Page 18 of Shelter for Martina

“By the way, detective, I hear you questioned one of my witnesses without my knowledge,” Young said, huffing to maintain his gait.

“I didn’t learn anything you didn’t already know, so don’t get your panties in a wad.”

“You a cocky sumbitch, ain’t ya?” Young asked.

He might as well have slapped Bud in the face, and the taller detective wheeled on the sheriff. “You listen here. I’m still about a hundred and fifty percent pissed at the way you’ve ignored the Anderson girl, so don’t challenge me, Young. I mean it. Your callous disregard of her situation has left me with no choice but to pursue this aggressively. She’s now been missing as long as this piece of shit and shedidn’twalk out of the woods. She’s still missing. And I aim to find out if he knows where she is, by whatever means necessary. You can help me, or you can stay the fuck out of my way. Are. We. Clear?” Bud snarled.

“Crystal clear, detective. Crystal clear.” Young’s jaw was set and his eyes were shooting daggers at Bud, but the detective could tell he finally got the message. Bud’sdon’t fuck with mehad come through loud and clear.

“Good.” Bud took off again toward the ambulance. He didn’t know if the sheriff was beside him, and he didn’t care. When he reached the back of the bus, there sat Burgess, wrapped in a blanket and with a bottle of water in his hand. He was blubbering like a five year old who’d lost his Frisbee on the roof. “MartyBurgess?”

“Who wants to know?” the guy in the blanket sobbed out, snot running from his nose.

“DetectiveAlbert Griffin, Kentucky State Police.”

“Yeah. That’s me.”

“Where’s RenitaAnderson?”

“I-I-I-I-I don’t know. I been in them woods for five days now.”

Bud chose his words carefully. “It’s my understanding that she was with you and you don’t know where she is?”

“No! She was with me at my daddy’s house, but I left an’ she stayed there. I went to her place in Central City an’ she stayed there.”

Fuck! That’s what those girls in the store said!“So she stayed at Phil Adams’ house?”

“Yeah. They was goin’ to do some muddin’ on his four-wheeler.”

Bud stared into his face. “Adams said you left together.”

“No. We didn’t. She stayed there.”

“He said you were arguing.”

“No. We wasn’t. We didn’t do no arguin’. I left and went to her place. Last time I seen her, she was at my daddy’s. She weren’t with me in the woods.”

“So she wasn’t with you in the woods at all?”

“Nah. If she’s missin’, I don’t know nothin’ about it.”

Bud leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “Who said she was missing?”

Something flickered across the younger man’s face. “Uh, um, well, uh, you was askin’ ‘bout her, so I figured she must be missin’ or somethin’.”

Bud spun and found Sheriff Young right behind him, just where he’d suspected the cocky little man was. “Well, well, well. He’s all yours, sheriff. I’ll be around with more questions in a day or two.” He turned back to Burgess. “If I were you, I wouldn’t leave the area. I’d hate to have to put out a warrant for your arrest.”

“I ain’t goin’ nowhur, trooper! I been in themwoodsfor five days! I’m too tired an’ weak to go nowhur!” Burgess yelled at Bud as the detective walked away.

That smarmy little fucker… The little shit knew what happened to Renita, and Bud hoped he didn’t have to beat the truth out of somebody. That told him something else important too.

If there was one speck of truth in anything Burgess had just said, PhilAdams had lied to him. Martina was right. They were both supreme liars. Somebody needed to teach them some manners.

And BudGriffin was just the man to do it.

* * *

By the timehe pulled up in his drive, it was five thirty and he was exhausted. He wanted to call Martina, but he didn’t want to wake her if she’d managed to get any sleep. Then he thought for a second and realized she probably was lying wide awake, wondering what was going on. Once he got inside, he shot her a brief text:You awake?

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