The Cold Road (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

As the conversation faded into the past, James found himself looking less and less forward to arriving back into town. Perette would have rung ahead immediately; Plant would be waiting for him and there would be nothing that James could say to get off lightly. He thumped the steering wheel angrily and swore. He knew how the kidnapping took place, he knew who by and why. What he did not know was how to prove it all. That was what Plant needed, he would not move unless there was solid evidence. He would not risk moving against a member of the population with influential friends. Friends who could get guilty people out of jail. But who told Perette?

Trees and signs flashed by and James steered around the corners and safely down the road, though he was unaware of his body doing so. He was thinking. Who knew about Amsler. It was just the rest of the officers and himself. He remembered the night before, the seven people in robes. One of them was Paul Perette, he was sure the head speaker was Belberra, one was surely Amsler, maybe even his wife, or both. That left three or four unaccounted for.

'Man, you are in some deep shit now, Jimmy Boy,' said Franks as James entered the office. He was sitting in his chair by his desk, licking sugar off the fingers on one hand while signing a form with the other.

'Don't call me Jimmy Boy,' James told him, sitting down in his chair and sliding over to Franks. 'What do you know about the BOLO put out on Catherine White? Who gave the order for that?'

Someone went over his head, one of the officers that came by that morning must have told Plant. What he could not work out was why Plant would go over his head.

'Damned if I know.' Franks shrugged. 'White's one of your suspects, not mine.'

'But she's related to your victim?' pressed James.

'So what?' replied Franks, frowning at James. 'As far as I am concerned, White had nothing to do with the murder of her son, or the murder of any of the other's. She could barely walk without her cane, how could she peel and fuck a bunch of men? However,' he shrugged, 'cane or no cane, I don't believe she would be incapable of kidnapping a girl. You have to admit, she does suit the criteria for a suspect.'

'Fuck you, Franks,' snarled James. 'So you know why she's got a BOLO on her, you also know that as I'm no further to proving Perette's guilt, time is running out and Plant is going to force me to focus all my efforts on finding White.'

'Hey!' objected Franks. 'I'm a detective too; I've been working with you on the case as well. It's easy to see White fits the mold. Lindsey disappears and then Catherine goes after her. It's not looking good for her, not now that we've got a tape from her sister saying Catherine never arrived. As for you proving Perette's guilt, you know what I think on that. Why don't you try, for a change, to believe for once the solid evidence in front of you.'

'I can't, because I see the evidence painted in a different light. If, and if is what I think is going to happen, we bring in White and find she is innocent by that time Lindsey Perette will be dead and way out of my hands.'

'If that happens, remember who twisted the case from you and ordered you to look in a different direction,' Franks said, winking covertly and indicating with his head in the direction of Plant's office. 'The blame won't be on you.'

James scoffed, pushing himself back to his desk. 'It'll be on me for not stopping him.'

Franks studied him. James felt his eyes boring into his back as he slouched over his desk. Weariness seeping into his every movement as he poured over his notebook of facts.

'I can't believe I'm actually saying this to you,' exclaimed Franks in a voice just above a whisper. 'You're talking as if Plant has already forced your hand. Well bugger that, he hasn't. There is still time, and I do actually think there is some truth to a detective's intuition and going with his gut. I see nothing wrong with Perette and his wife, except certain stuck up natures, but I'm not in possession of all the facts. Just because Plant thinks all activity should be focused on White doesn't mean you have to do all the focusing. That's what Jeb and the other officers are for.'