“On other cases, I’ve dealt with battling local police before. When a sheriff does bad things, they’ll cover themselves well. If Sheriff Bran was on the footage, he’ll pretend like the video showed nothing much.” Brett shook his head. “I already tried to talk to a Judge Terry, attempting to get a search warrant. He hung up as soon as I said the Sheriff’s name.”
I muttered, “The good old boy system.”
“We won’t get near Sheriff Bran unless we have clear evidence.”
“And he’ll say this Deputy Martelle came to this house and acted on his own accord.”
“I’m sure of it. Not a major mystery there.” Brett sighed. “Do you think they’re directly involved in the Fullbrooke Six or just covering up something else? We don’t have any time to waste on this unless it relates to our Unsub.”
“We’ll figure it out soon.” I tapped my foot on the porch. “Someone should watch Maddie until we know what’s going on. She could be in danger. And it can’t be the local police.”
“I’ll have agents do it.”
“Someone should watch over the dead deputy’s place too, just in case there’s something there.”
Brett smiled. “Exactly. You’ve been around King a lot.”
“You think so?”
“Yes.” He laughed. “You sound like him.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
Brett shrugged. “We’ll see.”
Alexander stepped out onto the porch. “If Sheriff Bran was hoping to push us off his path, then he messed up. With this new dead body, he has my full attention.”
More FBI agents pulled up to the house.
Alexander looked at me. “How are you? Do you need some time?”
“No.” I swallowed. “What’s next?”
“Let’s go talk to Sheriff Bran.”
Brett spoke, “Do you think it will matter?”
“I don’t care.” Alexander stomped to the car. “I’m starting to get tired of hillbilly sheriffs in their dusty little racist towns.”
Alrighty.
Brett chuckled. “Then, have a blast.”
I made to the car and climbed in.
Grumbling, Alexander started the engine and headed off. “Do we have the sheriff’s address?”
“Yes. I wrote it down before we left the police station earlier. He was too suspicious to not get as much information on him as possible.”
“Good.” Alexander’s gaze slipped toward me, just for a second, and then back to the road. “Both sheriffs just hit important evidence. At this time, we can’t prove it. For now, it’ll be our word against theirs. Neither will matter if we don’t have more reason to point to them as the ones responsible for the Fullbrooke Six.”
“You mean no judge will think it’s enough evidence to start monitoring them?”
“Exactly. And that’s probably because they have the judges in their dirty pockets.”
I put my seatbelt on. “So, this visit to Sheriff Bran is simply to annoy him?”
“Correction. Annoy the shit out of him. I want Sheriff Bran to know that I’m not some deputy from one of these towns. If he’s the Angel Maker, then I’m going to be all over his ass every minute of his shitty day.”
I smirked. “You’re teaching me a lot about being in the field.”
“I’m doing my best.”
Alexander plugged the address into the car rental’s GPS. “And how are you doing?”
“I’m fine for the hundredth time.”
“Are you tired of me asking?”
“Yes.”
“Too bad.”
“Plus, Brett asked too. I guess I’m a bit annoyed.”
“You’re not annoyed. You’re frazzled. And of course, Brett asked. He’s concerned.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“He is but remember. . .I’m next door to your room. Therefore, I’m the one you come to, when you have nightmares.”
Really? Now you flirt?
I gave him a weak smile. “By the way, I never told you thank you.”
“For what?”
“I might’ve had a bullet in my head this evening.”
“No. We can’t have that.”
“Still. . .thank you.”
“Any time. Any place, Agent Barron.”
We arrived at Sheriff Bran’s place in no time. The house was close to Maddie’s father’s place, making him look even more guilty. The nervousness from earlier returned, but then mingled with annoyance.
Alexander rounded the corner and parked in front of a large white house. “Here we go.”
I spotted Sheriff Bran standing outside with a beer in his hand. “And he’s expecting us.”
“I love cocky sheriffs.” Alexander shut off the car. “The cocky ones are easy to break, and they always get caught in the end.”
We both left the car.
Still in uniform, Sheriff Bran walked over to us. “Why are you two at my house? I heard you should be celebrating.”
I leaned my head to the side. “Celebrating?”
Sheriff Bran took a swig of his beer and grinned.
Alexander got to my side. Anger covered his face.
Sheriff Bran swallowed more beer and then wiped his mouth. “I heard that you caught the Angel Maker.”
Alexander took a step forward. “Did we now?”
Sheriff Bran finished his beer and then slung it into his trash can. “You two cracked the case and did a good job indeed.”
“I doubt that deputy was the Angel Maker.” Alexander placed his hands in his pockets. “I still have my eye on another person.”
“Another person?” Sheriff Bran laughed. “No. Seems clear-cut to me.”
“No evidence points to this man having anything to with the Fullbrooke Six,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Sheriff Bran kept his view on Alexander. “Is it normal for the FBI to make things so difficult?”
Alexander nodded. “It is. That’s why many find us so annoying.”
“If you’re not celebrating, then why come here?” Sheriff Bran turned to me. “Please tell me how I can help.”
“You claimed to be at the Tipsy Pig on the dates that the girls were missing.”
“I was there.” Sheriff Bran smiled.
I spoke, “But, not there the whole time. You ate with Sheriff Michaelson for barely an hour and then left. I wonder where you two went and what you both talked about?”
“No.” Sheriff Bran shook his head. “I was at the bar on those dates for the entire evening. You must be mistaken.”
“I’m not.”
“You are, Mrs. Barron.”
“Special Agent Barron,” Alexander corrected.
“It doesn’t matter.” The sheriff laughed. “I have witnesses that will say Sheriff Michaelson and I were in the bar for several hours. All the way until closing.”
“I’m sure you do.” Alexander nodded. “I only wonder why two sheriffs would need people to lie for them.”
He patted down his shirt and adjusted his star. “Sheriffs don’t need people to lie for them.”