Hide and Seek (Criminal Profiler #1)(87)

Sandra glanced back at Macy. “Find Brooke.”

“I will.”

When the front door closed behind the Bennetts, all traces of softness left Greene’s face. “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know. Is there something about Brooke Bennett that I need to know?”

“What do you mean?” Greene asked.

“She’s been tense through this entire investigation.”

“She’s a professional,” he countered.

“I didn’t say she wasn’t,” Macy said. “But she was very controlled and stoic when we spoke to the rape victims. It was almost as if she were trying to hold back on her own feelings. Her own experience. And then Tyler Wyatt makes a crack to Matt about his mother having her first sexual experience in the Wyatt barn.”

Greene’s jaw tightened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She dropped her voice a notch and asked, “Who is Matt’s father?”

He raised his chin. “She never said and I never asked.”

“Brooke was seventeen when Matt was born.”

“She made a mistake as a teenager. She wasn’t the first, and she won’t be the last.”

“My point is that she got pregnant about the time of the rapes. But then you suspected that, didn’t you?”

Greene shook his head. “You’re stirring things up with wild accusations.”

“I have Matt’s DNA. It’ll take a quick test to find out if he’s our offender’s offspring.”

“A boy doesn’t need that kind of burden. You should leave well enough alone.”

“That’s what you told Bennett, wasn’t it? You feared she’d confirm Matt’s paternity.”

“This is insane. Matt’s a good boy. A good kid. A monster like that couldn’t possibly be his father.”

Macy let the comment pass. “If you have any suspects, you need to tell me now. I think this guy took Bennett.”

Greene frowned. “If Brooke knew, she wouldn’t hide it.”

“I think she honestly doesn’t know who did this to her. But she’s trying to figure it out now. I need more information if I’m going to find her.”

“I can’t help you.”

“Why didn’t you run the DNA rape kits fifteen years ago? And don’t tell me you didn’t understand DNA. You have a solid record and were a good cop. I’d bet a paycheck you thought you might be protecting someone close to you.”

He shoved out a breath and his shoulders slumped a fraction. “My wife was sick that summer. It was consuming me, and I let a lot fall through the cracks. My plan was always to go back and catch up. When Tobi vanished, I honestly didn’t connect her case to the others. And then Sandra Bennett told me Brooke was pregnant. She also told me about what happened to her daughter.”

“Did you talk to Bennett?”

“Sandra begged me not to.” He ran a hand over his head. “I caught up to her at school. She didn’t want to talk to me at first, but finally admitted she was attacked at the bonfire. She swore she only had one drink and she didn’t remember what happened.”

“What did she say?” Macy asked.

“When she woke, she was in the woods, no clothes, with scratches on her body.”

“And you didn’t connect what happened to Bennett to the other girls?”

“I thought one of the guys at the bonfire did it.”

“Did you talk to any of them? The Dream Team members were regulars at the bonfires.”

“Those boys brought life and pride to this town. I knew they could be rowdy, but I never figured any one of them would hurt a young girl. And Brooke wanted to be at the bonfire, and she did drink.”

Macy shoved down her anger, doing her best to remain calm. The goal was to get information, not to argue about his methods right now. “Neither of those implies sexual consent.”

“I figured she’d agreed to go into the woods with a boy and it got a little rough.”

“You didn’t talk to any of them, did you?” And when he didn’t respond, she shifted tactics. “Did Cindy Shaw report a problem to you?”

He shook his head. “That girl had all kinds of problems. She was always getting into scraps. I must have picked her up a dozen times for all kinds of infractions.”

“Meaning she did come to you?”

“Yes, but she didn’t make sense. She kept talking about her brother and how he was leaving her behind. She said she could bury him and his friends, if she wanted to.”

“Bury how?” Macy asked.

“She never would tell me.”

“And by the time you did know about Bennett’s situation, Cindy was gone.”

“Yes.”

“Did you tell Bruce Shaw that Cindy came to see you?”

“Yeah, I told Bruce.” As he stared at her, his trademark confidence faltered.

“What do you think happened to Cindy?” Macy demanded.

“Bruce told me he drove her to the bus station. He told me Cindy wanted to leave town.”

“Cindy was last seen with Bruce?”

Greene shook his head. “Bruce didn’t hurt his sister.”