Page 81 of Cougar Point

Roger turns his face away. “I don’t know them.”

Ronnie persists. “But you’ve seen them.”

He just nods.

I say, “Come on, Roger. Lying to the police is not a good way to stay out of trouble. Talk to us. We won’t tell them we even talked to you.”

His head is on a swivel. He says, “Miss Marsh, I’m sorry for not speaking. I’ve seen the last two guys. The very last one is Len Thundercloud, an ex-employee. I think he’s Missy’s boyfriend.”

Ronnie asks, “How long ago did you see either of those men?”

Roger looks at me, and I give him my best bad-girl look.

“I know Thundercloud was here visiting Missy about a week ago. They were in my office and she knows no one is allowed there but the management. I would have fired her but she’s good at her job. She has a chip on her shoulder about some of our wealthier guests but she keeps it from them.”

“Do you know if he’s been here when Victoria was here? And I mean ever.”

He shakes his head. “I just caught them the one time. But I’ve seen him in town with that other guy. Bellingham, I mean. Thundercloud scares me.”

I wonder if Lucas asked the same questions and how much of a lead he has on us in finding any of the three. He could be at Missy’s place right now.

“We’re almost done, Roger. I need a favor from you.”

“Anything, Detective.”

“If Lucas asks you, we were never here today. We never talked. He’s seriously looking at you as a suspect in Victoria’s disappearance. Ronnie and I know that’s a load of crap but he’s very set on you being involved.”

Roger’s hand goes to his mouth. “Oh my god! I didn’t do anything wrong. You have to believe me.”

Ronnie says, “We believe you but you know Lucas.”

He says, “You were never here. I’m sorry about the surveillance stuff. Lucas told me to keep it to myself. He was angry that I told you parts of it were missing. I didn’t know…”

Ronnie puts a hand on his. “It’s okay. We understand. We’re going to help you.”

Into prison if you are involved in any minuscule way.I say to Ronnie,“Ronnie, I was about to tell Roger that we might have a lead on your mom’s whereabouts.”

“You do?” Roger says.

I say, “The first picture we showed you is Victoria’s brother. His name is Vinnie. We’ve located him and he’s beating the bushes for her. When we leave here we’re going back to the motel to meet up with him. We might not need the video footage, but it’s always better to be thorough. Don’t you think?”

“Was it this Vinnie who Missy saw that night?”

“I guess we’ll know shortly. Ronnie is a pure genius when it comes to recovering deleted video files. And I might as well tell you since you’ve been a big help to us, we think Vinnie is involved in the disappearance. Something about gambling debts. It has nothing to do with the Indian casino if that’s what you’re thinking. The FBI are in charge of that part.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Roger looks pale. He’s been through the ringer once over his activities and might still be in Dutch with the FBI.

“Nothing to say, Roger. I may need to come back. I want you to think hard about anything you might know. And I want you to call me or Ronnie if you see anyone we’re looking for.”

He just nods his head. His lips are dry and his eyes are focused on the tabletop.

Ronnie says, “You don’t want to be involved in this, Roger. You’ve skated a few times already and you only get so many chances. You find out what you can and call me. Maybe I won’t find that you doctored the video and arrest you for tampering with evidence. Maybe worse.”

Roger’s face goes pale and we leave him sitting there with his mouth hanging open.

FIFTY-TWO

Back at the car Ronnie calls Missy’s home and puts the call on speaker. The phone is answered by a drunk woman, bellowing, “What. Well, crap. Hang on.” Clatter, clatter. “Dropped my damn cigarette.” I hear a grunt and then, “Where ya’ at?” I wonder if she’s talking to someone else or the cigarette. Then, “Okay. What ya’ want?”

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