I imagine the two of them may have been having an argument, don’t know about that, but I’m having trouble not yelling at her myself. If you are an FBI agent, you probably misunderstood and broke in. Rafer must have fired his gun in self-defense when you came at him, all physical like that, in his own home. If there’s a crime here, it’s that you broke in and assaulted him.”
Carson looked ready to rise out of her chair and leap on him. Griffin grabbed her hand. He said, “Whatever you may think, Sheriff, you have a lead on the three missing teenage girls now. You have a suspect.”
Councilman Denmark cleared his throat. “Sheriff Bodine, may I give you my preliminary thoughts?”
The sheriff nodded. “Go ahead, Tommy.”
Mr. Vampire sat forward, his hands flat on his bony knees, and cleared his throat. “There are some serious accusations flying around here about Rafer. There appears to be no proof of anything, except those accusations. I have to agree with the sheriff. We know Rafer, but we don’t know you two. Are you who you claim to be, or are you lying con artists of some sort? I think Judge Pinder is going to have his hands full with you.”
Fayreen patted Mr. Vampire’s bony knee. She put down her pen, sat forward. “I agree, Booker. Listen to me, you young yahoos, Rafer’s a lovely boy, always has been. High spirits, sure, he’s a Bodine, the boys and girls in the Bodine clan are all high-spirited. But what you two have accused him of, it shows me you didn’t do your homework.”
“What Fayreen is saying,” the sheriff interrupted, “is that if you had a brain, you’d realize your accusations won’t cut it, not here in Gaffer’s Ridge. I think that’s enough for now. We’re going to check out your stories, and we’re going to wait for Judge Pinder.” Sheriff Bodine rose. “Thank you for coming, Tommy. As for you two, our deputies are going to make you feel at home in our cell.”
Griffin said, “May I have my one call first?”
“You already had your call back at Rafer’s house,” Sheriff Bodine said, and he smiled.
20
* * *
WASHINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
Savich slipped his cell back into his pants pocket, then turned to face Sherlock. Her eyes were clear, thankfully, and there was only a single Band-Aid covering the cut over her left temple. She was looking at him steadily, a half question on her face, a look he knew well. “We have an agent—Griffin Hammersmith—he’s in trouble in a small town in western Virginia called Gaffer’s Ridge.” He saw a flash of recognition in her eyes. “You remember Griffin?”
“I don’t know, but when you said his name—does he look like a god?”
“Yes. It’s his cross to bear.”
She cocked her head at him, a long-standing habit. “What happened to him?”
Savich told her what little Griffin had said before the sheriff took away his phone. “So I called the sheriff, but he wouldn’t speak to me, his dispatcher told me he didn’t have time, and she hung up on me. Whatever’s going on, Griffin wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t serious.”
“You sent him to this Gaffer’s Ridge on a case?”
“No. He was taking a short vacation to visit a couple of friends from college who live there and own a restaurant downtown, Jenny’s Café.”
“Are you going to call them? Maybe they know what’s going on.”
“You don’t miss a step, do you? I will now. I need to find out more about the situation before I call Bettina Kraus.” At her blank look, he added, “Bettina’s the SAC of the Richmond Field Office, took over from Walt Monaco. She’s tough as nails and the prettiest smile you’ve ever seen. She’s a good leader, fair to a fault, and what’s best—she’s got a sense of humor.” He pulled out his cell, got the number for Jenny’s Café. A woman’s harried voice answered on the second ring. “Sorry, but we’re closing in fifteen minutes so we can’t take you now.”
“Is this Jenny? Jenny Wiley?”
“No, this is Aimée Rose Wallberger. Who are you?”
“I’m FBI Agent Dillon Savich, Griffin’s boss. Griffin called me, said he was in trouble. Have you spoken to him?”
“Trouble? How could that be? I saw him only a couple of hours ago. He was perfectly fine, going for a walk around town to keep himself upright and not nap away the afternoon. He was really tired. He’s expected for dinner with Jenny and me at our home at