Page 60 of Night Hawk
15
Clay and Toni followed Blake up the dirt path to a worn red door in a single-story house. The place had once been white but had grayed. Tall pines towered over the house, and shrubs and ferns filled in the space below.
The door was opened by a frail man around five-ten with slicked back silvery-blond hair. He wore ratty jeans and a red flannel shirt and had a gun on his hip.
“Hey, old man.” Blake’s fond tone told of his affection for the retired sheriff. “You doing okay?”
“I’m still above ground.” He looked past Blake at Clay then Toni. “Your wife know you’re keeping company with such a fine looking woman?”
Toni laughed and held out her hand. “I’m Agent Toni Long with the FBI.”
“Good looking and a Fed.” His gaze filled with respect as he shook her hand.
He shifted his focus to Clay. “And you’re a traitor like Blake. Turning your back on law enforcement.”
Clay had no idea what to say, so he offered his hand. “Clay Byrd.”
For a fragile-looking guy, Ziegler had a strong grip. “I was just joking.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure. You still have the caught-you-red-handed sheriff expression down pat.” Clay chuckled.
Ziegler laughed, and it was deep and hearty. He looked at Blake. “Now tell me what you need, boy.”
Blake shook his head, and Clay had to believe it was because Ziegler called him boy. “Like I said on the phone, we want to talk to you about Lisa Long.”
He shot a look at Toni. “Any relation?”
“Apparently, my sister, but I just found out about her yesterday.”
Zeigler’s bushy eyebrows drew together into a large gray caterpillar. “Guess we’re even then. I never heard about you.”
Blake held out a bag. “Your apple fritters.”
Zeigler snatched it up and stepped back. “Coffee’s on. Help yourself on the way past.”
He scurried through a neat but small kitchen, grabbing a plate as he moved, and Blake went straight for the coffee pot. He took down three cups and filled them. “He gets a little cranky when you refuse his coffee. Lorraine taught him how to make it, so it’s usually pretty good, but you can just hold it if you don’t want it.”
Cups filled, Blake led them down a short hall to a small living room with very little furniture.
Ziegler had dropped into a big leather recliner and had already placed the fritters on the plate. “Go ahead. Have a seat on the couch. Paid enough for it, so it should get some use. And help yourself to the fritters, but leave me one.”
Clay waited for Toni to sit and perched on the arm next to her.
Blake leaned against the wall. “Mind telling us about when Lisa went missing?”
“Bad day, that was.” Ziegler frowned then took a long slurp of his coffee. “Just got promoted to detective, and the call comes in right as I hit the office. Little Lisa was gone. Vanished, her—” He looked at Toni. “—yourgrandparents said they last saw her when she went to bed around nine. She was staying with them for the week, and this was day three. She flew from Virginia to Portland with your granduncle, Andrew Martin, and then your grandparents picked them up at the airport.”
“Did Andrew always live in Virginia?” Clay asked.
“Nope. Lived right here, but when your parents moved to Virginia, he said he needed a fresh start. They let him stay with them while he got his feet under him in a new city. I got the feeling he was running from something, but I have no idea what as it never involved us.”
“So you didn’t know he was arrested in Virginia for having sex with a ten-year-old,” Clay stated bluntly, earning a sharp look from Blake. “Got off on a technicality.”
Ziegler snapped his chair forward and sloshed his coffee. “’Course I didn’t know that, or he woulda been my top suspect for Lisa’s disappearance. This changes everything. Gonna give Trent a call and have him get Martin back here for an interview.”
“He’s deceased,” Blake said. “Killed in 1990 in a shootout with Toni’s dad.”
Ziegler looked at Toni. “Then let’s get your dad on the phone. He can tell us why the heck he killed the guy.”
