Shattered Secrets (Cold Creek #1)(59)
“And ours too,” he said. “Gabe’s around here somewhere—everywhere, actually, he’s good at mingling—but I don’t think he’d mind if I got you off your feet for a while, after your bad experience Thursday night. How about the English pub while we get something to eat and drink—no booze for you. You, my girl, are on the wine wagon.”
She forced a little smile. “All right. I was hoping to talk to my cousins, but it would be just like Bright Star to have hidden them from me. I’m still tired after what happened—being drugged, I mean,” she said, wondering if he knew she’d spent that night at Gabe’s house.
The man was chewing on a toothpick, which he spit out into a trash can as they walked past the police station toward the pub. If Vic thought he was going to get something out of her, she was hoping to turn the tables on him.
*
“Of course I’ll be at the prayer vigil for Sandy at the church tomorrow night,” Gabe told Pastor Snell. “Deputy Miller and I will be glad to provide security too. And my prayer is we’ll have Sandy back by then. I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Pastor.”
“Of course. If I can help with anything...”
“Tess Lockwood only recalled recently that after she returned from her kidnap ordeal, her mother got her some sort of counseling through your church. Would you know who spent time with her?”
“If I recall, it was Melanie Parkinson, not a child psychiatrist but she had a psychology background. Unfortunately she moved to Columbus a good time ago when her husband took a job there. I’m afraid I’ve lost contact with the Parkinsons, but I can inquire if others who knew her still have ties.”
“I’d really appreciate that. And as soon as possible.”
“I understand time is of the essence, if this ties at all to getting Sandy back—maybe the other girls—the way we were blessed to have Teresa returned. I’ll try to locate Melanie as soon as I can and get back to you.”
When they parted, Gabe walked through the cars parked in the church lot and spotted Grace and Lee Lockwood. He had no intention of telling them what sort of harassment Tess had suffered lately, but he did want to ask them who might have had keys to her house. As he got closer, he saw they were loading sacks of produce into an SUV for someone who looked like an outsider. He waited a row of cars over until the SUV drove out and Grace and Lee walked back his way.
“Hey,” Gabe said, greeting them. “How are things going at the Hear Ye tables today?”
“Great,” Grace said with a tentative smile. She immediately looked toward Lee rather than saying more. She used to be quite a talker, he recalled.
When Lee only nodded and started in about the beautiful autumn weather, Gabe directed the conversation where he wanted it to go. “Listen, I told Tess for safety’s sake when she sold the house she’d have to tell the buyers to get all the locks rekeyed. But for now, do either of you still have keys you could give her, or does anyone else have them? She’ll need some extras if she decides to use a Realtor so she can get back home to Michigan.”
“Oh, dear,” Grace said. “If she’s having trouble selling, I hope she doesn’t leave early. I...I know she feels she hasn’t had enough time with us, the children, especially. We probably do have an extra key, just in case she needed me again to clean, or whatever. I know I lost one once, but we had another one made. Lee must still have his.”
“I think I threw it away when we left. After all, you gave her your set of keys. As for someone else—don’t think so,” Lee said.
Gabe sensed he wasn’t going to get any further than that with them. And he wasn’t sure he believed them. They were edging back toward the market, so he strolled along. He wondered if one of them had been asked to give a key to Monson. If so, they’d protect him at any price—maybe even before worrying about Tess’s safety.
“I see Brice Monson’s here himself today,” Gabe said, still trying to sound conversational. “I never figured someone who chose the name Bright Star would be an early-morning person, unless he’s the Hollywood kind of star instead of the night one.”
Grace giggled until Lee glared at her. “He’s someone who is available at any time if we have questions or need guidance. He prays and watches over us day or night,” Lee said.
“But he takes his night walks alone when he prays for us all,” Grace put in, and this time Lee nodded.
“Walks down by the creek?” Gabe asked, his mind spinning with possibilities of Monson taking walks at night. The Lockwood house was only about four miles down the road, fewer with cut-throughs across the fields.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Lee admitted. “No one goes but him, under the stars, communing with the Great Star whose name he bears. We’ve got to get back now, Sheriff. Good to see you. Come on over to our tables and buy something.”
They scurried off. Gabe leaned against a tree, thinking that if Dane didn’t pan out, weirdo Brice “Bright Star” Monson deserved to be in a dead heat with Reese Owens for the next suspect. Tess said she’d heard a young girl scream at the compound, but where could Monson be stashing kidnap victims? Where could anyone be kept hidden in this tight-knit area, even if there were lots of hills and hollers and abandoned buildings? He’d been checking such places over the years, around and around, until he was dizzy with it all. He couldn’t even find that damn floating meth lab.