Chapter 20
TWENTY
The address for Trey Roberts was on the border of Pine Valley and River Flats. It was a rural area—if you wanted to get food or supplies then you would have to drive into Pine Valley. Katie made sure that they had enough fuel to get to Roberts’ house and back.
“I think the cell reception is going to be sketchy out here.”
“I don’t doubt it. That’s probably why I can’t get through to Roberts,” McGaven said, watching the landscape change until they were driving on an unpaved country road. “I remember a couple of calls I had out here on patrol. It’s on a borderline but we were still dispatched out here.”
Katie glanced at him. “And?”
“Lots of drinking and drugs… unruly partygoers.”
Katie smiled. “Do you miss patrol?”
“Sometimes. But for the most part absolutely not. It could be a pain and—boy—the paperwork if I ever had to draw my weapon or run a suspect down.” He shook his head.
“You wish you had a different partner?”
“You mean like Hamilton or Garcia?”
“I don’t know… just a different one.”
McGaven turned toward her. “What’s going on, Katie? Having some doubts?”
“No. It’s just that many detective partners don’t last more than a few years. Usually one of them wants to move into something else. I don’t want to stop you from pursuing another position at the department.”
“I’m going to only say this once, Detective Scott. I couldn’t imagine being partnered with anyone except you. We make sense. Besides, there’s never a dull moment on our cases.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Why, all of a sudden, are you concerned about my position at the sheriff’s department?”
“I want you to thrive and not get stuck with me,” she said.
McGaven laughed. “At the very beginning, I was asked if I wanted to transfer to the detective division.”
“I see,” she said, raising her eyebrows.
“So there wasn’t a huge line of people waiting to partner up with me?
” She wasn’t surprised since she just showed up and didn’t ride patrol to begin with.
It was obvious at the time there were officers who felt nepotism was a big factor in her position in the department.
“I’m not sure where all this is coming from, Katie, but I want to be here and I’ve always got your back.”
“Same here, partner.”
“And I don’t want to hear any more of this whining.”
She laughed. “I’m not whining—”
“Look out!”
Katie slammed on the brakes, skidding on loose gravel for another couple of feet. A large tree limb was lying across the street.
“Wow, where did that come from?” said Katie. It was about six to eight inches in diameter.
The detectives got out to investigate.
“It almost appears like someone put it here on purpose,” said McGaven. “See these tire impressions back and forth?”
Looking around at the trees and the road, as well as the frenzied impression, Katie said, “I was thinking the same thing.”
McGaven went to the back of the car and popped the trunk. He grabbed some rope before returning to the branch. “Let’s see if we can pull it to the side.”
The detectives maneuvered the limb until they could drag it out of the roadway.
Katie sighed. “I didn’t expect to have such a workout this morning.”
“No kidding.” McGaven retrieved the rope, looping it together, and then returned it to the trunk.
The detectives were quickly on their way again.
“We seem to be running into tree limbs in places they’re not supposed to be,” said McGaven.
Katie thought about this. It did seem strange that in barely two days they’d run into big limbs trying to stop people from passing by. She slowed the sedan where there was a dirt road and stopped.
“What?” McGaven said.
“I think this is the road… Birds Nest Lane. There’s no sign. Oh wait…” She pointed to the side of the road. “That looks like what’s left of a wooden sign.”
“Nice,” said McGaven, chuckling.
Katie continued driving up the road. There were few houses and even fewer visible addresses.
“This is going to be tougher than I thought,” she said.
“What’s the address?”
“One-four-two.”
“Okay,” he said, scrutinizing every wooden sign. Most said “no trespassing” and “keep out.”
Katie kept driving slowly. The gravel became thicker and made a crunching noise as the tires slowly moved onward.
“Wait,” McGaven said. “Doesn’t that say, one-four-two?”
“Yep, it does.” Katie found an appropriate place to park and they exited the police sedan.
“That must be it,” she said, referring to the broken-down house that appeared to have had its siding and windows replaced.
“How do we want to handle this?” she asked, sensing the area could be full of surprises. “Together or split up?”
McGaven took a good look around—more than he usually would on approach, but it seemed he too sensed there was something they weren’t seeing.
“Did you notice that it’s really quiet?” he said.
“Yep.”
The next closest house was a ways, but there weren’t any forest sounds, or cars, or voices, or even barking dogs. Katie quickly checked her cell phone and it showed barely one bar that wavered back and forth to no signal. Great, she thought.
“There’s no car in front,” she added.
“Maybe around back?”
Katie contemplated the best approach. “You knock on the front door and I’ll go around to the back in case he makes a run for it.”
McGaven nodded as he pulled his weapon. Katie did the same thing but kept her Glock down at her side. She gave McGaven one last look as they separated to their positions.
Katie briskly walked around the left side of the house.
She could smell the pungent odor of garbage and stale alcohol even before she saw the five garbage bags.
One had been torn open by scavengers, leaving behind a trail of chicken bones and frozen meal boxes.
There were label-less prescription bottles as well as used needles.
She estimated there might be more residents than just Trey Roberts.
There possibly could be two or three people.
Katie slowed her pace and carefully sidestepped the garbage. The backyard consisted of overgrown weeds, two chairs, and a pile of cigarette butts. There were two wooden boxes pushed together like a table where there were bottles and dishes that had been obliterated by gunfire.
Katie quickly sent McGaven a text message saying there were firearms.
