Chapter Twelve #2
Daniels furrowed his brow. “You don’t think this is an accident?”
Seth inhaled deeply as he considered his words.
“Mick Carson died an hour before he planned to strike a plea bargain with Prosecutor Lyndhurst. I don’t believe in coincidences.
” Seth’s conviction grew stronger every minute.
“Find Odell, get his file for me, and start the list of anyone who came in contact with Mick and his food today.”
“On it, sir,” Daniels said.
“What would you like me to do?” Sherry asked.
Seth took a few steps forward to look inside Mick’s open cell door.
The older man lay on his back, his sightless eyes looking up at the ceiling.
The bluish skin suggested a cardiac event, but it wouldn’t serve Seth well to speculate on the cause of death.
He’d just have to turn over every stone to ensure there was no foul play on the part of his jail staff.
There were ways to kill people to make it look like a natural death, and Mick Carson wasn’t in the best of health.
He mentally recited the notes in the file from Mick’s first stay in their jail.
He turned to Lawson, who stood silently in the hallway.
“Carson has a severe peanut allergy, right?”
“Yes, sir,” Daniels said. “There are very strict rules about his food. It can’t come into contact with the nut or its byproducts.”
“Could someone have given him an unauthorized candy bar or something?”
“Doubtful, sir. We can review footage from the security cameras in the hallways.”
That was already on Seth’s to-do list. He closed the cell door to reduce the risk of further contamination. “No one gets in or out except for the medical examiner,” he told Lawson.
“You have my word, sir.”
“Do you need anything else from me, or may I return to charting?” Sherry asked.
“You can go back to your station. We’ll let you know if we have questions,” Seth replied.
He was on his way to Daniels’ office to commandeer it when his phone rang.
FBI Agent Riley Johansen’s name appeared on the screen.
“Fuck.” Seth debated letting his call go to voicemail, but it was unprofessional, cowardly, and would only delay the inevitable.
He blew out a frustrated breath and accepted the call on the next ring. “Agent Johansen.”
“What the fuck have you backwoods hillbillies done now?” Before Seth could even answer, the agent continued spewing a streak of vitriol that turned his ears red.
“Don’t touch anything. Don’t move anything.
I have federal marshals coming to collect Quinton Carson before you guys kill him too, and we will take possession of Mick Carson’s body.
” Seth had known this was going to happen, and he was powerless to stop it.
Better to play nice and save face than fight a losing battle.
“Understood. Our medical examiner is already on the way,” Seth said. “She can take Mick to the county morgue until your people arrive.”
“Fine. But they don’t touch a single hair on his head. I’m on my way to take lead on the investigation.” Then he rattled off a list of things he wanted from Seth.
“You’ve got it. Anything else I can do?” A slight hint of annoyance might’ve slipped out in his tone, but who could blame him?
“I think you’ve done enough,” Riley snarled before disconnecting.
Seth stared down at his phone. “Well, fuck you too.” He’d do everything in his power to assist the federal agents with their investigation, and that meant rounding up every single person who could’ve had a hand in Mick’s death.
He found Lyndhurst and Daniels in the lieutenant’s office.
Tony paced the small area in front of the desk while Daniels spoke to someone on the phone.
Neither of them looked at Seth as he entered, which showed how lost in thought they were.
“Thank you for your help, ma’am,” Daniels said, then set the receiver in the cradle.
“No luck?” Tony asked.
“No.” Daniels noticed Seth for the first time. “I called every number in Jasper Odell’s file, including his emergency contact. His mama hasn’t heard from him, and she’s worried because he never misses her pot roast.”
“What excuse did you give her for calling?” Seth asked.
“I told her I thought Odell left his cell phone here when his shift ended, so it wouldn’t do any good to call and leave a message there.”
The excuse would work for now, but they’d better come up with a backup in case Odell didn’t turn up and they needed to make contact again. Seth relayed everything he knew to that point while Daniels scowled and Tony paced.
The prosecutor stopped suddenly and squared off against Seth. “We’re fucked! Fucked, you hear?”
Christ, people three counties over could hear him.
Seth was just as furious as Lyndhurst, but he would not lose his cool.
The feds were on the way to retrieve Quinton and Mick’s body.
