Janie let out a heavy sigh and leaned against the doorframe, looking weary beyond her years. “Chief, we fight a lot, I’m sorry to say. Where we used to live we had privacy. No one heard us. Here—” she waved a hand—“everyone hears everything.”

“Do you mind if I come in and look around?”

Janie hesitated but eventually stepped back, and Tess walked into a living room that looked as if it had just been ransacked. A lamp and a chair were broken, there was glass on the floor, and one couch cushion was even shredded.

“He did all this?”

“He said no. But it was like this when I got home from getting the boys to school and baby Anna to a friend’s house. It’s my day off and I had some chores planned. Anyway, the kids sure didn’t do it. He did break a couple of vases when I confronted him. What am I going to tell Pastor Mac?”

Before Tess could respond, she was interrupted by a radio call from Bender, who’d found Garrett at one of the two places he could have been. He was in the parking lot of the Stairsteps, a waterfall attraction.

“Do we have a crime?” Gabe asked.

“Stand by,” Tess said into her radio. “Janie, did Garrett hit you?”

She shook her head. “No, but he broke a lot of things in the house, things we’ll probably have to pay for, and he said some horrible, hurtful things . . .”

“What was the fight about?”

“Besides all of this? What it usually is—money. He took all the insurance money I just deposited, and he won’t tell me what he did with it. Chief, we need that money for daily living expenses. When I got mad, he got madder and accused me of not understanding—” Her voice broke.

To Bender, Tess said, “Apparently we have destruction of property. Detain him. Take him to the church to see if Oliver wants to press charges. He destroyed the living room in the mobile. I’ll photograph the damage and meet you at the church.”

Janie’s eyes got wide. “Chief, no! He didn’t hit me.”

“But he did destroy church property. Pastor Mac will have to decide.”

“I don’t want him to go to jail.” More tears rolled down her cheeks.

Tess didn’t think Oliver would prosecute, but she wanted to put some fear into Garrett. It might work, it might not, but it was one card she could play.

“I’ll ask Pastor Mac to take that into consideration.” Tess’s attention went back to her radio.

“What about the truck?” Bender asked, referring to the Coopers’ pickup.

“Do you want to retrieve the truck?” Tess asked Janie.

“I’ll need it—it’s our only transportation.”

“I’ll bring Janie up to get the vehicle.”

“10-4. I’ll see you at the church.”