Breach of Honor

by Janice Cantore

  On edge, Leah stepped into the living room. The front window was smashed to pieces and a brick lay on the living room floor amid shards of glass. DEAD was written on the brick in black block letters.

  “So why were you here exactly?” Erik Forman was the supervisor who arrived in response to her 911 call.

  It had taken some time for Leah’s heart to stop pounding so hard. This threat, coming on the heels of Clint’s “accident,” was no coincidence. “I told you. Clint asked me to feed his dog.”

  Forman glared at her as if he didn’t believe her. Both of them were on the porch. He’d gathered up the brick, but it was a poor substrate for prints. Public service was on the way to board up Clint’s window.

  “The window will be boarded and the door can be secured, so we’ll handle that from here.”

  “What about his dog?”

  “What about it?”

  “Suppose those guys come back.”

  “What, you think they were going to steal the dog?” He shot her a disgusted look.

  “I just don’t want to take a chance. In a way I’m responsible for the dog.”

  “I’m not animal control or a dog-sitter.”

  “Okay, then the dog goes with me. At least until Clint gets out of the hospital.”

  Forman rubbed his face with his hand. Leah could see the wheels turning. He wanted to find a reason to say no. He was here to secure Clint’s property, and if anything happened to the dog, there was a slight chance he’d get in trouble for it. Forman was a trouble dodger. If he could deflect the liability to someone else, he would. And that’s what he did.

  “Take it. If Tanner blows a gasket, it’s on you. We’ll have extra patrols around his house till he comes home.” He turned and left her standing on the porch.

  CHAPTER 46

  With the pup curled up on her passenger seat, Leah made her way out of Table Rock. She passed a flatbed with a crumpled PD SUV on it. There were signs the vehicle had been cut open by the Jaws of Life. She shivered. That had to be Clint’s. It was a miracle he’d survived the crash. Was this really all about a smuggling arrest?

  As she drove through the city she used to patrol, she took in the changes. There were a lot. Larry Ripley must have gotten the zoning changes he’d wanted because the neighborhood where his rental once stood was no longer there. It was now a large shopping complex with a sporting goods store, a market, and several other businesses. She pulled into the parking lot, wondering if it was a good idea to fight to get her job back.

  Like the city, Leah knew she had changed a lot since that night. When she worked as a cop, she’d taken nearly all her cues from Brad. It struck her how completely opposite Clint and Brad were. Clint was a true sheepdog. Being a police officer was his calling, a career where he could help people, rescue those in need. In hindsight she realized that while Brad could be a sheepdog, he was an officer for a totally different reason. The job was all about power and control for him.

  Leah wondered about her own motivations for serving. Could she find a unique style on her own?

  Before she’d taken the plunge and applied to become a cop, law enforcement had been a career in the back of her mind. Her mother was killed when Leah was sixteen. She never forgot the kindness and the professionalism of the officers that brought her and her father the news. But when she’d told her father she might want to go into law enforcement, he’d discouraged her. “Too dangerous,” he’d said.

  Eventually, when she got a full-ride scholarship to play basketball, her life goals changed. She worked hard at basketball and majored in business. At graduation she was offered a spot on a professional women’s basketball team and was called crazy when she turned it down. But while she loved playing basketball, playing for a college team had taken all the fun out of the game. Winning was everything and she knew it would only be worse on a professional team. Besides, Leah was a homebody at heart. All the traveling involved with a professional team did not interest her in the least.

  A year after she graduated, thoroughly frustrated by a job managing a UPS store in Table Rock, Leah circled back around to law enforcement.

  “This isn’t working for me, Pop,” she’d told her father. “I want to do what I thought about when Mom died. I want to be a police officer.”

  “It still scares me,” he said. “But I know you’re unhappy where you are. So you have my blessing.”

  Leah was hired and sent to Salem for the academy. She loved everything about the police academy, the camaraderie, the work. She sailed through the physical part, aced the academic part, and graduated at the top of her class. Brad had caught her eye immediately. When she realized she’d caught his as well, the rest was inevitable.

  As she sat back and thought about that Brad, the man she fell in love with, she had to ask herself why she hadn’t seen his real self. What made him so angry that night? Was he corrupt? Was it the Hangmen?

  She shook her head and sniffled because there were no ready answers to her questions. Finally she touched her forehead to the steering wheel and let the tears fall.

  Leah arrived home and got the puppy settled. She loved dogs and this pup was quite a character.

  “Clint needs to give you a name, little one,” she said as she watched him prance around in the yard. A lot of names went through her mind, but she wasn’t going to presume that it was her place.

  When it was time to go to bed, she brought the pup into her room.

  “Could be a mistake,” her father warned. “He’ll keep you up all night, or you’ll get too attached, or both.”

  “I’ll take that chance.”

  In the end, it wasn’t the pup that woke Leah up—it was the pounding on the door at three thirty in the morning. Even as she struggled up from the bed and grabbed a robe, she could hear her father already heading for the door.

  “I’m coming. I’m coming.”

