by Robin Mahle
Decker and Abrams were packing up and readying themselves for a day’s sleep at her arrival.
She appeared from the corridor into the bullpen. “Morning. I stopped in to view the logs from last night. Must’ve been pretty quiet for you two.”
“We were still out there, hitting the pavement and doing our jobs.” Abrams immediately replied, as if she was testing his mettle.
“Okay. I wasn’t questioning your skills as an officer, Lowell.” She continued toward her desk. “I’m surprised Ethan’s not here. He always arrives before me.”
“Heard he had a hot date last night,” Decker replied. “Someone by the name of Gracie Thompson.” He winked at Riley.
“I know they’re dating, Chris. It’s no secret.” She sat down. “Hey, have you made progress on poking around into Sims’ history?”
“Not much. I was hoping you could jump on it today. I managed to pull his employment history, then we had to hit the streets,” Decker replied.
“Anything special there?”
“No. He’d been with the high school for four years. Before that, same type of job in Fort Wayne. It’s like the man just went off the edge, you know?”
“Yeah. Maybe. I’ll see what I can find today. You two go get some rest and I’ll see you on my way out tonight.”
“See ya, Riley. Wouldn’t want to be ya,” Abrams replied.
She furrowed her brow and peered at Decker.
He raised his palms and shrugged. “Night, Riley.” He approached Ward’s office. “Hey, Cap, Abrams and I are clocking out. Riley’s here.”
“Thanks, Decker. See you tonight.” Ward stood from his desk and walked into the bullpen. “Where’s Pruitt?”
“I don’t know. He must be running late today.” Riley knew he was scheduled to have a dinner date with Gracie and wasn’t particularly interested in learning the details. “Decker mentioned he ran an employment background on Sims but didn’t come up with much. Dillon said he’d ask around for me.”
“I love your brother like a son, you know that, Riley, but he can’t run interference. He’s not a cop. You want to ask questions, fine. I said do what you need to do. But that means you do it. Not Dillon.”
“Okay. I’ll tell him to forget it.”
“Uh-huh. Knowing him, he’s probably already got the goods.” Ward’s attention was diverted to the hall. “Well, good morning, sunshine. Glad to see you decided to join us.”
“Sorry, Cap. I overslept.” Ethan shot a glance to Riley. “I saw the guys leave. Anything we need to follow up on?”
“No, sir. Pretty quiet night from what I gather. Same for you?”
“What’s that now?” Ethan pressed his hands against the back of his chair, digging in his nails.
“Nothing, son. Go on and get yourself settled in.” He started back toward his office. “You never know what’ll come up in a small town. Best to be prepared.” He closed the door to his office.
Riley watched Ethan boot up his computer and organize his desk. It was as though he was doing everything in his power to avoid eye contact or to talk to her. This was a troubling sign. “I take it you didn’t make the call to Jacob about meeting up?”
Ethan turned his sights to her, appearing somewhat relieved. “Oh, no. I’m sorry, Riley. I was actually planning on doing that this morning. Maybe seeing if he wanted to grab a beer at the end of shift today. If that’s okay with you?”
“Of course, yeah. That’d be great. Thanks.” She couldn’t bring herself to ask about Gracie because she was still her sister and the idea that Gracie had slept with Ethan, regardless of the fact that Riley didn’t have feelings for him, it just felt weirdly inappropriate. And maybe there was a small part of her that mourned the idea that there could never ever be anything between them now as a result.
“In fact, I’ll call him right now.” Ethan retrieved his cell phone and pressed on Jacob’s contact information. He peered at her with the phone to his ear. “Jacob. Hey, man, it’s Ethan. I didn’t catch you at a bad time, did I?”
“No. Not at all. Is Riley okay?” Jacob asked.
“Of course. Yeah, in fact, she’s at her desk right now. Listen, I was wondering, you know, maybe you and I could grab a beer after work this evening?”
A silence lingered between them that someone was going to have to break. Turned out, it was going to be Ethan.
