Page 7 of Final Ride

“What’s her boyfriend’s name?” I pulled out my notebook and turned to a clean page.

“Derrick Forbes.”

“Got an address for Derrick?”

“Nope. Never been to his place, but I think he lives in Shelby.”

“Did you try your mom’s cellphone?”

“You think I’m a doze-out, Virge? Of course I did. Since Saturday night I called her about a thousand times. Her mailbox is full and that’s a dead-end.”

“Your mom been doing anything that could’ve gotten her into trouble lately, Vic?”

“Maybe, but I can’t tell you guys because then I’ll be a rat. I want her back, but I don’t want her back and in jail. What’s the point of that? She might as well just be goners. It’s the same either way—I’m left alone running this fucking laundry hell-hole…”

Billy took a step away from the wall, “Mind if I say something here, Virge?”

“Go ahead, Billy. What did you think of?”

“I’m thinking if Vicki’s mother was doing something illegal—don’t care what it was—then she might not only be missing, but she might also possibly be in danger.”

“You mean like those mob guys might kill her?” Vicki blurted out her question without thinking.

“Mob guys, Vic? Is your mom’s boyfriend a wise guy?”

“I’m not aware of mob activity in Northern Montana,” said Billy.

“Show’s what you know, Mister Sheriff,” said Vicki. “Fuckin’ cops never know what’s going on under their noses.”

“What’s your mother’s first name, Vic?” I asked.

“Tanya.”

“You going to be okay staying alone until we find her?” I asked.

“I hate staying alone in our house, Virgie. Can you come and sleep over tonight?”

“I’ll see what Travis says. He may want you to have protection if there is mob involvement.”

Billy nodded. “Let’s work with what we have and see if we can come up with an address in Shelby for Mister Forbes.”

“Will you let me know what’s going on, Virge? I want to know what you guys are doing to find my mom.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll text you as soon as we know something.”

Me and Billy left the laundromat, and he said, “I don’t like the sounds of her mother being involved with the mob, Virgie.”

“We’ve never had the mob stirring up trouble in our county,” I said. “Maybe Vicki thinks the boyfriend is a mob guy and he’s just a regular felon.”

“We can hope for that,” said Billy. “I’m not keen to match manpower with the mob.”

“Yeah, five of us against how many? Five hundred?”

Billy laughed. “We don’t stand a chance.”

Harrison County Office. Cut Bank. Montana.

Travis was five minutes early for his appointment with Lyndell Gibson, the county supervisor. Gibson’s secretary showed himin, and the big boss greeted Travis with a grin. “Pleasure to see you, Sheriff Frost. Have a seat.”

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