“Sounds like something you should tell her yourself, at your first opportunity. You don’t want to squander chances with your family,” added Robie, drawing a quick glance from Reel. “You never know if you’ll get a second shot to
make it right.”
Holly smiled. “Good advice. I’ll take it. And I hope you find Mr. Walton.”
“We will,” said Reel. “Guaranteed.”
As they drove back to Grand, Robie said, “Think they’ll be okay?”
“I think they have a far better shot of surviving than we do. They’re getting out of the storm. We’re heading right back in.”
Chapter
27
“I CAN’T GUARANTEE your protection,” said Valerie Malloy. “I don’t have enough resources, and the state police aren’t going to come up with any.”
Robie and Reel were sitting opposite Malloy in her office. Deputy Bender was standing next to her.
“We can look after ourselves,” said Reel curtly.
“Did my sister tell you anything else about this Clément Lamarre?”
“No, just what we told you,” said Robie. “Do you know him?’
She shook her head. “Missing people. Hoods. Armed guards. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean.”
“It means people are being held against their will,” interjected Reel.
“That I get. But is it the skinheads?”
Bender said, “What about Doctor King and his group?”
“That’s a possibility,” said Malloy. “Although they were helping Holly.” She turned to Robie. “She really was okay?”
“She was fine when she left us. We dropped her and Luke at the bus station. It was leaving shortly after we left.”
“And you really think he’s a good guy?”
“I do, for what it’s worth. It was a plus in my book that the skinheads were trying to kill him.”
“Maybe they discovered what Clément told her somehow. Maybe through JC Parry. Maybe they’re the ones involved in that.”
“And you say JC Parry has also vanished?” said Bender.
“As far as we could tell. We saw no sign of him and he left his dog behind, as you know.”
“I found a temporary home for it,” said Malloy. “I hope JC gets back to reclaim it.”
Robie said, “And it’s clear now that he was the go-between with Walton and Holly. He wasn’t acting as Walton’s guide. He didn’t need one.”
“That was a good catch on your part,” conceded Malloy. “I should have seen that one.”
“If the skinheads are the ones with prisoners, where would they be holding them?” asked Robie.
“They have a compound about twenty miles east of here,” said Bender. “It’s a fortified camp. Nobody goes near there unless they have business with them.”
“Sort of like the King’s Apostles folks?” said Reel.
“I’ve been out to Doctor King’s,” said Bender.
“So have I,” added Malloy. “The skins are a whole other story. And you’ve shot up a bunch of them and now you’ve wrecked their ATVs. They’re going to want blood.”
“Well, they kidnapped Luke and were trying to kill him and Holly. Would you rather we just left them to fend for themselves?” snapped Reel.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I’m incredibly grateful that you helped Holly. I’ll never be able to repay you for that. I wish she had told me what she was planning to do. I could have helped her.”
“You ever been there?” asked Reel. “To the skinheads’ compound?”
“Once. To serve a warrant to appear.”
“What happened?”
“I served the warrant and they never appeared.”
“And you let that slide?”
Robie answered, “He told Holly about the prisoners. She told Parry, who told Walton. Walton visited her at the rehab, and shortly thereafter he was taken. So was Parry. That’s the connection. We thought maybe this might have something to do with his past, but Walton has been coming out here for years and nothing has ever happened to him. But then he finds out about these prisoners, starts poking around, and boom, he goes missing.”
Reel added, “If Lamarre saw the prisoners, we need to figure out how. Maybe he worked near the place where they’re being held, or was passing by where it was happening.”
Malloy said, “I started digging into the scrapbook you left me. Ran down some leads. But I found nothing. Most of the people associated with Walton are either dead or they’ve moved from the area. Claire Bender is one of the few left.”
“This is all about his present, not his past, I’m convinced of that,” said Reel. “We need to find Lamarre.”
“Which means we go back to the rehab facility,” said Robie.