No response.
“The mayor told me that you and he go way back. That you went to high school together in Grand Junction.”
“That’s right.”
“Any chance Theodore Mathias went to that same school?”
No response.
“Nico Kostas? Milo Sanchez?”
No response.
“Larry, you’ve got to give me something here.”
“I don’t have to give you anything.”
Christ. Either this man was terminally stubborn, or he truly was afraid for his life.
“Fine.” I stared straight at him, through the glass, into his vacant blue eyes. “One last thing. You might want to do something before you go to sleep tonight.”
“What?”
“Say your fucking prayers. It’ll be a long night.”
Chapter Thirty–Six
Melanie
Jonah had gone into the city, so Talon came over in the late afternoon for our session. I needed an enclosed space, where we could have quiet, so I decided on one of the vacant bedrooms. Unfortunately, Talon was used to sitting in my recliner during his sessions. The best I could do was either a rocking chair or a bed.
“That’s fine,” Talon said. “I’ll lie on the bed.”
“Are you sure? You never wanted to lie on the couch in my office.”
“Yeah, but that was when I was new to therapy. I’ll be fine. I no longer feel so…vulnerable. Plus, lying on a shrink’s couch—that’s just so cliché.”
“This will seem a little different because we’re not in my office, but it will basically be the same thing. I’ll take you back to the beach, like the other times. Then we’ll go from there. Is that all right?”
“Yes. Whatever you think is best.” He sat down on the bed and pulled his legs over, laying his head on the pillow. He squirmed and fidgeted a bit.
“Let’s get you a little comfortable first,” I said. “How are things going? With the ranch? Jade?”
“Good. I’m still taking terrible advantage of my foreman. He’s been really understanding about the extra workload. I love having Jade at the house. We talk every night after dinner.”
“How’s her work going?”
“She’s overworked. There’s only one attorney, so everything falls on her. And now, with the mayor missing, she has even more going on.”
Of course. The mayor was missing. Bryce had told Joe and me earlier. In fact, I was possibly the last person to have seen him in the Snow Creek hardware store before he disappeared.
But I couldn’t tell Talon any of this. At least not yet.
“The mayor’s missing?” I said.
“Yes. He just up and vanished sometime last week. Now a lot of his stuff has fallen on Jade as well.”
“He doesn’t have a deputy mayor?”