Page 82 of The Fragile Ones
Leaning forward, the woman said, “Yes, but don’t worry the whole town won’t know for a few days.” She retrieved two electronic key cards and handed them to Katie and McGaven. “Detective Scott, you’re in room number 4 and McGaven, you’re in room number 3.”
“Thank you,” said Katie.
“It’s just around back toward the end. I figured you’d want a quiet spot and there’s a large enclosed grassy area for your dog.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
“And I’m Betty, if you need anything. Breakfast is at seven in the dining area. Some of the best homemade biscuits around.”
“Thank you, Betty,” Katie said as they left the office.
After parking in front of their cabins, Katie quickly unpacked her things and let Cisco out to do his business. The weather appeared to be ready to rage for most of the night and she was eager to get inside and get her bearings. And most importantly, get to work.
Katie’s cabin was nicer than she thought it would be—it even had a fireplace. The dark wooden furniture matching the equally dark walls was old but tasteful, with a comfortable beige couch, coffee table, plush rug and small functioning kitchen with bar seating for two. The bedroom was lovely with crisp white linens on top of a feather bed with two large pillows. A large overstuffed armchair with blue chintz fabric sat across the corner of the room. The bathroom was tiny with a narrow stall shower and small pedestal sink.
“Well, Cisco, this is home for a while,” she said.
The dog immediately took his place in the comfortable chair in the corner of the bedroom.
“Nice choice,” she said.
Katie moved her four work boxes into the living room, placing them on the floor next to the coffee table. She noticed a stack of file folders sitting on the kitchen counter. There was a note from Chief Osborne that read:Here are those Denton files you requested. She quickly flipped through them—it was the investigation into the murder of Darla Denton.
“Hey, can I come in?” said McGaven at the door as he peeked inside.
“Of course.”
“Just checking.” He looked around. “Your room is bigger than mine.”
“Don’t whine just yet. We’ll be working here then.” She showed him the files. “The chief, or someone from his office, delivered the Darla Denton files.”
“That’s efficient. It could only be one of three people.”
“Did you get the copy of the files from Huntington County?”
“Yep.”
“Good.”
Katie turned to face her partner. “Did you notice something strange about Rock Creek? We’ve been here three times now and it suddenly occurred to me.”
“Besides it’s creepy? I feel like people are peeking out their windows and watching our every move.”
“Did you notice that we haven’t seen any kids? No kids running around, riding their bikes, none out walking, none in the diner, even here at the motel—no kids anywhere.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Monday 2130 hours
After a couple of hours, Katie and McGaven had the living room looking like a police command headquarters instead of a small cabin in the middle of nowhere. Katie had carefully removed the two landscape prints on one wall in the living room, placing them in the closet for safekeeping, and taped the maps, evidence photos and pictures of various people of interest on the wall. Their prime suspect, Whitney Mayfield, was right in the middle of it all.
She made a detailed timeline along the bottom part of the wall, from the discovery of Tessa and Megan Mayfield’s bodies, including their investigative stops in Rock Creek, and ending with the suicide shooting of Darren Rodriguez at the sheriff’s department.
“Have you read all the way through the Darla Denton case?” she asked McGaven.
Sitting on the small couch, McGaven had kicked off his boots and wore his casual running pants as he read through the reports. Cisco was curled up on the floor near him. “She lived with her grandmother who has since passed away. Her parents were derelict, homeless, on drugs. They weren’t even able to find them to tell them the news.”
It deeply saddened Katie. “What about her injuries?”
