Page 100 of We Are All Guilty Here

“If Father Nate told her to, yes.”

“You have a lot more confidence in Nate than I do.”

“Seriously?” Emmy asked. “He’s the one who made Carol tell the truth about Reggie’s child bride.”

Jude realized her emotions were probably making her miss details, too. She opened her mouth to own the mistake, but Emmy cut her off before she could speak.

“People aren’t the same as when you were here. It’s been forty-plus years. Whatever tight-ass version of Father Nate you got, that version changed, because that’s what people do—they change.”

Jude couldn’t tell whether Emmy was angry or exasperated. “This isn’t about Father Nate, is it?”

“I don’t know what it’s about.” Emmy looked down at her phone. “Jesus Christ. Peggy identified the woman in the photo.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Emmy was practically vibrating with exhaustion by the time they made it back to the station. Her brain couldn’t handle the sound of phones ringing and agents running around and the furious tapping on keyboards, all signifying nothing that would return Paisley Walker home.

Virgil silently offered Emmy his chair, but she leaned against the desk as Seth Alexander listened to Jude run down the latest on the case.

“The sheriff managed to get an ID on the woman on Elijah’s phone. Her name is Belinda Pfeiffer. Twenty-two years old. Works at a chef supply store in the local outlet mall. No priors.” Jude glanced at Emmy before turning her attention back toward Seth. “What did you find out?”

“Elijah’s secretary, Misty Norris, said she definitely noticed something was going on last year. Elijah had a standing appointment the last Friday of every month where he blocked out a few hours in his calendar and disappeared. Norris said this always coincided with around 600 dollars missing from petty cash. Walker never brought back a receipt, but he’s the boss, so she didn’t question it.”

Jude glanced at Emmy again, then asked, “What about the motel? Did anyone recognize Elijah’s photo?”

“No, ma’am. Night clerk said she’s never seen him. Obviously, she denies that there’s anything untoward going on at the place, but it’s a real dive. Lots of gang activity, several motorcycles parked outside. Looks like it’s a hotspot for the drug trade.”

“It is,” Virgil confirmed. “A lot of my PI work has me settingup across the street photographing cheating spouses. There’s a dealer named Wesley Woodrow who’s set up shop outta room nineteen in the back. Goes by the name Woody. He controls most of the fentanyl and heroin in and out of the county.”

“What about the day clerk?” Jude’s gaze landed on Emmy yet again before she looked back at Seth. “You said you showed the night clerk Elijah’s photo. What about the day clerk?”

“Uh—” Seth seemed thrown. “I don’t know if Damien followed up on that.”

“Damien reports to you,” Jude said. “You need to find that clerk.”

Seth smoothed down his tie. “Yes ma’am.”

“What about the tip line?”

“The usual,” Seth said. “Lots of women turning in their boyfriends and ex-husbands. Lots of reports of white vans, which isn’t surprising because white vans are everywhere. We’re following all the leads. Knocking on all the doors. Trying not to turn into clue clowns.”

“What about bloodhounds?”

“The assumption is he took her away in a vehicle.”

“Don’t make assumptions about Paisley Walker’s abduction. Get the dogs on the backroads. Let me know as soon as you speak to the day clerk at the motel. Show them a photo of Belinda Pfeiffer, too.” Jude dismissed him, turning toward Virgil. “Anything else on your end?”

“Verona PD just picked up Belinda Pfeiffer. She lives in those new apartments your uncle Penley built. They’re bringing her here.” Virgil ripped out a sheet of paper from his notebook. “Meanwhile, I’ve been looking at Paisley’s Snap and Instagram accounts. She interacts with a handful of girls from school. I’ve written down their names to follow up on. Most of the videos are what you’d expect. She likes cats, loves to read, enjoys science classes, loves Taylor and K-pop. Typical fourteen-year-old girl stuff.”

Jude said, “I’ll follow up on her electronic devices with IT. She might have a sock puppet account. Sheriff, can I have a minute?”

Emmy opened her mouth to respond, but Brett came out of nowhere.

“Emmy?” He was holding a stack of papers in his hands. “I got the list of landscapers who work in the Walkers’ neighborhood. You sure you want me to go through this? Maybe you didn’t hear the FBI found the guy who spread the pine straw?”

Emmy felt her teeth set. She probably wouldn’t have noticed except for Jude constantly banging on about it, but Brett had stopped calling Emmy by her first name ten years ago when she’d been appointed chief deputy. And now that Gerald was gone, he was back to using her first name again.

She pushed away from the desk. Tried to put some steel in her spine. “Yes, Deputy. I want you to call every single one. Get their schedules and the names of all their crew members. You can do this while you’re doing covert surveillance on Adam Huntsinger.”

---