by Carolina Mac
He nodded. “My brother Brian lives in town. I’ll call him.”
“Do that. We’ll be in touch, sir.”
On the way out Farrell had another go-round with Detective Jarvis. She was not a happy woman. I heard Farrell say, “Doesn’t matter what you think, ma’am, or who you call, this is not your case and never will be. You have to stand down.”
“Go to hell, Ranger Donovan. I’ve heard rumors about you and the Night Vipers.”
“Appreciate that, ma’am.” Farrell gave her a smile.
Lazy Jay Motel. Junction.
I called Jody as soon as I was back in the truck. I wanted to check up on Vince. “Is he still in his room?”
“Haven’t seen any of the guys go out yet. Guess they’re all sleeping late on a Saturday.”
“Okay, we’re heading your way now. Farrell is going to bring Vince in for formal questioning. He was the last person seen with Kim, so he has to be our first suspect.”
“Yeah, he does,” said Jody. “When will you be here?”
“Less than five minutes.”
“I won’t take my eyes off him.”
Farrell parked in front of our motel room and I ran inside for a moment to use the facilities. A quick stop in front of the mirror to fix my makeup and I was ready to go again. We had to find Kim. Was she already dead? I hoped she wasn’t, but I had no idea how long Vince kept his victims alive before he killed them.
Farrell and Jody stood out front on the walkway. Farrell had a cigarette in his hand and Jody had a bottle of spring water in his.
“I’m ready.”
“Let’s do it,” said Farrell. “Where’s Pete?”
Pete wandered out of Jody’s room.
“Come on, Pete,” I said. “We’re going to make an arrest.”
“Do we have enough evidence for an arrest?” asked Jody.
“No,” said Farrell. “Nothing solid yet. We have to bring Vince in on suspicion, but he was the last person seen with Kim. We all saw him drop her off.”
“That’s true,” said Jody. “He’s our only suspect.”
Holding Pete’s leash, I followed Farrell as he ascended the metal staircase and followed the second storey walkway around to room two twenty.
Farrell pounded on the door and hollered, “Police, Vince Agostino. Need to talk to you.”
A sleepy looking Vince opened the door and stared at us. “What do you want with me? This is my day off.”
“We’re bringing you in for questioning on suspicion of kidnapping.” Farrell took his cuffs off his belt and Vince shook his head.
“You don’t need handcuffs. “I’ll answer your questions.”
“Okay, great.” Farrell took Vince’s arm to be on the safe side and marched him down the metal stairs to my truck.
He secured Vince in the back and we were on our way to Junction Police Headquarters.
Jody seemed excited he was along for the ride. He had a big smile on his face as he sat next to our suspect in the back seat of my truck.
Junction Police Headquarters.
Farrell held tight to Vince Agostino’s arm as he took him out of the back of the truck and walked him to the front entrance of the police station.
The same Sergeant we’d talked to previously was still manning the front desk and didn’t seem pleased to see us back again. He stared at Pete and pointed. “That a member of a K-9 unit?”
“Yes, sir,” I said. “This is Pete.”
“Okay. He can come in, otherwise, if he wasn’t a working dog, we don’t allow dogs in the station house.”
“Do you have an interrogation room I can use?” asked Farrell.
“Yeah, sure,” said the Sarge. “Follow me and I’ll show you.” They traversed a short hallway and the Sarge pointed to a door marked Interrogation Room One.
“Use that one. I’ll let the Chief know y’all are here.”
“Sure,” said Farrell, “I need to speak to him anyway.”
Jody, Pete, and I followed Farrell into the room and watched him attach Vince Agostino to the metal table that was bolted to the floor.
“You fuckin cops are nuts, know that?” said Vince. “What in hell do y’all think I did? Is it too much to ask y’all to tell me what I’m being accused of?”
Farrell sat down across from Vince and set up the interview. Name, date, case number… “How long have you known Kim O’Connell?”
“Who?”
“The bartender you gave a ride home to last night,” said Farrell. “How long have you known her? A straightforward question.”
“Oh, Kim. Couple of weeks. Since we’ve been working in Junction on the highway.”
“Okay, good.”
“Where is she now?” asked Farrell.
“What do you mean—where is she?” asked Vince.
“She’s missing,” said Farrell. “You should know that better than anybody, Vince. You took her.”
“You’re fuckin nuts. I didn’t take her. Take her from where? What the hell do you dumb asses think I did? Explain it to me.”
“Kim O’Connell is missing and we think you took her, Vince,” said Farrell. “Convince me that you didn’t do it.”
“I don’t have to convince you of anything. It’s you assholes who have to convince a jury that I committed a crime. Not the other way around. I have rights. I know my rights and I want to call a lawyer.”
“Sure, you can call for legal counsel, Vince. You can wait in a cell until your legal beagle shows up.”
Jody and I waited in the interrogation room while Farrell booked Vince Agostino on suspicion of kidnapping and murder and locked him up in a holding cell.