  Fear shot through Leah. She didn’t like the sound of the pounding and hurried to be there when Dad reached the door. Emergency lights were flashing outside—she recognized the red and blue strobes. Thankfully, Dad didn’t open the door right away.

  “Who is it? What do you want?”

  “Jackson County Sheriff’s office. Open the door.”

  Leah stopped her dad before he could. She peered through the blinds. Three cars—a Table Rock unit and two county cars, from what she could see. She had to squint because of the brightness of the light bars. The mechanical sound of the emergency lights cycling though their sequence was so loud it was as if the cars were on the porch.

  “Why? What do you want?

  “To talk to you, Leah.” She recognized Grady’s voice.

  “Why pound on the door like you’re going to break it down if you just want to talk?”

  “Do we need to do this through the door?”

  “Yeah, we do until you tell me what you want.” She turned to her dad and spoke loudly. “Dad, call Gretchen. Tell her it’s an emergency.”

  He nodded and grabbed his phone.

  She could hear voices talking in low tones on the other side of the door, but she couldn’t make out what was being said. Her heart pounded inside her chest, and she realized that was probably what Grady wanted. Why else try a knock-and-talk at this time of the morning? Fear gave way to anger. What on earth was going on?

  The emergency lights winked off one after another.

  Finally Grady asked, “Leah, where were you tonight, about two hours ago?”

  “In bed, asleep.”

  “Who can corroborate that?”

  “My dad. What is this about?”

  “We have a witness who says they saw you pour gasoline on the porch and set fire to Brad’s house. It burned to the ground tonight.”

  “What?” Shock nearly made Leah pull the door open.

  “I have Gretchen,” her dad said, and more loudly, “I have our lawyer on the phone. Speakerphone.”

  Leah explained to Gretchen what was going on.

  “Do they have a
warrant?”

  “Did you hear that?” Leah asked.

  “At this point it’s a knock-and-talk,” Grady said. “Will you open the door and talk to us?”

  Leah didn’t need Gretchen’s advice for that question. “No, I won’t. You could have come by at a civilized hour, but my guess is you just wanted to intimidate and harass me. I’d have no reason to burn Brad’s house down. I don’t even know who owns it now. Was anybody hurt?”

  “I’ll ask the questions, Leah.” Grady sounded decidedly frustrated.

  “I don’t know who says they saw me, but they didn’t. I’ve been home since late afternoon.”

  There was more muffled talking.

  “You’ve said enough,” Gretchen said. “They need to leave.”

  “Will you come to the station and give a formal statement?”

  “No,” Gretchen said. “Say nothing else, Leah. I’ll be back down there as soon as I can. All communication on this matter will be through me.”

  Leah started to relay the message.

  Grady interrupted. “I heard. We’ll get to the bottom of this, Leah, one way or another.”

  Eventually the patrol cars backed up and left the property, but the early morning peace had been shattered, which, Leah was certain, had been the point.

  “If they really had a case, they would have had a warrant,” Gretchen said. “My guess is that they couldn’t get a judge to sign a warrant, so they improvised. I’m surprised this new sheriff would be part of such a thing.”

  Leah agreed.

  “Are you sure he’s not a Hangman?”

  “He wasn’t as far as I knew.” But Leah was left thinking that maybe she’d been wrong, and Grady Blanchard was every bit as dirty as Chief Wilcox and the others were.

  CHAPTER 47

  “Hey, are you finished goldbricking?”

  Clint looked up to see his friend Jack Kelly in the doorway, backpack in hand. The first responding officers to his crash had removed his weapon and placed it in a gun safe at the station. Jack had retrieved it as well as a change of clothes for Clint. He wasn’t the first visitor. Guys from all shifts, some off duty and some on, had been stopping by to show their support. Nothing brought the blue line together like a murder attempt on one of them. Cops rallied around their own.

  “Not quite.” Frowning at his friend’s demeanor, he said, “You look like you just worked a double.”

  “In a way I did. Not sure if you’ve heard, but Brad Draper’s house burned to the ground early this morning.”

  Sore and achy all over, Clint shifted in the bed. “What? How is that your problem?”

  “I was working in Trail when it happened, heard it go out on the scanner as a fully involved house fire. I didn’t know it was Draper’s place until Blanchard logged on. This was about three in the morning.”

  “They called out the county sheriff for a fire in Table Rock city limits?” Stiffness forgotten, Clint tried to imagine where this was going.

  “Yep, the long and short of it is, Sheriff Blanchard got an earful from Harden Draper, who claimed he had a witness who saw Leah set the house on fire. Wanted her arrested and thrown in jail.”

  “Leah!” Clint sat up, ignoring the shooting pain he felt from the sudden movement. “There is no way—”

  “Relax, buddy; I know. But Sergeant Forman came rushing into Trail ready to break down her door. I headed him off until the chief could get there. Forman wanted to bring out the universal key. They had a private conversation. I don’t know what is going on, but I fear . . .” He looked around as if to see if anyone was listening, then lowered his voice. “I fear Blanchard is compromised. Forman had us roll lights blazing up her drive to pound on the door, no warrant, only his statement ‘Harden said.’”

  Clint digested this. Universal key was slang for a battering ram. Forman had wanted to break Leah’s door down.

