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“I’ll give you the TL;DR version,” Paige said while they read. “He’s schizophrenic. No history of violence, but he’s pretty out there. You can read the reports for yourself, but he’s been in and out of institutions for the past five years.”
“I thought he held a couple clergy positions,” Jane said.
Off camera, Paige laughed. “Not unless he’s the head pastor at the nuthouse.”
Jane stared at the report so hard her eyes crossed. “This explains a lot.”
“No doubt.” Bridger squinted at it, too. “Shoot me a copy, huh?”
“Already in your inbox,” Paige said.
Bridger scratched his chin. “Looks like Billy P just jumped to the top of our suspect list.”
Billy Peckham’s diagnosis made sense, but if anything, it made Jane even sadder than thinking he had some kind of drug problem. Such a tragedy. She felt for Billy and his parents. No wonder they seemed to be so stiff. So prideful.
She didn’t know much about mental illnesses, but knowing his mind wasn’t right, and that he was probably on serious medications, made his behavior and demeanor more understandable. Hewason drugs, just not the illegal kind.
Bridger had gone back to studying her brother’s drawings.
“We have to tell Sheriff Hammond about Billy,” she insisted.
Bridger flattened the top page, pressing out the wrinkles with his palm. “Copy that.”
His quick acquiescence surprised her.
He cocked an eyebrow. “Just because I don’t always play by the rules doesn’t mean I don’t respect them.”
“What does that even mean?” Gray wasn’t her favorite color. In her world, you either went by the book, or you didn’t.
“When rules get in the way of getting a job done—or saving lives—I’m gonna treat them more like suggestions.”
Hard to argue with that sentiment, especially when he was trying to track down her brother—and help the pastor.
Bridger traced a finger over Jason’s writing, almost as if he were trying to channel her brother. “Paige’s info explains Peckham’s behavior.”
Absolutely. “He’s probably on some pretty strong medication.”
“Not strong enough,” Bridger muttered.
“I thought mentally ill people were rarely violent?”
“Definitely not my area of expertise, but yeah, I’ve heard the same. ‘Rarely’ doesn’t mean never, though. And Peckham would have good reason to carry a grudge against your pastor.”
She couldn’t say why, but she didn’t want it to be Billy. “But he was so out of it.”
“Maybe he just took his meds. Or maybe we caught him when they were wearing off. Either way, I’m guessing he’s not always so loopy. I’m not going to dismiss him until we know what he’s truly capable of.”
“Fair enough.” And smart. She couldn’t go around dismissing suspects because she felt sorry for them.
If it was Billy, no way Jason’s disappearance was linked to this case. Even in his right-mind, Billy didn’t have the bandwidth, or the resources, to be a threat to her brother. But once they found the extortionist, they could really dive into finding Jason.
She eyed the bulge of the gun tucked beneath Bridger’s shirt. “Now what?”
“I’ll contact the sheriff. Then we watch and wait. Tai’s gotta be close to done setting out his surveillance devices. If Billy so much as sneezes, we’ll know it.”
“Or if anyone tries to get near Pastor Zack.”
“Or that.”
