“I thought Rael might go pro until he busted one of his kneecaps,” Gideon said. “Now he works on my payroll. Can’t technically call him a deputy since he didn’t train for it, but that’s basically what he is to everyone around here. Caledon quit the sport too—to go and study law. But I’m sure you already knew that.” He leaned back in his seat. “So, how can I help you, Miss—?”
“Harnois.”
“Sounds French.”
“It is.”
“You look French.”
What the hell does that mean, Nadine wondered.
“Well then,” Gideon said, clearing his throat in the silence. “How can I help you, MissHarnois?”
“Rael said I should talk to you about my sister? She’s been gone for several weeks now, and nobody from her family—or your department—even bothered reaching out to me and my aunt. Not even as a courtesy. I only came up here because she sent me a letter that didn’t sound right, and now that I’m here, nobody will tell me anything.”
He opened his mouth, but she wasn’t finished.
“She’s out there somewhere,” she continued, her voice beginning to tremble now—don’t cry, Nadine, for fuck’s sake. “She’s out there alone and afraid and you’re letting her d-die.”
Several emotions crossed Gideon’s face, blinking too fast to process. “Nobody’s letting anyone die,” he said sternly. “We’ve already issued a missing persons alert and we’ve shared it through the NCIC. We also put out a press release with a photo of Noelle and the family’s offering a reward. We’ve been doing all we can.”
The family, thought Nadine. “Nobody’s kept me updated then, because I didn’t know anything about any of that.”
“That sounds like something you ought to take up with her family.”
Nadine decided right then and there that she didn’t care much for Gideon Crocker.
“I understand how scary this must feel for you.”Do you?wondered Nadine, flashing a look at the photos on his desk. “But we can’t pull leads out of nowhere. Rael told me you were poking around the mine area, pestering Dottie Peters. Just because Noelle’s your sister, that doesn’t mean you get to Nancy Drew your way through town, berating and bothering people because you feel like it.”
“I went on the tour!” she said. “I wasn’t pestering Dottie!”
“Well, she filed a complaint that says you did.” While Nadine took that in, feeling betrayed, Gideon said, “Your in-laws aren’t exactly popular around here. It’s a shame, what with them being a respectable old family and all, but it is what it is, and you’re not going to help matters by stirring up old bones.”
A chill arced through her. Cal had used the same phrase.
“Did you try tracking her phone?” she asked desperately. “My sister’s?”
“Tried. It’s off. Or out of juice.”
“Fuck,” Nadine said, in a very small voice.
“I’m sorry,” Gideon said. “I wish I had better news for you. Hopefully I will. But the best thing you can do for your sister right now is to keep hope alive—and stay out of the way of the professionals.”
He didn’t call her “missy” but Nadine suspected he very much wanted to.
Stupid town, she thought, dragging herself down the street towards Jessica’s house in defeat. Her standoff with the sheriff had exhausted her and now the shadows were long and menacing, falling in great sweeps from the trees that rose up so tall and arrogantly from where they had slowly become isolated from the forest in their small islands of wilderness.
Maybe I should hire a private detective, she thought.How’d that be, for leaving things to the professionals?
She was wondering how much something like that might cost as she used Jessica’s key to let herself in, and was surprised to see Jessica herself in the front room, wearing jeans and a plaid pastel blouse. It reminded Nadine of how Nikki used to wait up for them sometimes, whenever they were out late, and she blinked in affronted surprise, not liking the comparison of an adult waiting up for an unruly child.
“Uh, hi?”
“Nadine, can I talk to you for a moment?”
What now? All she wanted to do was lie down and take a long nap. “Okay,” she said, with the stiff obedience that had been baked into her with years of conflict-avoidance.
“I’m sorry for this.” Jessica fiddled with her hands. “But I double-booked you with another guest. I need you to leave.”
