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“No one can tell me I haven’t looked at every angle of this,” Dan said. “I have lived and breathed this case for years. I have never forgotten what happened out there. I have blamed myself for not being able to somehow prevent it. Sidney was seen near town before the murders. I should have known about it.”
“You’re not psychic, Dan,” Mac said. “Let it go. Let’s just work the problem in front of us, okay?”
Holland seemed to let some of the tension out of his shoulders. He still eyed me with skepticism, but maybe he was starting to believe I wasn’t the enemy.
“You called in the feds?” Dan asked Mac.
Mac nodded. “Northern Michigan Violent Crimes. A couple of the current members also served on Sidney’s task force back in the day. They’re sending Special Agent Maven and someone from the Marshals Service.”
“Maven’s still around?” Dan asked. “Good. So we won’t have to catch anybody up on ancient history.” Dan eyed me when he said it. “You okay with us using this office? They’re going to want to take possession of everything you’ve got here.”
“I’m not sure …” I started to answer.
“Of course,” Mac interrupted. I opened my mouth to protest further, but Dad touched my arm.
“You can use my office as command central if you want,” he said. “But this is Mercy’s work product. You’d be making a huge mistake if you try to shut her out now. She’s the only person Geneva Bell trusts. If you go barging in on that girl, she’ll shut down again.”
“Listen to them, Dan,” Mac said. “We all know what happened the last time. Geneva was nonverbal for weeks after that tragedy. We need her help. These recent threats to her were crimes committed in my county. I’m involved as much as, if not more than, you are now.”
“The murders happened in my jurisdiction,” Holland said under his breath. “But fine. I mean, of course, Sheriff.”
Mac gave me a look over Dan Holland’s shoulder. He was handling the guy. I felt ready to smack him.
“I need to be the one to explain to my client what’s going on,” I said. “If you want her to feel comfortable talking to any of you, I need to be there.”
“You’re not her lawyer,” Dan said.
“No,” Dad chimed in. “But I am.”
Mac threw me another look. Technically, Dad’s license was inactive. But Dan Holland didn’t need to know that right now.
“You need to be careful,” Dan said. “You don’t know what you think you know. If I get even a whiff that you’re trying to obstruct ...”
“Stand down. For Pete’s sake, Dan,” Mac said. He let out a huff and gestured to Dad and me to follow him outside the conference room.
Though I was reluctant to be ordered around in my own office, I could appreciate Mac being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
We went to the lobby. Mac turned. “You gotta back off a little,” he said. “And you have to trust me that Dan’s gonna do the right thing.”
“He’s the one who’s been obstructing me,” I said. “He has so far refused to share notes with me, Mac. For all I know, he’s the one who’s keeping something hidden. And he has no right to tell me how to interact with my own client. Geneva’s been through enough. Dan may be as good a cop as you say, but he’s burned with Geneva.”
“I know,” Mac sighed. “For what it’s worth, I’m on your side. Geneva’s a victim. And a hell of a survivor. I don’t want her hurt by this anymore.”
“Good,” I said. “Then we agree. I’m not breaking any laws by talking to her before Dan or the rest of this task force does. She trusts me. She’ll cooperate. I’m sure of it. But she’s gonna need me to hold her hand. She has to feel like she’s got someone she trusts on her side.”
Mac nodded. “Then you go do what you have to do. I can hold the fort down here.”
“So can I,” Dad said. “Nobody’s forcing me out of my own office. I don’t give a crap who they are.” He winked at me.
One more text from me to Geneva went without her reply. I didn’t like it. She was picking a very bad time to ghost me if that’s what this was.
“I’ll be back,” I said, deciding not to be explicit about where I was going. But I needed to see Geneva face to face before hell started to break loose in her life.
Again.
Chapter
Thirty-Three
