“And you didn’t believe him?” asked Reel.
“Roger Walton was the golden boy from Grand, Colorado, small as it is. Football and baseball star. Accepted at half a dozen Ivy League schools. Smartest person I’ve ever been around. And one of the kindest. He could’ve been an insufferable jock type, but he was the exact opposite. Ask anyone who knew him. He helped everybody when he lived here. Even those that didn’t deserve it.”
“Did you know his parents?” asked Reel.
“Of course. What happened was so tragic.”
“What happened to them?” asked Reel.
“Oh, I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?” said Reel.
“They apparently had a suicide pact. They were found in their car in their garage. They’d turned on the engine and stuffed the tailpipe.”
“When was this? Recently?”
“Oh, no. It was while Roger still lived here. He was the one to find them. He’d been away at some regional debate championship in Nebraska his senior year of high school. When he got back, well . . . it was awful.”
“Damn,” said Robie. “Pretty tough situation for a teenager.”
“Pretty tough for any age,” said Reel.
Claire said, “Well, the town rallied around Roger, of course. In fact, he came to live with my family for the rest of the school year.”
“Does anyone know why they killed themselves?” asked Robie.
“Dorothy, Roger’s mom, had ovarian cancer. Late stage. Back then there was nothing to combat it. She was going to die. I don’t think Roger’s dad could live without her.”
Reel frowned. “So he kills himself and leaves his kid alone. If you ask me, that’s kind of selfish.”
“That’s what I thought, too. But Roger didn’t see it that way. He loved his parents. And he survived. He always survived.” She paused. “I’m counting on that right now. For him to survive.” She paused again. “He kept the house. He’s never been back there, as far as I know, but he never sold it, either. I drive by it every once in a while and think about Roger. All he went through at such a young age.”
“That’s very sad,” said Reel wistfully.
“You said you were initially not worried when he disappeared,” prompted Robie with a quick glance at Reel. “What changed?”
Claire said, “When I heard that he’d left everything at the cabin, including his rental. That wasn’t like Roger. He was organized and efficient. If he got called back to DC suddenly he would’ve taken care of all that, or had someone do it for him.”
“Did you see him while he was here this time?”
“Yes. We usually have dinner. And we did. Here. We both cooked.”
“So you have a good relationship?” said Robie.
Claire smiled. “Look, I’m sure one of my kids told you that Roger and I were engaged to be married. Only I didn’t want to leave here and he wanted to get the hell out. Am I right?”
“We did hear that from Patti,” conceded Robie.
“So it wasn’t a question of love. I loved him and he loved me. We just had a difference of opinion on where that love should be located.” She paused and frowned. “Looking back, I can see now why I didn’t want to leave. Back then I was a simple girl with simple ambitions. Roger wanted to see the world, do everything, which scared the crap out of me. Now, look, I’m no dummy. I’ve held my own with some pretty smart people who come through here from time to time, and I have managed to build a pretty successful business. But Roger was on another plane. He was flat-out brilliant. I . . . I guess I was afraid if I moved with him, I would end up not measuring up and we’d get divorced. And then where would I be? Stuck in a place that would seem like another planet to me.”
Reel studied her. “And do you still think that?”
“Doesn’t matter, does it?”
“But now?” persisted Reel, drawing a curious look from Robie.
Claire said quietly, “I can’t say I don’t have regrets, because I do. But I think we’re past the do-over stage in life.”
Reel said, “But he came back here. And spent time with you. That probably tells you something.”
“What, that maybe he had regrets?”
“He never married, at least to my knowledge,” said Robie.
“I know. Well, water under the bridge.” She looked squarely at them. “Now you need to find out what the hell happened to him.”
Reel said, “We asked your son and Sheriff Malloy if there were any people around here that might be responsible for his disappearance. Malloy was vague on that. What do you say?”
“Every place on earth has bad people, and Grand is no exception to that.”
“Care to be more specific?” asked Robie.
“This is wide-open space, a long way from Denver. You’ve seen the size of the police force. So folks have become accustomed to taking care of themselves.”
“We’ve seen the open-carry lifestyle here,” said Robie. “Including your daughter.”
“She’s very responsible with her weapons,” said Claire defensively. “Now, that’s one side of the equation. The other side is being out in the middle of nowhere attracts some folks who want to live off the radar. And not be, well, constrained by societal norms.”
“What exactly are we talking about?” asked Robie.
“We’ve got some skinheads and white supremacists, though some would say I’m repeating myself. But they more or less keep to themselves.”
“Okay,” said Robie. “What else?”
“Well, we’ve got others who practice their own type of religion. If you want to call it that.”
“What do you call it?”
“You remember the Branch Davidians in Waco? Well, that’s what I would call it. They’ve got their own compound and everything.”
“So why wouldn’t your son and the sheriff tell us about them?”
“Practical reasons. There’re two of them and a whole lot more of the others. Nobody wants a riot. Nobody wants those awful people to take over the town. So it’s an uneasy peace, I’d guess you’d say.”
“You still have the state police if things go sideways,” said Reel.
“Yeah, well, I don’t think the state police want to mess with it, either. Colorado is a big state and there aren’t that many cops to go around, really, especially in a place like Grand.”
“Sounds like a bomb waiting to go off,” said Reel.
“You could say that about a lot of places,” Claire retorted.
“Did Walton know about all of them being here?”
“Oh sure. You come here often enough, they’re pretty hard to miss.”
“Did he ever have any run-ins with them?” asked Reel. “Because he’s not the sort of person who would turn a blind eye if they did something criminal.”
Claire stared down at the floor. “Anything’s possible. So you might have to just go ask them yourself.”
CHAPTER
12
On the drive back to town Robie glanced over at Reel. “Why all the questions back there about Blue Man’s relationship with her?”
Reel kept her eyes on the road. “Why not? We were there to gather information. So I was gathering information. I’m not an experienced investigator, so I just sort of went with the scattergun approach.”
Robie did not seem convinced by this but looked away.
She said, “He kept the house all this time. But never goes there. Why do you think that is?”
“Blue Man is a complicated guy. I doubt we’re going to figure that out, nor do we have to in order to do our job.” Robie paused. “So there’s an abundance of skinheads, white supremacists, and religious wackos here. Nice if Malloy had told us.”
“And any one of them might have taken Blue Man,” noted Reel.
“So why not just have the Feds come in here and bring the hammer down on those assholes?”
“I think it’s called civil liberties and being presumed innocent.”
“Disciples of Hitler and people wearing hoods are presumed innocent?” snapped Robie.
“Under the law they are, until they break it.” She glanced at him. “Remember, badge not scope.”
“Scope is simpler.”
“Yes, it is.”
They pulled in front of the hotel and Reel slid the Yukon into park.
“I heard about Iraq,” said Robie.
“Did you?” said Reel, not looking at him. Her hands gripped the steering wheel.