He responded with an electronic thumbs-up.
Katie went to the back door, which was a single sliding door that didn’t quite shut all the way. Looking at the house, it seemed someone had built it on their own without the proper permits.
She heard her partner knock on the front door and identify himself as a police officer. Katie immediately took her position on one side of the back door in case Roberts decided to run out back.
She waited.
Nothing.
McGaven knocked loudly and identified himself again.
Nothing.
Katie had that feeling common among police officers telling them something was wrong. For some it was a prickly feeling on the back of their necks, for others a voice in their head. For Katie it was her instincts and sensitivity.
She decided to leave her post at the back door and ran around to meet her partner.
“I think we need to get inside,” she said.
McGaven didn’t ask, simply pushed on the door. It gave way about an inch. He pushed harder and it opened wide enough for them to see inside.
“Trey Roberts, are you here?” he said.
Katie took a good stomp-kick and the door opened enough for them to enter. It was filled with stuff, including garbage and what looked to be found items. It was difficult to see where the floor was.
Once inside, McGaven said, “There, on the couch.”
Katie had almost overlooked a man lying on the sofa. “Trey Roberts?” she said.
The man didn’t move. She wasn’t sure if he was dead or not.
Feeling for a pulse, she said, “He’s still alive but his pulse is faint.”
The ambulance, fire truck, and a patrol cruiser had arrived. They worked on Trey Roberts, who had apparently overdosed. It was unclear if it was accidental or on purpose. After a few doses of Narcan, Roberts was awake and talking with the emergency medics as they wheeled him into the ambulance.
“Which hospital?” asked McGaven.
“Pine Valley Medical.”
The fire truck and ambulance left. Katie and McGaven, along with the patrol officer, Andrews, stayed behind.
“How do you find anything in here?” said McGaven, indicating the overcrowded rooms.
“Let’s just take a look around before we leave. Don’t move anything, since we don’t have a warrant, just check out anything in plain view.”
The detectives, along with the patrol officer, searched the house.
Katie wanted to see if there was anything that might in some way connect Roberts to their investigations.
If there was anything suspicious that might shed some light on the case.
They split up and began looking in each room.
It did appear that someone else lived there or spent a fair amount of time there.
The rooms filled with a huge amount of stuff reminded Katie of a hoarding situation, but looking closer it appeared that it was simply an incredible mess, with items like clothes, boxes, garbage, and miscellaneous knick-knacks just thrown on the floor and not put away.
There were dozens of empty beer bottles as well, and several gun magazines ready for shooting.
“Looks like a frat house,” said McGaven.
Katie saw several neat stacks of check stubs from Crowne & Miller Construction on a small bedside table. She also saw several envelopes with what appeared to be money sticking out. She couldn’t open the envelopes to discover the amount, but it was clear there were good-sized stacks of bills.
“Gav,” she said.
“Find something?”
“Looks like a sizable amount of money.”
McGaven looked closer and examined what he could.
“Found the drug stash,” said Officer Andrews, coming in.
The detectives went to see.
In the corner of the living room area, there was an open wooden box and they could clearly see the drug paraphernalia and smoking pipes.
Katie scanned the room. “Officer Andrews, do you have a digital camera in your cruiser?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Can you photograph the house inside and out? Make sure to have close-ups of what we’ve found here. Please make a detailed list as well.”
“On it,” he said and left to get the camera.
McGaven looked at his partner and nodded. “Way to delegate.”
“What do you think?” she said.
“Besides Roberts needing a cleaning lady… he doesn’t seem the type to organize what it would take to orchestrate building that trap we found. He would need a clear mind.”
“And he’s too young to have known anything about the Collins house and family,” she said.
“Agreed.”
“There’s no car here, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t another person who stays here. There’s way too much garbage for one person,” she said.
Officer Andrews photographed the outside of the house and then came in to photograph each room as well as the items they had found. Katie and McGaven waited while the officer finished the task.
Simultaneously, the detectives’ cell phones alerted to a text message. Katie read the message from the medical examiner’s office. She turned to her partner and said, “Looks like the bodies are ready.”
The detectives and officer secured the house before leaving.
“Thank you, deputy,” said Katie.
“My pleasure, detectives,” Andrews said and soon got back into his cruiser and left the scene.
The detectives also readied to leave the location. Katie wasn’t sure if they had really learned anything that would help in the investigation. She started the car and drove away from the house.
“I know what you’re thinking,” said McGaven.
“Really? You’re brave,” she said and laughed.
“Seriously. You’re thinking this was a waste of time, but…
you don’t want to rule out anything yet.
And you’re going to ask me for a deep dive into Roberts’ background.
Like… who he hangs out with… and if he has been arrested, which is most likely…
anyone who he might have been in prison with.
” McGaven turned to his partner. “Am I about right?”
“Close.”
“Close? No way. I’m on the money.”
“I can’t help but think there’s another person linked to everyone else involved in the case, but finding out who it is… is going to be difficult.”
“You mean you want to believe it’s the person the big guy Buck told you about.”
“We can’t rule it out.” Katie drove onto the main road heading back to Pine Valley to visit the morgue and see what Dr. Dean had to say.
“Can we go through a drive-thru? I’m hungry,” said McGaven.
“We’ll see,” Katie joked. “You might want to eat after we leave the morgue and not before.”
McGaven made a face and sighed. “Affirmative.”