Page 70 of The Burning

I can’t help it; I smile. “Sans the peace signs and dope.”

His cell hums from its place on his belt. He reaches for it, growls his name. I try not to notice when he frowns. “I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he tells the caller.

A short silence ensues, and then he sighs, ends the call without responding, and turns his attention to me. “Guess we knew that was coming.”

“You’ve been summoned?”

He nods. “Chambers wants me gone.”

“He say that?”

“Just reading between the lines.”

We watch Glock pull into his parking space. Spotting the Explorer, he raises his hand and waves. I wave back.

I put the Explorer in gear. “I’ll take you back to your vehicle so you can go get your ass kicked.”

He sighs. “What are you going to do about Hofer?”

“I’m going to dig,” I say. “I think that’s the one thing I can still manage on my own.”

I drop Tomasetti at the farm. It’s still early. Ordinarily, I’d swing by the station to touch base with my team before beginning my day. Because I’ve been placed on administrative duty, I skip the station and call Dispatch on my way to Dundee. To my relief, Mona is still there after working graveyard shift.

“I need a favor,” I tell her.

“Lay it on me.”

“Dig up everything you can find on the last name Hofer out of Dundee in Tuscarawas County.” I spell the name.

“First name?”

“No go.”

“Male? Female? White? Black?”

“White male. I think.”

“That’ll get me started,” she says. “How quick do you need it?”

“An hour ago?”

She snickers but I can hear the click of her keyboard in the background. “Firing up my time machine now.” A moment of silence and then, “Chief?”

“Yeah?”

“Thought you should know … it’s kind of weird around here.”

I take a breath, brace. “How so?”

“It’s almost as if the sheriff’s office has, you know, taken over the investigation.”

The last thing I want to do is involve her in the politics that run hand in hand with my position as chief. That said, Mona is tight lipped when she needs to be. I need her in my corner, so I give her the lowdown on the situation with my brother and my being asked to step aside.

“My inquiry into Hofer is kind of unofficial, okay?” I say.

“Unofficial is my specialty, Chief. I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

Dundee is a pretty little hamlet half an hour northeast of Painters Mill. I called the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office on the way and spoke to one of the deputies who patrols the area. He was able to give me the address of the Hutterite community, which I plugged into my GPS. Mona came through, and to my relief, there aren’t many Hofers in the county. She narrowed it down by age, race, and sex, and came up with the name Isaiah Hofer, forty-six years old. Clean record. No outstanding warrants. The address matches the one given to me by the deputy. Bingo.