“But the sun was still up, right?” Richards persisted.
“Just barely. I could see pretty good, but it was almost completely dark when I got home, and I started back as soon as I knew you people were on the way.”
On the return drive to Dobbs, Raeford McLamb said,
“What time is sunset these days anyhow?”
Mayleen Richards logged onto the Internet and in less than a minute was able to say, “Sunset for Thursday in this area was five-twenty-nine. And twilight till five-fifty-six.”
“Wouldn’t take a person but maybe ten or fifteen minutes at the most to walk through the woods from Orchard Range to Rideout Road.”
“True,” Richards agreed. “But it’s not like Rouse was keeping to a split-second timetable. If it was Garcia, how would he know for sure that Rouse would be driving past in that short window of time?”
They were still batting scenarios back and forth when they got back to the office. Jamison came in right behind them, waving a fragrant brown bag with grease stains.
“I brought lunch,” he said. “Catfish.”
They were munching on hushpuppies and sharing their findings when one of the uniforms stuck his head in the door. “They just posted a new Amber Alert from Virginia. Eight-year-old white male. Calvin Shay Bryant.
Isn’t that Major Bryant’s boy?”
C H A P T E R
13
I got home a little before one and was trying to decide which I least wanted to do: fold laundry or get started on an ED for a divorce I was supposed to hear next week. Equitable distributions are the most time-consuming part of modern divorces. Everything has to be evaluated, from the family silver to the family Tup-perware. Each party makes its own evaluation and then it’s up to the judge to reconcile the two. If the values are close, I can just split the difference, but sometimes they’ll vary by hundreds of dollars. That’s when I go browsing on eBay to get an idea of what’s fair and equitable.
I decided that the laundry could wait and was heading for my laptop when the house phone rang.
“Mrs. Bryant? Judge Knott?” asked the vaguely familiar voice of someone who wasn’t sure if I was still using my maiden name.
“Speaking,” I said.
“This is Deputy Richards, ma’am. We were wondering if you could tell us what’s happening? I mean, we didn’t 12 think we should call Major Bryant directly, but we’re all worried for him and his son.”
“Worried?” I parried, wondering how she had heard about Jonna jerking Dwight’s chain.
“Yes, ma’am. That Code Amber just came across our computer screen, but all it says is that he was taken yesterday afternoon by an unknown white woman in a blue parka and sunglasses and not by his mother as they first thought.”
“Oh, gosh,” she groaned, instantly realizing that I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. “I’ve done it again, haven’t I? I’m so, so sorry!”
I knew she was referring to a piece of confidential information that she had blurted out at a dinner the sheriff’s department had given Dwight and me right before Christmas. Dwight had roasted her over the coals for that, but what was this?
Before I could respond, my cell phone rang and I grabbed it. Dwight’s number was there on the screen. I promised Richards that I’d call her right back and pressed the talk button.
“What’s going on up there?” I asked, not quite sure whether I was angry at being left in ignorance while all hell seemed to be breaking loose in Virginia. “I thought you said it was Jonna that took Cal.”
“How do you know about that?” he asked.
“You do an Amber Alert and you don’t expect me to hear about it? I’m your wife, Dwight. Why am I hearing about this from somebody else?”
“It just went out and this is the first real chance I’ve had to call you.”
“Where’s Jonna?” I said, ready to go rip her eyes out.
“Who does she think has Cal?”
There was a long silence.
“Dwight?”
“Jonna’s dead,” he said, and I listened in stunned silence as he told me all that had happened since we talked earlier that morning.
I was aghast and wanted to go over every detail, but that wasn’t going to happen. “Sorry, Deb’rah. I’ve got to be in Paul’s office in about three minutes or the state guys will probably have a warrant out for my arrest.”
“What?”
“Bad joke. But they do want to talk to me.”
