“Not Neville?” Manny asked.
“Jesa. You’re right. He didn’t ask for Neville.”
“And he didn’t say more?” Manny asked.
“He thinks we got a murder warrant in hand.”
“Where the hell did he get that notion?” Manny asked.
“Neville,” Willie answered. “He told Tony we had fabricated evidence that he’d drowned Johnny.”
“And Tony believed him?”
“As much time as Tony’s spent in the lockup, and as bad as he hates the law, it was an easy sell to believe big brother.”
“Neville knew we had no such warrant. He was just . . . ”
“Setting Tony up,” Willie finished. “But why would he do that?”
“Only reason I can think of: Neville knows who actually killed Johnny and is neck deep in cahoots with him.”
“Then we’d better find Neville.”
“Especially since he might still have Brandi with him.”
“What reason would he have to hurt her?” Willie asked. “Unless she knows Neville set Tony up?”
“Possible. Which makes it imperative we find her.” Manny explained he had called Red Lobster and asked for Brandi, but she hadn’t been in there tonight. And by Manny’s description, they would have remember her. “How soon can you make it back to Pine Ridge?”
“It took me five hours to get here,” Willie said.
“Five hours! I know that plane of yours is slow, but—”
“I had to drive. I’m not night rated.” Willie chuckled on the other end of the line. “Unless you forgot, I have a hard time landing in the daylight.”
“Well, get over here as soon as you can. I need you to look on the rez.”
Manny flipped his phone, about to disconnect when Willie stopped him. “One other thing: Tony wanted me to tell you to stay away from his Aunt Della, or he’ll finish the job when he makes bail.”
*****
Manny cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher, while Clara brewed coffee and grabbed pie from the fridge. She set a cup and saucer in front of Manny and draped her arm around him. “Something’s bothering you. Besides the fact that you’re going to look like a hobo at Willie’s wedding.”
Manny forced a smile and ran his fingers through his hair. What was left of it. “What kind of guy was Able Ought when he leased Charging Bear’s farm?”
Clara swirled a teaspoon of sugar in her coffee. “The lease payment was always on time. It should have been: The farm made money. Able knew how to make it pay. He’s a natural farmer. Why do you ask?”
“When was the last time it made money?”
“The Red Cloud Corporation ceased management of it when Tony took it over,” Clara said. “But I understand it hasn’t turned a profit since Tony started farming.”
“So, Tony loses money because he’s a crappy farmer?”
“He does.”
“And so does Neville?”
“Just what’s that got to do with Able Ought?”
Manny grabbed a pack of Sweet’n Low and watched the granules disappear into his coffee. “I think Neville set Tony up. He told him I had a warrant for his arrest in connection with Johnny Apple’s death. With Tony out of the way, Able would be free to take over the farm once again.”
“And make a pile of money for brother Neville if it’s run right.”
“Just what an attorney needs,” Manny said, eyeing the piece of pie Clara dished him, “who is broke from all the pro bono cases.”
Chapter 38
Manny sat up in the recliner and rubbed the sleepers out of his eyes as he flipped open his ringing phone. “We may have a general location on Brandi’s phone,” Lumpy said. “The service provider says her smartphone’s got Assisted GPS, and they got her narrowed down to a four-square mile area in the Badlands.”
“Another agent in my office is going to cut a search warrant and serve Brandi’s cell provider. They’ll have to tell us where they are.”
“You know how much overtime this will cost us,” Lumpy complained, “to get units out searching the Badlands? And then it’s sketchy we’ll even find her in a place that rugged. You’d better start praying if you want to find Brandi.”
“I got just the man who can pray,” Manny answered.
*****
Manny checked the incoming call: it was his personal cell phone he had let Reuben use. He answered it, but no one was on the line and he was about to disconnect. Then Reuben came on the line. “I couldn’t figure out how to work his thing. I would have called earlier if I could. We got trouble.”
“We sure do. We need to find Brandi Apple.”
“And Shawna.”
“What?”
“She was gone this morning when I came out of the sweat.”
“She was at your place?”
“We’ve been moving around a lot.” Reuben said. “I figured we’d be safe here for a day.”
“Where do we start looking for her?”
Reuben cursed under his breath and the phone dropped. He picked it up and it sounded like he was pulling on boots. “Shawna and I had some time to talk about when she and Nate were hiding out. She claimed she didn’t know just where the shack was, but by her description I have a good idea. I think she’ll go there. I think she wants to retrieve something she left at the cabin.”
“Why you think that?”
“She wanted to use my pony to take a ride there. I said it was dangerous going to the same place twice.”
“Now she’s gone?”
“This afternoon,” Reuben answered.
“How is she getting all the way over there from your place?”
Reuben paused. “Remember poor Crazy George He Crow’s old Buick?”
“The one that everyone else drives more than he does?”
A door shut in the background, and Manny caught faint footsteps just before a horse whinnied in the background. “Shawna took it.”
“I think I know what she’s after.” Manny told Reuben that Bobo had more than a pound of BC Bud in his car the night Nate and Shawna took it. And how Monica Groves knew there was more dope in Bobo’s car than Manny recovered from Homer One Feather’s. “Nate stashed the rest in that old shack, I’d wager. For his insurance. For when he and Shawna took to the road.”
