Free Don’t Talk to Strangers: A Novel by Amanda Kyle Williams Page A

not? Most people
     would be proud of it.”
    “Long story,” I said.
    We walked for a couple of minutes. The creek was rocky and shallow, clear enough and
     still enough in places to see the tadpoles feeding near the bank, trout swimming by.
     “Why do you think he held those girls so long?” Meltzer asked quietly.
    “He gets something from them. At least until he doesn’t anymore.”
    “What?”
    “Sex, a sense of power. Control. He’d keep them until they no longer fueled his fantasy
     life. Or until it became dangerous to continue holding them. More likely it’s the
     former.”
    “And then he kills them,” the sheriff said.
    “It’s the logical next step.”

7
    I could hear the phones upstairs, and the calm monotones of the emergency operators.
     Doris answered a call now and then on the sheriff’s direct line and carefully put
     messages in a spiral message pad. I unpacked my case, put my laptop and notebooks
     on the desk Sheriff Meltzer had offered me in the main room. Meltzer introduced me
     to his head of Criminal Investigations, Major Tina Brolin, and her detective, Robert
     Raymond, before he left. Everything had been going pretty well until then.
    A couple of file folders landed on the metal desk in front of me followed by a thumb
     drive. It skidded across the desktop. I caught it before it fell off the edge. “Just
     so you know, this wasn’t my idea,” Major Brolin told me.
    “Oookay,” I said, and looked up at her. She had a slight overbite. I zeroed in on
     two tiny permanent impressions her front teeth had made in her bottom lip. It was
     hard to look at anything else after that. She was five-five and trim. Size did not
     inhibit her ability to put out some really crappy energy. I mean, I’m not exactly
     a spiritual giant but I kind of wanted to set some sage on fire and chant something
     cleansing. “If I want to see physical evidence, will I have access?”
    “Sheriff says to give you what you want.” Major Brolin’s dark hair was pulled tight
     off her face. It looked like it hurt. “We can instructthe evidence room at the judicial center if you need something. An officer will have
     to be present, of course.”
    “Of course,” I said, and glanced over her shoulder at Detective Raymond. “Can we talk
     after I have a little time with the files? I’d love to discuss the cases. With you
     both.”
    “You’d love to discuss the cases?” Brolin said. They exchanged an incredulous glance.
     “This is
our
case.
We
live here.
We
care about the people here. You don’t know anything about this community.”
    “Exactly,” I said. Brolin and Raymond stared at me for three seconds before I was
     looking at their backs. They disappeared into a rear office.
    I glanced at Doris. “Guess I missed a memo.”
    “You have no idea,” Doris said quietly. I realized for the first time just how unpopular
     the sheriff’s decision to hire outside help had been. It was not what I had expected
     to walk into.
    I opened my laptop and waited for it to blink on and give me the password bar. It
     didn’t. I pressed the POWER button and it came quickly to life. It had been shut down. And I didn’t do it. I’m
     vigilant about this. I power down every other night for maintenance purposes. I take
     care of my stuff. I clean my gun, I change the oil in my car, and I shut down my computer
     on a schedule.
    I checked inside my computer case and saw the manila folders with crime-scene photos
     and the reports Meltzer had emailed me, the notes I’d begun on a legal pad when Meltzer
     had first called my office, a list of assignments I’d given Neil. Everything was in
     order. And then I saw my car keys in the long front pocket of the case. I had intentionally
     zipped them into an interior pocket. I glanced at my car in the lot out front, then
     at Doris working at her desk, then toward the back office. One of these people had
     looked through my things and tried to get into my computer after I