Page 81 of Shadow Sabotage
My jaw dropped. “I’ve always known he was a snake, but…”
“I don’t know for certain that he was referring to you. He never said your name, and he mentioned spinning something. That could be about a lot of things. But he does seem to be sabotaging you professionally.”
“He wanted this case.” I shook my head, clamping my lips tightly. “He even grabbed my arm and warned me not to make him look bad that first day.”
“He grabbed you?” Hot rage filled Vance’s eyes.
My heart did somersaults.Dammit.Why did I have to be such a sucker for the protective thing?
“It’s fine,” I said, trying to wave it off.
“It’s not fine. You need to watch your back around him,” he warned.
“I will,” I promised. “I can handle Trey. Fill me in on Laramie.”
I tried not to think about how he hadn’t texted once while he was there, as if our partnership didn’t mean half as much to him as I’d thought it did.
“It was productive,” he said, starting his engine and pulling out of his parking spot. “I got the cell phone and the laptop. Unfortunately, the laptop doesn’t look like it’s going to be much use to us.”
“Nothing good on it?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? The uncle scrubbed it and gave it to his kid to use for school. Now, the only documents on it are eighth-grade reports and the internet search history is all YouTube and soft porn.”
“What?” My jaw dropped. “They just gave her laptop away, without even knowing she wasn’t coming back?”
He nodded, irritated. “I told you the mom said she had a history of running away. When I stopped in to talk to her, she said Katelyn had been trouble since the day she’d been placed there. Started running away at age eight, disappearing for longer and longer periods of time. I think they’d given up on her long before this incident.”
The lack of concern made me want to punch something. “But she got into college. She can’t have beenthatmuch trouble.”
He shrugged. “She was strong-willed. When she wanted something, there was nothing that could stop her. College became one of those things, according to the family. They were happy about it and hoped she would make something of herself. But I think they’d pretty much washed their hands of her.”
“Hmmm.” My eyes narrowed as I thought it over. “Do you think we’re looking in the wrong place? She ran away all those times… Maybe we should look at the mom and the uncle.”
Vance shook his head. “I’ve ruled them out. Mom is in a wheelchair. She’s completely disabled and doesn't even drive. That’s why she didn’t pick up Katelyn’s things personally,” he explained. “She could barely lift her arms, so there’s no way she could have strangled Katelyn, much less have dumped the body. And the reason it took the uncle so long to pick up the boxes isbecause he was deployed when she went missing. Didn’t get back to the States until August.”
“So way after our time frame,” I said, disappointed. I would have been thrilled to have another suspect.
“Exactly. Beyond that, Katelyn’s running away started beforethis placement. She didn’t get placed with Marjorie—her adoptive mom—until age thirteen. She went through seven other families in the meantime and eloped from all of them.”
I sighed, hating it. “She really was troubled.”
“It sounds like it,” he agreed. “From what I was told, Marjorie is the best thing to ever happen to her. But Katelyn was always looking for more. She didn’t just want a family—she wanted to be someone. She thought she was better, smarter than everyone else and she craved wealth and power. She had Reactive Attachment Disorder—an inability to form healthy attachments—and delusions of grandeur, according to her psychiatric history.”
“How is someone supposed to form healthy attachments when they’ve never had a stable home?” I asked, throwing my hands up in frustration. “And why is it that when some people are driven to achieve greatness we celebrate it, but when others do we call it a syndrome?”
He glanced over, admiration on his face. “I love that you aren’t jaded. Most people in law enforcement are.”
I smirked. “Well, clearly, I haven’t had much law enforcement experience. And I might never get it.”
“What do you mean?” he asked as he pulled into a parking spot in front of Whiskey Creek.
“Mayor Evans issued a complaint about my behavior,” I said, trying not to let my emotions show. “I got a warning from Sheriff McGrath today. One more strike and I’m out.”
“Shit.” He pounded the steering wheel with his palm. “I should have known he would do that. I could have given SheriffMcGrath a heads-up about what we had done and why. But I got distracted.” He looked miserable.
I shrugged. “We both did. How could we not have gotten distracted after finding out about Sheriff McGrath and Katelyn? It’s alright. It’s not my first warning. It’ll blow over.”
Although, I wasn’t so sure this time. Sheriff McGrath had been different during this meeting. He looked exhausted and angry, completely different than his normal easygoing self.
