Hide and Seek (Criminal Profiler #1)(83)

Macy climbed out of the vehicle and walked up to the trailer door. She knocked and stood to the side as Nevada, hand on his weapon, waited just to the right.

The door opened to a young woman who appeared to be six or seven months pregnant. Brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a blue uniform with her name badge pinned above her right breast pocket.

Macy held up her badge. “My name is Special Agent Macy Crow, and I’m here with Sheriff Nevada looking for the family that used to live in this trailer. Do you remember hearing about the Shaw family? They would have lived here about fifteen years ago.”

“My husband and I have only been here three years. But if you knock on the door across the street from me, Ms. Beverly might remember. She’s been here at least twenty years. Knows everyone.”

“Thank you.”

“Knock loud,” the woman said. “She’s hard of hearing.”

“Thanks for the tip.” Macy crossed to a smaller trailer surrounded by a garden bed bordered with white rocks.

Macy knocked on the door and could hear the blare of a television. When she didn’t hear any movement, she pounded on the door with her fist. Finally, the television grew silent. She knocked again.

Inside the trailer, footsteps moved toward the door before the curtains fluttered and an old woman peered out. She then opened the door. She appeared to be in her seventies. She was a small woman with gray hair tied tight with a hair tie. She wore an oversize T-shirt, jeans, and slippers.

“Ms. Beverly?” Macy asked.

“That’s right.”

She introduced herself and Nevada again. “I was wondering if you remember a family that lived across the street. They were the Shaws. The daughter was Cindy.”

“Sure, I remember them. The mama was Eunice, the boy was Bruce, and the girl, Cindy. The mama died fourteen or fifteen years ago, and the girl moved away about that time. The boy is still here in town. He’s a doctor and done real well for himself.”

“How did the mother die?” Macy asked.

“Drugs. Eunice was always hooked on them.”

“What can you tell me about Cindy?” Macy asked.

Ms. Beverly shook her head. “Bless her heart. She had a rough go of it. She’d been fending for herself since she was in second or third grade. Eunice was always off with a man, and when she was home, she was always fighting with one man or another. I used to feed Cindy and Bruce peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when they got home from school. Lord, but those children could eat. When they got into high school, Bruce found out he had a real talent for football. Once the team got ahold of him, we didn’t see him much anymore.”

“Can you tell me who Cindy hung out with before she moved away?” Macy asked.

“There were some of the boys from the high school. There were a few older ones as well. She was a pretty little thing and was hungry for attention. I told her she was going after the wrong kind, but she would only laugh at me and tell me to stop worrying.”

“Do you have any names?”

“No. I saw cars come and go, but I never was formally introduced.”

“Did she ever say if any of the men were violent with her?” Macy asked.

“There was one,” the woman said. “Cindy tried to hide it from me, but I saw the bruises on her neck.”

“Bruises?” Macy asked.

Ms. Beverly raised her wrinkled hand to her neck. “I asked her about it, but she said it was nothing she couldn’t take care of herself. She said she had figured out a way to get rich, and when she did, she’d come for me. That was sweet of her, but I’ve seen too many girls like her. Think they can smile their way to a better place. But it never works.”

“Do you think she moved away?”

Ms. Beverly pressed arthritic fingers to her lips as she shook her head. “No. She would have told me if she was leaving. She wouldn’t have just left without a word.”

“You ever talk to Sheriff Greene about Cindy?” Nevada asked.

“I called him a couple of times and finally he came by. I got the sense he wasn’t real serious about finding her.”

“Why do you say that?” Nevada asked.

“I told him she wouldn’t just leave, and he scratched out a few words in a notebook, but wasn’t paying me no mind. Of course, the case never went anywhere.”

“Was Bruce worried about his sister?”

“After she vanished, he came by the trailer and cleared out his things. I asked if he’d heard from her, but he told me not to worry. He’d seen her get on a bus.”

“Did you believe him?”

Ms. Beverly shook her head. “No. I could always tell when that boy was fibbing.”

An old woman’s intuition wouldn’t stand up as evidence in court, but Macy believed her. “Where did Bruce move to?”

“He moved in with Kevin Wyatt. Those two are cousins and were always close. Thick as thieves during high school. I couldn’t blame Bruce for hanging out with the Wyatts. It was a normal home, and the only time Eunice paid any attention to Cindy and Bruce was when she was between men and scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“Being alone, I suppose.” She held up a hand. “I have a picture of Cindy still tacked to my refrigerator. Want to see it?”