“Unless you’re busy, of course. It’s just, well, I thought we could iron out a few things, you know? Make sure we’re all on the same page.” On the same page? he mouthed to himself.
“I guess that’d be okay. I’d need to check with Riley and make sure we don’t have any plans tonight…”
“I already did. She’s happy to turn you over to me for an hour or so.” Ethan shook his head at his own awkwardness.
“Okay, then. Yeah. I guess that’d be fine. You want to meet at the diner?”
“I was thinking maybe the Crooked Horse?” Ethan replied.
“Sure, great. Okay, so I’ll see you what, around 5:30-6:00 tonight?”
“I can be there by 6,” Ethan replied. “See you then, buddy.”
Jacob listened as the line went dead. “Buddy?” He peered at his phone. “What the hell was that about?” As he sat at his desk and considered the meaning behind this unusual request, he peered into the hall and spotted Alex. “Oh shit.”
“Hey, man.” Alex walked inside. “You still up for tonight? Like I said, a couple of hands should do it. No big deal. No reason to stress.”
“That’s tonight, isn’t it?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah. It’s tonight.” Alex’s turned worried. “You’re not bailing on me, are you?”
“No. I’m not going to bail. I just made plans for earlier in the evening and I almost forgot. Actually, it should work out okay.”
“The game doesn’t start until 11pm.”
“That’s fine. I’ll figure out something. No worries. I’ll see you tonight,” Jacob replied.
“You’re a lifesaver, man. I mean that.” Alex slapped the door jamb and walked back into the hall.
Jacob smiled at Alex as he left, before it quickly faded. “Now what the hell am I going to tell Riley?”
Dillon entered the stationhouse and walked toward Riley, who was at her desk. “Hey.”
“Dillon. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at school?”
“There’s an assembly and it’s the last week of school, so I thought I’d use the time to come see you.” He peered at Ethan. “Hey, Ethan.”
“Dillon.”
He pulled up a chair and sat across from Riley. “So I didn’t want to call and talk about this over the phone because there’s always someone eavesdropping.”
“What is it?” Riley asked.
“I asked around about Wyatt Sims. Everyone’s in major shock over what happened. Most everybody knew his wife too. It’s a real shame.” He turned away for a moment. “Anyway, so I guess Wyatt’s been in some financial straits for a while. Not sure how long exactly, but I was talking to one of the other coaches and he said that there’d been a problem with gambling. Dogs, horses, whatever. Wyatt got into some serious debt. And he’s a high school coach. It’s not like he was raking in the dough.”
“No. I’m sure he wasn’t,” Riley replied. “What about alcohol? Any talk of a problem there?”
“No. Not really. Didn’t you guys do a breathalyzer on him?”
“Decker did. Came back below legal, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a problem. But, good to hear no one at school seemed to think so.”
“Right, so anyway, he did okay with the betting for a while, I guess. Actually bringing in some money, from what I gather. But it didn’t last long. Never does.”
“House always wins,” Riley said. “Go on.”
“I don’t know much more than that. I didn’t want to keep prying because they’d want to know why.”
“Sure. Hey, this is great for us. This is helpful.” Riley shot a glance to Ethan. “We can proba
bly do something with this, right?”
“Of course,” Ethan replied. “We can go to the track, talk to some of the folks around there, and see if anyone knew him on a personal level.”
“Exactly.” Riley returned her attention to Dillon. “You should get back to the school. Probably don’t want anyone knowing you left campus.”
Dillon pushed up from the chair. “Probably not. But I’m glad I could be of some help anyway. And you know I’ll keep my ears open if I hear anything else.” He started back toward the door. “Catch up with you later, Ethan. Riley.”
After he left, Riley turned back to Ethan. “What do you think? Gambling? You think this whole poker thing at the Crooked Horse could be something he was into?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Still, Riley, just because the guy had a gambling problem, doesn’t mean he committed premeditated murder for some insurance policy or something. I don’t know where you want to go with this. It’s like you’re looking for a connection to the bar owner. Why?”
