She exclaimed, “Sheriff, what is going on? That wasn’t an accident. Someone hit her car.”

“I know that. I just don’t want other folks to.”

“But why?”

“Because I said so, that’s why! Now, what did Shirley tell you that would get her killed?”

Annabelle nervously licked her lips. Shirley had made it clear that she trusted no one in this place. So how could Annabelle?

“Ma’am, I want to get to the bottom of this whole thing. It’s my town and I need to make things right.”

Annabelle had a great BS meter and it was making no noise. “Come over here.”

She led him to the van and opened the back door, revealing the others inside. She introduced them one by one and said, “Sheriff, you got some time to hear what we know? It’s going to take a while.”

“Let’s get on over to my office then. Too many ears ’round here.”

An hour later, sitting in Tyree’s office, the lawman rubbed his face, stood and glumly stared out the window. “So he’s not your father but he did work for the government and has been underground for years. And you and your friends are FBI agents tasked with bringing him safely back?”

“That’s right,” said Annabelle. She’d of course made no mention of Joe Knox being after Stone for the murders of Simpson and Gray. Yet she had told the lawman as much of the truth as she could, which for Annabelle was a new way to operate.

“You lied to me once and now I’m just supposed to believe you? How about I call the FBI in D.C. Will they know who you are?”

Alex stood and held out his ID. “I’m not FBI. This is a joint task force. So how about you call my headquarters in D.C. and verify I am who I say I am. We’ll wait here while you do. But if you’re going to do it, do it now. We need to find him, fast.”

Tyree eyed Alex’s creds and then shook his head. “I believe you.” He stepped back to his desk and perched on the edge while Annabelle shot Alex a grateful look. “And you think it has something to do with Abby Riker’s farm?”

“The clue clearly referred to her place,” said Caleb.

“But you’re not saying Abby has anything to do with it. That’s crazy.”

Annabelle said, “I’m not accusing anyone of anything. But her son is missing.”

“A drug ring operating out of Divine,” said Tyree. “And if Shirley said the boxes were coming to the courthouse with some missing, the judge must be in on it too. Pretty slick, because who’s going to check legal documents going to a courthouse? And using the miners going to get their methadone? Who the hell thought of that?”