“Brody’s been missing since he left your property yesterday evening,” snapped the deputy referred to as ‘Cam’.
Gazing at his face, it suddenly clicked why he looked familiar, and her eyes dropped to the badge pinned to his shirt.
“You’re his brother.” It was a statement rather than a question.
Chief Walcott leaned in closer. “Ms. West, how would you know that?”
“Seriously? He looks like the guy, and his badge says Deputy Walker. It’s not exactly rocket science.”
“Ms. West, you were reportedly the last person to see Brody Walker. Yesterday afternoon, after dropping your car off, he disappeared. His truck was found not far from your property, abandoned. There were signs to indicate some harm may have come to him.”
“And right away you just assumed what? That I followed him and somehow managed to overpower a guy who had a good six inches and fifty pounds on me?”
“Ms. West,” Walcott said, his voice hardening, “this is not a moment for levity.”
“Believe me, I’m well aware of that,” Olivia replied, her gaze flat. “Besides, you’re mistaken.”
“How so?”
“I wasn’t the only one to see Brody yesterday,” she stated. “Erica Kelly was with me.”
Chief Walcott’s jaw tightened. “Ms. West, if you wouldn’t mind running through the events of yesterday afternoon.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “Brody arrived at my house late yesterday afternoon with my car. Erica Kelly arrived at exactly the same time. She introduced herself to me, and Brody handed me the keys to my car and left. Erica came in the house with me. We talked for a while, and she ended up staying and didn’t leave my place until nearly nine-thirty.”
Olivia straightened in her chair. Leaning forward and placing her elbows on the table, she stared at the chief.
“Where’s my brother?” Deputy Walker hissed.
“Deputy Walker,” she replied tightly, “I don’t know what happened to your brother, but it had nothing to do with me. If you want to find him, get your shit in order, go do your job, and quit trying to bully me.”
“Alright, Cameron, that’s enough,” Chief Walcott interrupted.
Deputy Walker held her gaze for a moment longer before stomping angrily from the room, closely followed by the chief and his other deputy.
Letting out a breath, Olivia clenched her fists and tried to calm her racing heart as she sat alone in the room again. They had a lot of nerve accusing her of every recent wrongdoing in Mercy, and she wondered when she’d catch a break and also what the hell was keeping Erica.
Another ten minutes passed, and when the door opened again, the chief entered with the unknown deputy from before. Deputy Walker was conspicuously absent. Chief Walcott once again took the seat opposite her and introduced the man beside him as Deputy Carl.
“Are we done yet?” Olivia asked impatiently. “There’s really nothing else I can add about Brody Walker. I’m sorry he’s missing, but I don’t know anything about his disappearance.”
“Not quite, Ms. West. There are a couple of other matters we wish to discuss with you.”
“Such as?”
“With regard to the man you hit with your car,” he began.
“I thought we’d established that I didn’t actually hit him with my car,” she replied.
“You stated you didn’t know him,” he said, ignoring her comment.
“That’s correct.”
“Once again, could you take me through the statement you made to Deputy Gilbert?”
“There’s not much to tell. I was driving home, it was dark, and there was a guy standing in the middle of the road. I didn’t see him until he was highlighted by my headlights, and I slammed on the brakes. I called Jake and we all ended up at the emergency room.”
“You don’t know how he received his injuries?”
