Chapter 65
Sheriff Johnson’s deputies handed out food, water, and warm blankets after they were brought in, and the mood immediately shifted.
It never ceased to amaze Sean how quickly anger could dissipate after someone had a full stomach. Only moments ago, everyone in the hotel was on the verge of violence, and all of a sudden, it was like that time was little more than a bad dream.
Sean found Jennie after the police showed up, making sure she was all right, and she insisted she was fine.
“What about you?” Jennie asked. “You think the extra muscle that showed up will be enough to find the missing girl before sundown?”
“I hope so,” Sean answered. “But we’re cutting it close. If I had just?—”
“Hey,” Jennie said, grabbing his arm before he walked away. “You did everything you could.”
“Thanks,” Sean said, and he genuinely meant it, but the only successful measuring stick in the world of law enforcement was whether you closed the case. And Sean had not.
Sheriff Johnson was speaking with one of his deputies in the lobby when Sean showed up. Sean saw the open doors and the massive path carved out by the snowplows. The Sheriff had arrived with three, but the machines had already driven away to clear more roads.
The sheriff’s four deputies were all taking statements from the guests, catching up on the case and the day’s events.
Sean didn’t interrupt them. Johnson’s team needed the information firsthand. Sean could always link up with them and compare notes when they were finished.
“Sheriff Johnson,” Sean said, catching the man’s attention as he walked closer, but before Sean could say anything else, Johnson held up a finger, gesturing for Sean to wait until he was finished speaking with his deputy.
The gesture was dismissive, but Sean didn’t take it personally. He waited patiently, and then when the deputy walked away, Sheriff Johnson turned his full attention to Sean.
“Well, now,” Johnson said. “Ain’t this a mess.”
Johnson was about a decade older than Sean, but tall, nearly six foot eight, and thick like an old oak. The seasoned sheriff had always been cordial with Sean, but his tone held an edge to it this afternoon.
“I thought I could catch you up to speed on what I’ve learned,” Sean said.
“Well, unless you learned who murdered who and where that little girl is, then I’m not sure anything you say will be helpful,” Johnson said.
“I understand you want to examine this case from the ground up, find your own footing, but I’ve actually learned?—”
“Sean, let me stop you right there,” Johnson said, and he placed his hands on his hips as he moved closer, towering over Sean in the process, using his height as a means to intimidate.
“My guys are taking over the case. We’re going to question everyone and compile their information from first-hand sources.
I understand you’ve had some success in the past with things like this, but my team is more than capable of handling it from here.
” He clapped Sean on the shoulder, his massive bear paw of a hand nearly the size of Sean’s head. “Go on and get some food.”
Johnson’s team had already marched the suspects Sean had apprehended out of the small security footage room and into the lobby, lining up Roger, Chef Luke, and Marco Donovan along the wall near the front doors.
Roman Grayson had been released, left to join his wife, and when he found Sean, he stared daggers at him.
Sean feared Roman and the others would only tell their side of the story, but with Johnson here, it was out of Sean’s hands, so he went to find Jennie.
“What’s wrong?” Jennie asked.
“Nothing,” Sean answered.
“Do you need to keep working?” Jennie asked.
“No, Sheriff Johnson and his team are taking over,” Sean answered. “I’ve been…dismissed.”
“He doesn’t want you to stick around?” Jennie asked. “Isn’t that unconventional?”
“Everyone has their own way of doing things,” Sean answered. “Why don’t you go back to the room and start packing?”
“Okay,” Jennie said, turning, but then she stopped when she noticed Sean wasn’t following. “You’re not coming?”
“I want to check on something,” Sean said. “I’ll join you soon.”
Jennie nodded and returned to their room, while Sean went down into the basement where the two bodies were stored.
Down below, one of the deputies was already prepping the pair for a trip in a black coroner’s bag.
“You already took pictures?” Sean asked.
“The sheriff wants to have everything done back at the ME’s office so there aren’t any discrepancies,” the deputy replied as he worked the bag underneath the bride’s body.
“Well, you might want to snag some pictures here to help speed up the process,” Sean said. “If we can?—"
“There is no ‘we,’ sheriff,” the deputy said. “This is Sheriff Johnson’s investigation. He’s made that very clear. Your shift is over.”
Sean was a little taken aback, but he didn’t relent. “You should take the pictures,” Sean said sternly.
The deputy paused, and the pair stared one another down, but this wasn’t Sean’s first time dealing with unchecked authority. The deputy was young, most likely a recent hire, and was probably trying to follow his boss’s instructions.
But in the end, the deputy took the photographs of the stab wounds along the bride’s torso, as well as the bruising around Frank Maynard’s neck. He made sure not to look happy about it the entire time, but he did it.
When the deputy finished, Sean thanked him, hoping to show the young deputy that there were no hard feelings, but the deputy only scoffed.
“It won’t matter,” he said, muffled under his breath.
“Why won’t it matter?” Sean asked.
The deputy flushed red, clearly not thinking Sean would have been able to hear him, but he quickly cleared his throat and tried to downplay it.
“It’s nothing,” the deputy said, and then, when Sean continued to glare at him, he gestured to the other body. “That one. We heard he was a wife beater. The sheriff doesn’t bother with those cases.”
“What do you mean ‘those cases,’” Sean asked. “He was murdered. Last I checked, murders were supposed to be investigated, regardless of the individual’s moral compass.”
“Look, take it up with Sheriff Johnson, all right?” the deputy said, irritated as he packed up the forensic gear. “I’ll be back for the bodies.” He started up the stairs, but then stopped himself after two steps, turning back to Sean as if with an afterthought. “Don’t touch anything.”
The young deputy hurried up the stairs.
Sean stared at the two bodies on the steel slabs.
He might not have liked Frank Maynard, but that didn’t give the person who had killed him a free pass.
Laws existed for a reason. And whatever vigilante justice Sheriff Johnson was hoping to let slide didn’t sit well with Sean.
So, he decided to do something about it.