“What’cha got for me? I have a lot of work to do, you know.” Detective Carlson sat across from them in the interrogation room and drummed his fingers on the table.
Chris wet his lips. “It’s not Coach Willmore who gave the others those drugs. I think it’s Coach Barney. I can’t prove it, but I’m sure it’s him.”
“You can’t prove it? You think it’s Barney.” Detective Carlson gave him a doubtful look. “How did you come to think it’s Barney, then? Did he try to sell to you?”
Craig shook his head a little too fast. “No. He never approached me. As far as I can tell he only approached Gavin. Gavin’s been talking to the other guys. But I’ve seen Coach Barney talking with Gavin, coaching some of the guys who were using. And I heard a couple of them talking about their supplements. I swear Gavin mentioned Coach Barney.” He stammered a little as he got it all out.
Karissa worried that he was going to pop a vein or something on his forehead, he was so tense. Even his hands were fisted to nearly white on his lap. “That’s a pretty serious thing to say,” she kept her voice soft, not wanting to make him more nervous. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, you can’t think Coach Willmore would ever sell drugs to kids.” Craig gesticulated wildly, trying to make his point. “He practically reamed me out for getting caught drinking a few months ago and I wasn’t even playing yet for the season. No way would he want me to take something like that. Or any of the other guys. He just wouldn’t.”
The detective’s fingers slowed a little on the tabletop as he gave Craig an appraising look. “Are you sure about that?”
“Completely. Look, I know you don’t trust me because I’m a screw-up, but you’ve got the wrong guy.” Though Craig was still pale and nervous, he said that comment with utter certainty.
Detective Carlson nodded. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll look into it. It’s hard to come forward like you did. I appreciate it.”
Craig nodded. “Sure.” His voice was a little weak.
The detective stood and looked at Karissa. “You stay for a second while I walk Craig out to the hall.” He sent her a hard stare.
Karissa wasn’t sure what the deal was, but she nodded and waited. Finally the detective returned.
He shut the door behind himself then turned to her, his arms crossed over his chest. “Did you put him up to that?”
“What? No! Of course not. He saw me at the school.” Hardly believing that he would think she’d get the kid to perjure himself, she explained the sequence of events.
His lips were a thin line by the time she finished. “I know you and Willmore have something going on, but I’m not going to let you interfere in this investigation. This isn’t about you, and even if you were a terrific cop in Pueblo, you aren’t one here. You’re just a dispatcher.”
That ticked her off and she put her hands on her hips when she stood so he wasn’t looming over her. “I didn’t ask you to share all of the gory details of your case. It would be wrong for me to ask and wrong for you to tell me. The kid asked for a ride and I gave it to him. End of story, okay? Don’t you believe him?”
Carlson shrugged. “He’s not exactly a reliable witness. He’s had too many run-ins with the law for that. And I’ve arrested him myself, though it’s been a while.” He tacked the last bit on as an afterthought.
“Look, it doesn’t hurt you to expand your search to include Rex Barney. Maybe you find something, maybe you find nothing. Maybe you lean on this Gavin kid with the coach’s name and he gives something up. Might as well see where it leads, right?” Inside she was hoping with everything she had that he’d decide to take her suggestion.
He didn’t say yes or no but slid away from the door and opened it for her. “We’ll see what happens. That’s all I’m promising.”
Karissa tried to accept that as enough as she walked out to take Craig home. Discouraged.
***
Karissa dropped Craig back at home then returned to work for the night. She watched the cameras in the front entryway, smiling when Gavin entered with his parents and Detective Carlson met them, leading them back to an interrogation room. The tip from Craig hadn’t been enough to arrest Rex, but if they could present the new information to Gavin, maybe he’d give up something useful. She sure hoped so.
The building emptied as all of the office staff left for the night—even those who worked late as a rule—and the interrogation continued.
Karissa provided information to officers for four traffic stops, fielded calls from three people who thought the smoke coming from the smokestacks over the rise was a fire, and took a complaint from someone staying at the new resort in town, who was sure they had experienced ghostly activity. Someone’s imagination was working in overdrive.
Everyone emerged from the interrogation room and she watched them make their way to the front door, where the detective showed them out. Then he headed to his truck and tapped his radio, telling the other officers on duty to check their instant messages.
Karissa was dying to know what was going on. Detective Carlson must have learned something useful or he’d be checking off for the night and going home, right? Not calling in the troops.
She watched her monitor, waiting for news of their destination, and did a little boogie in her seat when she got an IM from the detective saying which officers he was taking with him and providing an address. Rex’s address, she was sure of it. She created an incident number in the system and marked the time each unit notified her of their destination.
The assistant coach lived quite a distance from town, and Karissa watched the clock obsessively, wondering how long until someone radioed in that they’d arrived at his house.
Eight-thirty. Why hadn’t Marsh called yet? They had a lot to talk about, including everything that had come up during the meeting with Craig. Was he mad at her now that he’d had a chance to talk with Hank and find out how much she’d doubted him?
Karissa pushed those thoughts back and told herself not to be an idiot. He promised to meet with her tonight. He was probably just catching up with his parents. It had been a while since he’d seen them, after all. Virginia wasn’t exactly next door to Colorado.
The officers radioed in one by one, saying they had arrived at the destination. She acknowledged it and noted the times in the computer.
Trent said he was going around back. The detective radioed in on a secure channel that he was ready in front.
Tension pulled and stretched all of Karissa’s muscles as she waited impatiently for word that they had Rex in custody. Three minutes passed and she heard nothing. She radioed in to ask the officers to check in and all three confirmed that they were fine. She waited another three minutes and requested another update on their status, and again heard that they were fine. But that was all.
She wanted to scream, but forced herself to be cheerful and professional when a call came through asking if the storm that weekend would make it hard to drive up the mountain for the holidays. Idiots thought she was the weather service. She paged an ambulance for a suspected heart attack and was relieved several minutes later when Detective Carlson radioed that they were leaving the house and to check her IM.
As he said it, an IM popped up with a request for her to send a CodeRED message to the sheriff’s posse to meet at the shed for a suspect search. Apparently they hadn’t found Rex.
She logged onto a website for CodeRED. Hank, who was part of search and rescue, the posse, and the volunteer fire department, would be getting the call along with the others. The county used the database of resident numbers that had agreed to be contacted for emergencies, and it had sub-groups for things like the sheriff’s posse. Usually it was used to warn residents of searches for missing children or to call search and rescue for lost or injured outdoor enthusiasts. She selected the group to send the message to, then called in a recorded the message.
The feeling she got from Carlson’s message and the little radio traffic she’d picked up was that they were getting ready for a man hunt. The only reason they would institute a man hunt at this time of night was if Rex had threatened the boys as she and Marsh had theorized. He had to be a threat or they’d just put out an Attempt to Locate notice to all officers, deputies, and highway patrolmen who were on duty.
The posse assembled and went in different directions. She wasn’t involved in the search anymore but heard regular reports as they spoke with each other, checking out various properties in the area.
Karissa looked at the clock again and realized it was nine-thirty. Marsh still hadn’t called. Fear squeezed her chest. Had she blown things with him? Or worse, had Rex gone after Marsh?