“Guess he’s not going to collect,” Reuben said.
“But Shawna might. If she grabs that dope, she’s gone. She’ll think she’ll have enough to live on. Any chance she might go to her grandmother’s?”
“She might go back to get some clothes for the road. We’ve got to find her before Bobo does.”
“I’ll call Lumpy again.” Manny explained that Brandi didn’t answer her phone after she had driven away with Neville, and now she was somewhere in the Badlands, if one believed the cell company techs. “I’ll tell him his guys need to be on the lookout for Shawna as well.”
Manny hung up and called Lumpy. After learning none of his patrol units had found Brandi yet, he asked if he could spare an officer to sit on Sadie Moon’s house. “We’re up to our asses in alligators. I’ve called in every other man that would answer his phone to look for Neville’s outfit. And you want me to look for Shawna Moon, too? Maybe you didn’t look outside, Hot Shot, but it is a full moon tonight. More calls than usual, you know.”
Manny groaned. “Now I will have to ask that special someone.”
*****
Chief Horn used the door to climb slowly, painfully out of Manny’s car. He stood splinting his side, wheezing. He caught his breath before he reached in the car and grabbed his short shotgun from Manny’s seat. He cradled it in the crook of one arm, and still looked as if he could—and would—use it.
“Keep to the shadows,” Manny told him. “If Shawna comes around, she might well have Bobo on her tail.”
*****
Willie shielded his flashlight with his hand as he flicked it on and off. He came onto the road from a steep barrow ditch and waited for Manny to stop for him. Manny covered the dome light with his palm while Willie climbed in.
“Go down this trail another quarter mile,” Willie said. “Stay on top of the ruts or you’ll get high centered.”
Manny stuck his head out the window, watching the edge of the trail, headlights off, guided by the bright moonlight. The cold swishing past his face caused his eyes to water, and he blinked repeatedly to clear them.
“This is the shack that I thought Reuben said Shawna were talking about. I doubt it’s been used since the Second World War.”
“Except for Nate and Shawna,” Manny said, “a few nights ago.” Manny stopped the car with the emergency brake, careful not to tap the brakes and light up the back of the car with tail lights. Willie pointed down the hill to the cabin at the edge of the Badlands. Manny grabbed his binoculars and studied the shack before handing them to Willie.
“Looks like Bobo’s car, all right,” Willie said.
“How you want to play this?”
“First, call your lieutenant and tell him Bobo’s here. But don’t come in like gangbusters. Maybe a backup unit. The rest of your officers are still out looking for Brandi. I hope.”
Manny took back the binos and eyed the steep ravine on either side of the shack. “There’s enough moonlight that I don’t think we’ll fall over the edge. We’ve got to get to that shack without Bobo hearing us.”
“Of course we can. We’re Indians.”
“Like that’ll save our noisy asses if he hears us?”
Willie smile faded. “We’ll be careful.”
Manny shielded the dome light again when Willie got out. He rolled the car window down and crawled out without opening the door. They hunkered down by the fender of the car. The moonlight showed their frosty breath, and Manny led the way down the path that would take them to the cabin the back way. They picked their way along one ravine that hid their approach and peeked up over the bank when they had come about twenty yards away from to the cabin. Crazy George’s faded blue Buick sat parked behind the shack. It had been hidden from their view where they parked the car on the way in.
They crawled on hands and knees up the embankment to the corner of the shack. Muffled voices escaped from inside, and Manny put his ear to the side of the cabin. He motioned to Willie that he couldn’t understand what was said, and for Willie to peek through the only window in the cabin.
Willie approached hunkered over and stood to one side of the window. He did a quick peek and ducked back down. He motioned for Manny to step away from the cabin. “Brandi’s tied to a wooden bench,” he whispered. “Shawna’s sitting next to her.”
“So Neville and Bobo are working together.” Manny breathed into his hands. “Bobo must have followed Shawna from Reuben’s and told Neville to meet him here.”
“I can see Bobo following Shawna to get his dope back. But why would Neville take Brandi?”
“Oldest reason in the world: money. Brandi is Johnny’s new beneficiary. With her and Johnny’s new will out of the way, and Johnny’s old will giving Neville and Tony mineral rights the only one on record, the Charging Bears will be worth millions.”
“But kidnapping?” Willie said. “At least up ’til now, Tony’s the only one directly involved with killing.”
“Johnny?”
“Who else?”
Manny paused. “Besides Joey One Feather and Kyle Wells? We’ll be able to connect Bobo to those. As for Tony being the killer . . . I’m not entirely sure.”
Manny stood and looked over the embankment. He walked down another ten yards to get a view of the back of the shack. “I don’t see Neville’s truck anywhere.”
“Maybe Bobo’s car crapped out here after he met Neville, and Bobo drove it somewhere.”
“Are they hurt?”
Willie shook his head as he looked over his shoulder. “I don’t know. Shawna’s been worked over, and Brandi is just slumped over on that bench. Should we call for backup units?”
