Page 67 of JoyRide

“Let’s ask Delphina which house,” I said. “I promised to sayhito her from Mrs. Strachan anyway.”

We chatted to Delphina—another lady in her nineties—at her door for a few minutes and gave her greetings from her friend in Glenroy. She confirmed that the Burridges had moved into the house north of her and added Mister Burridge was at work and Mrs. Burridge hadn’t found a job yet.

“Did you happen to notice their son Danny going in or out?” I asked.

“Nope. Never seen any kids.”

“Thanks, Delphina. You’ve been a great help.”

“I used to be on neighborhood watch,” she said, “but then they picked somebody younger to take over for me. Did they think I wouldn’t notice somebody creeping around on our street?”

“I don’t know, ma’am,” said Harlan.

“Just because I turned ninety, I didn’t lose all my senses.”

“No, ma’am, you sure didn’t.”

Burridge Residence. Dutton.

Mrs. Burridge answered our knock, and she was a pleasant lady in her late forties. Brown hair and glasses. Judging by Danny’s juvie mug shot, his hair was blonder, but he looked a lot like his mother.

“Mrs. Burridge, we’re from the Harrison County Sheriff’s office up in Coyote Creek and we’re looking for your son, Danny. Have you seen him lately?”

“I’m sorry, Sheriff. I can’t tell you where Danny is now. He doesn’t live at home anymore. After he was sent to Juvenile Detention down there in Great Falls, Arthur threw him out of the house. I visited Danny a few times while he was in that place, but Arthur wouldn’t go. It’s been hard on our family.”

Tammy nodded her head. “It would be, ma’am. So sorry.”

“Do you know any of his friends?” I asked. “Does Danny still hang around with Stuart Dickinson?”

“The last time Danny dropped by—he comes to see me when his father isn’t here—Stuart wasn’t with him, but a couple of other boys were.”

“Did they happen to say where they were living or where they were going, ma’am?”

“No. Danny didn’t say anything like that, but I think one of the other boys mentioned they were going up to Shelby to look for work at the carnival that was setting up soon.”

“That’s great information, Mrs. Burridge. Thank you so much.”

“I don’t know why you’d be looking for Danny. He hasn’t done anything wrong since he got out of detention. He learned his lesson. My son is a good boy.”

“We need to ask him a couple of questions, ma’am,” said Tammy. “That’s all it is.”

I gave Mrs. Burridge my card. “Please call me if you see Danny or if you think of anything else.”

“I will.”

As we ran back to the squad where Ted was smoking, I said, “We got another good lead, Tammy. We might round up a bunch of those punks at the carnival. Never knew it was coming to Shelby. When I ran with a bad crowd—before I got my ass sent to detention—the carnival was one of our fav places for stirring up shit and getting into trouble.”

“I better keep my eye on you when we check it out,” said Tammy. “I’ll keep my brother on a short leash.”

That made me laugh.

Conrad East. Montana.

Tammy had to drive because of my shoulder, and heading northbound on the interstate we came to the ramp for ConradEast. She made the turn so we could check the crack house and make sure Virge hadn’t gone back there. My worst fear was having my little brother hooked on drugs.

Tammy parked at the curb and the place looked exactly the same. It hadn’t changed at all in a week. Still ready to be torn down and replaced by another strip mall full of empty stores.

We all hopped out and Ted waved his arm in a circular motion, signaling that he was going round the back.

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