Hide and Seek (Criminal Profiler #1)(49)

“Sure. There were at least a dozen.”

“Do you have names, Bobby?” Bennett asked.

“Well, there was the Wyatt boy. And the Piper brothers and the Donovan kid.”

“Tyler. Tyler Wyatt was out there?” Bennett asked.

“Yeah, with his girlfriend, Amy Meadow.”

Macy wrote down the names. “Anyone else you remember?”

“No, but talk to Tyler or Amy. They’re the king and queen of the high school and know everyone.”

“Wasn’t there a Wyatt on the Dream Team?” Macy asked.

“That would be Kevin. Tyler’s older brother.”

“Older brother? That’s a big age gap.”

“I guess it happens.”

“How long have you worked here, Bobby?” Macy asked.

“Sixteen years. My dad owns the place.”

“So you’ve seen a lot of kids come and go.”

“Sure.”

“Remember Cindy Shaw?”

He nodded. “Haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

“I hear she was friends with Tobi,” Macy prompted.

“I don’t know if I’d say they were friends, but they hung out sometimes.”

“Can we get a copy of all the footage you have?” Bennett asked. “I want to review everything.”

He dug a thumb drive from his pocket. “I thought you might ask, so here you go.”

“Thanks, Bobby.” Macy offered the thumb drive to Bennett, but the deputy held up her hand, deferring to Macy. She pocketed the thumb drive. “I’ll double back if I have more questions.”

“Sure. I’m here just about all the time.”

Outside the store, Bennett said, “I thought we were here to talk about Debbie.”

“We are, but I can’t lose sight of the fact I’m here for Tobi and the rape victims. Don’t underestimate a guy like Bobby and what he notices. How do we get to the Wyatts’ house?”

“Follow me. Amy Meadow’s family lives one street over, so we have a chance of seeing them both.”

“Lead the way.”

Macy followed the deputy’s marked vehicle across the small town and around the university toward the western edge. The farther west they drove, the sparser the developments became. She then saw brick pillars marking the entrance to a fairly recent community.

They wove through the neighborhood, and the deputy parked in front of a two-story brick home set back from the road on an acre lot.

Macy opened the back of her vehicle and removed a buccal DNA test kit. She tucked the sealed glass vial containing a swab in her jacket pocket before joining Bennett by the mailbox. Streetlights, sensing the approaching dusk, had begun to flicker on.

“This has to be one of the most affluent sections of town,” Macy said.

“It’s where the new money lives. Old money is a little farther out west toward the mountains, where you find the large horse farms.”

“And this is the home of Tyler Wyatt?”

“It is. His older brother, Kevin, also lives here part time. He is an attorney who splits his time between here and Washington, DC.”

“Kevin Wyatt has a long commute,” Macy said.

“Kevin has stayed close to home since his dad died. He thinks it’s important for his little brother that he’s present.”

“What about the boys’ mother?” Macy asked.

“She’s always traveled a lot. Not home much.” Bennett shifted her stance. “His family and the Shaws can probably trace their roots back to the beginning of this town.”

“The Shaws and Wyatts are related?”

“Cousins of some kind.”

“Given their economic differences, I’m assuming they weren’t close.”

“The families were not, but Bruce and Kevin got pretty tight when they played ball.”

“And now?”

“I don’t know,” Bennett said.

“You know a lot about this family.”

“I grew up in the area. And Tyler Wyatt is no stranger to the sheriff’s department. He received a new car for his sixteenth birthday and was clocked going over one hundred miles an hour two days later. He also was caught drunk at one of the football games. In both cases, his brother hired an attorney.”

“What was his brother like in high school?”

“Much the same.”

“Well, let’s hope Tyler was paying attention at the convenience store on Saturday night.”

“He’s very intelligent. Just bored and spoiled.”

Macy did not grow up in a world where high-dollar attorneys rode to the rescue. Lower-middle-class and poor kids did jail time on lesser charges. Feeling an old chip on her shoulder, she pushed the emotion aside and rang the bell.

Steady, even footsteps echoed in the house, and seconds later the door opened to a tall man dressed in a charcoal-gray suit, a white monogramed dress shirt, and a loosened red tie. His prematurely gray hair was brushed back away from a round face.

“Deputy Bennett,” Kevin said. “This is a surprise.”

“Mr. Wyatt, is Tyler home?”

“What’s he done?” Kevin asked.

“Nothing. He happened to be in Lucky’s convenience store on Saturday night, and we think he and Amy might have seen something.”