“Thanks, Coleman. Mr. Bayless, this is one of my finest officers. I’m sure you won’t mind answering a few questions from him.”
“I don’t mind at all.” The man had a slight lisp, and his accent placed him from somewhere back East. Likely Boston or somewhere in Maine. “I’m very impressed you have a blind man on your force, Sheriff.”
He didn’t want to show all his cards. “Mr. Bayless, I’m more of a consultant.”
Bayless shook his hand. “Whatever you are, it’s impressive to me. My work with the blind and disabled gives me a unique perspective into your world, Deputy. I’m certain that those around you underestimate your abilities. Am I right?”
Jaris shrugged, believing the man was only trying to soften him up with compliments. “I can get around pretty well, thanks to Sugar.”
“She’s beautiful. One of Ms. Anderson’s?”
“Yes. I understand you train service dogs, too. Tell me about that.”
Mr. Bayless went into detail about his work. It was clear the man did have a great deal of knowledge about canines. Jaris didn’t have to ask too many questions, as Bayless was a man who seemed to like to dominate conversations. Good thing. Made the job of an interrogator easier. But even listening to all Bayless said, he couldn’t find a crack in his story. Was he telling the truth? Jaris’s gut told him Bayless was holding something back.
“I have the dogs in the back of my van. Would you like to meet them, Deputy? I’m sure Ms. Anderson would.”
“Ms. Anderson can meet them later, but I would like to meet your dogs now.”
Chapter Eleven
Jaris walked into the sheriff’s office with Sugar. He had a million questions but no answers so far. There were too many loose ends that needed to be tied up.
Potter had shot Kaylyn. He didn’t buy his story one bit. The four dogs were still missing. Lunceford was still gunning for Belle. A stranger showed up at Kaylyn’s door with an offer to give her four dogs. None of it was adding up. Were these things somehow connected? I can’t put my finger on it, but I’m sure they are.
“Good. Everyone is here. Have a seat, Jaris,” Sheriff Wolfe said. “I’m glad you convinced Kaylyn to stay at her house with Chance.”
“And I’m glad you have Dylan and Nicole guarding her place. Who else is here?”
The sheriff informed him that Jena, Sean, and Matt were present. These three were quite the tech team. They knew hardware, software, and electronic tracking better than anyone. Sean and Matt were members of Shannon’s Elite and had been with the CIA for several years already. Jena, their new wife and former hacker, also was a member of the Agency’s local team.
Jaris was ready to get down to business. “Tell me what you have so far on Bayless.”
“He’s seems to be cooperating fully,” Jason said. “The man has handed over all his identification and given us all his credentials.”
“So far we haven’t found anything in Bayless’s records that seems out of the ordinary.” Jena’s voice was similar in some ways to Kaylyn’s, reminding him he needed to get through this briefing and back to her and Chance. There was a lot he wanted to tell them.
“I’ll give the okay to Kaylyn about taking Bayless up on his offer. He can bring his dogs to the Boys Ranch. Lyle can make sure his dogs get the rest of Kaylyn’s training and are ready for their new owners. Chance and I will stay close to Kaylyn.”
“I’ll keep tabs on Bayless to make sure he doesn’t have some other agenda,” Jason said.
“Good idea, Sheriff.” Jaris was glad this man wore a badge. Destiny was in good hands. He turned his attention to Jena, Sean, and Matt. “Please keep digging into Bayless’s records.”
“We will,” Sean said. “Don’t worry about that.”
“What about Potter and his four supposed physician friends? Anything on that front?”
“No,” Matt answered. “Like Bayless’s records, all nice and clean.”
Jaris felt Sugar shift at his feet. He patted her on the head. She always could tell when something was bothering him. “I just don’t have
a good feeling about any of it, Sheriff.”
“Neither do I, but I need something to go on before I can make any arrests.”
“I understand. What about Lunceford and his sister?”
“All is quiet.”