Page 26 of Naughty by Nature

Chapter 9

Thomas Applegate was a trulynice guy. The kind of guy a person didn’t come across very often. Even as he explained to Sheridan that he’d only been able to spare a hundred dollars for the down on his luck ex-con who hadn’t shown up for his job the next day, Thomas worried that the hundred dollars hadn’t been enough.

Sheridan took down all the details Thomas had, and he confirmed with the picture Marlene had printed off that yes, that was indeed the man that he’d hired for a job, Wade Shipton. He also provided Sheridan with the address where the man was supposedly staying.

As soon as Thomas reeled off the numbers, Sheridan knew the address was bogus. Honeywell was small enough that he knew every street and alley, as well as about ninety percent of the residents.

“Yeah, that’s a fake address,” Sheridan told the younger man.

The crestfallen look on Thomas’ face would have been funny but for the fact that Thomas seemed genuinely hurt.

“Really?”

“Yes.” He lifted his brows at Thomas. “You’ve lived here all your life right?”

Thomas shrugged and gave him a grin. “Yes, sir, but I only deliver outside of town.”

Well, he supposed that made sense. Not much call for feed or grain deliveries in town.

Sheridan left frustrated, which he didn’t normally allow himself to be. This one was too personal.

Sheridan headed toward Jeanette Holcomb’s house on the other side of town. Her granddaughter Chrissy lived with her in the apartment above the garage. Sheridan knew her as a polite young woman working her way through school. Chrissy had called their department many times in the past few years for issues at Spurs.

As soon as he pulled into the drive, Jeanette came out onto the porch. She was a spry thing for being seventy plus, her sterling white hair trimmed tight to her head and bright pink exercise shoes on her feet. Sheridan knew he’d probably interrupted her morning dog walk with Chester, her poofy poodle-something-doodle. Chester yapped inside as Jeanette crossed the porch and came down the steps.

“Hello, Sheriff. Thank you for being so prompt in your follow-up.”

“Good morning, Miss Jeanette. You knew I’d be here early, huh?”

She nodded. “Of course. We have a criminal at large. My Chrissy is awake but she’s tired. Go do your interview so she can to sleep.”

He tipped his hat to her. “Yes, ma’am. It was a pleasure seeing you, ma’am.”

She gave him a saucy look before retrieving her dog and heading down the street.

Sheridan knew that the walks were totally a ruse to stay on top of the news of Honeywell. Miss Jeanette would power down four blocks to the town square, circle it, and then head back to her own home in a roundabout way, talking to people all along the way. Rain or shine, she and Chester were out there taking the pulse of the town. Usually twice a day.

Sheridan secretly thought she considered herself an early warning system or something. If he ever implemented a neighborhood watch program he had a feeling the ladies from the Naughty Book Club would be the first in line.

Sheridan tromped up the garage’s exterior staircase, making a little extra noise so that Chrissy would know it was him. She answered his knock immediately, looking tired but alert, and held it open for him to enter. “Come on in, Sheriff.”

“Thanks for talking to me, Chrissy. I know you’re supposed to be sleeping so I won’t take much of your time. Tell me about the guy last night.”

She sighed, crossing her arms. “I’ve heard about Cheyenne’s ex, but I don’t remember seeing him. I think I was living with Dad in Amarillo then. This guy looks like the picture Mawmaw showed me. Big an’ burly, but he walks with a limp. He talked like he’d been gone a long time, said his family lives outside of town. I know some of those Shiptons. They’re not bad people.”

“No,” Sheridan agreed. “They’re not bad. Just a little misguided sometimes.”

Chrissy nodded, a frown on her young face. Dirty blond hair was mussed around her face, makeup smudged beneath her eyes, and Sheridan felt bad about keeping her up. “Any chance you saw what he was driving or anything?”

She shook her head. “No, sir. I sure didn’t.”

That would have been too much to hope for.

“Okay, thank you Chrissy.” He handed her a business card. “If by chance you see him again or he comes into Spurs, can you call me?”

“Absolutely.”

She curled the card into her hand and walked him to the door.

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