the last several hours had led them farther from Barrick. But while Barrick might have convinced Mary Margaret to cover for him, they were going to have to convince her that she was playing on the wrong side.
Besides a confession, what they really needed was the burner phone she’d bought. With the number Barrick was using off the call log, assuming he hadn’t dumped the phone, they’d be able to pinpoint his location. But she’d been searched when they brought her in and there had been no sign of a second phone, and no communication with Barrick on her personal cell.
“How do you think we should play this?” Madison asked. “Though I’ll tell you right off, I’m in the mood to play bad cop.”
Jonas grinned at her. “I think I’ll let you, though I’m thankful I’m not the one on the other side of that interrogation table.”
Sheriff Fischer walked in behind them. “Your best angle is to use her brother against her.”
“Meaning?” Jonas asked.
“They’re pretty close. She does everything she can to keep him out of trouble, but he’s already been arrested for two felonies. A third one would get him up to fifty years, and she knows that.”
“Then that’s the leverage we need,” Madison said. “We let her know we’ve arrested Charlie, and that we have proof of him aiding an escaped felon. See if that’s enough motivation to get her to tell us what we need to know. Because without some kind of deal, he’s going away for a long, long time.”
Jonas nodded. “She just needs to know that the only way to help her brother is to cooperate.”
“That’s what we’ll count on.”
“How is Charlie?” the sheriff asked.
“He’s pretty banged up. Broken rib, fractured wrist, and a bunch of bumps and bruises, but he’s lucky. It could have been a whole lot worse,” Madison said. “I do have one more question before we go in there. When you went to the diner to bring her in, did Mary Margaret ever have any time alone?”
“You mean time alone to ditch a phone?” the sheriff asked.
Madison nodded.
He tilted his head. “I had to wait for her to grab her stuff in the back.”
“How long was she gone?”
“I don’t know. A couple minutes. I didn’t think it was a problem at the time. It’s not like she was under arrest.”
“I want you to go back to the diner,” Jonas said. “See if you can find a burner phone she might have ditched. Inside the restaurant, the back dumpster, her car . . . I don’t know where it is, but I need you to find it.”
“Will do.” He headed out the door.
A minute later, Madison was watching Mary Margaret through the one-way glass. She could see the fear in the woman’s eyes as her fingers drummed against the desk in the interrogation room. Madison had felt sorry for her at one point, but her frustration had grown as they learned more about the case. Barrick had never been in that cabin. That was clear now. But they still needed Mary Margaret to tell them where he was going.
“You ready to go in?” Jonas asked. He held up a Coke and a candy bar from the vending machine. “I figured if I’m supposed to be the good cop, and the candy bar worked with Will . . .”
Madison chuckled. “That’s not a bad idea, though I might be the one who needs chocolate right now.”
“My grandmother used to say if she was going to die of something, it might as well be from eating too much chocolate,” Jonas said as they approached the room. “She always insisted Belgian chocolate was the best, but she’d eat anything dunked or covered in chocolate.”
“I think I would have liked your grandmother.”
Once inside, Jonas set the drink and candy bar in front of Mary Margaret, then sat down. Madison took the chair next to him.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
Mary Margaret frowned. “I’m tired and don’t understand why I’m still sitting here. I’ve told you everything I know.”
“That’s because you haven’t told us the truth,” Madison said.
“What do you mean?”
Madison tried to keep the anger out of her voice. Playing the part of bad cop wasn’t hard, but she had to remember that this wasn’t personal. Mary Margaret hadn’t exactly been honest, but their main job was to find Damon Barrick. “You lied to us. In fact, you’ve been lying to us this whole time.”
“No. I haven’t—”
“It’s over, Mary Margaret.” Madison leaned forward. “Your brother was