“I can talk to him but I’m not going to be able to help. Everything that needs to be said about Wade Bryson has been said. There isn’t anything else.”
Tanner followed Brian over to a group of shade trees where the reporter was talking on his telephone. When he saw Tanner, he abruptly ended his conversation, stuffing his cell into his shirt pocket. Holding out his hand, he gave Tanner a big grin.
“Tanner Marks, I’m John Dowling. I’m a huge fan of your work.”
“My work?”
“As a lawman. You’ve brought in some of the world’s most notorious serial killers.”
“I didn’t do that alone. My friends and I worked as a team. It was mostly Logan Wright and Reed Mitchell.”
“You don’t have to be so modest,” the young man said, his expression bright. “I’ve read every single word written about all of you. All of it. It’s an impressive resume. I was hoping you might give me a fresh perspective on the story. I’d love to write about it. People are still interested.”
From what Tanner had seen and experienced, people liked to read about true crime. Maybe it made them feel more safe - as in those things happened to other people. Not them. Or maybe it scared them a bit like riding a roller coaster. They were never in any real danger, but it was sort of thrilling for a moment.
“I’m afraid I can’t give you a new perspective, John. All the details are out there. I don’t have anything new to add. It was a long time ago. I don’t go chasing serial killers anymore.”
Unless one of his friends needed him to. That would be a different situation. Then he’d say yes without a second thought.
“Come on, you must have something,” John said. “There are sure to be details that you’ve never talked about with anyone.”
“Nothing.” Tanner shrugged. “I’m not saving anything juicy for my autobiography, because I’m not planning to write one. There’s nothing new I can tell you.”
“What about your ex-wife? She’s a suspect in a murder investigation.”
“That’s an open case and the sheriff wouldn’t thank me for commenting on it.”
“There’s a rumor that your ex has hired your friend’s investigation firm to find the killer.”
“Once again, I can’t comment on this. I’m sorry but you’re wasting your time here. I don’t have anything to say unless you want to ask me about class size ratios and digital textbooks. Wade Bryson and his son were a long time ago. Frankly, none of us want his name in the papers or on the television. That would simply be giving him the fame that he desperately wanted. He should be forgotten and left to history.”
John didn’t look convinced.
“Those are hard words.”
“Catching killers is hard work,” Tanner replied. “I don’t have any patience for a human being that takes lives so that they can get their name in the paper, and I sure as hell aren’t going to help them do that. I think we’re done here. If you have any questions about my campaign, I’d be happy to answer them.”
As this point, Tanner wasn’t worried about what John was going to write about him in his article. The young man had already made up his mind about him, Bryson, and all the other men that had helped bring the killer to justice.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he excused himself to answer the call. It was from Sam and with any luck, his former deputy would tell him that they had caught the killer. Or at least had a lead in the case.
“Hey, Sam, what’s up?”
“Have you seen Abby? Or talked to her?”
Tanner stepped away even farther from the few reporters that had stayed behind hoping to get a quote.
“You mean today? No, I haven’t talked to her since I told her to stay off the television. Why?”
He had a bad feeling about this. Something in Sam’s tone told him that there was something wrong. They’d been friends for years and knew each other well.
“Because she’s gone,” Sam replied, exasperation in his tone. “I wanted to talk to her again but she didn’t answer her phone. I sent a deputy by her house and she wasn’t there. Her neighbors told me that they saw her put a suitcase in her car last night and she drove away. I’ve already checked the doorbell camera at the house across the street and their story checks out. She left about eleven-thirty last night and hasn’t returned. I’m going to have to put out a BOLO for her, but I wanted to talk to you. I’d hoped that you’d know where she’d gone. I called her attorney first, and she doesn’t know where Abby is either, although she tried to play it off as no big deal.”
Son of a bitch.
“I have no idea where she is,” Tanner replied. “I’ll call Chris and Emily and see if she’s with them. Did you check the traffic cameras to see where she drove off to?”
“I’ve got a deputy looking at the video right now. I should know within the hour which direction she was heading. I was really hoping that she’d called you.”