LISA
"What's beyond these woods?" I ask the sheriff as he tries to blatantly ignore me.
He's at least 6'3 in height. He looks like he spends more time in the gym than any county sheriff I've ever seen. His active deputies are more plentiful than small town sheriff departments I've been around in the past.
One town hall/sheriff's department is large enough to host all the deputies also, and it appears Delaney Grove is their central headquarters, so to speak. The police department has five officers on its own, but the county? So many more.
Twenty-three deputies? Who needs that many in a county this small.
"I asked a question," I say with authority, eyeing down the man with salt-and-pepper hair and dead eyes.
I should have come sooner. I'd have seen more than I expected. Already I see too much Bambam and Minnie missed on their visit here.
"Four or five hunters' cabins, and a whole lot of wild life you city girls and boys don't want to tangle with," he says shortly, his tone thick with condescension.
He turns back to Johnson before glancing to one deputy. "You show these folks around. I'm going to go with SSA Johnson back to the fort."
"The fort?" Minnie asks.
"It's what he calls our town hall," one of the deputies says, grinning at her like she's his type.
She casts a glare at Jackson when he snickers.
I'm happy to get the sheriff and Johnson out of our hair, so I don't object to them leaving us behind.
"Okay," Minnie mumbles to the deputy who is still beaming at her. The kid practically has hearts in his eyes. "They seriously don't have women here, do they?" she adds.
"Not in uniform, ma'am," the guy tells her, following us as we go to peer into the woods.
A hunter's cabin would be ideal for our killer. He could come and go without being in plain sight. "The women who work in uniform are only in dispatch. Just two. Tonya and Tasha. They have a different office though."
At least Minnie can get some information from her new admirer.
Somi is supposed to be bringing Roseanne with her when she drives in. Somi couldn't leave first thing this morning because there was a Delaney Grove related killing last night. Two towns over, in fact. Though no one here has wanted to talk about the death of Lucas Wong.
In fact, no one wants to talk about any of the deaths or the people who died.
We need to dig into his past and interview his family, just as we have all the victims, but SSA dipshit is making that difficult, since he refused to change the plans of coming here today. Why the rush?
And why did the unsub kill him quickly, compared to the others. It was definitely torture to be set on fire, and he was most likely castrated-they're still trying to determine when the penis was removed, due to the scorched remains.
Words I never thought I'd say.
"These are your cabins," the deputy tells us, resting his hands on his gun belt like he's Barney Fyffe. Grinning like him too.
"Okay," Minnie says, eyeing him. "We've already seen the cabins."
"I'm supposed to escort you in while they hold the town meeting, and escort you anywhere you need to go in case you need something."
"We're going to walk around and question the townspeople some," Minnie tells the lurker.
His eyes widen, and he shakes his head emphatically.
