Back in the interrogation room,Mia sat back as Kurt went hard at Brother Jeremiah. She couldn’t blame him. Jeremiah was the connection between the two most recent victims. When pressed, he also didn’t have an alibi for the killings in Kentucky, Nebraska, and Wyoming, the most recent kills until the local ones began. Even so, she wasn’t getting a hit from him.
Of course, Kurt had already ordered a background and travel check on the man. That information should be coming from the DC office any minute.
Seth had dropped her off at the station, saying he’d pick her up in about an hour when she was finished. He’d said he had business at the mine.
Jeremiah answered each question patiently, looking at ease across the scarred wooden table. His hair was slicked back from the rain and drying into a curl beneath his ears, and his intelligent gaze often wandered her way. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea who the victim in the dumpster at the asylum was, and while I knew Claudia, I was unaware of her plans to travel home.”
“How well did you know her?” Kurt asked.
Jeremiah shrugged a shoulder beneath his leather jacket. “She was a member of our co-op.”
“Don’t you mean cult?” Kurt asked.
Jeremiah’s smile was slow, although a harder glint shone in his eyes now. “We’re not a cult. I live in a co-op where we try to live off the land and take care of ourselves and our community.”
“Uh-huh.” Kurt drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “Yet Claudia rejected your little co-op, didn’t she?”
Jeremiah tilted his head and studied the agent. “We encourage our young folks to explore the world, should they choose.” He flicked his gaze toward Mia. “I find that they always come home at some point. You found a home here, didn’t you, Mia?”
She’d found quite a bit, hadn’t she? “Have you ever been to DC, Brother Jeremiah?” She used his title on purpose. “Or is it Dr. Bankston?” Just who was this man? He did run the co-op and was treated as a spiritual leader. Yet he was also a shrink at the asylum. Those two roles didn’t mesh in her mind.
“You can call me anything you want,” he murmured.
Kurt shifted his weight.
Mia just studied Jeremiah. Was he flirting to throw her off and irritate Kurt? Did he want them off these questions? Or was he just…flirting? “You didn’t answer my question.”
“No, I didn’t.” He pushed his chair back. “I attended graduate school in DC. If you have any more questions, please contact my lawyer.”
“Wait,” Kurt said, holding out a hand. “I wanted to ask you about your group protesting the lack of investigation into the sheriff’s death.”
Jeremiah paused. “I don’t believe the story.”
“Neither do I.” Kurt leaned forward. “Tell me what you know.”
Jeremiah straightened his jacket. “Pete was a good hunter and an avid outdoorsman. There’s no way he just fell off a cliff. In addition, we would’ve seen evidence of his death at the bottom.”
“The river is at the bottom of that cliff,” Mia murmured.
“Right,” Jeremiah muttered. “Even if his bodywasswept into the river, shouldn’t there be some evidence of him impacting the rocks? And where’s his body?”
Mia swallowed. “That river has deadly currents and is deep in many places. You know as well as I do that his body might never be found.”
Kurt partially turned to face her. “Are you asking questions or trying to convince me?”
It was a smart insight. She swallowed. “It hurt when Pete died, and it hurts more dredging this all up.” That was the truth, although she couldn’t go into all of it. “Two bird-watching hikers saw him fall. I interviewed the witnesses myself.” More like she’d listened as Seth and his pack came up with a valid story. Her stomach ached. She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t lie. Though she also couldn’t tell anybody about the existence of wolf shifters.
“Where are those witnesses?” Jeremiah challenged. “There’s no police report, no newspaper article, no funeral. I don’t even know their names.”
“I do,” Kurt murmured, his jaw hard. “There is a police report, and I’ve read it. If you file a request for public records, I’m happy to hand it over to you.”
Wonderful. These two were working together now?
Kurt smoothed the blank legal pad in front of him. “You’re a psychologist who lives in this area and you knew Pete. If it wasn’t an accident, who do you think might’ve killed him, and why would anybody cover that up?”
Jeremiah shook his head. “There’s something wrong with this town.”
Kurt straightened. “Wrong? Like corrupt? Are you talking about Volk Mining? They run the town, right?”
