the day. Neither Hart nor Laurel were in the office with him, so Gard lucked out there. Just one potentially embarrassing interaction to hate himself for later.
“Hey, Beckett. You got a minute? I want to ask you about that trafficking case, but it can wait if—”
“Go ahead.”
Gard was already regretting this decision, but he could hardly backup now. “Is a guy named Roger Hamilton part of it?”
Beckett’s expression went from kind of distracted to focused in a second flat. “How’d you know that?”
Damn.“Look… I don’t think this really connects, but…” He’d only ever told Laurel about Dani, and he wasn’t too keen on sharing with Beckett, but… “The whole reason I was out at that place on Dry Road is because my sister had that address on her computer, and she’s missing.”
“Missing—”
Gard held up a hand. “Not a missing persons case. She’s a drug addict. It’s not the first time she’s up and disappeared for a while. And considering the amount of drug paraphernalia in that place, I have to assume that’s why she was there. She told her old boss this Roger Hamilton guy offered her a better job—but chances are, she’s just using again.”
“Hamilton is the guy who used the address on his work application. He has some connections to the group Hardy is looking into, but…we don’t have a direct connection between this house and the trafficking ring just yet. Or even Roger Hamilton and the trafficking. It’s all little pieces that don’t connect.”
Which just further proved…this was about drugs. There was no bigger mystery at play.
“We can add your sister’s name to the case and—”
“Laurel has all the info on my sister if you need it.” Gard wanted to jump on the possibility Dani was wrapped up in something she hadn’t chosen, but there was absolutely no evidence. Especially if she was texting apologies to Sammy. “Update me when you get the chance, but I should stay out of it.”
Beckett nodded slowly. “Sure thing. Let me know if you hear anything that might point otherwise, though, huh?”
“Yeah, I will.” Gard walked out of the room quickly, feeling…antsy and pissed off and just generally…worried. How could she be doing this again?
His cell rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, hoping it was something he could just ignore.
But it was Lia.
He answered immediately, worried Sammy had done something like…burn the bakery down. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s good,” Lia said reassuringly. “Sammy and I went for a little drive, and I just thought that, if it’s okay with you, I’d drop her off at your place since we’re near Bent. I won’t leave until you get home. There’s just no point going all the way back to the bakery, unless—”
“No, that’s fine. Everything’s okay, right?”
