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I considered it for a moment, but then her parting words hit me square in the chest. “No, this is more about making sure I don’t embarrass her any more than I already have.”
“It looks like you need another drink,” Nate said, trying to sound cheerful, but it came out flat. He got up from the table, leaving me and Louise with Drew.
“Chief Larson really hates you,” Drew said.
His statement caught me by surprise. “Yeah, he made that pretty clear when he asked me to stop by his office this morning.”
“Why?”
“Are you asking why he asked me to his office or why he hates me?”
“Maybe both.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “He invited me to his office to harass me. As for the hating me…I have no idea. He must have caught word that I think he bungled my sister’s case.”
Drew took a sip of his beer and leaned back in his chair. “Did he?”
“Yeah, and he’s making the same mistakes with Ava Peterman that he made with Andi.”
“Way to subtly jump in there about the kid,” Louise said under her breath.
Drew didn’t look surprised or thrown, though.
“You think he’s handling it correctly?” I asked him. I didn’t bother asking if he’d been assigned to the case. The Jackson Creek police staff was small. Everyone would know about it.
He lifted one shoulder into a lazy shrug, his hand still wrapped around the bottle. “He says she’s a runaway.”
“Even if she’s a runaway, he should still notify the sheriff’s department,” Louise said. “She’s the daughter of a city council member who’s stirred up a bit of controversy. He needs to cover his bases.”
He turned to her in surprise. “You know about this?”
She gave him a smug grin. “She told me this morning, asking if I knew anything about it.”
Drew’s face went expressionless. “Chief Larson says he has it under control.”
The old stand by your supervisor gimmick. I knew it well. I’d done it a hundred times or more myself.
“He told us the same thing after my sister was kidnapped. And look how well that turned out.”
Drew shifted in his seat, grimacing. He pulled in a deep breath as he cast an unfocused gaze across the room, then he turned to me, his eyes intense. “I remember how helpless we all felt when your sister was taken. I don’t know much about how things were handled on the force—still don’t, to be honest—but even a rookie like me can tell things are getting screwed up on this one.”
Louise leaned closer to the table. “Like what?”
It was clear this conversation was making Drew uncomfortable, but I could see a war waging in his eyes. Finally, he scraped his teeth over his bottom lip and said, “He should have treated the room as a crime scene. Canvassed the neighborhood to see if anyone saw anything. Looked around the house for evidence. How did she get out if the alarm wasn’t triggered?”
“The balcony,” I said. “I found imprints from what looked like a ladder next to the balcony where the red ribbon was tied. Ava’s window was found wide open. Whoever took her snatched her and carried her over the railing and down the ladder.”
“Ava is small, but she’d likely still be thrashing around,” Drew said, interest filling his eyes. “They could have both fallen over the edge.”
“Not if the kidnapper drugged her,” I said.
“Chloroform?” Louise asked.
“Maybe?” I said, uncertain.
“Unless he got her to go with him,” Louise said.
“She’s right,” Drew said. “But it would have to be someone she’d trust.”
