Mattie’s alarm bells were ringing. What was Candace, a thirteen-year-old junior high student, doing with these high school boys? She feared she knew the answer.
She decided to start the narcotics sweep at the bedroom doorway, move around the room to search the furniture, and then end with the closet. After patting Robo on the side and ruffling the fur at his neck, she unclipped his leash from the active ring on his collar and snapped it onto the dead ring so she wouldn’t distract him with inadvertent obedience signals. She withdrew a pair of latex gloves from her utility belt and slipped them on. “Okay, Robo, find some dope.”
Robo pinned his ears and turned into a sniffing machine. While holding his leash lightly in her left hand, Mattie used her right to guide him around the room, indicating under the bed, and giving him plenty of time to search the clothing and bedding that lay scattered about. His delicate black lips fluttered as he whiffed each item.
She opened each drawer and carefully moved the clothing for Robo to check. A flash of red from the bottom of the pile caught her eye, and though Robo didn’t alert, Mattie certainly did.
Oh, for Pete’s sake! Closer inspection had revealed a set of peekaboo lace underwear in firehouse red.
With a sinking feeling, Mattie closed the drawers, leaving the clothing where she’d found it.
She opened the closet door and saw nothing unusual; clothes seemed sparse with plenty of bare hangers, but then most of Candace’s things were apparently on the floor. Robo sniffed shoes thrown every which way and items of clothing that Mattie indicated. She was reaching above to inspect the upper shelf when a bellow came from the living room. Burt. And he was heading her way.
Mattie turned to face the doorway while Robo jumped in front of her, his eyes pinned on the door. Burt Banks hurtled into the room, his face filled with rage.
With hackles raised, Robo charged to the end of his leash, barking fiercely and showing his teeth. Mattie was ready and stopped him short of reaching the man.
Burt halted in his tracks, no less enraged. “Get the hell out of here!”
Relieved that she’d put Robo on a leash, Mattie tried to stay calm. Any wrong move from her would escalate Robo’s protective response. “Robo, out,” she said firmly, using the command to signal release of a captive or the end of a bite-and-hold maneuver. She wanted to make sure Robo knew that was not where his mind should be. “Down.”
She could tell he didn’t want to do it, but Robo exchanged his bark for a low growl and went into down position, his chest rumbling his displeasure. Hoping it would keep Burt at bay, Mattie decided to let him grumble. By now, Sheriff McCoy and Stella were right behind the man, and McCoy stepped around to block him from Mattie.
“Hold on there, Mr. Banks,” McCoy said, palms raised in a stay-back gesture. “My deputy has your wife’s permission to be in here.”
“I don’t care what she said. I say get out!” Burt raised a fist, causing a fresh wave of growls from Robo.
McCoy stepped closer, looming over the man. “You don’t want to fight us, Mr. Banks. Calm down and we’ll talk.”
Juanita appeared at the bedroom doorway, and the small room was feeling way too crowded. “Robo, quiet,” Mattie murmured, wanting to reduce the tension, and Robo’s growling ceased.
Lowering his hand, still fisted, to his side, Burt eyed the sheriff.
Juanita slipped past her husband and went to the bed. Bending to pick up the bedclothes, she murmured, “I don’t clean the children’s rooms.”
Stella moved to intervene. “Don’t worry about straightening things now, Mrs. Banks. We need to leave the room as it is.”
Juanita looked at Mattie. “Did your dog find any drugs?”
Mattie knew the woman would face her husband’s wrath later for letting her search. She’d earned the right to know. “No, ma’am.” And then she added for Sheriff McCoy’s information, “I’ve completed the search except for the upper shelf in the closet.”
“Get out of my baby’s room,” Burt said with a catch in his voice.
The tinge of grief, combined with the man’s rage, made Mattie’s gut tighten. Her mind leapt to her own parents, bringing back her childish observations of their interactions, but she pushed them away, studying Juanita’s face instead, trying to get a read on her emotions. The mother had sunk down on the bed, perching on the edge as if her legs could no longer hold her, and she was glaring at Burt. Mattie read sorrow and fury there—a fury so intense, she wondered if it could be called hatred.
Flashes of what she’d found here in Candace’s room came to mind: revealing shirts, trashy lingerie, suggestive pictures of Candace with boys older than she. Knowing that girls with a history of childhood sexual abuse often became promiscuous teenagers, hard questions formed inside Mattie’s brain.
Had Burt Banks ever molested his daughter? And did he have anything to do with her death?
Chapter 5
Sheriff McCoy eventually talked Burt down, but Robo didn’t relax his guard and neither did Mattie. She watched his hands, her body tense and poised, ready for a strike. But something had drained the fight out of Candace’s father. He sagged back against the doorjamb and put his hands to his face. She wondered what thoughts he might be hiding, and a cold finger trailed down her spine.
“Juanita,” Stella said quietly. “Is there a neighbor or someone in town who could look after your sons?”
Staring at the floor with a blank expression, the mother dipped her head in a slight nod.
“Let me help you call someone,” Stella said. “We’re going to need to have some time alone with you and your husband. And I don’t think the boys should be with us when we go see Candace.”
The two left together. The quiet vibration of Sheriff McCoy’s cell phone in his pocket seemed to shatter the room’s stillness. Burt dropped his hands from his face, and Mattie’s alert system kicked up another notch. She watched him carefully while McCoy removed his phone from his pocket and answered it. Robo also stood guard.
“Yes, Deputy.”
Must be Brody calling.
“Good. Bring it to the Banks’ home now.” He gave the address and disconnected the call.
McCoy looked at Burt. “Chief Deputy Brody is on his way with a warrant to search Candace’s room.” When Burt Banks stiffened and drew himself up into a fighting stance, McCoy added, “It’s common procedure at any unattended death where there’s a suspicion of homicide, Mr. Banks. And like I explained to you earlier, that’s what we suspect. It appears that someone was with your daughter when she died, and if that person killed Candace, we’ll waste precious time and leads if we don’t search for them right now. Does that make sense?”
Burt glared at the sheriff, still unable to back down.
“The best thing you can do for Candace is to let us do our job. We can wait a few minutes for the warrant to get here, or with your permission, Deputy Cobb can complete her search.”
Burt waved a hand in dismissal before turning his back and moving down the hall. “Go ahead and do what you have to do. You will anyway.”
“Finish up in here, Deputy,” McCoy murmured before leaving Mattie alone with Robo and her suspicions.
She went to the closet and stood on tiptoe, peering up into the shelf. At first glance, it seemed to be filled with mementos from the girl’s past: stacks of board games, puzzles, and picture books. Deciding to remove the first layer, Mattie took out the stack of board games first. Placing the boxes on the floor, she opened the lid on the top one—Candyland. She didn’t find what she’d expected. No playing board, no pieces, cards, or dice.