In fairness, he couldn’t feel any more resentful of her than she felt of him. She sighed as the laughter died. Somewhere in the depths of the house the heat kicked on. First came a wave of chilly air, followed by warmer air that smelled a little musty.
The doorbell rang. She let him answer it. She heard Cade and another man exchange a few words, then Cade ushered in the sheriff along with a blast of cold air. The first thing that struck her was that one side of his face had been burned and showed old, shiny scar tissue. The next was that he limped, and occasionally pain flickered across his face. The car bomb.
“Gage Dalton,” he said, pulling off his glove and offering his hand. She rose and shook it. Cade took his jacket while DeeJay introduced herself. And even though it was a female thing to do, which she usually avoided, she asked if he wanted coffee.
“Always,” he answered promptly.
“I’ll get it,” Cade said.
DeeJay waved Gage Dalton to a chair and didn’t miss the way he winced as he sat.
“Long day,” Gage said.
She didn’t want to dally on niceties. “When did the boy disappear?”
“Four days ago, after school. His dad was in town to buy supplies at the feed store and told the boy he’d pick him up after school. When he got there, the boy was gone and the dad assumed they must have crossed wires and he’d taken the bus home after all. But the bus arrived, and no kid.”
DeeJay nodded, seeing it all so clearly. “No one saw him on the bus?”
“Nope. So it had to have happened while he was waiting for his dad.”
“How old is he?”
“Twelve.”
Cade returned with the coffee. Given the size of the house, he couldn’t have missed any of the conversation. “So these kids are fitting a profile? Not an age group?”
“That’s how it’s looking. I can show you all the photos, from this time and last time. He’s picking the small skinny boys, all of them with dark hair so far. He’s definitely choosing by physical appearance.”
“I guess that tells us something,” Cade muttered as he passed DeeJay her coffee and sat at the other end of the couch.
For a minute, no one said anything. Gage stretched out a leg and rubbed it absently, a gesture that had become unconscious through long experience. DeeJay recognized the signs. The sheriff was looking off into space, shaking his head slowly.
“It really chapped me that we didn’t catch up with him last time. He was gone by the time we found his trophies out in the mountain. Sickening. And not a damn thing to link anyone to it.”
“He likes taking risks,” DeeJay said. “He must know that everyone has figured out he’s back, and that everyone is being watchful. He must get a real thrill from riding close to the edge of discovery.”
“Meaning?” Gage asked.
“He’d not hiding. He’s out in plain sight.”
Cade nodded. “She’s probably right. At this point I’m inclined to say he’s making contact with these kids beforehand. In some capacity that makes him seem trustworthy.”
Gage nodded. “We figure he’s got to be a local. Only problem with that is that locals leave all the time because they can’t find work here. A lot of them came back with the jobs at the ski resort. Not much narrowing we can do that way.” He sighed. “But if he seems trustworthy to the kids...” He trailed off. These kinds of questions always trailed off in an investigation like this. Trying to overlook nothing meant often coming up against the lack of answers.