Discombobulate

Chapter Sixty-Four

Due to the circumstances, Lindsay Bowers and her three kids were placed under police protective services almost immediately. The risks were far too deadly. The Houghton family was dead. Detective Mullen's daughter was dead. Winston wouldn't allow Greg and Grant to take away any more lives.

The only issue was finding a place for them to stay. With Sullivan being the sheriff, he knew all the safe houses. He knew where they might be. Lindsay's parents' house was too risky.

By some miracle, Deputy Pelton had a place they could stay. It was out of Michigan and away from Brimington. He had an empty house in Illinois for rent. It was empty until he could find a renter. Nobody knew it's exact address besides Deputy Pelton.

There were only a few people Winston trusted with this case. He trusted Mullen, Falcon, and Pelton. That was it. The other officers in the station had worked with Sullivan once upon a time.

After Lindsay filled out a bunch of paperwork, Falcon went home to retrieve her personal car. Lindsay and her kids left through the back door. They piled into the maroon vehicle and took off.

It was a four-hour drive to the house and back. The police department in the area was already notified of the situation. They'd have cruisers patrolling the area.

"Winston, you're not going to believe this."

"What?" Winston glanced over at Detective Mullen.

"She caught them on her camera."

"What?"

"Come here!" Mullen grabbed Winston's wrist and dragged him to his office. He grabbed a few pieces of paper and handed them to Winston.

"These photos are zoomed in from Denise's videos. Those dumbasses either weren't aware she was filming or they didn't care. She caught them on tape multiple times. She didn't realize she was being watched."

Winston flipped through the photographs. One was zoomed into the blinds on Denise's sliding door. The empty eyes of Greg Sullivan were peering in at her. In another, Grant Bowers was standing in the woods. The photo was zoomed in behind Denise. The top of her shoulder was in the frame.

In another, Denise was sitting in her car. Grant Bowers was standing a few feet behind the car. You could clearly see him in the sunlight. His camouflage jacket didn't blend in with the stone driveway.

"She stayed up from Sunday night to Sunday night. If I had to guess, she stayed up around a hundred and sixty hours. It's not the exact time, but it's close."

"So we have the evidence, we just need Bowers and Sullivan."

"Yes, but I'm not sure how we're going to get them." Mullen scratched the back of his head.

"Greg was staying at Lindsay's house."

"Not anymore. An officer checked her house. It's on the other side of the woods, remember? When the officer asked to search the property, there was nobody around."

"He could come back."

"I doubt it. He knows we're trying to find him. I hate the man, but he's not completely clueless."

"I hate that you're right."

"Winston, you want to know something crazy?"

"What?"

Mullen shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I think Denise was hallucinating her sister and her mom. I think they were trying to warn her about her death."

"Are you hearing yourself?" Winston shook his head, "that's crazy."

"I'm serious! It was either hallucinations or ghosts. There's a video of her describing seeing her mom and sister while she's at a motel."