36
Noelle returned within thirty seconds, and the grim look on her face made Rowan’s lungs seize. “What is it?” she asked the detective, feeling her heart sink.
“In the first outbuilding, Maxine found what may have caused the mystery white marks in the lividity on Rod’s back. Did Evan tell you about those marks?”
“Yes. The odd shapes that were spotted during the autopsy. What did she find?”
Noelle opened a photo on her phone. Three large bolts lay on a stained concrete floor. “She thinks Rod happened to be lying on these when he died. The pressure would have kept lividity from forming, leaving sort of an unconnected T shape.”
The dark stains on the flooring were more horrific to Rowan. A story of untold horrors that had happened in the room. She looked away, imagining the shapes on Evan’s back.
The deputy and JB appeared, and he was returned to his original spot on the sofa.
“Okay, JB,” began Noelle. “You were about to tell us what happened on Catherine Woods’s property.”
The man looked away.
“You’re currently in deep shit,” said Noelle. “Let’s see if you can climb out and make things better for your situation.” Her statements were vague, but the acquiescence on JB’s face said they had hit home.
“I quit that,” he said reluctantly. “Told him I was done and didn’t care about the money.”
“What money?” asked Noelle.
“He was going to pay me.”
He? Man number two?
“Has he paid you anything?”
“No.” A sullen frown filled his face.
“So he was screwing you over. Using you.” Noelle skillfully drove a wedge between JB’s relationship with the mystery man. “Has he done anything to help you? Compared to what you’ve done for him?”
“No.” Anger flashed.
“Let’s start at the beginning,” said Noelle. “How did he get you involved?”
“Who get me involved?” A blank look in his eyes.
“The man who was to pay you.” Patience in her tone.
“Oh, right. He needed a gun—but that was years ago. He wasn’t going to shoot it; he just needed it.”
Clear as mud.
“I’m not following,” said Noelle. “How many years ago?”
JB thought hard. “Seven?”
“Seven years ago, this man who owes you money asked you for a gun.”
“Well, not exactly. He asked my sister, and she asked me, so I gave it to her, and she took care of it.”
Rowan didn’t recall any mention of a sister when Detective Shults had come across JB.
“Okay,” said Noelle, clearly just rolling with the story. “What happened next?”
“She got worried and told him an old cop was poking around.”
Rowan’s attention perked.
“She got worried seven years ago?” asked Noelle.
“No. A few weeks ago.”
Is he confusing two stories?
“You jumped ahead seven years,” said Noelle. “That’s a big gap.”
“Well, nothing happened during that time until recently.” He shrugged. “She got worried and told him an old cop was poking around.”
He’s repeating again.
“The old cop was Rod McLeod?” asked Noelle, filling in a blank.
“Yeah.” JB nodded emphatically.
“Who took the old cop to Catherine Woods’s property?” she asked.
“Me and him.”
“Let’s give him a first name.”
“Sid,” he replied promptly.
Noelle sent a look to Rowan, who immediately texted Detective Shults to search for the name in relation to Rod McLeod’s cases.
“I only did what Sid told me to do,” said JB. “None of it was my idea.”
“Good to know,” said Noelle. “Who shot Rod McLeod?”
“Sid.”
Will Sid be blamed for everything?
“Shooting a cop is pretty serious. That doesn’t look good for Sid,” said Noelle.
JB nodded. “I told him that. But Sid has a temper, and the old cop—Rod—said something that really made him lose it.” His gaze was deadly serious, a hint of fear lurking behind the eyes.
Rowan’s hands grew icy, and she shoved them in her pockets.
This is the type of man who has Evan and Zack?
“Wow,” said Noelle, her voice slightly choked. “He must have said something awful.”
“I didn’t think so.” Confusion crossed JB’s face. “All he said was that someone—I don’t remember the name—would figure it out. The old cop said he had left something behind ... but I ...” JB stopped speaking and stared at the ceiling, concentration in his gaze. “I don’t remember what happened,” he finally admitted.
“Did you help Sid capture Rod?” asked Noelle.
“Yeah, but I didn’t make him bleed. That was Sid’s knife. All I did was put him in a headlock, so that’s not a big deal.” He looked to Noelle for affirmation.
“Smart on your part. Did Sid make you help carry his body to the junkyard?”
“Yeah.” He shuddered.
“Tell me more about Sid. What’s his last name?”
JB’s face closed off.
Noelle raised her brows. “You’re protecting the man who used you? Who owes you money? Do you think he’ll come back and pay you?”
JB stared at the wet knees of his jeans. “Nah, he doesn’t have a job. But that’s not his fault.”
Rowan had the sense that JB was reciting something he’d heard.
“Whose fault is it that he doesn’t have a job?” asked Noelle.
