Page 72 of The Sweet Spot
“Chris will—”
“Your sheriff will never find you, I guarantee it.”
Chris—Oh, God—Chris.
Chapter 27 – Chris
I pull up the drive at the Braggart ranch and park in front of the house. There’s no visible sign of Braggart’s car, an older model black BMW, but it could be parked in any one of the six garage bays. And of course there are several barns on the property. He could have hidden it anywhere.
As I’m getting out of my cruiser, two more police cars pull in behind me. Jace and Ricky get out of their vehicles and join me.
“I found her emergency pendant and cell phone back at the diner,” I say. “My guess is Braggart grabbed her there as she was taking out the trash. We need to get inside this house to search for her. Jace, you search the garages and barns for Braggart’s black BMW. Ricky and I will try to get into the house.”
Ricky leads the way, striding up the walkway to the front door. He knocks loudly. “Sheriff’s office! Open the door!” When there’s no response, he beats his fist against the door.
The door finally opens, and the housekeeper, Marguerite, stands in the doorway. “Yes?” She spots me. “Hello, Sheriff. How can I help you?”
“Where’s David?” I demand, my voice sharp.
Her eyes widen in surprise. “I don’t know, sir. He left early this morning, and he hasn’t returned.”
Jace runs up, clearly out of breath “Found the BMW in one of the barns. There are trace amounts of blood on the front passenger seat and dashboard, and I found an open package of zip ties and a wet cloth on the floor. The cloth smells like chloroform.”
That’s enough probable cause to justify a warrantless search.
I step around Ricky and push my way into the house. The housekeeper cries out as she stumbles back. “Sheriff’s office!” Iyell. “Make yourself known! Come out with your hands on your head!”
“But there’s no one here, Officer,” the housekeeper cries. “Just me.”
To the two deputies, I say, “Search every square inch of this house.”
As we begin a systematic sweep of the residence, I yell, “Jennie! Are you in here?”
The housekeeper remains rooted to the spot, her hands covering her mouth.
“Have you seen a woman here this morning?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “No, sir! Please, Mr. David would never hurt Mrs. Braggart. He loves her.”
Mrs. Braggart?My blood starts to boil. “She’snothis wife! Is she here? Have you seen her?”
Marguerite shakes her head. “No, sir. I haven’t seen her. I swear to you.” She makes the sign of a cross over her chest. “As God is my witness, I have not seen that poor woman.”
* * *
Ricky and I search the entire house, going room by room. We look in every closet, every cupboard, hell even under every bed. We check behind every door, but we find no sign of David or Jennie.
We go outside to the barn to examine the BMW. Sure enough, just as Jace described, there are incriminating signs in the car, including drops of blood.
“Search all the barns,” I say, and we spread out. We search every inch of the two story structures.
“All right,” I say, thinking out loud. “He grabbed her at the diner, removed her panic button after she pushed it, and threw her phone in the dumpster. It looks like he might have zip tiedher and knocked her out with chloroform before bringing her back here. But why here? They’re not in the house, or garages, or in these barns.”
“There are probably other outbuildings,” Jace points out. “Or maybe a cellar?”
I radio the station and ask Darlene to send out three more officers to help in the search. There’s a lot of ground to cover here, and time is of the essence. And the ranch itself is massive. I don’t recall the total area, but it’s hundreds of acres.
“Where would he take her,” I say, “and how would they get there?”
