Dan followed after him. He'd met the sheriff a few times. His supervisor, Special Agent Mike Ryan, insisted he get to know the local law enforcement. Dan hadn't had the chance to see the man in action yet. He was kind of curious to see how the sheriff handled the situation. Would he give it his all or brush it off as a simple disagreement between roommates?
It wasn't the sheriff who stood on the front steps when Terry opened the door, but a deputy. It was hard for Dan to hide his smirk. It didn't surprise him in the least that a deputy had been dispatched instead of the head honcho.
In his line of work, he'd seen it often enough. The guys on top preferred to stay back in their nice warm offices rather than out on the streets solving crimes.
"Hey, Marc," Terry called out as he stepped back and allowed Deputy Marc Walker to enter.
Dan recognized him from the sheriff's station.
"Terry," the deputy replied. "Agnes said you reported a robbery?"
Terry nodded. "Keith is starting his shit again."
Dan raised an eyebrow at that comment. If Keith had started shit before, why was he still living here?
"You should have kicked him out the last time," Deputy Walker said.
"I'd be thrilled if he wasn't here anymore, but I didn't have a legal leg to stand on. He hasn't done anything outright to give me grounds to evict him." Terry shook his head. "I swear he studied the landlord tenant laws and skated the very edge of them, never stepping completely over the line, but skating along it until I wanted to strangle him."
"So, what did he do this time?"
"For one, he rented out my bedroom to Dan."
Dan waved when both men turned to look at him.
"Dan Wilson, right?" Marc asked.
Dan nodded and shook the deputy's hand. "It's good to see you again, Deputy."
"So, how are you involved in this?"
"I'd been talking to Jonah Cade down at the diner about looking for a place. Keith sat down next to me and started telling me he had a room for me to rent with a couple of other guys. Everything seemed above board and the guy didn't have a record when I ran his name, so I agreed."
Marc's eyebrow arched. "You ran Keith's name?"
Dan nodded. He probably shouldn't have used agency resources for personal gain, but he did it to avoid situations just like this. "The guy doesn't even have a parking ticket."
"That's because he skates the edge of the law," Terry sniped. "He never fully steps over it."
Dan was beginning to see that. "I signed a rental contract with Keith and gave him fifteen hundred dollars. It wasn't until I woke up with Terry in my bed that we figured out what he'd done."
Marc's jaw dropped.
Terry's eyes rolled. "Not like that, Marc. I came home late last night and crawled into my bed without turning on the light. When I woke up this morning, we were in the same bed. It was then that I realized everything in my room was gone except the bed. Keith had packed it all up and moved it to my parents' room."
Marc pulled out a pad of paper and started writing. After a moment, he paused and looked up. "What exactly is missing, and when did you discover it missing?"
"After Dan showed me the rental agreement he'd signed with Keith, I came downstairs to confront him. Doug and Gill were with him, and they were all playing video games. I asked where my stuff was, and Keith told me he'd moved it all to my parents' room, which is off limits to everyone and he knows that."
Dan didn't have to wonder why the room was off limits. He'd seen it. It was basically a shrine to Terry's parents. He didn't think that was healthy, but what did he know? He was a DEA agent, not a therapist.
"I ran back upstairs," Terry continued. "While I was checking over all my stuff, I noticed one of my mother's jewelry boxes was open. It was empty as were all the others in the drawer where she kept her jewelry." Terry's hand trembled a little as he shoved it through his hair. "Geez, Marc, it's all gone."
"Show me," Marc said.
Dan followed Terry and Marc back up to the second-floor bedroom. He stood by the door as Terry showed Marc where the jewelry had been kept and all the empty boxes. Sadness seemed to seep into Terry the longer he stood there. His shoulders were slumping with every passing second.
"Did you touch anything other than the boxes?" Marc asked.
