Hide and Seek (Criminal Profiler #1)(43)

The set of questions was almost identical to what had been thrown at Nevada. She simply repeated his answers verbatim. They were a united front.

After fifteen minutes of back-and-forth, Nevada replaced her at the microphone, thanked everyone for coming, and followed Macy and Bennett back into the building. When they stepped behind the locked doors, the sound of ringing phones greeted them.

Sullivan looked up from his console. “Deputy Bennett, one of our guys found Debbie Roberson’s car.”

“Where?” she asked.

“At the entrance to the state park.”

“Are there signs of a struggle?” she asked.

“The car is unlocked, and her purse is tucked under the front seat. He popped the trunk and found red rope.” The ringing phones forced Sullivan back to his console to answer the barrage of incoming calls.

Macy stepped forward. “Ask the deputy to string crime scene tape around the car and stay with it until we arrive.”

“I’ll drive out and have a look at the car,” Bennett said. “I’ll call you as soon as I appraise the situation.”

“She worked at the Deep Run assisted living facility, correct?” Macy asked.

“Yes,” Bennett said.

“Bruce Shaw works there, so I can kill two birds with one stone and ask him about her,” Macy said.

“I’m coming with you,” Nevada said.



Nevada was a pace behind Macy as they strode through the front door of the Deep Run assisted living facility thirty minutes later. At the front desk of the new Adele Jenner Wyatt wing of the facility, he asked to speak to Dr. Bruce Shaw. After procuring a promise to page him, Nevada and Macy waited in a small conference room off the main lobby.

He caught her staring at a stack of magazines featuring articles on the latest diets, fashion, and desserts. She thumbed through one. She didn’t appear curious about the text but seemed distant and sad.

He remembered the call from Dr. Faith McIntyre, medical examiner in Austin, Texas. Faith had said that she was scrolling through contacts on Macy Crow’s phone, and he was listed under favorites. And then she had told him how badly Macy had been hurt.

He’d immediately called a contact in the Texas Rangers and learned the details of the attempt on her life, as well as the case she’d been investigating when she’d been attacked.

After closing the magazine abruptly, Macy dropped it to the table and moved to a pamphlet rack. She inspected the brochures absently, but he noted her hand trembled slightly.

“You look agitated,” he said.

She carefully replaced a pamphlet on long-term care. She faced him and with a shrug said, “I spent weeks in one of these. I worked my ass off because I knew if I didn’t, I was screwed in terms of my career and my personal life.”

“And you did a hell of a job. There’s nothing to be nervous about now.”

She ran her hand over her short hair. He was sorry he’d respected her wishes to tackle physical therapy alone. He should have been at her side. “And here you are, back in the game.”

The door opened, and a man dressed in a white lab coat entered. In his midthirties, he had short dark hair brushed off his narrow, angled face. Bruce Shaw had been the quarterback for the Dream Team, and he’d had more girls chasing him than any teenage boy could imagine. He had maintained a lean, fit body.

Nevada rose. “Dr. Shaw, thank you for seeing us.”

Shaw shook his hand. “Anything to help, Sheriff. I just caught your press conference on the television. Hell of a thing. No one ever thinks that kind of thing could happen in a town like Deep Run.”

“No, sir,” Nevada said. “I’d like to also introduce you to FBI Special Agent Macy Crow. She is working the case with my department.”

Shaw shook her hand. “Pleasure, Agent Crow.”

The three sat around a small, round conference table. Macy pulled out her yellow legal pad and flipped to a clean page. “Dr. Shaw, our visit has two purposes. The first is to ask about an employee, Debbie Roberson. Her mother hasn’t spoken to her in days, and she’s worried.”

His eyes widened, and he reached for his phone. “Let me check the schedule.” He scrolled for several seconds, frowned, and then said, “She’s supposed to be on duty.”

“Could she have switched shifts with another employee?” Macy asked.

Shaw shook his head as he typed a text. “It’s policy that she inform her manager. I’ve just asked Mrs. Bland, her supervisor, to check.”

“Has she missed work before?” Nevada asked.

“She has,” he said. “In fact, she’s on the verge of receiving a letter of reprimand for the last time she switched shifts and didn’t properly communicate it.”

Macy scribbled a note on her yellow pad. “Has anyone been giving her trouble? Have you noticed any signs of abuse or harassment directed toward her?”

“No. Debbie is young and somewhat immature. However, the patients like her, and she’s very popular with the families, which is why Mrs. Bland keeps her on. Is Debbie really in jeopardy?”

“We don’t know yet,” Nevada said. “Just covering all the bases.”

“You said you were here for two reasons,” Shaw said.

Macy looked up from her pad. Her face was relaxed, but Nevada sensed she was anything but. “Can you tell us about your sister?”