If She Hid

She was doing exactly that as they got back into the car. Kate felt a sudden feeling of energy wash over her. They had a lead, the involvement of the local PD, and most of the day still ahead of them. As she pulled out of the Pettuses’ driveway, she couldn’t help but feel just a little hopeful.

CHAPTER FOUR

Although DeMarco had gotten a very clear address from Barnes, Kate couldn’t help but wonder if Barnes had been wrong or if something had been lost in the transfer of communication. She saw the address five minutes after passing into the Deerfield town limits, plastered on the side of a dingy mailbox in black letters. But, like most everything else in Deerfield, Virginia, everything beyond the mailbox was open field and forest.

Roughly two feet from the mailbox, she saw the sketch-like lines of what she assumed was a driveway. Weeds had sprouted up along the side, hiding most of the entrance. She turned into the driveway and found herself on a narrow dirt road that led to a wider open space several yards ahead. She guessed she was looking into a large front yard that had simply not seen a mower in a very long time. There were three cars, two of which looked like total losses, parked in the yard. They were positioned along a dirt strip that served as the end of the driveway.

A few feet away from the cars, tucked not too far away from the tree line of the expansive forest beyond, was a doublewide trailer. It was the type that was decorated very much like a house from the outside and, if it had been properly cared for, would look like a rather nice place. But the front porch looked slightly slanted, one of the railings having fallen completely off. There was also a loose gutter on the right side of the house and, of course, the savagely overgrown yard.

Kate and DeMarco parked behind the junked cars and slowly made their way to the house. The grass, which was mainly weeds, came up to Kate’s knees.

“I feel like I’m on some deranged safari,” DeMarco said. “Got a machete?”

Kate only chuckled, her eyes on the front door. Stereotypes and Anne Pettus’s information made her feel like she already knew what they would find inside: Jeremy Branch and his older brother, sitting around doing nothing. The place would probably smell like dust and mild garbage, maybe even like marijuana. There would be beer bottles scattered round cheap furniture, all of which would be pointed at a relatively nice television set. She’d seen the set-up countless times before, particularly when it came to young freeloaders living in rural areas.

They made their way up to the porch and Kate knocked on the door. She could hear the murmur of music coming from inside, something heavy but at a low volume. She also heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. When it opened several seconds later, she was greeted by a young-looking man dressed in a tank top and a pair of khaki shorts. A five o’clock shadow bordered his face. His entire left arm was covered in tattoos and both ears were pierced.

He smiled at the sight of the two women on his porch at first but then the reality of the situation seemed to catch up with him. It wasn’t just two women—it was two women dressed in a professional manner with serious looks on their faces.

“Who are you?” he asked.

DeMarco showed her badge, taking a step closer to the door. “Agents DeMarco and Wise,” she said. “We were hoping to get a word with Jeremy Branch.”

The young man looked legitimately confused and slightly scared. He took a small step back away from the door, looking back and forth between them with caution. “That’s…well, that’s me. But what do you need me for?”

“We assume you’ve heard the news about a girl over in Deton by now,” Kate said. “A girl by the name of Mercy Fuller.”

The look on his face told Kate all she needed to know. Without saying a word, Jeremy all but confirmed that he knew Mercy. He nodded and then looked back into the trailer, maybe for assistance from his older brother.

“Can you confirm that for me?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, I heard. She went missing. Her parents were killed, right?”

“Right. Mr. Branch, can we please come in and talk for a moment?”

“Well, it’s not my place. It belongs to my brother. And I don’t know if he…”

“I don’t know if you know how this works or not,” Kate said. “We’d like to come in and chat. We can do it here or, based on what we’ve heard about you, we can do it at the police station over in Deton. It’s your choice.”

“Oh,” he said. The kid looked absolutely cornered, like a threatened animal looking for a way out. “Well, then, I guess I can—”

He then interrupted himself by slamming the door in their faces. After the thunderous slam and a quick jerk back from the unexpected action, Kate could hear quick footfalls in the house.

“He’s on the run,” Kate said.

But before she could open the door again, DeMarco was already leaping down from the porch and heading to the back of the trailer. Kate drew her sidearm, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

She heard just a few more footsteps from further in the trailer and then the sound of another door opening. A back door, Kate thought. Hopefully DeMarco will cut him off.