“No one will hire him. That’s not his fault,” he repeated. “I tried to help.”
“That was nice of you,” said Noelle. “What help did you give? I bet Sid was happy to get it.”
“Found him a place to live for a while. Grandma Woods’s place.”
Aha.
“Catherine Woods? Sid lived in her home? She’s not exactly your grandma, right?”
“We just called her that. She passed away a few years ago.” JB concentrated. “I think it was a few years. Maybe it’s been more.” He shook his head in frustration. “I have trouble remembering things.” He looked from Noelle to Rowan as if sharing that for the first time.
Rowan remembered the shallow grave found behind the house earlier that day.
“JB, where is your grandma buried?” asked Noelle, echoing Rowan’s thoughts.
He looked away. “We buried her near the house. Otherwise it would have cost a lot of money. This way she was near the place she loved.”
Again Rowan sensed he was reciting someone else’s explanation.
“Who helped you bury her?”
“Sid.” His face cleared. “I guess he has done something for me. I didn’t know what to do when he found out she’d died.”
Noelle subtly straightened in her chair. “Sid found her when she died? Was he living there at the time?”
“Yeah, not long after he’d moved in. She was old. It happens.”
She would be seventy-eight now. Not old.
The deputy exchanged a knowing look with Rowan.
He thinks Sid was involved in her death too.
There’d been no record of Catherine Woods’s death, so her Social Security was still being issued. From what Rowan knew about Sid, she assumed that he was collecting the funds. But he probably paid the home’s property taxes to keep the government from taking a closer look.
“JB, you said earlier that you quit helping Sid,” said Noelle. “Why did you make that decision?”
The man squirmed on the sofa, his hands still cuffed behind him. He looked everywhere but avoided all gazes.
“Remember,” said Noelle. “We’re trying to help you help yourself to make your situation better. It was a good decision to distance yourself from Sid after he did bad things.”
JB nodded.
“Why did you quit?”
“He said he needed the woman because she knew what the old cop refused to tell him,” JB said slowly. “It was important to find out what she knew.”
The woman.
Rowan’s nails bit into her palms as she squeezed her hands into fists, the pain a welcome distraction.
“Was the woman Sophia?” asked Noelle.
“Yeah.” A struggle was reflected in his eyes. “It was important to find out what she knew,” he repeated.
“What did she know?”
“Nothing. It made Sid mad that she was lying to him. He hurt her like he hurt the old cop.”
Rowan closed her eyes, asking forgiveness for ever doubting pieces of Sophia’s story.
Sid hurts everyone.
What did he do to Zack and Evan?
“You’re doing great, JB,” said Noelle. “What happened then?”
“Sid said we needed to find her son. He said that she’d stop lying if she thought Sid would hurt her son. He said he wasn’t really going to hurt the boy,” JB quickly added. “Just make her think he would. It would be okay as soon as she told the truth.”
Sid’s justifications are coming out of JB’s mouth.
“Who found the boy? That would be Zack, right?”
“Yeah. Sid figured out where he was by following someone to a farm. But he sent me alone to get him. I showed the boy a fake message from his mother that instructed him to trust me and that she wanted him to go with me to meet her. I could tell he was nervous since I was a stranger, but I pointed out that only a few people knew he was at the farm. How would I know where to find him if she hadn’t sent me? He was pretty willing after that. He said he knew his mother was hiding from people who’d hurt his grandfather.” JB frowned. “But then he changed his mind. Said he needed to let the farm people know he was leaving. That’s when I had to show him a gun.”
“You threatened Zack with a gun to make him go with you?”
“Yeah.” JB was quiet for a long moment. “I didn’t like that. You shouldn’t hurt kids, you know?”
“You hurt him?” Rowan blurted.
“No! Not me!” JB stiffened. “I scared him a bit to make him obey. Don’t know if Sid has done anything to him since then. I told Sid I quit after I brought him the boy and left. I haven’t gone back.”
“So there were three people being held at your grandma’s place?” asked Noelle.
Rowan held her breath. JB had yet to mention Evan.
But if Zack was there, Evan had to be too.
“The woman and the boy,” said JB. “The old cop was gone by then. We got her right after we dumped him at the junkyard. She believed she was dropping off some money late one night, but Sid hit her with a bar.”
“What about the other man being held at your grandma’s?”
“What other man?”
“The other cop. Younger. He was a detective.” Noelle’s voice was tight.
Rowan leaned forward, watching for flickers in every muscle on JB’s face.
I can’t breathe.
“No other cop,” he said, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
“Maybe you didn’t know he was a cop. Who else was being held there?”
“The woman and her boy,” JB said slowly. “I locked the boy in a bedroom in the house. She was in the garage. No one else.”
The room was silent.
