And There He Kept Her (Ben Packard #1)(20)

“Deal.”

Ann scratched at her bangs and shook her head. “Pick me up in back by the goddamn loading dock. The last sonofabitchin’ thing I need is everybody seeing me get in a police car.”

***

Packard walked back through the store and called Sean White Cloud once he got in his vehicle.

“I need to ask you about something. Where you at right now?”

“Chillin’ at the station. Quiet so far today.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Meet me out front.”

“What’s it about?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there.”

It only took him five minutes to cross town and arrive at the Sandy Lake Fire Department. The station was built in the late nineties with three large bays for fire trucks, two smaller stalls for ambulances. All the doors were open and the ladder truck was in front, being scrubbed down by two firefighters in blue T-shirts. Packard parked and kept an eye on the station in his rearview mirror until he saw Sean step out of one of the bays into the bright sunlight. A blond woman in jeans and a sleeveless blouse, accompanied by two miniature versions of herself, approached him, carrying three pizza boxes. Sean smiled at her, got down and talked to her kids for a minute, then pointed the way to go inside the bay. Locals loved first responders in Sandy Lake. A steady stream of takeout and home-baked goods made their way to the fire station and the cop shop. Nobody with a badge was in danger of going hungry while on duty.

Packard waited until the pizza lady was gone before he got out of the SUV and waved Sean over. He came striding across the lot, all smiles, dressed in black pants and a white short-sleeved button-down with EMS patches on the shoulders. He had perfectly black hair swept back effortlessly from his face.

Sean said, “Haven’t seen you in a while, Chief. Not since you moved up in the world.”

They shook and bumped shoulders. “I could say the same. I heard you’re a shift captain now,” Packard said.

Sean shrugged. “I do my best,” he said. “So what’s up?”

Packard paused, looking for any sign Sean was anticipating what was coming next. He just kept smiling, squinting in the afternoon sun. “Susan Wheeler came in yesterday morning and reported her daughter missing.”

Sean’s smile faltered, then vanished. A storm of emotions raced across his face like clouds on a weather map.

“You asking me ’cause I’m on the list?” Sean hissed. His accent was suddenly full-on rez.

“Get in for a minute. We’ll talk.”

Sean brushed by him and went around the hood. “The front or the baaack?” he asked.

“The front, Sean.”

They both got in and Packard started the engine to run the air conditioner. Sean said, “You didn’t answer my question. You coming at me ’cause I’m on the list?”

“I’m coming to you because of your connection to the family. Not because of the list. I know you were Tom’s hospice nurse. I also know you’re sticking it to the widow upon request,” he said. “That’s why I’m here.”

It was true and not true. If those kids didn’t show up in the next day or so, Sean would be a prime suspect because of his connection to the family and because he was in the sex-offender registry. Sean’s offense happened when he was eighteen and living in South Dakota. He’d texted nude selfies from his sixteen-year-old girlfriend to her friends in retaliation for her cheating on him. Her parents had him prosecuted for distribution of child pornography.

“Where were you Tuesday night and early Wednesday?”

“Working hospice. Edna Mallory passed at two thirty in the morning. Her son-in-law called me at midnight and I went over. After she passed, the family sat with her for a while; then we cleaned her body and dressed her and called the mortuary. I stayed with the family until they picked up the body around 4:00 a.m., then went home. I still hadn’t been to sleep when Susan showed up at my place. I was there when she got a text that Jenny had an unexcused absence.”

“What do you know about Jenny from your time with the family?”

“Not a lot. She wasn’t around much. She did everything for her dad I asked her to. Tom was on lots of meds. In and out of it.”

“What kind of drugs was he on? Anything go missing or come up short while you were there?”

“Absolutely not. Trust me. I’ve been to some shit shows where more of the pills went into the family members than the person dying. I know what that looks like. Tom was mostly on morphine toward the end. Knowing Jenny had no fear of needles because of her diabetes made me extra careful. There was a lockbox for all the medication. Only Susan and I had keys to it. I came back and grabbed everything after Tom died.”

“Have you had any interaction with Jenny since she found out about you and her mom?”

“None. I haven’t seen her in person since I quit working there. I’ve seen Susan at the restaurant and at my place. Never at her place.”

Packard had hoped Jenny would have told Sean something that she would have kept from her parents. He was good looking, not that much older than Jenny, and had that aura that medical professionals have that either intimidates people or makes them open up.

Sean said, “You didn’t tell Susan about me, did you?”

Packard shook his head.