Close To Danger (Westen #4)(59)
Bobby looked at Gage for help. He shrugged, looking as puzzled as she felt. Great. No help from him.
“And who is Rose Cochran and why shouldn’t she be a mother?”
Daniel leaned back in his chair, his lips pressed in a thin line, the muscle of his cheek flexing as he clenched his jaw. From years working as a teacher, Bobby learned that when something was bothering someone as badly as whatever was eating at Daniel, forcing them to talk would only get you limited information. Waiting with what little patience she had, Bobby fought back a yawn and watched the clock on the wall.
It took a solid two minutes for him to start talking.
“When I went out with Cleetus this afternoon,” Daniel paused, shaking his head, his lips pursed up in anger. “I found the house Rose Cochran was living in abandoned…almost.”
“What do you mean, almost?” Gage asked, his brows drawn down in concern.
“Rose was gone, but she left her daughter Lexie there all alone.”
“Oh my God,” Bobby said at the same time that Gage swore. She closed her eyes, feeling queasy at the thought of a child being left alone during the storm last night. “Was she alive?”
“Yes. But only because she’s a smart little girl. She’d buried herself beneath a ton of blankets.” Daniel shoved himself out of his chair, his hands balled into fists. “Who does that? Who leaves a tiny little girl all alone in a house out in the country with no heat and nearly two feet of snow on the ground? Not that she could’ve gone out to get help, her coat was a little thin jacket. And you should’ve seen her shoes. Full of holes.”
Daniel preceded to fill them in on the condition he’d found Lexie in and bringing her to the Peaches ’N Cream for dinner.
“Is she the child Deke told me was staying at the Westen House temporarily?”
“You knew about this?” Bobby asked Gage, surprised he wasn’t as angry about it as Daniel. The look on his face told her he was as surprised by the details as she was.
Gage shook his head. “Only the part about a child under the house’s age requirement needing a safe place for tonight and probably the next few days. Since Tobias and I are on the Westen House’s board of trustees, Libby called us to get out permission. At the time we had fifty families to get settled, so we didn’t ask too many questions.”
“Wouldn’t the little girl be better off staying with a family? Like Deke and Libby? Or us?”
Daniel sat back in his chair, some of his anger lessened by verbalizing Lexie’s situation out loud. “Libby says that she couldn’t take her because of a future conflict of interest when it came to time to take Rose to court over custody, which she plans to do. Melissa Compton, I mean Davis, she’s dropped the married name, was in the café at the time and she was more than happy to have Lexie come stay with her.”
“Great idea,” Bobby said with a smile. “Melissa needs someone to mother as much as Lexie needs someone to mother her.”
Daniel gave her an odd look. “That’s just what Libby said.” Then he continued, looking over at Gage. “I’m going back out to the house first thing tomorrow, boss, to gather evidence and take pictures. I didn’t have time to do that today.”
“You should’ve taken the time, Dan. We’re going to need that evidence if we’re going to have any hope of putting Rose in jail for child endangerment,” Gage said.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed at Gage. “Pardon me, boss, but getting Lexie somewhere safe, warm and some food in her stomach seemed like a bigger priority.”
Gage held his hands up, palms outward. “I’m sorry. You’re right. The little girl was definitely a priority. Besides, given how bad the roads are and the threat of more snow tonight, I doubt her mother will be coming back to clean up the place before tomorrow.”
“It’s not just the trash in the place that we need to document. It’s the drug paraphernalia all over the place,” Daniel said, not quite as agitated as before.
“Meth?” Gage asked, worry creasing the lines around his eyes.
Bobby understood her husband’s concern. Last year they’d discovered a major meth ring working on the outskirts of town. Gage had almost died trying to stop the leader. Since then, they’d made a major effort not only to clean up the disaster area, but to crack down on the dealers.
Daniel shrugged. “Not sure. There were pipes, spoons, soda cans with burnt bottoms and lighters everywhere. I suspect we might even find needles under the trash. Could be meth, could be heroin. Won’t know until forensics analyzes the mess.”
“Heroin. Shit,” Gage muttered, once more running his hand through his hair. “Have we had any reports of that crap getting sold around the area?”
Daniel shook his head. “We’ve been keeping a close watch on anyone arrested for DUI or disorderly conduct. Doc Clint’s been monitoring blood samples we’ve obtained. So far, the results have been mostly alcohol related. But given the number of new people moving to the area and the increase in the use of heroin in the state, I don’t think we can rule out Rose being an addict.”
Gage huffed out his breath. “We get one drug problem under some kind of control and another invades us. Like killing cockroaches with a flip-flop.”
Bobby snorted a laugh, then ended it with a yawn. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”