Chapter Twenty-Eight CJ Taggart
Chapter Twenty-Eight
CJ Taggart
Taggart swung by the diner to grab his morning coffee.
He glanced toward the counter, half hoping to see Patty.
But Buddy was behind the counter topping off coffee for a customer.
His smile looked strained. Another customer asked for a refill and another for a menu. Buddy clearly felt Patty’s absence.
Taggart spotted the mayor in a booth in the back.
He wasn’t front and center or shaking hands but lying low.
More complaints and questions about the festival were snowballing, and Taggart knew Briggs must be feeling the pressure.
When the weekend hangover passed, folks realized the festival might have created as many problems as it had promised to solve.
Taggart crossed to the mayor’s booth. “Mind if I sit down?”
Mayor Briggs nodded. “If you’ve got good news.”
Taggart sat. Buddy caught his gaze and then set a mug in front of him. He filled the cup. “Thanks, Buddy. Any word from Patty?”
“Not a word.” His brow furrowed. “I stopped by her trailer this morning. Sara was there with the baby, but no Patty.”
“Any idea where she went?”
“None. And I’ve called everyone I can think of.”
Taggart thought about the folded blankets in the baby’s crib. “She the kind of woman to leave her baby behind?”
“No. Not Patty,” Buddy conceded. “She’s crazy about that kid.”
Taggart sipped his coffee. “Is she seeing anyone other than you?”
Buddy glanced at Briggs. “No.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Sheriff, tell me when you find her,” Buddy said.
“Will do.”
As Buddy moved to another table, Taggart sat in silence, not bothering a glance toward the mayor. He’d never been good at sucking up to the brass, and civilian life had not changed that.
“Maybe Patty did run off,” Mayor Briggs said.
“Along with Laurie Carr and Debra Jackson? I have three missing person reports on my desk now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Debra?”
“I’m doing that now.”
“I don’t know Laurie, but Debra doesn’t have the best homelife.” The mayor drummed his fingers against the side of his mug as if flipping through a card catalog of excuses.
“I hear Debra is doing well on her own. And Laurie’s aunt said she always checks in.”
“Three single women. Maybe they’re partying together.” The mayor grunted. “This isn’t a five-alarm fire.”
The mayor’s easy dismissal of the women irritated him. “It’s a pattern I don’t like.”
The mayor pushed his half-eaten plate of food away. “Don’t get over your skis, Sheriff. There were thousands of people at the event. And the fact that three are missing doesn’t mean much yet. They’ll turn up. Just you wait and see.”
“And if they don’t?”
“From what Colton told me yesterday, the festival brought in a lot of money. Dawson’s going to see a big check. And he said the music reviews in the papers were good. He said it’s a matter of time before other music festivals are looking at us. This is going to be big for Dawson.”
Taggart said, “Have you seen the money?”
“Not yet. That kind of thing takes a little time.” Briggs sipped his coffee. “Don’t tarnish Dawson’s reputation.”
“I’m going to keep looking for these women.”
“Try to be discreet.”
“That’s going to be easier said than done. Sara Grayson called a local reporter. She’s trying to get interviewed.”
His face paled. “Does she know about Debra or this guitar girl?”
“Sara and Monica Carr spoke at the station.”
“Shit. This is a small town, and rumors run through Dawson like wildfire.”
“Good.”
The mayor tossed his balled-up napkin on the plate. “What’s good about it?”
“The more people who know about the three missing women, the more tips I receive. I’m considering a press conference.”
“You know that’s not how it works. Every nutjob and his brother are going to be calling the station and reporting a sighting. That happened five years ago when the Taylor boy went missing.”
The Taylor boy had been a five-year-old who’d wandered off from his parents’ campsite. “I heard about that case. One tip from a couple of hikers led to his rescue. That’s how it goes. Needle in a haystack.”
“That’s not very efficient.”
“Solving a crime isn’t an easy process.”
“Crime.” The mayor leaned forward and dropped his voice. “We’re not talking about a crime. We’re talking about three girls out of thousands who got a wild hair and took off.”
“Three young women who were known for being reliable. And now they’re gone.”
“They’ll turn up.”
Taggart wasn’t so sure. He took two more gulps of coffee. Monica had said Debra had broken up with Kevin Pascal. Time to track him down.
Taggart found Kevin Pascal working security at the local furniture plant east of town. Rumor had it the company was going out of business and everyone there would be out of a job soon. Kevin had been hired to make sure none of the exiting employees did any damage or hurt the management.
