“Why do you say that?” I didn’t disagree with him or Hattie, but I wanted to know what Rhodes saw and if it matched what I did.
“Galloway has a long history of questionable behavior, but he really crossed the line here. Hattie and her team are gathering information on the chief and his boy wonder, but what really stands out is that they’re examining the crime scene photos, and the chief never processed the car. There’s a dark spot on the seat in a photo that could be blood. One of her team members has already found out that Allison was working as a cam girl. Light work, really. Nothing too revealing—just bras and panties—but she was making good money and putting it into a private account. The husband might have a motive. There were also messages sent to her cam account between Barry Galloway, the chief’s son, and Allison, but they were hidden behind a fake name. So that could be a motive for the younger Galloway, too.”
Playing the devil’s advocate, I added. “Could also be money she was saving to get away from the husband, or she was having an affair.”
“Could be.” Rhodes sounded noncommittal.
“You going to keep digging?” The answer was obvious to me, but I wanted to be sure.
“Yep. The case smells rotten, and you and I both know it, but your girl knew it first, just for the record. That girl is probably dead in the woods somewhere. You need to get Wade on it and let OSP figure out that dumb shit. I don’t do bureaucracy. All that political red tape.” He made a disgusted sound.
“It’ll be a process for sure, but I’ll touch base with Wade. Let me know if you find anything else.” Another grunt. “See you in the fall then.”
“Sure.”
Click.
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to ease the tension there. The information overload was a lot to process—not just about Hattie’s background and the reasons she turned to true crime, but also about the Finch case. I’d gotten myself into a mess, and it was definitely my fault. There was no excuse for digging into Hattie’s past except my insecurities. I knew Wade wouldn’t be happy that I called Rhodes, no matter how I sugar-coated it. The whole Galloway situation was also complicated. It wasn’tlike either of us could decide to reopen a cold case on our own. There were potentially ways that it could happen, but we were all going to have to step carefully.
Making a call to Wade, I read him in rolling my eyes while he lectured me, and kept an eye on Hattie’s door while I threw a stick for Fish.
CHAPTER 27
Group Chat
Dysfunction Junction
East
Heard Kipp had an actual family up at the cabins besides Hattie. Should we start taking bets on how long before he scares someone off?
Nobody’s scared. They were impressed. I got five stars, unlike someone we know.
East
Asshole. That’s an INSIDE joke.
Sage
Inside something. Lol.
East
Lila and I are going to talk about what is appropriate family talk.
Anyway, back to me … the family was impressed.
Lo Lo
Impressed is what men say when they don’t want to admit they hovered like a park ranger with a clipboard.
Wade
To be fair, he is park ranger-adjacent.
Game warden. And I did a perfectly normal check-in. How do you know I have a clipboard?
Sage
