Page 108 of All You Want
“Spare the history lesson. This has nothing to do with Tami and the Kings.”
“Would it interest you to know that King Henry, George’s great-grandfather stole that nugget from Wing Van Dirk? My great-grandfather?”
“Are you establishing a motive for Dillon to kidnap Tami, along with his buddies, Al and Justin?”
Diana glares at me. “You’re not going to pin this on Dillon. He might be friends with the other two, but Viola’s research proves the old family story is true.”
I slam my hand on the table, making her jump. “I’m not interested in your family story. Tell me where Dillon, Al, and Justin hang out. Tell me everything you know about them.”
“You should know by now I’m not the murderer, if you’ve got half a brain cell. Drop the bogus charges, and I’ll help you find Tami.”
“No, can do. You made terroristic threats to blow up the hotel, and I can hold you on that charge alone.”
“Oh, that’s not a terrorist threat.” She shakes her head, and her eyes bulge. “Honestly, Sheriff. That hotel is cursed. I heard Baja Angel in the basement.”
“Wait a second. Are you saying you heard someone in the basement? When?”
“I’m not telling you unless you take off these cuffs and let me walk.”
“The mayor says you stole the pickaxe.”
“I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it to test a theory.” She shakes her cuffed hands at me. “Listen, Sheriff, if you want to nail the dangerous murderer and the guy who kidnapped those girls, you better let me go.”
“Why should I?”
“Deputize me, and I’ll tell you what I did with the pickaxe.”
“Ah ha! You admit to stealing it.” I point to the voice recorder. “And you are on record trying to bribe a cop.”
“You’ll be erasing all of that to get your Tami Tutu back.”
“If you’re withholding evidence, I can throw the book at you.”
She lifts her eyebrow and gives me an exaggerated wink. “You won’t. You love your Tami Tutu too much to jeopardize her life.”
“Tell me what you know.” I glance at a text message from Shane. He’s picked up Al and Dillon for drunkenness and peeing on the jack-o-lanterns in front of Joey’s diner.
“You’re not going to let me go, are you?” Her voice is low and growly.
I shake my head, confident that Al and Dillon will give their friend away.
“Then take me back to my jail cell. You’re obviously too straight and narrow to do a deal with the devil.”
I flick the recorder off. “Tell me why I should deal with you.”
“Old King Henry was a murderer, and the first sheriff, William Weaver, let him go for a cut of the action, of course.” She pushes to her feet. “Too bad you’ll never know what they have planned for Tami Tutu.”
“I don’t have time for nonsense.” I shove her into the cell and meet up with Shane who has Al and Dillon.
Unfortunately, they’re too soused to give any useful information, and they both claim they know nothing about Justin and his weirdness.
“Dunk them in the drunk tank, and call me in an hour,” I tell Shane. “They’d better be ready to talk by then.”
“Okay, boss. I’ve got the interview notes from everyone at the Trickvenger Hunt. Want to go over them with me?”
“Anyone know where Justin took Tami?”
“No one saw him leave the scene,” Shane says. “I collected everyone’s cell phone images in case they caught something in the background.”
