let Bart know what you’re up to. Just keep playing it like you’re a concerned friend. In fact, you might want to let this go for a few weeks, or even a few months, then pick it up after things die down.”
“But then it will be too late to help Pam.”
She shook her head, sadness filling her eyes. “Pam’s a lost cause, Carly. There’s no helpin’ her now.”
Chapter Thirteen
I pulled into the jail parking lot five minutes early. I didn’t see Ashlynn waiting for me outside, so I parked in a spot that gave me full view of the exit. Then I waited for twenty minutes, getting more anxious as each one ticked by. I hadn’t gotten her cell phone number—if she had one—and we hadn’t made arrangements about where to meet. What if Ashlynn had come out early and left on her own? Or what if she was still ticked with me and had found her own ride to work?
I hadn’t planned on going inside and calling attention to the fact I was this interested in Pam’s case, but it didn’t feel right to just leave without her. After another five minutes, I got out of the car and headed for the entrance. There was a metal detector six feet from the front door, not that I was surprised.
“Purpose of your visit?” a deputy asked in a bored tone.
I started to answer when I heard a man say, “Carly Moore?”
I turned in the direction of the voice and saw a deputy headed down the hall toward me. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Then again, I’d met a lot of deputies after the Paul Conrad incident.
“Are you here to see Marco?” the deputy asked from the other side of the metal detector. He was close enough for me to read the name on his badge—Taggert. He was in his late thirties or early forties, with thinning light brown hair and medium brown eyes. I vaguely remembered meeting him during that mess, but it hadn’t been memorable.
“Is he here?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Just brought a suspect in. Do you want to wait for him?”
“Uh…” I wasn’t sure whether to tell him the real reason for my visit, but it struck me that it would be a whole lot worse if I lied and Ashlynn came out looking for me. Besides, I wasn’t doing anything wrong. “I’m actually picking up a friend. She’s here visiting her mother.”
“Inmate or an employee?”
“Inmate.”
His gaze narrowed, but I didn’t volunteer any more information. I could see judgment brewing in his eyes.
“Is there any way for me to check whether she already left?” I asked, trying to sound casual. “I was supposed to pick her up and take her to work.”
“There’s a desk where visitors log in and out,” Deputy Taggert said, then motioned to the deputy next to me. “Let her through. I’m gonna take her back.”
I placed my purse on the conveyor belt and walked through the scanner. Deputy Taggert watched as I walked through and then grabbed my purse from the x-ray machine.
“How have you been doing since the Deputy Conrad ordeal?” Deputy Taggert asked in a low tone as he led me down a hallway. There was a heavy metal door with a keycard reader on one side, and a counter against the wall next to it. A bored-looking man sat behind a plexiglass shield.
“I struggled,” I admitted. I didn’t think anyone could go through a hostage situation less than six months after having been hunted down by a killer and declare themselves to be just fine. “But I’m mostly good now.” I gave him a smile. “Marco’s helped me through it.”
“He’s a good deputy and an even better man,” he said. “We’re lucky to have him on the force.”
I smiled again but didn’t say anything. I didn’t know if Marco considered Deputy Taggert a friend or foe, and if he was in the latter group, I didn’t want to give him anything to use against Marco.
“Who’s your friend visiting?” he said as we continued walking.
I hesitated, but there was no getting past this. “Pam Crimshaw.”
Deputy Taggert stumbled to a stop and turned to me. “Say what?” His eyes narrowed. “How’d you get mixed up in the Pam Crimshaw mess?”
“I’m not,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. “I know Pam from the tavern where I work. Her friends set up a dinner schedule for her family and today was my day. When I dropped off my casserole, her daughter,