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He wiped his eyes. “She was a good girl. I can’t imagine what turned her. She’s from Michigan. Her dad is Canadian, from Ontario. Her mother’s from Detroit. We met in Detroit and got married there. She’s from good people. She—”
“Wait,” Rusty said. “You said her dad is Canadian? As in a Canadian citizen?”
Rance nodded. “Yeah. Actually, Melinda has dual citizenship. Something about where she was born, and to people who were citizens of different countries. I never do get that stuff straight.”
Rusty stood, her throbbing thumb forgotten.
“Lindy Sheets has dual citizenship?” she repeated.
He nodded.
“Are her parents still alive?” Rusty asked.
“They were last time I knew,” Rance said.
“Don’t move,” Rusty said, and handed Cameron her cell phone. “My thumb hurts too much to send a text. Would you please pull up Special Agent Howard’s number? I need to talk to him before this goes any further.”
Cameron slipped into his assistant role without blinking. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, and did as she’d asked.
Rusty took the phone and walked out of the room, waiting for Howard to answer.
“Morning, Caldwell. What’s up?”
“Rance Woodley is sitting in our living room as we speak. He came to ask Cameron how to contact the feds who just arrested Dewey Zane. He just found out about Zane’s arrest and is in shock. He said Zane was his friend. They hunted and fished together, and he feared his connection to Zane would fly back on his position as sheriff.”
There was a long pause, and then Howard cleared his throat. “Is he in on this call?”
“No. I’ve been asking him about his ex-wife, Lindy Sheets. I’ll give you the short version. He hasn’t seen her in over a year, but he introduced her to Dewey Zane some years ago. She helped Dewey get a job at a bar called Fuzzy Fridays. Woodley also told us Dewey has worked all over Jubilee, but currently has been working for Jack Barton’s campground every day, and three nights a week at Fuzzy Fridays. He said Dewey also makes some kind of trips out of town for Barton, but he doesn’t know what they entail. He asked us why we wanted to know about his ex-wife, and I told him she was Danny Biggers’s contact. At that point, I thought he was having a heart attack. He vomited off the front porch and is crying as we speak.”
“Well, shit,” Howard muttered.
“Exactly,” Rusty said. “But Woodley did give me a very important piece of information just now. His ex-wife holds dual citizenship. Canadian and U.S. status. I’m going to let him fill you in. Give me a sec to get back to the living room.”
Rusty came back into the room with her phone.
“I’m going to put this on speaker now. Sheriff Woodley, Special Agent Howard wants to ask you some questions.” Then she laid the phone down on the table between them and sat beside Cameron.
Woodley scooted closer to the phone.
“Sheriff Woodley, could you please tell me about your ex-wife having dual citizenship,” Howard asked.
“Yes, sir,” Woodley said. “Melinda was born in Ontario. Her father is a Canadian citizen. Her mother is a citizen of the United States. Her parents still live in Ontario. Their names are Clyde and Gladys Lehigh. He worked for the City of Windsor in their billing department and retired from that job.”
“Okay, got it,” Howard said. “Thank you for coming forward. This information is all useful to us, and I’ll ask you not to speak of it outside this circle.”
“Absolutely,” Rance said, choking back tears. “I have never been so shocked as I am sitting here right now. I will do anything you need. All you have to do is ask.”
“Well, if your ex-wife does happen to contact you, let us know. Otherwise, we’ve got this.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you for being so understanding. I’m available by cell phone if the need arises.”
Rusty took the phone off speaker.
“I’ll be in touch,” she told Howard, and ended the call.
Woodley stood. “If that’s all you need from me, I’ll be going,” he said.
Cameron eyed Woodley closely. “Are you fit to drive?”
