Page 102 of Head Room

“—will be gone, possibly irretrievably.Our first step has to be what it always is.To find out.To find out what we can.Whatever we can.And to have multiple, reliable sources.”

Diana streamed out a breath.

For a while now, she’d walked the narrow line between her loyalties so expertly that maybe even she forgot what a challenge it presented.No wonder she needed a breath.

“You’re right.But—” She looked from me to Mike and back.“—we go to the sheriff’s department before running any story.And if they’re about to offer this guy a job, we warn them before they do.”

“We can’t necessarily know they’re about to offer him a job,” he objected.

“I’ll take responsibility for making sure we know that,” she said.“All of us take responsibility for the rest.”

She got no argument.

“Tell us what else you know about the guy, Jennifer,” I said.

“It’s a good story.But the local coverage...”She shook her head.“Like I said, he was decertified.That came out when the little town where he worked found out they were being fined by the certifying agency along with late fees, all out of their already tight budget.First, Kyle Quetcher’s certification was suspended because his firearms qualification wasn’t filed in time.

“Then, they said the police chief let him work alone, even though uncertified officers aren’t allowed to work alone.When the certifying agency found out, the police chief ignored the notification.When the second notification came, with a late fee, he tried to talk the agency into letting it pass.He never even told the town council.But they found out and then it hit the fan.

“But what the stories didn’t mention is the police chief was his uncle.Well, he’s still Kyle Quetcher’s uncle, but he’s no longer the police chief.I’m checking to see if there’s a connection to Wyoming.”

“You saidthey saidhe worked alone — the certifying agency.Were they right?”Diana asked.

“Oh, yeah, and that’s when the videos were taken.Couple people recorded interactions with him, plus his own dashcam — the idiot.A couple videos when he was with another officer weren’t nearly as bad.Not what any police academy would teach, but better than when he was on his own.”

“Like what?”Mike asked.

“I can send you more videos.Mocking citizens, yelling at them, bullying them, pushing them around physically.One guy he twisted his arm — hard — for no reason.”

“So he was a lousy cop on top of everything else.”

“Oh, yeah.Definitely lousy.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

After we endedthe call, I had a few more minutes before my meeting with Orson Jardine.

I pulled up Irene’s manuscript.

****

(Notes: Maggie talking with boy earlyish.At creek hunting for smooth rocks for laundry.Boy comes...creeps up.Sits silently by her.)

“I go.You?”

She glanced around at him, then back to the creek.

He meant run away.

“No.I stay.”

“You are not of them.They say that.”

She worked with the stick, digging around, then sliding it under to free a medium-sized stone, put it on her pile to consider further.

He waited.

“After the people took me, after the first days, and when it seemed tomorrow would be like today, which followed like yesterday,” she said.“I swallowed a hard darkness.”