And There He Kept Her (Ben Packard #1)(48)

“Shannon lives here with us, but she stays at her brother’s place now and then. She got a DUI last summer so she’s without a license. She has to get rides from us or her friends to get anywhere. If she and Sam are being nice to each other, there’s usually an ulterior motive. They’re not exactly close, but they can get along.”

“I’m having Shannon transported to Methodist, too. We found her incredibly sedated. Might be sleeping pills. I’m leaning more toward opioids of some kind.”

Dan shook his head and stared down at his hands. “Both of my kids are recreational drug users. You don’t have to be a genius to know that. They’re adults now, and I have little say over how they spend their time. What was it that brought you to the house in the first place? Something to do with Shannon?”

Packard shook his head. “I went there looking for Sam. He was one of the last people in touch with Jesse Crawford before he and Jenny Wheeler disappeared.”

“I saw flyers hanging in town about those two. How does Sam know them?”

“We were able to link Sam to Jesse through phone records. Sam texted Jesse about something Jesse was supposed to do the night he and Jenny disappeared. We also know Jesse was dealing drugs in the high school. I have a student who says she saw Sam and Jesse driving near a drug drop earlier this year. Any of this surprising to you?”

“Ah…hell. Should I have a lawyer or something right now?”

“I’m not asking about any of this to incriminate you. I’m not trying to pin anything on Sam either. I’m trying to find those kids. Sam was the last person in contact with them. If anyone knew where they were going, it was Sam.”

“I didn’t know about Sam dealing. I know he’s getting money from somewhere and it’s not from me. He’s got a Class C driver’s license, and I’ve been trying to get him to apprentice in a building trade but he doesn’t want to work. I assumed Patty was giving him money behind my back. She can’t say no to either one of those two.”

“I just came through the house. Seems like Patty’s flying pretty high.”

Dan suddenly looked even more exhausted. Packard saw a man worn down by endlessly battling the ones who should have been on his side. Whatever came after the death of his son would be his to bear. Whether or not his family held together would depend on how much fight was left in him. He was all alone. “My wife is an alcoholic who has alienated all her friends and most of her family. Now she’s bored and lonely and does whatever it takes to keep those kids on her side because they’re all she’s got left.”

“I didn’t tell her about Sam. I meant to tell both of you together but…”

Dan fought to hold back the tears and rubbed his face. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Who owns the blue house? Is it yours?”

“Yeah. It belonged to my folks. Sam’s supposed to be paying rent but he hasn’t been. There’s no lease. He just lives there. The property is in my name.”

“I can get a search warrant, but it would speed things up if I could get your permission to search the property. I’m sorry to show up with bad news and ask you for a favor on top of it. Like I said, I’m not looking for things to pin on Sam. I really just want to find those kids.”

Dan nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. Search the house. If Sam was selling drugs, it’s because it was easy money. He’s always only had easy options. That’s my fault and his mom’s fault. I was trying to correct that, but I guess I was too late.”

Packard thanked him and said he needed to get back. Dan opened the side gate and stepped off the pontoon, and they left the boat shed and walked up the dock toward the grand house spread in front of them. Packard remembered one more thing. “I saw a safe in his closet. Any clues to the combination?”

“That safe came from my office. We needed a bigger one, and Sam said he could use the old one or sell it, so I let him have it. Unless he figured out how to change the combination, it’s probably the same.” Dan took a bundle of small, folded pieces of paper from his shirt pocket and a pen from his pants. He scanned through the deck until he found something he could part with, thought for a minute, then wrote down four numbers. Packard asked him to write down his cell phone number while he was at it.

Packard took the piece of paper, unfolded and folded it. “I’m sorry for your loss, Dan. And I’m sorry to spring this on you and leave right away. I can send a deputy out if you need help with Patty or getting to the hospital.”

“No. I’ll take care of things,” Dan said.

Packard left Dan Gherlick on the dock and walked up the immaculate sweep of green grass, going around the house so he wouldn’t have to encounter Patty again. When he looked back, Dan had turned his back to the house and was staring at the lake, hands on his hips. His shoulders went up and down. If Patty was watching from the windows, she might have thought he was laughing. She might have wondered what was so goddamn funny.





Chapter Sixteen


Packard radioed ahead to Detective Thielen with the combination to the safe and the news that he had permission from Dan Gherlick to search the blue house. Thielen had him wait while she tried the code. His phone vibrated in the cup holder where he’d stashed it. Susan Wheeler wanting to know if there was any news. There was plenty of news, Packard thought, but he wasn’t sure if it was related or if Susan should even be told. She’d have to wait.