Kate raced through the house, finding that her assumptions were right. There was a very faint aroma of pot, mixed with the smell of spilled beer. As she ran through the kitchen, she entered a hallway that led back toward two bedrooms. There, at the end of the hall, a back door was still wobbling in its frame from someone having just run out of it. She sprinted to the door and pushed it open, ready to attack if necessary. But she had seen the fear in Jeremy’s eyes. He was not going to attack at all; he had every intention of outrunning them. And if he made it to the woods no more than fifteen feet away from the back door, he might very well be able to do it.

She saw him, streaking toward the tree line, but then she also saw DeMarco. She was closing in from the left side of the house. She wasn’t bothering to draw her weapon or to scream for Jeremy to stop. Kate was astounded by just how fast her partner was, barreling after Jeremy at a speed that easily bested the teenager’s.

She caught up to him just as Jeremy had reached the first line of trees that led into the forest. DeMarco reached out, grabbed his shoulder, and spun him around to face her. In doing so, Jeremy ended up spinning like a top, making an entire three-hundred-sixty-degree spin before losing his balance and falling to the ground.

Kate hurried down a shaky set of back steps and joined DeMarco, helping her to handcuff Jeremy Branch.

“When you run,” Kate said, “it makes us think you have something to hide. And you also just made our choice easier. We’ll be talking to you down at the station.”

Jeremy Branch had nothing to say to this. He panted heavily as DeMarco hauled him to his feet with his hands cuffed behind his back. He looked bewildered and out of sorts as they walked him to their car. And when he looked nervously back toward the trailer, Kate was pretty sure she’d find enough suspicious evidence to get Jeremy and his brother in quite a bit of trouble, even aside from the disappearance of Mercy Fuller.

***

The search inside the house did not take long. While DeMarco remained outside, Kate scoured the place and within fifteen minutes, had found more than enough to get the Branch brothers into a lot of trouble.

Half a pound of cocaine had been found in one of the bedrooms, along with half a dozen ecstasy pills. In the other bedroom, there were several plastic baggies of pot, another dozen ecstasy pills, and a few containers of prescription pain medicine. The real kicker had come when Kate had found a small black notebook beneath the bed of the second bedroom. It looked to be a tally book of sorts, recording who owed money and for what.

She also figured out that the first bedroom she’d checked was Jeremy Branch’s. She knew this because of a rather provocative picture sitting on his bedside, featuring himself and Mercy Fuller, who was mostly undressed. But she could find no journals, no laptop, nothing that might lend clues as to his involvement in her disappearance or the deaths of her parents.

She did find one thing of note, though. Something that answered at least one question. In the small bathroom just off of Jeremy’s bedroom, Kate found a new travel-sized toothpaste, female deodorant, and a new miniature-sized toothbrush. Apparently, Mercy had bought those things to keep here, trying to cover up any traces of having been physical with a boy before she went home.

She headed back outside, wading through the tall grass for the car. “All of the travel-sized stuff is in Jeremy’s bathroom. Apparently, Mercy was keeping it all here.”

“That’s…cute, I guess?”

“Or a bit obsessive,” Kate suggested as she got behind the wheel. “Also, we now know one of the reasons he ran.”

From the back, Jeremy spoke up, his voice panicked and ringed with fear. “All of that stuff is my brother’s.”

“So he was just keeping some of it in your room, then?”

“Yeah, he sells it and…and…”

“Save your wind for the station,” Kate said. “Truth be told, the drugs are only secondary right now.”

“I had nothing to do with Mercy or her parents,” he said. “I swear.”

“I hope not,” Kate said as she started the car forward. “But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

CHAPTER FIVE

This time, when they entered the Deton Police Station, the large desk at the front of the bullpen was occupied by a woman who looked like she had been planted there and had never left. She was easily sixty years of age and when she looked up at Kate, DeMarco, and Jeremy Branch, she gave a well-rehearsed smile. When she realized what was going on, though, the smile faded and she was all business.

“You the agents?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am,” DeMarco said. “Where can we park Mr. Branch here?”

“The interrogation room for right now. I’ll get the sheriff on the phone and let him know you’re here. Follow me.”