Inside Taggart found a receptionist sitting at a small brown desk. She was in her sixties, and he was willing to bet she’d worked there most of her life. Her smile was tired, as if she knew the job was going away. “I’m looking for Kevin.”
Without much fanfare, the receptionist picked up her phone and dialed. Five minutes later Kevin emerged in a security guard uniform.
“Kevin?” Taggart asked.
Kevin didn’t appear surprised to see the sheriff as he walked up to him. His hand was outstretched. “Yes, sir. What can I do for you?”
“I got a call from Marsha Sullivan. You know her?”
Kevin cleared his throat. “Yeah. I know her.”
“Marsha said her sister, Debra, is missing.”
His smile disappeared. “What do you mean, missing? I dropped Debra off at the music festival Friday night. Her car was parked in front of the dry cleaner’s this morning.”
“You drove her?”
“Yeah. You saw me. I was working the event.”
“I saw you.”
“You know traffic was going to be hellacious, and I had a parking spot. I offered to drop her off at the front gate.”
“What were you doing at the dry cleaner’s?”
“Picking up my uniform. The call to work the festival security was last minute.”
“Last minute?” Colton had said security was all lined up.
“My boss called and said he had a request for security, and he was rounding up men. I rushed to get my uniform from the dry cleaner’s. I offered Debra a ride.”
“What did you think when you and Debra arrived at the festival?”
“The event was a crush. Poor borders. A security nightmare.”
“Did you and Debra hang out together at all?”
“We grabbed a quick picture together and then I had to get to work. I saw a fight that needed to be broken up. Debra went looking for her sister.”
Many guys like Kevin wanted to be cops. Most failed some portion of the entrance exam and often saw their job as a kind of deputization. Taggart found if he treated them as equals, they were very helpful. “Can you give me a report on the event?”
He shifted his stance and hooked a thumb in his belt. “Lots of theft. Pickpockets and snatched purses. I stopped a couple of guys who were getting handsy with drunk girls. And there was a small container fire near the woods.”
“Fire.”
“Folks filled an old metal drum with wood and set it on fire near the woods. They were trying to keep warm. It wouldn’t have been an issue, but the fire was so close to the tents and the trees. We were getting rain, but, you know, it was dry as a bone for weeks. I made them put it out.”
“That wasn’t the big one?”
“No, that came later. About one a.m.”
Taggart hadn’t seen the first fire, but there was a lot he’d missed that night. “Anything else?”
“I patrolled. There were kids trying to get on the stage to see the band. Had to chase them away. Then there was the basic urinating in public or indecent exposure.”
“Good work. And you never saw Debra?”
He shook his head. “I wished her a good evening, and she vanished into the crowd.”
“Was she meeting anyone other than her sister?”
“Yeah. Her friend Bailey Briggs.”
Bailey. “Blond. Petite.”
“Yeah. She and Debra go to high school together. You know her?”
“Came across her at the event.”
“Hard to keep Bailey down for long. She’s always on the move.”
“Those two tight?”
“I don’t know if they are super friendly. But they both love music and wanted to see the bands.”
“I hear Debra works pretty hard.”
“She’s driven. You know her stepfather is a bit of a douche. She moved out last fall.”
“When did you two break up?”
“January.”
“Can I ask why?”
“I don’t see why it matters. She wants to go to college. I want to stay local and keep doing what I love to do.”
“You like the security work?”
“It’s temporary. I want to get into the police academy.”
“Have you applied?”
“Once last year. Blew the shooting exam. But I’ve been practicing.”
“Keep at it. The admissions offices always like the guys who are hard workers.”
“Well, I do work hard.” He leaned forward as if they were sharing confidential information. “Mind if I ask why you’re looking for Debra? I mean, she’s over eighteen and is independent.”
“Marsha says she missed work and school.”
“She’s done that before. I mean, Debra is steady about ninety-five percent of the time. But she gets revved up every so often.”
“You think she got a wild hair?”
“She’s been working so hard. She didn’t get into her first choice of college and had to accept her second choice. She was disappointed. I told her I was proud of her, but she was bummed about it.”
“When did you have this conversation?”
“On the way to the festival. It was nice catching up with her. We’ll always be friends.”
“You’re not worried about her?”
“No.” He angled his head as if sharing a secret. “I mean, if she doesn’t show up in a day or two, then I would worry.”
“Her boss said she hasn’t missed work before.”
“Like I said, her not getting into her first-choice college hit her hard. We used to blow off steam together. I know her. She’s with a guy. And once she gets disappointment out of her system, she’ll be back.”