Page 41 of Cougar Point

I say to the sisters, “According to the computer Vinnie’s last arrest was in Blaine two years ago. Assault and attempted rape. He’s used different addresses for each arrest and seems to use some more than others.”

Lucas says, “Most probably those addresses are made-up or just places he’s crashed for a night or a few days. He doesn’t seem to stay put.”

Ronnie and Rebecca give each other a look. I know they’re thinking they had an uncle they’d never met and that he was a felon. No wonder their parents didn’t talk about him.

This has been a bad day for the Marsh family. It’s no wonder Jack didn’t want anyone else involved. He was trying to protect his daughters from the truth. From experience I know that’s still lying, but I protected Hayden from the truth about our mother and real father for the same reasons. I didn’t want my brother to feel our biological father’s evil blood that coursed through our veins. But now, just like Rebecca and Ronnie need to know the family secrets, I believe Hayden needs to know and come to grips with who we are and try to make peace with it. He deserves the truth from me and not the spin my mother will put on it. She has a master’s degree in telling lies.

Lucas hits some keys. I hear the printer start up again. “I’m getting you all the detailed arrest reports for the brother. The last address we have for Vinnie is two years old. It’s from when he was last arrested here in Bellingham. I’ll call the jail to see if he listed a next of kin or emergency contact person. Current records don’t show him in custody.”

“What was Vinnie charged with in court?” I ask. Sometimes the police charge is changed by a prosecutor. In this case I’m hoping the attempted rape charge was erroneous.

Lucas consults the computer screen. “Sexual battery. Criminal confinement.”

This just gets better and better. Poor Ronnie and Rebecca.

“Can you ask the jail if he had visitors?”

Lucas gives me a funny look and says, “But what are you hoping to get?”

“I’m not sure.”

He looks at the clock. It’s almost 4 p.m. “This might take a little while. Visiting hours are just starting at the jail. If you want to get coffee, there’s a little café nearby. We have a breakroom with a coffeepot but Sheriff takes his so weak you can see through it. Go out the way we came in and turn left outside. You can’t miss it. Come back here after. I’ll tell the deputies downstairs to let you in.”

We find the café and order four coffees to go. Sure enough, when we come back we are waived through the metal detector without a word. The deputies give Ronnie and Rebecca the once over again but ignore me. Ronnie makes heads turn wherever we go, and now I feel like I’m the comedy relief. What am I? Chopped liver? I dress for the job. No high heels or designer clothes. Just black lace-up boots, dark slacks, dark button-up shirt, and kind of a sport jacket.

We re-enter Lucas’s office and he’s just getting off the phone. We hand over his coffee and take our seats.

“Vinnie didn’t list an emergency contact. The jail commander said he’d be happy to talk to you after visiting hours are over. You have an hour-and-a-half wait. Come back and get me and I’ll go with you.”

“Not necessary,” I say. “I’ll let you know if we get anything useful.”

“Have you been in a maximum-security facility before?” he asks.

He would no doubt have something funny to say if I told him I just visited my mother in women’s prison. So I don’t.

Instead, I say, “I’ve been in a few.” Not a lie. “I’ll take you home before we do this, Rebecca.”

Rebecca starts to say something but I shut her down with a look and pick up the computer printouts.

Lucas says, “I’m sorry if I came off as a jerk earlier. It’s just I usually work alone these days. I had a partner a couple years back and it went south. And I didn’t know you. Can I trust you?” He narrows his eyes and for a moment it almost seems like he’s flirting. Would that be so bad? All in all, Lucas is a very attractive man, A little old for my taste, but he has a certain charm. I want to smash his face.

“Of course, Lucas.” Until you can’t anymore. He doesn’t say anything more and we leave.

Back in my SUV I think about Lucas’s about-face from his earlier rudeness. It seems contrived. But then, I might act the same way if the tables were turned. I still need him. He has the home-court advantage. He can get records. Knows the towns. Has connections. I’ll take what I can get from him and keep him in the dark.

THIRTY

FEBRUARY 2023

Whatcom County

It took a while for the formalities to be complete, but by five o’clock, it was official. The woman who had been recovered from the creek was Olivia Greenwood, positively identified by her husband.

Lucas took a break to eat before driving over to the Sheriff’s Office, where they had scheduled the interview with the husband. He arrived a little late, and Kelly showed him straight through to the interview room. Longbow was already there, along with Mac and Anderson. The three of them sat around the medium-size table opposite a man in a gray suit with salt-and-pepper hair with his back to the door. As the other man turned, Lucas recognized him from his picture as Edward Greenwood.

Mac stood up and gestured at the two new arrivals.

“Mr. Greenwood, this is Sergeant Lucas of Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department. He’s assisting us with the investigation out here.”

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