The Wolf Code

 Addie was childless, and she had every right to leave her home without telling her family.  The extra steps she took that could be interpreted as foul play were annoying, but there was still no law against it.  The fact that the Sheriff couldn’t see that made Senora believe that he was one of those that thought that anything that inconvenienced him should be punished, and he was irritated that the judge didn’t see fit to twist the law to make an example of Addie.

   Senora took in the scene around them.  The parking lot on this side of the building was empty except for Addie’s car, and the business was running entirely on the east side of the parking lot.  The scene hadn’t been touched prior to her getting there, and it didn’t really line up with what the Sheriff was telling her.  If they didn’t take Addie seriously, why had they been so careful with the scene?

“Has someone been stationed here since the car was found last night?”  Senora asked. 

She didn’t want to come out and ask the Sheriff the obvious, but maybe if she worked her way around her real question, he would answer it without realizing that she had led him there.  She couldn’t risk him getting defensive, and right now, he was one of the few leads that she had.  In a town with a population under three thousand, Senora couldn’t believe that no one had seen what happened to Addie, but until someone else came forward, Senora didn’t have much to go on.

“There’s been someone around the clock since we found the car.”

“And no one searched the car?”

“The responding officer looked in the car, but as soon as we got word that you’d been called, we stepped back to leave it for you.”

Why was he acting so odd about this?

“How did you find out about the car?  Wasn’t the business closed?”

“They roll the sidewalks up at nightfall here,” the Sheriff drawled with a wry smile.  “We found out from Addie’s mother, Mabel, that the car was here, and we came to tape off the scene then.  When she told us that the car was there, she also informed us that she’d already called the FBI hotline.  We decided we would leave it to the big boys, but then they sent you.”

Senora wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of reacting to his comment.

“Why not tape it off and leave?”

“I guess I don’t understand your question, Agent Edwards.  Are you not happy with the job we’ve done?”

“It’s not that.  It just seems out of character.  I guess what I’m wondering is why you appear to be taking this so seriously when you’re certain that she is not a victim and is faking her disappearance again.  Are you taking this seriously or are you just covering your ass?”

“A little of both.”

“Why?”

He smiled at her then, and the expression reminded her of a cartoon snake.  She shuddered inwardly, but she held her composure on the outside.  She would have to watch her back around this man, but she didn’t want him to know that she didn’t trust him because it went both ways in her line of work, and she needed him on her side.

When he finally spoke, the callousness of his statement made her blood run cold even in the hundred-degree heat.

“Even the boy who cried wolf eventually got what was coming to him.”

Senora was so shocked, she couldn’t hide the appalled look on her face.

“Are you saying that if she was kidnapped, this time that she deserved it?” she asked, trying to tamp down her anger. 

Was he serious?  There was no way that she had heard him right.

“I’m saying that I don’t care for people that waste police resources just to get attention.  If you enjoy running around looking for someone who just wants people to notice her, then I guess that’s on you, Little Lady.”  Senora’s blood boiled at the dig, but the Sheriff wasn’t done.  “And if she did get kidnapped this time, it’s only because she’s made sure that her name is in the paper at least twice a year.  Probably, some guy realized that she was the perfect target, since no one would believe her.  Now, tell me, FBI Agent, whose fault is it if that’s the case?”

He waited for her to answer, but Senora just shook her head.  She wasn’t going to give him a response. 

Senora went around to the passenger side and used her gloved hand to open the door.  She needed to put some distance between herself and the Sheriff so she could calm down.  He was heartless, and she got the impression that he was enjoying himself and feeling vindicated by Addie’s disappearance.  His comments had stunned her, but not as much as they should have.  It wasn’t out of the ordinary for local law enforcement to feel that way about troubled men and women who found themselves in real trouble the way Addie obviously had, but most were classy enough to keep it to themselves.  She guessed that his blunt nature was that brutal Texas honesty she’d heard so much about.  She just wasn’t expecting to hear it without at least a little Southern Charm sprinkled in. 

Senora pushed the button that opened the glove compartment, and a stack of wrinkled and wadded papers tumbled out.  Senora didn’t have to read them to know that they were tickets.  A quick glance told her all she needed to know, and only two signatures appeared on what must have been a few dozen violations.  Almost all of those signatures were the Sheriff’s.

I guess he knows her better than he let on, Senora thought, but she didn’t say a word, and she was glad when she looked up and saw that the Sheriff’s back was turned and he was talking to one of the other officers.

“I’ve got everything I need,” she said after shoving the tickets back into the glove compartment before the Sheriff noticed what she’d found.  “Please have the car towed back to impound, but instruct them to leave it sealed until I say otherwise.”

As she spoke, she used the special evidence tape to seal each door and the trunk shut, scribbling her initials across each piece of tape, though she doubted that anyone had access to the official FBI evidence tape.  She was covering her bases like she always did, and considering the way that the Sheriff was acting, she wouldn’t put it past any of the men that worked under him to do something to break the chain of evidence.  She needed it to stay untainted, just in case.