Page 40 of Vengeance of Childhood Proportions (Till Death Do Us Part #7)

Chapter Thirty

Mal

That interview was a fucking waste of my time, and it pissed me off even more because it interrupted my conversation with my little owl.

Gary Hagley was a weasel and a worm, and I wanted nothing more than the right to punch him in his fucking face. The man knew something. It was clear as day when he saw my whiteboard and the pictures on the windows. He’d started shaking and I was honestly impressed at the man’s bladder control.

He looked scared. Worse than scared, he looked like he owed the piper a giant debt.

As soon as he saw the photos, he demanded to see his lawyer. In my experience, innocent men did not lawyer up prior to being questioned. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough to hold him and his lawyer demanded a formal interview for another day.

I had to watch that smarmy bastard walk out of my conference room, knowing he had the answers to what was going on in Atelihai Valley.

“What now?” Mira asked me as soon as we were alone. Carr was walking the worm out, though that was likely to keep me out of jail rather than out of the kindness of his own heart. It was times like this that I hated my badge.

“Now, we go see the former sheriff.”

Mira looked me up and down. “Want me to drive?”

It was a testament to how tired I was that I actually considered it. “No,” I said, “but you can pay for coffee.”

“Shit, you really are tired if you want to stop for coffee on the way.”

She had no idea. I’d sent her home the past two nights because she had to relieve her babysitter, but I had no such obligations. As much as I wanted to see my little owl, I couldn’t put aside my responsibilities of finding a serial murderer to get my dick wet.

Internally, I cringed. The crude words left a bad taste in my mouth. Master David was convinced I was falling for my little owl. I wasn’t so sure. Care for her, sure. Possibility of something more in the future, sure. But could I really be falling for a woman whose face I’ve never seen?

Or maybe it was proof that I was falling for her and not her looks?

As much as I loved that owl mask, I wanted to see what lay beneath. Maybe she had a scar or a mark from whatever had happened to her. I didn’t see any blemishes to her skin, but not all wounds were visible. Obviously, she had some mental trauma as well.

Her name, her face, hell, even her eye color… She’d reveal them to me in time. I’d prove I was trustworthy and worth her secrets.

Halfway to the hospice center on Douglas Island, Mira said, “I apologize for the other day. You’re a great agent, Mal, and I really admire you.

You have this natural magnetism that I’m jealous as hell of.

I feel like if I don’t do something amazing or find a way to stand out, I’ll never make my goal as Section Chief.

I’m sorry I let my ambition get the better of me. It won’t happen again.”

I nodded once. “I appreciate you saying that. Having goals isn’t a bad thing, but maybe take the time limit off of your shoulders. I find people do better work when they don’t feel like they have a guillotine hanging over their head.”

“I understand. Again, I’m sorry.”

I had to hand it to her; it took a lot of guts to admit you’re wrong about something you’re passionate about.

“This is my last advice on the subject and then I demand silence for the remainder of the drive: find out who you’re fighting for, Mira.

Why do you want to become Section Chief so badly?

Is it the bump in pay, the extra hours and responsibilities…

? Or do you want to seek a position of power so you can help others?

Figure out your cause and then you’ll have what makes you stand out amongst the masses. ”

I saw her nod along with my words out of the corner of my eye. “I get what you’re saying. And I definitely want to help people, but I mean, the bump in pay wouldn’t be the worst thing either?—”

“Shhh…” I prompted, interrupting her. “ Silence .”

Thankfully, she listened, because my right temple was throbbing something fierce. It did not get better, even with hydrating and eating a protein bar.

It was this case. It didn’t feel right. The only connection to the victims was fifteen years ago. And who killed over a fucking hockey tournament? And not even for good hockey, but a high school team?

My brother, Tony, had played hockey in high school.

I hadn’t. Despite my bulk, I was more of a runner than a skater.

Didn’t stop my high school’s coach from trying to recruit me, but that was a lot of years ago.

I certainly couldn’t imagine anything from my high school years that would cause someone to come after me fifteen years later.

I mean, it was high school . It wasn’t meant to be fun.

Kids were mean, life sucked. Hell, I’ve never even been to any of my reunions because I just didn’t care that much about anyone I went to high school with.

What did I care if they saw who I had become now?

It would be an even bigger popularity contest than prom had been, and I just did not have the patience for that.

Fifteen years ago, I was already on my way to Quantico, but my brother, Tony, would have been in school.

