<Chapter 82-2
Claim
Chapter 82-2
As we drove past the motel, I glanced at it and wondered what the hell Morven was up to now.
The station was small. There were six desks at the front and two rooms in the front. “I’m guessing you’re the only detective,” I said as we walked in. Everyone inside stopped and stared at me.
“That I am,” he sighed and opened one of the doors. “I know it says interrogation, but the other room is currently being used.”
I doubted that very much.
Sitting on one side of the table, I glanced at the camera in the corner. Blinking red. That meant it was recording. So far, this seemed to be legitimate.
Detective Warnos was a tall and slender man with salt and pepper hair and round wire-ripped glasses. In his tan-colored suit, he somehow just looked like he followed the letter of the law.
“So, Mr. Ryker, what exactly are you doing visiting our little town? We don’t exactly get a lot of tourists. Your identification says you live in one of the communities closer to the peak.”
So he was going to try and make this a friendly conversation. I could play along. “I’m looking to expand my distribution route this year, and I wanted to see what you guys had to offer. As I’m sure you can imagine, we don’t exactly get sss this far up. I didn’t know if anyone here traveled up the mountain or if we could establish a designated holding area for goods.”
“I’m sure our stores would be delighted in your business,” the detective said without batting an eye. “The motel clerk said you bought out all the rooms. Any particular reason for that?”
“My wife and I are in a honeymoon period. We tend to be loud”
“Wife? I didn’t see any records for that.”
“We don’t really file for wedding certificates. What’s going on here, detective? Do all your out-of-towers get this level of scrutiny when they come visit?
The detective cleared his throat and pulled out a folder. He didn’t open it. Just let it sit on the table.
I looked at it with curiosity and raised my eyebrows. “What is that?”
He pushed the folder aside. “We’re going to get to this a little later. You should know that we found that missing woman.”
The hell they did. Where the fuck was he going with this? “That’s great. I’m assuming I’m here because she said I was involved. Do you need some sort of alibi or something? As you can see, I’m not exactly traveling alone.”
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<Chapter 82-2
“No, you aren’t. You’re traveling with a large crowd for someone on his honeymoon.”
“I’m mixing business with pleasure. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, we don’t get out much.”
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Warnos grunted and pulled out another file. This one, he opened. “It’s strange that there’s so many communities in the mountains. Kind of harsh living conditions. You also don’t seem to be under any police jurisdiction.”
“I guess that makes us your jurisdiction. Should we call you if we start having problems? It might just be easier if we get our own police station. Then you could move on.”
His jaw ticked, and I knew I’d hit a nerve. He didn’t even like being here. He would hate to be further up the mountain. “We’re not a cult, detective. We’re not criminals hiding out. We’re a large community. We pay our state and federal taxes. I’ve personally met with the state governor. I understand that we’re responsible for taking care of our own emergencies. But I’m not here because you’re interested in my community. I’m here because two women were reported missing, and you think that somehow has something to do with me. So either you tell me what I’m doing here, or I walk out of the station, and we go back up our mountain where you’ll never see me again.
The detective flipped open the file. There were two photos. One of Janelle and one of Kiana. It was one Morven must have had taken recently. “You’re here, Troy Ryker, because we have an eyewitness who not only identified you but followed you back to the motel last night.”
“Bullshit. I never left the motel last night. I didn’t kidnap any women.”
“Maybe not.” Warnos flipped the photos over and spun two new ones around. At the shocking
sight, my entire body went cold. “Maybe you just murdered them.”
She was nestled in the leaves, her eyes closed as if she were sleeping peacefully. Except of course for the blood dried all around her chest.
It was Kiana. Dead.
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