Connor opened the exam room door.
“For Victor,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY
By the time Selena and Connor returned to the sheriff’s department, the search for Marlene Schmidt had spread across Harlan County.
Radio traffic came in broken pieces from every direction.A deputy is checking the creek road.A highway patrol unit is moving toward the county line.Arnold reporting from the neighborhood behind Victor's house, breathless from walking through brush and backyards.Someone had seen a woman matching Marlene's description near a drainage ditch, then the sighting fell apart when the woman turned out to be an elderly neighbor looking for her escaped spaniel.No street cameras had picked her up, though that part of the county had very few.
Selena stood near the dispatch counter with a fresh ache pulsing under the dressing at the back of her head.
Cheryl glanced at it more than once but said nothing.That was rare enough to count as concern.
Connor stood in the middle of the room with a county map spread across the front desk, hat pushed back, sleeves rolled to his forearms.The anger that had driven him at Renee’s house had been sealed away for now.In its place was a clipped, practical command Selena had not seen enough of since Victor’s murder.
“Arnold,” Connor said into the radio, “take Carter Lane and split off toward the ditch behind the old feed store.Don’t go into the woods alone.You hear me?”
Arnold’s voice crackled back.“Copy that.”
“Chuck, where are you?”
A heavier voice answered.“Just cleared Harper Road.”
"Good.Work the houses between Harper and Mason Pike.Knock on every door.Ask if anyone saw Marlene on foot, missing one shoe, gray sweater, dark pants."
“Understood.”
“Don’t spook people,” Connor said.“We need sightings, not rumors.”
Chuck gave a dry laugh.“In this county?I’ll do my best.”
Connor leaned over the map and marked a point with his finger.“Cheryl, call highway patrol again.Tell them to add eyes on both approaches to Route 32.”
Cheryl already had the phone in her hand.“Right away, Chief.”
Selena watched him work.
This was the version of Connor that people trusted.Not the man who stormed out rather than hear Marlene's name spoken as a suspect.Connor moved the department around the county like he understood every road, field, and back path because he had learned them with his boots and tires across half a lifetime.
Competence did not erase reckless judgment.
It only made it harder to dismiss.
Connor looked at the map again.“Marlene knows these streets.She grew up two blocks from Victor’s place.She’ll avoid main roads if she’s thinking straight.”
Selena stepped closer.“Is she thinking straight?”
“No.”
“Then she may head somewhere familiar instead of somewhere smart.”
Connor glanced at her.“Her mother’s is too far.”
“Friends?”
“Half the county, if you go back far enough.”
Cheryl hung up and turned from the desk.“Highway patrol’s got two units out.They’ll watch the exits and check vehicles if they get a reasonable match.”