White Space Season 1

like she meant it, and held out her open palm for her half of the glossies.
    Jon felt like he had to apologize anyway, “People are visual and color matters. If it gives us even a degree of a chance of finding her faster, I figure it was worth it.”
    Cassidy said, “I get it, Popcorn,” pulling her sweater tighter around her body as they crossed the street, doubling back to where they’d gone the day before.
    They were planning to cover another section of the island, but figured they should hit every house where residents hadn’t been home the previous evening, just to be certain. Before leaving their block, Cassidy suggested they bang on Mrs. Lindley’s door and see if she wanted to help.
    Jon shook his head “Not sure that’s gonna help much.”
    “I wouldn’t be asking if it was just Mrs. Lindley,” Cassidy said. ”But Mrs. Carlson knows everyone on the island and everyone loves her. She only leaves her house for groceries, or to fill her shift at Conway Medical Center. When she’s not at the hospital, she shuts herself in tight, and won’t leave except for maybe three people. Mrs. Lindley happens to be one of them.”
    “Why?” Jon said, genuinely shocked, happy to see Cassidy smile.
    She said, “Probably because Mrs. Lindley makes her laugh.” Cassidy pointed across the street to a tidy cottage with a fat hedge of pink and purple Hydrangeas bunched beneath the window. “She lives over there. She was working Conway Medical Center yesterday, but she’s home now.”
    Sure enough, Mrs. Lindley loved the idea, and so did Mrs. Carlson. They agreed to cover Aspen Park together, while Cassidy and Jon hit the shore.
    “Chief Brady said The Paladin officers would help with the search, too,” Jon said, stepping from the porch of their sixth, “ no, sorry, haven’t seen her,” on their way to the seventh.
    Cassidy was silent.
    Jon added, “Paladin said they could spare six officers.”
    “Wow,” Cassidy said, “A whole six officers? That’s amazing. Who’s going to be left to guard Daddy’s miles of chain link fence?”
    “That’s in addition to the guards they already agreed to yesterday, including some that are working the Sound.”
    Cassidy looked sorry as soon as she said it, but Jon would never know whether or not she would have apologized since his phone started ringing before she finished the word “fence.”
    He looked at the screen: Houser.
    “What’s up?”
    “Hey Jonny H.,” Houser got right to the point. “You ever heard of some dipshit named Larry Whistler? Lives three streets over from the girl’s grandma, and has a bit of a history.”
    “What sort of history?” Jon looked over at Cassidy, suddenly fascinated by his phone call.
    “Seems Whistler had a bit of trouble at a daycare a few years back while living in Rochester, New York.”
    “Go on,” Jon said.
    “He was accused of touching a mentally disabled girl, but the case fell to shit when they couldn’t find any evidence outside an upset mom and dad willing to swear on a high stack of bibles. So, anyway, Whistler left town with the stink of kiddy diddler on him, and moved cross country, got a job working a church on Hamilton Island, serving as a youth pastor, no less.” Houser paused, then added, “I looked up the church website. Seems to be run by Pastor Avery. You familiar with him?”
    “Yes, I know him.” Jon was careful not to repeat Avery’s name, not wanting to upset Cassidy until after he was off the line.
    “Well, Whistler’s not on any watch lists, or anything, but he’s sure as shit worth a man-to-man.”
    “Alright,” Jon said, “I’ll call Chief Brady as soon as we hang up. He promised he’d stay on standby, said Emma was his top priority. I’m sure he’ll be able to swing over to Whistler’s immediately.”
    “Fuck that noise,” Houser said. “If I wanted red tape, I’d drive down to the goddamn hardware store and buy myself a jumbo roll, maybe two. I want answers, and happened to wake up this morning with all the shit needed to get ‘em.”
    “You sure about this?” Jon asked.
    “Sure as my big swinging sack, and both balls in it.”
    Jon was silent, trying to figure whether or not he even wanted to talk Houser out of whatever he had in mind.
    Houser interrupted the thought. “I’m in front of his house already. Asshole left for work about 40 minutes ago. I’m going inside to see what’s up.”
    The line went dead, so did Jon’s choice in the matter.
    He dropped