In any event, the conversation they did have about the Coopers echoed in her mind as she started her car. Bender responded, but he was actually farther away than Tess. Officer Gabe Bender, Boy-2, was more than capable of handling the call. But it was Tess’s discretion whether or not to respond, and she was curious about the situation, so she continued on, activating her lights and sirens and reaching the entrance to the park in less than ten minutes.

Blackberry Hollow was the only trailer park in Rogue’s Hollow. It was not a large park, and it was mostly seniors on fixed incomes, but Tess knew there were a couple of problem trailers. Her officers had made arrests for drugs and disturbing the peace in the park several times. There was, however, a park manager who took his job seriously, and she saw Henry Polk standing outside his unit, the first park space, when she pulled into the lot.

Tess shut down the siren and came to a stop as Henry walked up to her window, waving to catch her attention.

“Hi, Chief, thanks for getting here so fast. But Garrett took off right after I made the phone call. He’s gone.”

“What made you call?”

“Oh, it was horrible. He just went off. I was taking some wood to a space three doors down and I could hear it. Profanity, things breaking. The only good thing is I understand that the kids weren’t home; they’re either in school or at someone else’s house. If you ask me, that young man is wound just a tad too tight.”

“I’ll check it out.” Tess radioed Bender that she was on scene and asked him to look for Garrett’s truck. Tess hadn’t passed him on her way in, so there were only a couple places he could be if he left just after Henry called. One good thing about a small town—there really was no place to hide.

She continued on to space 24.

After she parked and got out of her SUV, Tess noticed a pile of firewood off to the right of the door. It wasn’t stacked; it looked like it had been dumped there by someone in a hurry. As she walked up the steps to the front door, she could hear sobbing inside.

Tess knocked. “Janie, it’s Chief O’Rourke. Can I come in?”

There was some shuffling and then faintly, Janie’s voice. “Just a minute.”

Tess stepped back and after a minute Janie opened the door. Her face was red, her eyes bloodshot, but Tess didn’t see any obvious injuries.

“What’s going on, Janie? Are you okay?”

She sniffled and nodded. “Yeah, just a disagreement, that’s all.”

“It sounds like more than a disagreement. Three people called, worried about your safety.”