“Back off, Nadine,” he said and managed to close the door.
“My husband had nothing to do with that money,” Abby said. “He was cleared months ago. I can’t imagine why that reporter is asking about that now.”
“The San Antonio D.A. is concerned your husband’s disappearance and Adam Sandoval’s could be related.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
The sheriff said, “Maybe.” He set his hat on a nearby table and said, “We had a local boy, Tommy Carr, who got a dose of that bad vaccine. It put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Folks in this part of the state are still pretty riled.”
“We knew someone, too, who was injured,” Abby said. “That’s how Nick ended up representing the families of the victims, but I still don’t see—”
“This is a small community. Everybody around here knows Tommy and his parents; they kept a close eye on the case. They celebrated when your husband got Helix to take responsibility. Nick Bennett got to be kind of a household name locally. What happened to Tommy was a tragedy, but it would have been a lot worse if your husband hadn’t gone to bat for those kids. The money they were awarded is the only way their families could afford to care for them properly. Now all that is in jeopardy again.”
“Not because of Nick. He didn’t take that money. Call his law firm, if you don’t believe me. Call the Houston police detectives who investigated. He hated what Adam—”
“But they were friends, weren’t they? Outside the courtroom, I mean.”
“Acquaintances. They knew each other in college. Adam called sometimes when he came to Houston, and he and Nick would go out for a beer. But Nick had no idea Adam was embezzling that money. I remember when he was arrested, Nick said he had financial problems. He and his wife were divorcing. He was going to have to pay a lot of alimony. He was desperate.”
“Did you know Sandoval’s wife? Did you socialize as couples?”
“Why are you giving me the third degree? My family’s out there somewhere, they could be injured, they need your help!”
“There are a lot of folks missing, ma’am, and we need to be certain that we’re using the resources we have to assist those whose need is genuine.”
“What about my daughter? Do you suspect her, too?” Panic thinned Abby’s voice.
The sheriff kept her gaze.
“You know something, don’t you?” Abby’s heart stumbled. “What is it? What have you found out?”
“Nothing. I’m just trying to figure out what direction they might have gone in.”
“Abby? What’s going on?” Kate came to Abby’s side.
“He’s asking me about Helix Belle.”
“Why?” Kate asked the sheriff.
“I had a call from the San Antonio DA’s office. Obviously the local media got wind of it, since Nadine was here asking questions.”
“Nadine Betts?” Kate rolled her eyes. “She’s an idiot.”
“A call about what? What does any of this have to do with Nick and my daughter?” Abby demanded.
“Sandoval, or a man resembling him, was caught on some surveillance tape on Tuesday outside a bank in San Antonio. He was with another man matching Nick’s description,” Dennis said.
“No,” Abby said, shaking her head emphatically. “There’s no way it could be Nick. He was in Houston, working. He was home for dinner that evening.”
“You were with him at his office?” the sheriff asked.
“No, but I—”
“I think the drive between Houston and San Antonio is, what? Three, three and a half hours?”
“Dennis, you do realize this is ridiculous.” Kate wasn’t asking.
He rubbed a line between his eyebrows.
“This is just another ploy,” Abby said. “Another way the Helix Belle legal team is trying to get the spotlight off themselves. It’s what they did before. They tried to implicate Nick.” She spoke strongly over the sound of Lindsey’s voice that vied for her attention: We spent last night in San Antonio, Lindsey had said. Dad says we’re taking the scenic route. But the two things, the possibility that Nick had been in San Antonio on Tuesday and again with Lindsey on Saturday, weren’t related, Abby told herself. They couldn’t be.
“I’m sorry to have to question you this way,” the sheriff said, “but it’s part of my job to look at all the angles.”
Kate slipped her arm around Abby’s shoulders. “I’m telling you, I’ve known the Bennetts a long time, Dennis. Nick may not be perfect, but he wouldn’t take money from sick kids and run away with it, trust me.”
“He wouldn’t run away, period.” Abby pulled free of Kate’s grasp. “Not with my daughter. You can’t stop looking for them. Please—” Her voice broke.
The sheriff stepped toward her; he kept her gaze and reassured her the search would continue. Abby had the sense that he was moved by her plea, that he meant to touch her. He was close enough that she could feel his warmth and smell the starch rising out of the damp creases of his uniform shirt. It was an odd moment, out of time, but Abby was comforted by it. And then it was over. He stepped back, recovering in an instant the aura of his authority, his natural suspicion. He was paid for that, Abby thought. He was a cop, after all, conducting a cop’s business. Nevertheless she wanted to believe him, to believe it was kindness she saw in the gravity of his expression.
The sheriff apologized again. “It’s procedure,” he said. “Routine in these cases,” he added.
“Routine?” Abby said. What about any of this was routine?
* * *
It was after midnight when Kate led Abby into her guest room and made her lie down.
“I won’t sleep,” Abby said.
“At least close your eyes.” Kate pulled off Abby’s borrowed tennis shoes and lifted her sock-clad feet onto the bed.
“I should call Mama and Louise.”
“It’s late. Why don’t you just rest now?”
Abby looked at Kate. “I don’t care what the sheriff thinks or that reporter. They’re way off base.”
Kate took Abby’s hand. “But it would be so much more interesting if they weren’t. Nadine especially would love it. The biggest thing she ever gets to report is when someone’s cow gets loose. Now a celebrity is missing.”
“Nick isn’t a celebrity. Why do you say things about him like that? Why did you say that before, that he wasn’t perfect? Why would you put it that way?”
Kate groaned softly. “I knew you were mad.”
“I’m surprised you don’t believe he robbed the settlement fund, too.”
“Oh, Abby.” Kate sounded hurt and half annoyed, and she had a right to be, but Abby wouldn’t yield. She rose on one elbow to peer hotly at Kate. “Maybe you know something about where Nick was going. Is that it? Do you?”
“I wish I did, but he’d never confide in me.”
Abby fell back, crooking her elbows over her eyes. She felt sick with rage and the effort of steeling her nerves to take the next blow. She wondered if she would survive, if she was strong enough. “What if no one finds them, Katie?”
“Oh, Abby, don’t. Don’t go there.”
How