Page 46 of Mountain Freedom
“Come on in,” he called out.
“Morning, Sheriff.”
“Morning, Jackson,” he said with a smile. “Enjoyed meeting your friend last night. Sweet girl. Daphne and Willa both gave her their stamp of approval. Bring her to our get-togethers anytime.”
“Thanks,” I said before clearing my throat. “But I actually need to talk to you about something official.”
“Oh?” he asked, leaning back in his chair. He put his hands behind his head. “Go on.”
“Last night, I took Allison back to her house. Her window was open and the front door was unlocked.”
His smile turned to a frown. “Sit down.”
I took the seat across from him and waited for him to speak.
He studied me for a moment. “Any chance it was her being absent-minded?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “First, she’s not the type. Second, she moved here from Memphis. Locking up is second nature to her. Third, the window frame and doorknobs had both been wiped clean.”
“Ah,” he said, grimacing. “So no luck with prints at all?”
“None. And nothing was missing or out of place.”
“Suspects?”
I sighed. “There’s a few people who come to mind. Yesterday, Frank Cross was harassing her at the clinic because she refused to prescribe him the opioids he wanted. I basically pulled him off of her and told him to go cool off.”
Greg nodded. “That’s a good place to start. He’s got a temper, and if he’s desperate, he may have gone searching her house in hopes she had a supply there. Had the clinic been broken into as well?”
I winced, realizing I had missed something crucially important in my desperation to get away from Allison that morning. “I’ll check,” I said, pulling my phone out to shoot her a text.
She replied almost instantly.
“Clinic was fine, according to her. But I can swing by and take a look around, see if there’s any signs of disturbance she might not have noticed.”
“I’ll do it,” he said breezily. “I’m headed over that way in a little while anyway.” He grabbed a notepad and scratched down some notes to himself. “Any other suspects come to mind?”
“Well, if you remember, I heard Larry and Gus talking about her before she moved here. Larry acted like he wasn’t too happy and wanted her to leave.”
Greg mused. “Breaking in without actually damaging anything doesn’t seem like his style. He’s more the type to makea show of it. Jail time has never been much of a deterrent for him, so I can’t see him bothering to wipe his prints. But maybe.”
I nodded, knowing he was right. “It’s a long shot, but she also has an ex who wants her back. He called her at the party and apparently even called her mom, trying to get her to put in a good word. He wants her to move back to Memphis. From what she’s told me about him, he seems like a real prick.”
Greg’s mouth went flat and he shook his head. He leaned back again and put his pen in his mouth, chewing on the end of it. I knew to sit quietly while he thought things through. “Alright,” he finally said. “So let’s say, hypothetically, it’s the ex. He might not want to hurt her, but maybe he thinks he can scare her into running back to him. In that case, I still think he’d make it more obvious though. Mess some things up, make it look good.”
“Unless he wasn’t trying to make it obvious. Maybe he forgot about the window,” I said, shrugging. “Maybe it wasn’t a show at all, and he just wanted to do a little snooping. See what she’s up to, make sure she hasn’t moved on with someone else.” Even as I said it, it was clear I wasn’t convinced. The ex was just another person we’d have to rule out.
“Yeah,” Greg said doubtfully. “Like you said, long shot. I’m not really seeing it. But still something we’ll have to check into.”
“Yeah,” I said, swallowing hard. “Then there’s Russell.”
Greg leaned forward, putting his elbows on the desk. His face turned hard. “Russell? What does he have to do with this?”
“I’ve caught him following me a few times,” I said, shifting awkwardly in my seat. “Wants me to give him money and I won’t do it. He’s made some vague threats.”
“Why are you just now telling me this?” Greg’s voice was gruff, his normal cool gone.
“What was there to tell?” I lifted my hands in frustration. “My deadbeat dad wants money and is running his mouth. What’s new?”
