‘Fuck you.’ Mitchell’s eyes flashed. ‘I do my job, and I do it well. I’ve gotten more children back than any other agent on the CARD team. Seriously, fuck you. Why do think you have a right to question how I do my job?’
‘Why?’ Audra said. ‘Because you don’t believe I hurt my children.’
Mitchell stood in silence, her gaze burning on Audra’s skin.
‘Just question them,’ Audra said. ‘Please.’
Mitchell shook her head and exhaled. ‘I’ll see what I can do. But short of them leading me right to those kids, you will be arrested in the morning. And don’t even think about absconding. There will be patrols all around this street to make sure you don’t.’ She pointed at Danny. ‘I don’t want to see you again.’
Mitchell turned and left the room, slamming the door behind her.
‘I think you pissed her off,’ Danny said.
‘Good.’
Danny got up from his seat and came to Audra’s side. ‘Be ready to go at five a.m. I’ll be waiting.’
‘Why?’
‘Because no matter what Mitchell says to those cops, they aren’t going to give up your kids. So tomorrow morning, we’re going to get them.’
Danny went to the door, left without speaking again.
37
WHITESIDE CROSSED THE street from the town hall where the search effort was now being coordinated. The jangle of telephones still sounded in his ears, the lines set alight by that half-million dollar reward. Outside, the town seemed ghostly empty now the press had slipped away. He imagined them all in the motel over in Gutteridge, cheap as it was, getting some rest. Fatigue had begun to eat at the edges of his mind, and if he thought for a moment he would be able to sleep, he would go home right now and climb into bed. He might have tried anyway, except Mitchell had called his cell and demanded he go back to the station.
He had called and texted Collins several times, but she had not replied since she left to go up to the cabin. The idea that something had gone wrong capered around his mind, but he did his best to ignore it. Worry wouldn’t do him any good.
The station was quiet, the senior state cops having gone to their homes. The whole thing had a sense of winding down now, an acceptance that the children were gone, and that was that. He could see it in the cops’ and the feds’ faces.
All except Mitchell, who looked like she never gave up on anything.
She waited with that asshole Showalter down by the interview room. He nodded when she waved him over. Her lackey Abrahms sat at a desk, his laptop open in front of him. He watched Whiteside as he approached.
‘What do you need?’ Whiteside asked. ‘I was thinking about going home and getting some rest.’
Mitchell opened the door to the interview room, let it swing open, room enough for him to step past her and through. Whiteside looked from the door to Mitchell to Showalter and back to her.
‘What?’
‘Just a few minutes of your time,’ Mitchell said. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’
‘You’re going to interview me?’ he said, pointing at the open door. ‘You serious?’
‘A few questions, that’s all.’
Whiteside looked to Showalter, who shrugged, what are you gonna do?
‘All right,’ Whiteside said, giving Mitchell a smile. ‘But let’s make it quick. My bed’s calling to me.’
He sat at the table while Mitchell messed with the video camera, and he realized what Abrahms had been doing with the laptop.
‘You going to send this down to the behavioral fella in Phoenix?’
‘That’s right,’ Mitchell said.
‘And exactly what kind of behavior will he be looking for?’
Mitchell came to the table, sat down, arranged her notebook and pen. ‘Oh, nothing in particular. Just routine. You understand.’
‘Sure, I understand. Did your behavioral fella have anything to say about your interviews with Mrs Kinney?’
‘Yes, his report came back this afternoon.’
‘And?’
‘Mrs Kinney believes what she’s saying.’
Whiteside was about to argue, but Mitchell raised a hand.
‘Please state your name and position, for the record.’
Whiteside held her stare. ‘My name is Ronald Whiteside, Elder County Sheriff. Mrs Kinney might believe this nonsense she’s talking, but even setting aside the physical evidence found in her car, you and I both know Mrs Kinney is batshit crazy.’
‘Mrs Kinney’s state of mind is open for debate, Sheriff, but she has been consistent in her version of events from the first time I questioned her.’
Whiteside gave Showalter a wink. ‘So she’s consistently crazy.’
Showalter smirked.
‘Let’s take this seriously, Sheriff,’ Mitchell said.
‘Oh, I’m taking it seriously, believe me. I’ve been taking it seriously since before you showed up, with your good suit and your camera. Now go on and ask whatever it is you need to ask, so I can get out of here.’
Mitchell turned to a fresh page in her notebook.
‘Where did you first encounter Mrs Kinney?’
‘In the parking lot at the general store out on the County Road, about five miles before the turn to Silver Water. I was sitting there in my cruiser, drinking coffee from my Thermos, when she pulled in. She got out of the car and looked all around. She noticed me, and that appeared to rattle her somewhat.’
‘How so?’
‘She was trying real hard to look casual, if you know what I mean. Look, I told you all this two days ago.’
‘Not on camera. So you felt she looked nervous at your presence.’
‘Right. Like she didn’t want to see a cop. So while she was in the store, I drove around the back, waited for her to come out and drive away. That way I could follow her and look for any problems with the car or how she was driving it. So happened the car was overloaded, so I pulled her in for that reason.’
‘And how was Mrs Kinney when you approached her?’
‘Skittish,’ Whiteside said. ‘Like a deer that knows you got your sight on it.’
‘And how was your manner?’
‘Polite, casual, friendly. Like I always am.’
He imagined the conversation, the woman in the driver’s seat, her hands on the wheel.
‘At that time, did you notice the booster seat in the rear of the car?’
He pictured it, empty.
‘Yes, I did.’
‘Didn’t you think it strange to see the booster seat, but no child?’
‘Not really,’ Whiteside said. ‘Plenty of times a parent goes out without their kids, they don’t take the seats out of the car.’
‘In a car with New York plates,’ Mitchell said. ‘You thought it was normal for someone to drive all the way from New York State with a child’s booster seat in the back, but no child.’
‘Not right at that second, but later, yes, I—’
‘Did you ask Mrs Kinney about the seat? Or the child or children that weren’t there?’
He shook his head. ‘No, I didn’t. No one mentioned children until after I put her in the cell back there. That’s when she asked me where they were.’
‘And what was your response?’
Whiteside tried to read her. Nothing. He wondered what cards she held.
‘I said, “What children?” She started to get worked up at that point, so I let her be for a while, hoping she’d calm down. When I came back later, we talked, and I explained there were no children in her car when I pulled her over. That’s when she assaulted me, as you saw on the CCTV footage. After that, I started enquiring with the authorities about these children. And that’s about when you invited yourself along.’
‘Where was Deputy Collins at this time?’
‘Out on patrol. She does a circuit of the town and the surrounding roads. Basic traffic stuff. Then she went home, as far as I know. She lives with her mother and her little boy out on Ridge Road. Will you be questioning Collins also?’
‘I haven’t been able to reach her,’ Mitchell said. ‘Any idea how I might get a hold of her?’
He looked at his wristwatch. ‘She’s off duty by now. Friday night. She’s relaxing with a beer or a glass of wine, if she’s got any sense. Could be she switched off her cell.’
Mitchell turned a page. ‘Let’s talk about Mrs Kinney’s version of events.’