“Follow me,” she says.
She takes me to a room I know well. It’s got a table and two chairs and a small window. I take a seat. It’s a spare room, not an interrogation room per se, used for various tasks like looking through mug shots or taking complaints.
After I give her the tissue I found in the woods and tell her about the ping IthoughtI heard, Greene says, “We’ll check it out. Now, I want to show you some photos. Specifically, Lasserio. To confirm he’s the guy you’ve been surveilling.” She sits and pulls an eight-by-ten photo out of a file. “Is that him?”
“Without question.”
I stare at his round head topped with unruly hair and protruding ears. The image of Zane slumped under my tree won’t leave my head. The awful sounds from his lungs play like an earworm in my head.
“You aware he’s got a record?”
“Yeah, arrested three years ago for aggravated assault.”
Montana law draws a distinction.Aggravated assaultis serious bodily injury with a weapon.Assaultis bodily injury without one.
“Beat up some poor Indigenous guy, a Blackfeet man, in a bar over in Cutbank with a pool stick,” Greene says.
Palmer Edmonds,I think.
Greene adds, “Lasserio used to work for the Crazy R Ranch, and we think he’s still got connections to your man Robbie Ridgeway in Choteau and Dupuyer.”
“What about the local guy who was posting from the library—the one whose social media accounts Lasserio was chatting up—and the others with the suspicious activity?”
“No real leads,” she says. “So far, they all check out and have alibis.”
“So now what?”
“Alderson and I are about to speak to Lasserio. If there’s anything else you haven’t told us, now would be a good time.”
She’s irritated with me for breaking into the shed, as she should be, but she’s not bringing it up this morning. Good. I know there are complications with using illegally obtained evidence in an interrogation.
“Feel free to use the video I took if it helps pressure him.”
As evidence, the video is fair game. I remind her about the flag stitched on the flap, which ties it to Clarissa. “You need to find out if he’s working for Ridgeway,” I say. “Doing his dirty work. Can I observe?”
“We knew you would ask, but no.”
“Listen, I’ve been in that room many times before,” I say. “It’s not a big deal if you let me observe. I’ll stay out of your hair and might pick up on something that’s useful.”
She leans back in her chair, her jaw tight. Her stare blades right through me. “Go grab some breakfast close by. I’ll talk to Alderson about it, and we’ll get back to you.”
I’m not hungry, but I buy a bagel and coffee at the café anyway because I’ve hardly eaten much of anything in days. I keep my head down with Jess’s hat low the whole way.
I’m worried sick about Zane.
From my car, I call the hospital to inquire on him. I’m not family, so I don’t get anywhere. Even in a small town, HIPAA is a bitch. I hang up and wait. My Americano tastes as bitter as I feel.
I look in the rearview and see my own cheekbones, now sharp as blades. My sleep-hungry eyes are dark, round coins. Haunted. My hair is a tangly mess. I want to either laugh maniacally at or cry for the fool who thought she would never pay a price for joining the messed-up funny farm of police who protect their own. At any cost. How do you take an oath that you will discharge your duties as a cop “with fidelity, honesty, with commitment to serve and protect ... I do solemnly swear” and turn your back on that promise the second it benefits your personal agenda?
Wallace called me twice while I was meeting with Greene, wanting to know what I’m going to do. I’m too preoccupied to call him back. Wallace ends his last message with a tinge of irritation:Okay. If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine, but I will see you soon.I can’t tell if it sounds like a threat or an olive branch.
I will see you soon.Is thesoonloaded? A chill shoots up my spine. Then it makes me grind my teeth.
Jeremy? Wallace? My head spins with all the lack of trust.
But whatamI going to do now that this Ridgeway thing has some legs? I had decided I was going to confess, but that will lead to a waterfall of shame and consequences.
And if this is a copycat situation, I won’t have to face the nation, face all the consequences. I can keep chugging along, trying to grow my business. Do my best to make things right with my sister. Keep it between me and Jess, where it belongs.
