“Good question,” she countered. “Why don’t you start figuring it out?”
Riley gave the officer credit for persistence.
“Based on the evidence of a struggle inside and everything you’ve found we need to assume the worst,” Abby relented. “But Riley was not involved in her disappearance.”
“All right.” Gadsden acquiesced.
“Give me the address for the car,” Abby instructed. “I’ll head that way. You two can take over here.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Come on,” she said to Riley. “We’ll take my car. Give them your keys.”
He raised his eyebrows but pulled them out of his pocket.
“When you’re done with this scene, process his truck. Thoroughly,” she instructed. “I’ll make sure his prints get into the system so you can rule them out.”
He told himself the cover story established by the Specialists would hold up under the scrutiny of the Belclare police department and he fell into step beside her. She darted into her house, returned seconds later with her purse and then rushed for her car.
“How are they going to process anything without a police station?”
Abby unclipped her keys from her purse strap. “Filmore was kind enough to leave us with half of a police station.”
“Just not the half your office was in.”
“Exactly.” She nodded, pulling open her car door. “We’re wasting time. Get in.”
She barely waited for him to buckle his seat belt before she hit the sirens and went barreling out of the neighborhood.
“You’re angry,” he observed.
Abby thought about that as she negotiated the light traffic. Moving to a smaller town was the best thing she’d ever done. For herself and her career. She wasn’t going to let some sick bastard ruin that by picking off her friends. “Yes.”
“About being my alibi?”
“Only a little,” she admitted.
“Your officers are protective and loyal. That’s a good thing.”
He had a valid point, which only emphasized how any of the men and women on the Belclare force could become targets at any time. Had, in fact, if she considered last night’s fire.
She slowed for the congestion on Main Street and it gave her time to glance at him. In profile his face was stern, his eyes on the road. The clean-shaved jaw was set with a determination that mirrored hers. He’d been so calm and steady with Calder and again at the fire. He’d barely flinched when Gadsden and Miller had been ready to haul him in. Somehow it made her feel better about taking a civilian to another crime scene. For the briefest of seconds, she wondered again if she was a fool to let him so close. She’d certainly misread Filmore, but she couldn’t dwell on that mistake.
“I’m angry that some maladjusted perp is yanking me around and messing with my friends.” She stomped on the accelerator once she was clear of the traffic. “More than that, I’m worried about Mrs. Wilks.”
“We’ll find her.”
“We damn well better find her alive. If he’s killed her—”
“He?”
She focused on the road. At this speed she had to or she’d be risking their lives, too. And she wasn’t letting the person responsible for all of this off that easily. “A generic term at this point.”
“But?”
How did he know there was a “but”? She supposed it was obvious. “Some of the more recent emails, the more personal threats, feel like they’ve been written by one person. Male. Thanks to technology they might be coming in from all across the globe, but I think one man is leading this vendetta against me.”
“That’s a big leap, Abby. The video was a smash hit.”
She swore, taking the fork toward the docks. “It’s Chief Jensen when we’re on scene.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He sounded like Gadsden. She didn’t have time to decide how she felt about that. As they approached the scene, she left her lights on but turned off the siren. “I know you didn’t do this. When we get there feel free to verify that’s your hammer.”
“Unless it isn’t.”
“Unless it isn’t,” she echoed. She couldn’t picture Riley kidnapping Mrs. Wilks with a hammer or anything else. Maybe he’d hold her hostage for more cookies. The idea made her want to smile. But first she had to find her neighbor...and friend.
She parked the car and prepared herself for the worst. If Mrs. Wilks had been found, they would’ve radioed that information to her en route.
“Chief Jensen.”
“Yes?” She faced Riley, startled by the intensity in his golden brown eyes.