“I wish I could say exactly, but I just don’t know for sure. It’s just a hunch. Ever since we caught wind there was a backroom game going on, I just feel like maybe it’s something we need to be in on. And with Sims’ killing his wife over lost money? If we don’t find records at the race tracks that he lost a ton of money, I’m not sure we’ll have another choice but to look into the poker game more closely.”
“If you say so. I’ll follow your lead,” Ethan replied. “Just like always.”
Jacob sat at the bar of the Crooked Horse waiting for Ethan to show. He checked the time. Ten minutes late. But then a tap on his shoulder forced him to peer over and he spotted Ethan. “I thought you might’ve reconsidered.” He patted the barstool next to him. “Have a seat.”
“I wanted to get changed. I hate going out in uniform when I’m off-duty. Puts people off.” Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets and gazed around the upscale bar. “I was actually hoping we could grab a table, if that’s okay with you? Maybe get a bite to eat?”
Jacob picked up his glass of beer. “Sounds good to me. Lead the way.”
Ethan approached one of the waiters. “Is it okay if we grab a table?”
“Sure thing. Anywhere is fine. We’re not busy tonight,” the waiter replied. “I’ll send someone over to take your order.”
“Thanks.” Ethan slid into the high-back crimson-tufted leather booth. “I’ve never actually been in here other than for work. It’s a nice place.”
Jacob slid in across from him. ‘Probably the nicest place in town. So how’s Riley?”
“You’d know better than me,” Ethan replied.
“I haven’t seen her since this morning. I assume she went home after her shift?”
“That’s what she said she was doing. I don’t keep tabs on her,” Ethan replied.
“Neither do I.” Jacob held his gaze for a moment. “How’s Gracie doing? You sleep with her yet?”
11
The awkward interactions between the two men who so clearly loved Riley dwindled as the beers arrived and the wings disappeared from the plates. The question of Gracie and her relationship with Ethan evaporated just the same.
“Listen, man, I’m sorry about prying earlier,” Jacob said. “It’s none of my business nor is it Riley’s, no matter what she might believe.”
“I get it and it’s fine. But the reason I’m here is to try to get back to a place where you and I can be friends.”
“Friends?” Jacob smiled.
“Okay, how about better than acquaintances, not quite friends? It’s taken a toll on Riley and I’m sure I’m not the only one to see that,” Ethan replied.
“No. I know it has. So how about this, you and I table all discussions of Riley and look for common ground?”
“I can agree to that. You’ve sacrificed for her and for this town, and I’m grateful. So we’ll leave it at that.” Ethan tossed back a swig of his beer. “I am curious about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Why do you think she’s having visions about you?”
“She told you?” Jacob added.
“She did. Any idea where they might be coming from, because I’ll tell you, she’s pretty freaked out and can’t see beyond them. It scares her. Not since Carl died have I seen her so beside herself about something. Why do you think it’s happening?”
“How should I know? It scares me just as much. I know there are times when she gets warnings, and other times, it’s just a sign of something more. In all honesty, I couldn’t tell you which one this is, if any. Is that the real reason you’re here? You see she’s upset and you want to find out why?”
“I am here for her, yes,” Ethan began. “Regardless of our history, I’d never want to see anything happen to you. So if there’s something you want to say, maybe now’s the time before it’s too late.”
“Before it’s too late? I got nothing, man, I’m telling you.” Jacob wiped away the wing sauce from his mouth. “I’ll be riding this one out, same as you, until she sees more. I’m minding my p’s and q’s. That’s all I can do.”
Ethan nodded. “Copy that.” He checked the time. “I should be heading out. You ready to take off?”
Jacob surveyed the bar with some uncertainty. “Um, actually, I think I’ll stick around for a while longer. I’m meeting up with a work friend in a little bit. He’s got some family issues and just wanted someone to vent to and I mentioned I would be here with you.”
“Okay.” Ethan stood up and retrieved his wallet.
