“Her full name is Anna Louise Conroy. Her sister, that she referred to, is Mary-Beth Conroy.”
If Chaos makes the same connection I do, he doesn’t show it. His poker face is on point while Jenna’s current location suddenly becomes a hell of a lot more important.Mary-Beth.It’s not a super common name. The likelihood she’s one and the same looks more and more likely the longer I entertain the thought.Did she fucking know this?
“House burned down, as she said,” Marty continues, “two and a half years ago. Mother perished in the blaze. Parents had no insurance, so they’ve been sleeping rough ever since.”
“With their father?” Chaos clarifies.
Marty shakes his head. “That’s the problem I referred to. The father is Jameson Conroy. You may know him better as Red Jimmy.” Marty smirks, waiting for the reaction.
Chaos doesn’t play, stating plainly, “Blood Eagles Road Captain.”
“Correct.”
I catch the infinitesimal tightening of the skin around Chaos’s eyes. He shows no other sign of emotion. “What are you going to do with her? The Kid?”
Marty draws a deep breath. “We can’t return her home, knowing her father’s connection to a one percent club. It would be careless on our behalf to place her into a criminal environment. She’ll be processed through the system. Placedwith a temporary carer until a more permanent solution is found.”
“Who?” I ask.
Marty flicks his focus to me. “We don’t know yet. There are only so many places available for her age group and more candidates than beds.”
“Got to love the system,” Chaos quips, turning for the clubhouse. “She stays here until something’s found,” he hollers as he walks away. “Leave her where she feels safe, Marty.”
The sheriff frowns, clearly pissed at Chaos’s dismissal of him. He redirects the rest of his reason to drive out here toward me. “I need to talk to the women about Mary-Beth’s death.”
“Why? What relevance does it have to them?” I bluff.
He calls my shit. “Come on, Fang. You might like to play stupid, but you and I both know you aren’t.” Marty hooks his thumbs in his utility belt and straightens his spine. “The women already said the blood belonged to a female named Mary-Beth. What is the likelihood of it being a different woman with the same name when Anna’s there?”
“They already told you what they know. The connection to The Kid doesn’t change that.”
“It might.”
I narrow my gaze. “And how are you getting on finding the other woman—the one they say went missing after she chased The Kid out of the room? Eleanor.”
He hardens his jaw. “Just get the group together, Fang. I’ll be back tomorrow to pick them up for one-on-one interviews at three-thirty.”
I take a step forward, pushing up on my toes inside my boots to better align our heights. “If you want to talk to them one-on-one, you can fucking subpoena them. But until they’re actually proven guilty of anything, you can leave them the fuck alone.They’ve been harassed enough, Marty. Let them rebuild their lives in peace.”
“Is that a threat?” He scoffs, smarmy mouth turning up on one side.
“It’s a goddamn promise,” I state, heading after Chaos. “You come back here tomorrow, Marty, you won’t get past the gate.”
“Don’t make me get a warrant,” he yells after me.
I raise both hands in the air and give him my middle digits. The women don’t need to be interrogated; the sheriff’s department needs to do its job.
I bet they don’t even have a body yet. And until they do, they’ve got nothing other than a smear of blood to go on. No evidence. No probable cause. Nothing to link it to Jenna.Other than a kid who might know more than she lets on.
“Has he left?” Chaos calls out from his office when I step into the foyer.
I pause, catch the crunch of tires on the yard, and call back. “Going now.” I veer right and poke my head in the door to find him hunched over his laptop, a page printing behind him. “Does anyone know what you’re up to?” We had this fucking discussion with him a few months back, about keeping secrets from us. Back then it was our new neighbor. Now, I’m not so sure it’s that harmless.
“Vanessa does.”
Goes without saying, but, “Any of us? In case you need backup?”
“The less anyone else is involved, the better.” He snatches the page off the printer and swiftly folds it to fit in his breast pocket. “I’ll be a day at most. Crow’s lawyer is coming by day after tomorrow, so I need to be back in time to meet with her.”
