End Game (Will Robie #5)(24)

13


Jessica Reel walked into the hotel lobby just as she did any space: with her eyes open and her gaze taking in all possible threats.

She stopped on one possibility.

The man sat in a chair near the double front doors. He was in his forties, with salt-and-pepper hair and a face that was more youthful than the graying hair would suggest. His build was lean but wiry. He wore wire-rimmed glasses and a navy two-piece pinstripe suit. His starched white shirt was buttoned all the way to the collar. Polished cowboy boots were on his feet.

When Reel came into the lobby he rose and put out a hand.

“Agent Reel?”

She stared at him, her hand remaining at her side. “And you are?”

“Doctor King.”

“What kind of doctor?”

“No kind. Doctor is my given name. My parents’ idea. They never told me the reasons.”

“How do you know I’m an agent?”

King smiled. “Small town. Just the way it works.”

“And what do you do here?”

King took a few moments before answering. “I’m trying to implement change. I’m trying to show people who were born and grew up in a bubble that there are options in life.”

“And you have a compound outside of town?”

“I see you’ve been talking to some of the locals.”

“Roger Walton, you know him?”

“No, but I do know that he went missing.”

“Do you know anything about that?”

“It’s one reason I’m here. I don’t know anything about it.”

“What’s the other reason you’re here?”

“To ask if you needed any help.”

“Unless you’ve got Walton tied up somewhere, the answer to that would be no.”

“I could give you insights on the people here.”

Reel sat down in a chair opposite and stared across at King. “Let’s start with Sheriff Malloy.”

King looked surprised. “Why her? She’s on your side.”

“Nobody’s on my side until they prove they are. She wasn’t all that forthcoming when we met with her. If we’re going to be working the case with her, I need to know if she’s the real deal or not.”

King nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. She came here because of her sister.”

“She mentioned that. Holly. Do you know her?”

“I’ve met her on occasion. I understand she had a drug problem and went into rehab for it. I encouraged her to become one of my apostles, in fact. I thought it would help her.”

“Apostle. So you’re a religious organization?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“The term apostle sort of implies that.”

“Perhaps in your narrow definition, not mine. But you’re certainly entitled to your interpretation.”

“You choose your words carefully,” noted Reel.

“I’ve found that to be a good practice.”

“Are you from this area?”

“I am now.”

“What else can you tell me?”

“If you want my two cents, Malloy is the real deal. She’s been a good, fair sheriff here. People respect her, and that’s not an easy thing to come by out here. So if you’re worried whether she’ll have your back or not, I’d say you could trust her.”

He rose.

“Is that it?” asked Reel. “I have a lot more questions.”

“I’m sure you do, but I have some things to take care of.”

“Why did you come here? To see me, or my partner?”

“I wanted to make your acquaintance. Your partner is in the bar across the street. Some of my apostles are there as well.”

“Your apostles like their liquor?”

“They’re young men. You have to be flexible. But they work hard.”

“Doing what?”

“I wish you luck in finding your friend.”

She watched him walk out of the lobby.

She waited a minute and then followed. She met Robie in the middle of the street. They each brought the other up to speed.

“This King guy reminded me of a lawyer or something,” said Reel. “But he said he knows nothing about Blue Man.”

“Yeah, they all seem to say that. But this place is small enough that it seems everyone knows everything that goes on here.”

“He did say that Malloy is the real deal. That we can trust her.”

“Well, we don’t know if we can trust him,” retorted Robie.

“True. So no guess as to how King and his court make a living?”

“The bartender didn’t seem to know.”

“King told me that Holly was in rehab for drugs. He said Holly was the reason Malloy came out here in the first place.”

Robie threw up his hands. “So what? And I don’t think we’ve made a jot of progress.”

Reel shrugged. “I still don’t get why they don’t just flood this place with FBI agents.”

“You heard the DCI. That’s not how they want to play this.”

“You know the probability is that Blue Man is dead, don’t you?”