Jacob raised a pre-emptive hand. “I got it, man. Really.”
“Thanks. I’ll catch up with you later. Have a good night.” Ethan walked through the bar, where the patrons had swelled as the hours passed. He pushed through the door and returned to his own car. A conscious effort had been made when leaving his shift tonight. The idea was to return home to change into plain-clothes and drive his own vehicle, an older-model Chevy Tahoe, dark blue. And as he stepped inside, he peered through the windshield at the Crooked Horse. Ethan wasn’t going home. While not part of his initial plan, the fact that Jacob was staying set his nerves on end. Riley had said nothing of this, which meant perhaps she wasn’t aware. He was going to find out why Jacob was staying put and for how long.
It was 9:45pm when Alex Laughlin pulled into the parking lot of the Crooked Horse bar. He cut the engine of his Toyota 4Runner and surveyed the lot in search of Jacob’s car. While he’d texted his imminent arrival only minutes ago, certainty that his friend and now co-conspirator was there would put his mind at ease.
The smile that formed on his lips indicated his friend and colleague had not let him down. Considering that he might be forced to abandon the planned con weighed heavily on his mind, but relief swelled inside him and he felt renewed confidence.
Alex stepped outside his SUV and locked the doors. With an intake of breath, he started into the bar. As he opened the doors and walked inside, he searched for Jacob. A raised hand from a nearby booth came into view and he approached. “Hey. Thanks for coming.”
Jacob remained seated at the booth where he and Ethan shared wings and drank beer only a short while ago. Now there were two more empty beer glasses in front of him. “Was there a choice?” He paused a moment. “Sit down.”
Alex slid into the booth. “A couple of hours, at the most. Then we both go home and that will be that.”
“How do you know Levin won’t ask you to participate again?”
“I fully expect he will. However, it doesn’t need to include you. He wants fresh meat and so I’ll ask another, and then another. And hopefully, by then, he’ll tire of me and find some other flunky.”
Jacob studied him. “You’re not afraid the cops will bust this thing and you’ll be arrested?”
“Why? Did you tell your girlfriend?” Alex fidgeted in his seat.
“No, man. I said I’d keep it quiet and I did—I am. But that doesn’t mean they won’t catch wind of what’s going on. What then?”
“I’ll get fined or something. Jesus, it’s not like I’ll be put away for life for playing cards and gambling a few bucks.”
“It’s more than a few bucks or else I wouldn’t be here.” Jacob’s shoulders appeared to drop and his face smoothed from the concerned wrinkles that had formed. “When do we go back?”
“I’ll go find Silas.” Alex pulled out from the booth. “Hey, order me a Bud?”
“Sure.”
Alex approached the bar where the owner and organizer of the illicit game stood behind it with his bartender.
“Laughlin. Glad you could make it.” Silas surveyed the bar. “Not alone, I hope.”
“I have a friend with me. Good poker player.”
“But not too good, I trust?” Silas replied.
Alex returned a polite nod. “Are we about ready to get started?”
“A few more minutes. Why don’t you and your friend sit tight with a beer on the house? I’ll call you back soon.”
“Thanks.” He slapped the bar top and turned back toward the booth. When he arrived, Jacob had two more beers in front of him.
“Got you a beer,” Jacob said.
“Appreciate it. Silas is picking up the tab on these two here. He says to give him a few minutes and we’ll head back.” Alex tossed back half the glass of beer. “I’m hoping to take off the edge a little.”
“I’m way ahead of you,” Jacob replied. “I had a few beers with my girlfriend’s partner earlier. That was a treat.”
“You two don’t get along?”
“It’s tenuous, I’ll say that much. He’s had a big-time crush on her for who knows how long. And since I’ve been back in her life…”
“He’s not happy about it,” Alex said.
“Bingo.”
“Why did you hang out with him then?”
“Because she asked him to. She’s rooting around for something she won’t find, not if I can help it. A guy’s gotta have some secrets, right?”
