Hide and Seek (Criminal Profiler #1)(63)

“Where have you been?” Macy asked.

“We just took off,” Debbie said.

“You left your purse in your car at the park with the doors unlocked.”

“That was stupid, I know,” she said. “We got caught up in the moment, and I forgot about my stuff. I thought I’d locked my car, but I guess I forgot.”

“Where were you?” Nevada asked.

“An inn about twenty miles west of here. The Warm Springs Inn. I didn’t tell Mom because I didn’t think it would matter. I’m twenty-one, and we don’t always talk every day.”

“She’s also not crazy about Rafe,” Macy said.

Debbie shrugged her shoulders. “She’s uptight.”

Macy scribbled down the name of the inn. “Your cell phone was not transmitting a signal.”

“It got messed up at work,” Debbie said.

“What do you mean?” Macy asked.

“I don’t know. I pulled it out of my purse, and it wasn’t working. I didn’t have time to get it looked at.”

It was a perfect storm of incidents that had led to the wrong conclusion. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but knowing Macy as he did, this mistake would make her question her own judgment. “While I’ve got you here, Mr. Younger, let’s talk a little about Tobi Turner. Did you know her in high school?”

Rafe looked startled by the question and then quickly shook his head. “I was playing ball then. That was my focus, and I had about five friends that I remember.”

“Who’s Tobi?” Debbie asked Rafe.

“She was murdered, Ms. Roberson,” Macy said. “She went to school with your boyfriend.”

“Oh.”

“Mr. Younger?” Macy prompted.

“Sure, I knew her. We all knew each other. And when she vanished, everyone was a little freaked out.”

“Did you think I’d been killed like her?” Debbie asked.

“The thought did cross our minds, Ms. Roberson,” Macy said.

“Why? It was fifteen years ago.”

“The killer has not been caught, and frankly, you look a lot like Tobi. It was a coincidence I couldn’t ignore,” Macy said. “What about Cindy Shaw, Mr. Younger? You know her?”

“Sure.” Rafe folded his arms. “Do you think she was also murdered?”

The smart-ass tone clearly set Macy’s teeth on edge. “I don’t know, Mr. Younger. I sincerely hope not.”

“She wasn’t the kind to stick around here. She saw her ticket to freedom and she took it.”

“What was her freedom ticket?”

“She said she was coming into money. I guess it came, and she took off.”

“Where does a girl who lived in a trailer on the outside of town get enough money to quit school and move across the country?”

“She didn’t confide in me. We weren’t that close.”

“Who would she have confided in?” Macy asked.

“I don’t know. I really didn’t care about Cindy Shaw. No one got that upset when she left.”

“Keep talking,” Macy said.

“Cindy had a vested interest in Bruce making it to the big time. She thought once a scout picked him up, it was a matter of time before the NFL money rolled in. Cindy would have done anything to help her brother.”

“Such as?”

“I caught her going down on one of the scouts behind the field house.”

“Is that your idea of anything?” Macy asked.

“Whatever her brother wanted, she got for him.” Rafe was silent and then sighed. “I saw her arrive at the bonfire with Tobi Turner.”

For a moment the detail seemed to simmer with Macy. They both knew that Tobi had driven to school, changed clothes, and then ridden to the bonfire with Cindy. “That’s also not a crime.”

“Cindy gave her a glass of grain alcohol,” Rafe said. “Stuff tasted like lemonade, but it kicked like a mule.”

“What’s the point?” Macy asked.

“Tobi drank it straight down and Cindy served her another. I think the point was to loosen her up for one of the guys on the Dream Team.”

“Do you remember who ended up with Tobi?”

“No. I wasn’t paying attention at that point. I only thought about it later after the girl vanished.”

“Did you tell Greene?” Macy asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“What happened between the guys at the bonfires stayed between the guys.”

She threaded her fingers together and clasped her hands tightly before she released them. “Which of the four guys was most likely to assault a girl?”

“We were pretty intense. We were trained to be savages on the field. That mind-set made us champions.”

“Town heroes with perks,” Macy said.

“It wasn’t like that,” Rafe said. “All the girls wanted to be with us. They were the best years of my life.”

“So basically Cindy drugged girls and gave them to the team?” Macy asked.

Rafe shook his head. “You’re making it sound terrible. It wasn’t.”

“Tell that to Tobi.”

Nevada heard the bitterness and anger in her voice and knew then it was time to pivot. “We found a red rope in the trunk of your car, Ms. Roberson. Did you put it there?”