  “That’s crazy.”

  Jack nodded. “We all went to her door. They pounded. It was snowing lightly, had been on and off most of the night. Both vehicles in the drive had a layer of snow on them. There was no way she was in Table Rock when the fire started. It’s a forty-minute drive, so the car still would have been warm, and snow wouldn’t have stuck.”

  “She wouldn’t have burned the house down anyway. What happened?”

  “They got her and her dad out of bed. Leah was smart; she never opened the door. Again Forman wanted to kick it in, but we had no grounds. She called her lawyer, and everyone stood down. It never should have happened. Draper pulled everyone’s strings.”

  “Wow.” Clint sat back, fully realizing that Harden Draper was bound and determined to make Leah’s life miserable. “Maybe the Hangmen still have some teeth after all. Where is this going to end?”

  “I don’t know. All I do know is that Draper won’t stop until he’s made to stop. This impacts my department, though; Leah’s lawyer filed a formal complaint.”

  Clint thought about that for a moment. “They made a mistake then. This will put the spotlight back on the Hangmen, I bet.”

  “It’s put the spotlight on my department, which I hate. Whoever is behind this, Draper or that elusive fugitive the Feds told me about, this needs to stop.”

  “Then I’m going to find a way to make that happen.”

  “Be careful, Clint.”

  “I will be. Thanks for picking me up a change of clothes.” He then remembered that someone was trying to make his life miserable as well. “Was there any other damage to my house besides the window?”

  Jack shook his head. “Nope, just one busted-up window.” Expression serious, Jack stepped close to the bed. “What is going on with all this? Who did you get so angry they’d want to kill you?”

  He still couldn’t shrug, so Clint said, “I got a threat after the whole Hangmen thing came out, but that was months ago. I certainly touched a nerve somewhere. About the only thing I am sure of is that I’m ready to go home.”

  “Have they given you a release time yet?”

  “Just sometime this afternoon.”

  “Any more information on the crash?”

  “Nothing on the suspects—they’re in the wind. Accident investigation briefed me on their findings. The crash was definitely intentional. The semi was left blocking Foothill after it pushed me from the road. Witnesses saw the drivers of both the semi and the truck I’d been following get in a third car and flee west, toward the interstate. But descriptions of the men were vague, you know. They could be anyone.”

  “No real help.”

  “Right. I’ll be off work at least three weeks. Probably off full duty and on light duty for longer than that.”

  “Do you plan on staying at your house?”

  “Where would I go?”

  “Ah, I recognize that look. You want them to try again, don’t you?”

  “You bet. This time I’ll be ready, and they’ll have the business end of a gun pointed their way, if they are so foolish.”

  Jack shook his head. “Be careful what you wish for. I think you should take a vacation somewhere, a place quiet and warm, take advantage of this forced hiatus.”

  “Was never much good at vacations. I hate being sidelined.” Besides, he thought, Leah needs me.

  “You need to rest, pal,” Jack said. “Your department is working on it. And mine as well.”

  “There’s a lot going on that I can work on without being too active.” He told Jack about the visit from the feds.

  “I hate to say it, but it makes sense. Let the suits take that over. They have the resources, and it sounds like they really want this guy Hess.”

  “I want him too. Even more if he had something to do with running me off the road. But what I really want is a line on the guy who tipped the smugglers off.”

  “That’s a puzzler. Since the Russians weren’t even booked into the system, we need to look hard at my department and yours.”

  “Man, I hate to think of one of our own being a rat.”

  “It happen
s. Unfortunately, the right amount of money can change some people.”

  Clint couldn’t dispute that truth.

  “Text me when the doc signs your release,” Jack said.

  “Will do.”

  About three hours later Clint got the okay to get dressed, which he did, slowly and painfully. Fidgeting as much as he could without feeling pain, he was elated when the doctor came in and checked him out.

  As he waited for Jack to return, Clint thought about all that was going on. He didn’t believe the Hangmen had been stopped. Not with the death of Brad and not with all the negative publicity or scrutiny by state police. That was his mission now, to put an end to them once and for all.

  CHAPTER 48

  Clint surveyed the damage to his front window. It was a big picture window, so it would be a pretty penny to replace. Hopefully insurance would cover the bulk of it. The brick that did the damage was gone, placed in evidence, but the lab had left him a photo. DEAD was all it said. Heavy-handed threat, Clint thought. Almost childish.

  He went into his bedroom and took his gun and gun belt out of the bag they were in. He removed his .45 from his gun belt and reholstered it in his off-duty belt. It was tough going with his left arm in a cast, but he could move his fingers and got it done. He then put on his off-duty belt. If anyone decided to make another attempt on his life, he’d be able to deal with them. Good thing his right arm wasn’t broken.

  His phone rang. It was Leah.

  “I just called the hospital and they told me you got sprung before I could even visit again.”

  Clint smiled at the sound of her voice and flinched as his stiches pulled. “My loss at missing that second visit. How is the pup doing? Causing you trouble?”

  Leah chuckled, the sound music to Clint’s ears. He didn’t remember hearing it ever before.