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She dropped her head and began to sob in earnest.
Pickard sighed.
Howard glanced at his partner and ended the recording.
“Emily Payne, you are under arrest for…”
She blanked out on the rest of what they were saying, and when the cuffs fastened around her wrists again, life as she’d known it was over.
They walked her straight to the chopper from the station and flew her back to Frankfort.
Jail. Arraignment. Sentencing. It was all in Emily’s future, while Kevin Vanzant was still in a drawer in the morgue.
***
The rain ended before nightfall, and during that time, Rusty had been backtracking on Rance Woodley’s ex-wife, Melinda Lehigh, a native of Michigan. She found her in census records. In school records. The marriage license to Rance Woodley and divorce papers three years later. Then employment records off and on and another marriage a few years later to Thaddeus Sheets, and again, a divorce two years later.
Rusty read past the second husband’s name without it registering, and then all of a sudden, she went back and read it again. Melinda Sheets. Lindy Sheets? Could she possibly be one and the same?
“Oh my God,” she muttered, and typed the name Lindy Sheets in credit ratings and job searches and then hit Search.
There were many Lindy Sheets in the system, but only one with the maiden name of Lehigh, and Sheriff Woodley had been married to her! A Lindy Sheets was connected to the attempted kidnapping of Cameron’s niece. And Sheriff Woodley had dragged his feet long and hard before instigating a search for the missing child.
Rusty jumped up from the sofa.
“Cameron! Cameron!”
Cameron was on the back porch watching Ghost make his evening rounds when he heard her shouting. He turned and opened the back door. “Out here!” he said.
Rusty came flying through the kitchen. “You will not believe what I found!” she cried as he walked inside.
“What?”
“Woodley’s ex-wife was Melinda Lehigh before they married. Melinda Woodley remarried a few years after their divorce to a man named Thaddeus Sheets. Melinda Sheets? Maybe Lindy Sheets? Lindy Sheets was Danny Biggers’s contact in the kidnap attempt on your niece!”
Shock rolled through Cameron so fast he couldn’t think. And then it hit him.
“Is Woodley part of this?”
“I’m not even going to pretend this is a coincidence, but I can’t make that judgment. I’m dumping this back in Howard and Pickard’s laps. They’ve been working on this cell for over a year. I’m a newcomer to this case.”
“Son of a bitch,” Cameron muttered.
Rusty grabbed his arms. “I know this is personal. I know Lili almost died. But you can’t act on this info. You can’t confront him. Do you understand? I did not confirm Woodley is connected to the trafficking. Only that she is his ex-wife. He may just be part of the chain and he may not.”
Cameron took a deep breath and then nodded. “Yes. Understood.”
Rusty tightened her grip on his arms. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how this must feel. It’s so personal. That baby was stolen from her home. You found her. You held her little body. You didn’t know if she was going to live. I get it. But we’ll take them down. We will. It’s happening. We just have to do it right so no one gets off on technicalities. That’s my world. That’s how my job works.”
Cameron reached out and pulled her close. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I’m not going to lose my shit. Military training frowns on soldiers losing their shit.”
Rusty knew he was trying to lighten the moment, but she could tell he was moved. “We’ll get them and with your help. You’ve been pivotal in helping me do this, and now you’re providing an alibi for my absence,” Rusty said.
At that moment, her phone rang. She looked at caller ID. “It’s Howard. I need to answer.”
Cameron turned her loose and walked back out onto the porch to call Ghost in as she picked up the call.
“Hello, this is Rusty.”
