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“No. She was in full possession of her faculties tonight. Which means she was sleeping with the skinhead voluntarily. I don’t know which is worse, quite frankly.”
“Shit,” muttered Malloy. “When she was staying with me, she must have taken the key I keep to the B and B. That’s how she got in, I bet.”
“Why would she need to do that?” asked Robie.
“Because she was obviously going to leave and probably thought she might need a place to hide out for a bit. I’ve got to find her.”
“Well, like I said, she was half naked. I don’t think she could have gone far.”
Malloy looked at Bender. “Can you finish up here?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Malloy jumped into her car, started it, and drove off fast in the direction of the last place her sister had been seen.
As the dust from her exit settled down, one of the state troopers came over to Robie and Reel.
“Okay, we got a little bit of a ‘he said, she said’ here,” said the trooper. He was in his forties with a wiry physique and long sideburns.
Robie said, “Well, what I say is they came here to kill the guy in that police cruiser. I was in the building at the time because I’d seen suspicious activity and went to investigate. The skinheads opened fire. The other guy returned it. I got out a window with the woman. And then my partner and I got into a gun battle with the skins. We identified ourselves and gave them multiple chances to stand down and they ignored every one.”
“But their version is different. They said they were driving through town when you opened fire.”
“And if you do an analysis of the gunshots, particularly in that door and building, you’ll see that they’re lying their asses off,” barked Reel. “And we’re Feds. They’re scum. Who are you going to believe?”
The trooper looked offended by this comment. “I’m not going to get into that with you. We’re going to escort them to the hospital for treatment. But we may have to release them if we can’t get any more proof of wrongdoing.”
“Did you talk to that Luke guy? They were coming to kill him.”
“He won’t talk to us.”
“What a surprise,” snapped Reel.
“I’m just telling you how I see it,” the trooper snapped back. “And you just better watch yourselves, Feds or not.”
“You’re really taking their side over us?” said Robie.
The trooper lowered his voice. “In case you didn’t notice, there are a lot more of those pricks than there are of us. The guys I brought with me tonight—that’s it. It’s the full on-duty crew for this part of the state.”
Robie looked over at the three other troopers. “I see your dilemma.”
The trooper nodded, glared at Reel, and stalked off.
Robie looked at Reel. “Nice shooting.”
“From what, twenty yards? The day comes I can’t make that shot ten times out of ten, then just shoot me.”
She walked off, leaving Robie alone in the middle of downtown Grand.
He put on his jacket and placed his hands in his pockets.
His fingers touched the paper there.
He pulled it out.
It was a note. And it got Robie’s full attention.
I’m sorry about Mr. Walton.
Chapter
20
MALLOY SAID, “I don’t know what to tell you, Robie. I didn’t even know my sister was acquainted with Walton.”
It was the next morning and Robie and Reel were sitting across the desk from Malloy in her office.
Malloy continued, “And the note is sort of ambiguous anyway. Everyone in town knew that Walton had disappeared. And that you were here to check on him. She might just literally mean what her note said, that she was sorry.”
“If she wrote the note,” said Robie.
“What do you mean?”
Reel answered. “She was wearing basically nothing when she ran away. Robie didn’t have paper or a pen in his jacket. She obviously met up with someone to get it, and it had to be fast, because Robie went to check on her and found his jacket not that long after she ran off. That person might have written the note. It’s in block letters. You can’t confirm that that’s your sister’s handwriting.”
“No, I can’t. But who would she have hooked up with?”
Reel said tightly, “It’s your town and your sister, you tell us.”
“I don’t know what to tell you because I don’t have the answers you want.”
Robie shifted in his seat. “The trooper last night said he might not be able to hold the skinheads. ‘He said, she said’ issue. But really I think they’re intimidated by those guys.”
“Look, the state troopers are good cops and they’re as brave as anyone in uniform. But they’re vastly outnumbered and outgunned. And Luke Miller is already out. There was nothing to hold him on. They were trying to kill him, like you said. He was just defending himself.”
“And do we know why they were trying to kill one of their own?” asked Reel.
“I can’t say I know their inner workings, but sometimes the shit hits the fan with these guys and they want to do a purge. I guess Luke was on the outs.”
Reel said, “And why did he come into town to hook up with your sister? That must have been prearranged.”
Malloy shrugged. “Well, I can’t ask Holly. And Luke will say nothing.”
“Did they ever go to that place before?”
“Not to my knowledge, no.”
“Why is she with Luke?”
“They had a thing a while back.”
“Was Holly part of the skinheads?”
“No. She’s not like that. But she’s screwed up, and apparently Luke showed her some kindness. And they sort of fell in love, if a guy like Luke can do that. I don’t really know him.”
Robie said, “Someone knew he was coming into town last night to see her.”
“What were you even doing there? You never said.”
“I saw something suspicious and I went to investigate.”
Reel spoke up. “This is all very interesting and totally irrelevant to why we’re here. I don’t give a crap about your sister’s romantic entanglements. We’re here to find Walton. That note from your sister indicates she may know something about what happened to him. So that means we need to find Holly. Do you have any idea where she is?”
Malloy bristled. “If I did, I would have told you. I went looking for her last night and found exactly zip. I talked to the people she knew. I went to the places she’s stayed before. Nothing.”
