End Game (Will Robie #5)(33)

“I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t want you to know her real identity because of all the crap going down.”

Reel said, “We were told your sister had a drug problem and was in rehab. And that maybe she was the reason you came out here. Is that true?”

Malloy leaned against the front fender of her cruiser and rubbed her eyes.

“Holly was the baby of the family. She came out here five years ago because she said she wanted to live in the outdoors and just get away from civilization. And family expectations.”

“And what were those expectations?” asked Robie.

“Holly graduated magna cum laude from MIT. She was a brilliant student. She was offered a position at NASA and another one at Google. She turned them both down and moved out to this godforsaken place.”

Robie glanced at Bender to see his reaction to the harsh words about his hometown, but his expression didn’t change. Maybe he’d heard this before from his boss.

“Burnout?” said Reel.

“I guess, although she never showed any indications of it while she was in school. But as soon as she got the sheepskin it was goodbye.”

“But you said she’d been here five years. And you came just recently.”

“I had a life in New York and a career. And we all thought Holly was just going through a phase. That she’d get this out of her system and come back to reality. But as time went by we realized that was not happening. So I decided to come out here and find out what the hell was going on.”

“And did you?” asked Reel.

“It’s not exactly a new story. Holly was book brilliant and street stupid. She got in with the wrong crowd, got hooked on drugs, did some dumb things to get money to buy drugs, and did some time in jail. That’s where she was when I got to town. I visited her, got her sentence reduced, and she was finally released on parole three months ago. She went into rehab, got clean, and was released three days ago. I was in the process of getting her the hell out of here when she just vanished on me.”

“When was this?”

“I picked her up from rehab, dropped her at my place, went to work, and when I got back she was gone and so was her suitcase.”

“So vanished, like Walton?” said Robie.

“No, not like that. She left a note in her handwriting, so I knew it was from her. She thanked me for all I’d done but said she couldn’t go back to New York. She said she was too embarrassed. She said she was okay and would be moving on with her life.”

“And she hooks up with a skinhead a few doors down from where her sister works?” said Reel.

“Did she know this guy Luke before this?” queried Robie.

“Why do you ask that?” said Malloy suspiciously.

“Two reasons. She was half naked and having or about to have sex with the guy. Second, I saw you talking to Luke when you put him in the squad car. From the looks of things it seemed this was not the first time you two had met.”

Malloy sighed again. “When I saw Luke tonight I thought he might know where Holly was. But he wouldn’t tell me anything.” She paused. “I really thought she’d left the area. I was praying that she had.” She looked at Robie. “Did she . . . did she look strung out on drugs to you?”

“No. She was in full possession of her faculties tonight. Which means she was sleeping with the skinhead voluntarily. I don’t know which is worse, quite frankly.”

“Shit,” muttered Malloy. “When she was staying with me, she must have taken the key I keep to the B and B. That’s how she got in, I bet.”

“Why would she need to do that?” asked Robie.

“Because she was obviously going to leave and probably thought she might need a place to hide out for a bit. I’ve got to find her.”

“Well, like I said, she was half naked. I don’t think she could have gone far.”

Malloy looked at Bender. “Can you finish up here?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Malloy jumped into her car, started it, and drove off fast in the direction of the last place her sister had been seen.

As the dust from her exit settled down, one of the state troopers came over to Robie and Reel.

“Okay, we got a little bit of a ‘he said, she said’ here,” said the trooper. He was in his forties with a wiry physique and long sideburns.

Robie said, “Well, what I say is they came here to kill the guy in that police cruiser. I was in the building at the time because I’d seen suspicious activity and went to investigate. The skinheads opened fire. The other guy returned it. I got out a window with the woman. And then my partner and I got into a gun battle with the skins. We identified ourselves and gave them multiple chances to stand down and they ignored every one.”

“But their version is different. They said they were driving through town when you opened fire.”

“And if you do an analysis of the gunshots, particularly in that door and building, you’ll see that they’re lying their asses off,” barked Reel. “And we’re Feds. They’re scum. Who are you going to believe?”

The trooper looked offended by this comment. “I’m not going to get into that with you. We’re going to escort them to the hospital for treatment. But we may have to release them if we can’t get any more proof of wrongdoing.”