He never saw Evan? Thor smelled him there. His shirt was there.
Or someone planted it.
Rowan pressed her hands to her face, covering her eyes.
Where are you, Evan?
“JB,” said Noelle. “How many days ago did you quit helping Sid?”
He thought. “A few days ago. I think. Doesn’t seem very long.”
“And when you quit, the woman and boy were there?”
“Yeah.” He paused. “No one else,” he added helpfully.
He doesn’t know Sophia escaped.
“We were at your grandma’s house today,” said Noelle. “No one was there. Do you know where Sid would have taken them?”
Surprise flickered on JB’s face. “Dunno. Sid liked that house.”
“And you haven’t heard from Sid since you quit?”
“Nope. And I won’t go back even if he begs me. You don’t do that to kids. I understood he needed help with the old cop and woman. They owed him. But when he made me lock that kid in a room, I was done .” Righteousness filled his tone.
JB has standards.
“Have you heard the name Evan Bolton?” asked Noelle.
“Oh yeah.” JB nodded several times. “Sid hates that guy. Says he ruined his life. Said it’s his fault he didn’t have a job or family now.”
Rowan quickly texted Detective Shults, asking her to check Evan’s cases for someone he’d put away named Sid. She looked up and met Noelle’s gaze.
Already texted the request.
“But you’ve never seen him?” asked Noelle, turning back to JB.
“No. Sid talked to the old cop about him.” He paused. “That’s what made Sid so mad.” He nodded to himself. “I remember now. The old cop said Evan would figure out what Sid did and put him in prison.” He exhaled. “Never seen Sid so pissed. That’s when he shot him. I hadn’t expected that.”
Noelle sat back for the first time, leaning against the back of the chair. Exhaustion hovered around her. Rowan admired the way she’d skillfully maneuvered information out of JB, but important pieces were still missing.
“I need Sid’s last name,” said Noelle, finality in her voice. “He’s done horrible things. It’s only fair that he be held accountable for them.”
JB looked around the room, his gaze ending up on Thor, and curiosity shone in his eyes. “Does your dog speak German?”
He doesn’t remember he asked that.
“Holy shit,” muttered the deputy.
“JB! Sid’s last name. ” Noelle was out of patience.
His startled gaze flew to her, and he shook his head. “He’ll be really mad at me. Don’t want to be locked up in the garage. Said he’d use his cigarettes on me.”
“He threatened to do that?”
“Yeah. Said I was a dead man if I told anyone what we’d done.” His mouth hung open and horror grew in his eyes as the realization sank in that he’d told Noelle exactly what he was to keep secret.
Your faulty memory worked in our favor.
Noelle stood and gestured at the deputy to get JB up. “Let’s see if putting you in a jail cell changes your mind about his last name.”
As the deputy led him toward the door, JB froze. “Wait. I’ve got to feed my fish!” He pulled toward the kitchen, anxiety wrinkling his brow.
“Not now.” Noelle was done.
“I’ll do it,” said Rowan. She’d never let an animal go hungry, and JB might be gone for quite a while. She walked into the kitchen, Thor at her heels. Two goldfish swam to the side of their bowl, clearly hoping for food. Rowan opened the container of flakes and sprinkled a few on the water’s surface. Thor shoved his nose up near the bowl, his nostrils flaring at the flakes’ stinky odor.
/treats/
“Not for—”
A loud crack made her drop to the ground and haul Thor close.
Gunfire!
“Back, back, back!” shouted Noelle, and a door slammed. Rowan crawled to the edge of the kitchen and took a quick glance into the living room. JB lay on his side on the floor as Noelle knelt next to him, her bloody hands trying to unlock his cuffs. The deputy was on his radio, shouting for backup and an ambulance as he reported a shooting.
Noelle’s frantic gaze caught Rowan’s. “He’s shot!” The cuffs came off, and JB flopped onto his back. “Fuck me!” shouted Noelle as she ripped off her jacket and pressed it against the large entry wound in his forehead.
Blood rapidly oozed from under his head.
Rowan grabbed a kitchen towel and crawled into the living room. “What happened?” She tried to position the towel to stop some of the blood puddling on the carpet, knowing in her gut that the situation was hopeless. She’d seen a crater where the back of his head should be. Her towel was quickly soaked.
“We’d just stepped outside.” Noelle’s words rushed together. “His body jerked, and then I heard the shot. We dragged him back in and shut the door.”
A spray of fine red mist coated one of Noelle’s cheeks, bits of wet debris in her hair. She lifted her jacket, peeked at JB’s forehead, and immediately pressed the jacket back down. “Oh my God.” She closed her eyes, hanging her head as she knelt beside him.
Bile crept up Rowan’s throat.
No one can survive this.