Pulling my phone off the clip on my belt, I drove one-handed while pulling up my brother’s contact info with the other. It rang three times before he picked up.

“Hey, Shawn, what’s up?”

Wow, two Shawns in one day. I think that was some sort of record.

“Hey, little brother. I’ve got my partner, Mira, with me in the car.

Hold on, I’m going to put you on speaker.

” I hit the Speaker button before holding my arm between us, my elbow on the center console.

“I’ve got a case in Atelihai Valley and it made me think of that old wife’s tale you told me once when you were a teen.

Do you remember? I think it’s the only time I even heard of Atelihai Valley before a few weeks ago. ”

“Yeah, I saw you were on that case. Kinda weird seeing you on the news, bro.” Sounds of my nephews in the background had Tony turning his attention away from the phone for a moment before saying louder, “I don’t know what a high school story has to do with your case, but I’ll tell you. Just let me step away from the kids.”

I saw Mira look at me funny in the passenger side mirror as we continued on, but she kept her mouth shut.

“Okay, so I think I was maybe fourteen or fifteen when I first heard it.”

“Couldn’t have been,” I said. “I was already in Quantico when you told it to me. We were at Mom’s for Christmas.”

“So sixteen then?” He continued with waiting for verification. “Anyway, there was a rumor going around my school that a girl from Atelihai Valley was sexually assaulted by her father. She got pregnant with his baby and then committed suicide.”

“That’s awful,” Mira said. “Was it true?”

“Rumors always start somewhere,” Tony and I said together. Then Tony added, “I doubt this one is, though. By the end of the school year, the rumor was that she’d had sex with the entire wrestling team and that’s how she got pregnant before committing suicide.”

Mira made a face. “I can see why you didn’t want to say anything in front of your kids.”

“Can you remember anything else?” I asked my brother. “Like her name, age, anything?”

“I’m a stay-at-home dad with two kids under six. I barely remember what I had for breakfast.”

Fair point. “Thanks, bro. I appreciate you talking about this.”

“You think Atelihai Valley really has a serial killer?” he asked. I could hear the apprehension in his voice, even though he lived hours away from Atelihai Valley.

“They have something,” I said cryptically. “I’ll talk with you later.”

“’kay. Bye, Mira. Pleasure not meeting you.”

She laughed. “You too, Little Brother because Big Brother didn’t bother to introduce you.”

He chuckled. “Tony Mallory at your service, ma’am.”

“Hey, Mr. Flirtypants, go kiss your wife,” I snapped.

“Bye, asshole,” and then he hung up.

I dropped my phone in the cupholder, my mind spinning. “What are the chances that there was a rumor about a teenage pregnancy and suicide following the school year Atelihai Valley won the state championship they’re so fucking proud of?”

“You think it’s real? You think there was a girl who committed suicide?”

I shook my head, feeling like I was trying to solve a puzzle with no picture. “I don’t know what I am thinking, but we have all the police reports from those years. Why wasn’t one of them a teenage suicide?”

“Hopefully, the sheriff will be able to tell us,” Mira said as I made the turn into the hospice facility. “Do you know what he’s dying of? It’s not dementia, right?”

The question was not as heartless as it seemed. We needed to know we could rely on the information former Sheriff Renfrew gave us.

“Stage four prostate cancer,” I answered. “He’ll be of sound mind.”

After parking, we headed inside. Our badges got us in even though visiting hours were near ending.

I’d seen pictures of Clyde Renfrew through our investigation into Atelihai Valley and the figure in the hospital bed was a ghost of the man he’d been. Gaunt, pale, and bald, he had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, an IV in his arm, and an EKG machine attached to his heart.

“Sheriff Renfrew,” I said as we took seats next to his bed. “My name is Shawn Mallory and this is my partner, Mira Barnes. We’re with the FBI. I called you earlier today.” I held my badge up in front of his face so he didn’t have to move his neck. “Are you able to speak with us?”

The man made a universal motion with his right hand. Mira immediately stood up and walked around the foot of the bed to hand him her notepad and pen.

We watched as the dying man struggled to write before handing the pen back to Mira.

She picked up the pad, her eyes going wide a moment before she started reading. “‘This is my deathbed confession. In the closet, there is a lockbox with everything you need. May God have mercy on my soul.’”

Sheriff Renfrew opened his left hand and handed me a small silver key. With a shaky hand, he slowly reached up and pulled his oxygen mask down. “I. Am,” he gasped out each word individually. “So. Sorry. She. Deserved. Better. Than. Me.”