“I don’t think we can afford to wait for help,” Manny said. “No telling what shape those ladies are in.”
Willie unholstered his sidearm. “Looked like Neville’s waiting for something.”
“Yes: Us. Ready?”
“Wait,” Willie said, laying his arm on Manny’s, holding him back. “What’s the plan?”
Manny shrugged. “We bust in there. Save the women. Arrest the bad guy. You know, do our job.”
“But what is the plan?”
“Why are you always so hung up on having a plan?” Manny asked.
“’Cause that’s how we stay alive in this business.”
“What, you want to live forever?” Manny prodded. “Quit being a sissy and stay close.”
They drew their guns and approached the cabin. Manny stayed away from the side of the shack so as not to signal they were outside. When he got to the door, he stood off to one side, breathing deep, hand poised above the knob. He nodded to Willie, and on three, they burst into the room. Neville sat on a chair turned backwards, in front of a rough-hewn bench where Shawna and Brandi sat tied together. Neville jumped, and pivoted in his chair, but not before Manny pointed his gun at his chest. “Sit back down. Oh, and drop that revolver.”
Neville smiled and laid his gun carefully on the floor.
“Kick it away,” Manny ordered.
Willie walked around Manny and started taking the gag off Brandi first.
“Don’t do that,” Neville said.
Willie ignored him and flicked open his knife to cut the plastic flex ties.
“He said, ‘don’t do that’!”
Bobo Groves stood framed in the doorway, the .38 snubbie all but disappearing in his large hand. “Agent Tanno and Tonto. Sit on the floor by the ladies. And toss your guns in the corner.”
They slid their guns across the floor. They landed in one corner of the cabin.
“Some plan you had,” Willie berated Manny.
“So it wasn’t textbook,” Manny said. “Every plan has minor flaws.”
“Minor!”
“Shut up.” Neville picked up his gun, and that smile crossed his face again. “This was the only way I could lure you here.”
“Let’s just off them and get the hell out.”
Neville nodded to Bobo. “My client’s too anxious. Me, I like to savor the win. Like a lengthy court case.”
“What win?” Willie asked.
“You,” Neville said. “My guess is you’ve told no one else about any outlandish theories about me.”
Manny nodded to Brandi. “Doesn’t look so outlandish to me. I’ve filed with the U.S. Attorney—”
Bobo kicked Manny’s legs from under him and he fell. “I said sit on the floor.” Bobo cocked the gun and pointed it at Manny’s head, but Neville stopped him. “We need information first, okay?”
Bobo lowered his gun, and Neville knelt beside Manny. “You didn’t file a thing with the U.S. Attorney’s office, or your agents would have already visited me at my office. But you might have told someone else. Who?”
“Like My Cousin Vinny said, I have a counter offer.”
“Instead of me kicking your ass?”
“I’ll tell you who I told about you, if you tell me if I was on the right track all along.”
Neville shrugged. “Sure. Why not. What do you need to know?”
“You needed to kill Johnny as you didn’t want his new will going public. For the same reason you killed Devlon Thomas.”
“Tony killed him.”
Manny shook his head. “Tony was too busy protecting his Aunt Della. You
r Aunt Della. And if I do some checking, I’ll bet Thomas was the very first law firm you worked for.”
“This does get interesting,” Neville said.
“Let’s kill them—”
“Just wait,” Neville told Bobo. “I have to find out how the legendary Manny Tanno figured this out.”
“Devlon Thomas hired law school graduates right out of college. Paid them peanuts. You were one of them, if I read that newspaper clipping hanging on your wall right. The one with the caption printed as neatly as the ledger at the bath house.”
“You have things figured out. Devlon Thomas gave me my first defense attorney position. I worked for him for a year, before I moved to Rapid City and started my own practice.”
“And you knew just where he’d keep important things. Like Johnny’s will.”
“Damned fool always kept his papers in his safe. Just like when I worked for him.”
“And we thought Tony had been around enough that he would know to turn the heat up to skew the time of death,” Manny said. “But one clever defense lawyer familiar with such things did.”
Neville bowed his head. “Thanks for the compliment,” he said and sat back on the chair, his gun covering Manny and Willie when . . .
. . . movement, rustling outside. Neville turned in his chair, while Bobo spun around, his gun coming up, aiming at the doorway. The head of a pinto horse stuck its nose in the shack and whinnied as if to say hello. As quickly as it appeared, the pony backed out and left. Neville laughed. “Relax, my bald friend.” He turned back to Manny. “Is that all you got?”
“I thought for the longest time that Tony was the one doing your dirty work. That he killed Johnny and dumped him in Oglala Lake,” Manny said, inching closer to his gun in the corner of the cabin. “Then I realized his only concern was for his Aunt Della. He didn’t care about any mineral royalties. All he wants to do is party and get drunk.”
“Now just where was I supposed to have killed Uncle Johnny?”
“State Bath House in Thermopolis. After you left Legend Rock, you drove him there and drowned him in the mineral pool. Like you tried drowning me there.”
“You’re way off base.”
Death Etched in Stone Page 25