A teeny tiny part of him hoped they would transport both in the same vehicle, but his snarky thoughts didn’t linger.
Mick’s body was secured for the moment, and Quinton was as safe as he could be.
Seth tucked Odell’s file under his arm and told Daniels what Agent Johansen wanted from them.
“Make sure the medical examiner knows not to do anything with the body. I would say the cavalry will be here in three hours or less, depending on the severity of the storms. I want to find Odell before they get here.” Seth instructed Daniels to get the kitchen staff back in and interview them.
Of all the employees at the jail, the kitchen and janitorial staff had been there the longest. If something hinky happened, Seth didn’t think it came from any of them.
“Where the hell are you going?” Tony snapped.
Seth bit back a frustrated response and said, “I’m going out to find Odell.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Seth planned to take advantage of Tony’s grandstanding tendencies to keep the prosecutor at the jail to oversee everything. “Shouldn’t you stay here and—”
“I am coming with you, Seth. We both know this isn’t an accident or a natural death.”
“We don’t know much right now,” Seth reminded him. “But I suspect foul play. The FBI has ordered me away from the investigation, but I’m sure they’ll appreciate it if I find the last person known to interact with Mick Carson.”
“I’m coming with you, so deal with it.” Tony shouldered past him and headed into the hallway.
Seth held up his cell phone. “Keep me posted on everything.”
Daniels nodded. “Will do, sir.”
The rain had let up by the time Seth stepped outside the county jail. Normally, he’d appreciate the scent of fresh rain and damp earth, but it wasn’t the right moment to stop and appreciate nature.
“Where’s your SUV?” Lyndhurst asked.
“I’m in my personal vehicle.”
“Why?”
“Because I was out doing personal things. I don’t drive my county vehicle during my downtime.”
“A sheriff doesn’t get downtime. You’re on call twenty-four seven.”
“Well, we can take a detour to my place and collect my SUV, head to the sheriff’s department and borrow a cruiser from the motor pool, or just use my personal truck.”
Lyndhurst considered it. “Might be less intimidating and obvious if we use your personal vehicle, but I think you need to be armed just in case shit goes sideways.”
Seth figured he was right but said, “Shit has already gone sideways.”
“Yeah, and our entire world is about to get turned upside down.”
They made a quick stop by Seth’s house for him to retrieve his gun and badge from his safe and swap vehicles.
It turned out to be on the way to the address Odell listed as his home.
The corrections officer lived in a small house on a quiet road.
The lights were out, and no cars were in the driveway.
Seth parked but left the engine running.
True to his word, Tony trailed alongside him to the house.
They knocked on the front door, then walked around to the back to rap on the sliding glass door.
Curtains covered the windows and doors, so they couldn’t detect signs of activity inside, but the property felt empty.
“He’s not here,” Seth said.
“Where to now? His mother’s?”
“We don’t want to alarm her or tip anyone off.
Let’s drive by there and see if Odell’s vehicle is in the driveway.
I won’t stop and knock yet. The file said he drives a silver Nissan pickup truck.
Plate number is in there too.” The jail wanted to know a lot about the people in charge of inmates, including the vehicles they drove onto the correctional site.
Jasper Odell was a newer employee, and Seth now questioned if there were holes in their hiring process.
“After that, we’ll check out the places our county and city cops like to hang out. ”
A bolt of lightning streaked through the sky, propelling them to walk faster.
Of all the times for the meteorologists to be right.
A vicious storm unleashed Mother Nature’s fury on them, which only amplified the growing frustration Seth felt with every passing second that Odell eluded him.
His car wasn’t at his mom’s house when they drove by, and they didn’t find him at any of the bars.
They drove around Last Chance Creek and Hart’s Creek and saved the Feisty Bull for last. Seth pulled into a parking spot and put the SUV in park.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tony asked.
“I’m going in to see if my cousin Kerry is working behind the bar.
His rescue crews are familiar with all the people in law enforcement, and the corrections guys often pal around with the patrol officers in their downtime.
He might be able to tell me which of my deputies hangs around with Odell.
” That would be much faster than calling all of them individually, but Seth wouldn’t hesitate to do that next if necessary.
“The longer this guy is in the wind, the more I think he did something to Mick’s food,” Tony said as he removed his seat belt.
“I don’t disagree.”