Garvey's Revenge

Chapter 26

The weekend was hell for Matt. He barely slept or ate. When he did sleep, it was on an old cot in the station's basement. He couldn't bear going home to an empty house with nothing, but his thoughts. His thoughts of Jodi. Telling her – admitting to her - that he loved her and her not responding. Her silence in that moment was worse than the things she had said before that moment. Matt shook his head like he could shake away the memory and the feelings of that rejection.

He looked at his watch. It was almost 7:30 on Monday morning. Patty would be coming in to start her shift on the switchboard. The student receptionist would be coming in at eight and Williamson would be coming in to relieve Goldman, who worked the night shift. Dalton was on leave.

He sat in his office going over case notes. Matt and Williamson had tried the phone number they got from D.J. Jones days ago. It was disconnected. They had run the plate numbers that Dex gave them of the truck that took Joe away. The truck had been reported stolen, but they found out that the company filed an insurance claim on it because the cops in Sedona found it burnt to a crisp. The Sedona cops had sent the truck to a junkyard where it was compacted the same day it arrived. Whatever physical evidence that was on that truck had been destroyed. They still haven't found Joe's car.

No usable evidence was found at Danielle and David's house. Matt stopped his train of thought. Joe's death didn't have anything to do with Danielle and David's death. Two dots made a line, not a pattern.

Matt's office door swung open. It was Goldman. "Sheriff, you better get out here to the switchboard."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, Kathy Dandridge is on the line demanding that Patty send out an officer to scrub the dead skin off her feet again." That was the only time he was ever needed on the switchboard.

"No. Patty picked up the line to a woman screaming. She can't get her to calm down long enough to tell her what is going on."

He sprung up from his chair. He followed Goldman to the switchboard. Williamson walked through the front door. He was dumbfounded when he saw Goldman and Matt looking serious as they went into the switchboard room.

"Sheriff, I can't get her to calm down," Patty said with wide eyes.

Matt stuck his hand out for her headset. Patty took them off and gave them to him. He could hear high-pitched shrieking before he put them on, but he put them on nevertheless.

He yelled over her. "Ma'am. Ma'am. We're here to help, but we need you to calm yourself as much as possible and tell us what the problem is."

Her screaming stopped, but now she was crying – loudly.

"This is Sheriff Matt Kirby. Can you give me your location?"

The woman started hyperventilating, but she said something tangible. "Sheriff . . . Hattie . . . office."

Matt covered the microphone. He looked between Goldman and Patty. "She said sheriff, Hattie, and office. Does that mean anything to either one of you?"

Goldman looked confused. He shook his head.

"Wait, is that Hattie from Lester's office?" Patty asked.

Matt uncovered the mic. "Hattie? Is this Hattie? Lester Jenkins's secretary?"

"Yes . . . yes . . . help . . . please send help," she cried.

"Are you at Lester's office?"

"Yes, please hurry."

"Okay, I'm coming, but I want you to stay on the line with Patty. She's going to talk to you until we get there." Matt swung the headset off his head and gave it back to Patty.