“He called a lawyer,” said Farrell. “Let’s go check the closest river.”
“Find the closest river, Jody,” I said.
In the back seat of the truck Jody fiddled with his cell phone and said, “South Llano River is near here.”
“Let’s find the river,” said Farrell.
South Llano River. Junction.
“We don’t have a prayer if he already killed her and tossed her in the river,” said Farrell. “Look at that fuckin current. She could be all the way to Llano by now.”
“What can we do?” I asked.
“It would be senseless to drag the river,” said Farrell. “Vince could have tossed her in at any point, here where the river passes near Junction, or twenty miles from here. If she’s in the river, she’s already dead, Gilly. We have to wait until her body turns up.”
“I don’t feel she’s dead,” I said.
“Uh huh. Sometimes that happens. You don’t want to believe the victim is dead until you see them in the morgue. You keep hoping you can get to them in time.”
“If Vince hires a lawyer when will he get out?”
“Too late now for his arraignment today. It won’t be until Monday.”
“We should drive home in the morning, drop you off and I’ll come back tomorrow night and go to the courthouse on Monday. Keep watch on him.”
“I don’t know if he’s going to make a mistake, Gilly.”
“We need to talk to the owner of the paving company and see where they’re scheduled to work next.”
“Maybe your crackerjack assistant can look into their schedule,” said Farrell.
Jody nodded. “Yep, I can do that as soon as we get back to the motel.”
Lazy Jay Motel. Junction.
When we got back to the motel, Jody headed into his room to do research and Farrell and I went into our own room.
“How long will it take the techs to run the O’Connell trailer?” I asked Farrell.
“At least all day and maybe part of tomorrow.”
“Vince’s prints aren’t going to show up inside the trailer,” I said. “He’s too careful for that.”
“All we need is one mistake,” said Farrell. “One little mistake and we have him.”
“What if he’s not the killer?”
“There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence that says
it is him.”
“But no proof.”
“No proof.”
Texas Jack’s Saloon. Junction.
Covering all our bases in case Vince was not the killer, we went back to the roadhouse for dinner, stayed the evening and observed the other guys on the paving crew.
Pete sat in the truck and watched the parking lot like he’d done the night before and nothing transpired.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened at the roadhouse. A busy night without Kim behind the bar. The blond guy had worked the bar the whole night without a break and he had probably fielded a lot of inquiries about Kim.
I wasn’t close enough to hear, but I watched to see if any of the paving dudes were acting out of character.
“Everything looks normal,” said Farrell. “I can’t feel any tension. I think we’ve got our man locked up, Gilly.”
I’d like to get into the holding cell and cast a truth spell on Vince Agostino. Then I’d know for sure.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sunday, November 15th.
Lazy Jay Motel. Junction.
Farrell wanted to get an early start back to Austin so after I showered and dressed, I packed up my dirty clothes and left everything else in place for my return trip.
I’d already booked the two rooms for another night and planned on leaving Jody in Junction to watch over things while I drove Farrell back to the Agency. Round trip it would take five hours and I wasn’t looking forward to the drive.
Farrell pulled his cowboy boots on and plopped his black hat on his head. “I’ve been thinking about it, Gilly, and it don’t make sense for you to drive me home and drive all the way back. We’ll have breakfast together and you can drive me to a rental agency. I’ll grab a Jeep and drop it off in Austin.”
I shrugged. “Whatever is best for you. I don’t mind driving you.”
“Too much time wasted,” he said. “Let’s get coffee and breakfast and think about it.”
“Sure.” I went next door and told Jody we were going for breakfast with Farrell and there might be a change in plans.
Farrell tossed his duffel in the truck when we went for breakfast and afterwards, I followed GPS directions to a Budget Rental outlet in downtown Junction.
I said goodbye to Farrell as he hopped into a dark green Rubicon. After kissing him a couple of times through his open window I waved as he drove off.
“Okay, Jody, we’re on our own.” I started my truck and headed for the police station.
“Do we have a plan?” asked Jody. “Farrell was kind of running the show while he was here.”
“He’s used to being the boss,” I said. “He’s a good cop.”
“Uh huh. I agree with that statement.”
“Are there other statements you don’t agree with?”
“Not saying.”
“Here’s what I’m going to try first.” I explained to Jody about the truth spell.
“Try it if you want to, but I’m not a big believer in witchcraft or spells.”
“You do your thing and I’ll do mine,” I said. “Maybe that’s why Misty made us a team. We both have different skillsets.”
“You’ve never seen my skills yet,” said Jody with a grin, “but I appreciate you giving me a chance. I can tell Farrell doesn’t think I’m worth my salt.”
“Farrell isn’t paying you, Jody, Misty is. So all you have to do is prove your worth to her. Don’t worry about Farrell.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I want to do that. I’m starting to like my new job now that we’re in the field and in hot pursuit of a killer. I’m pumped for it.”
“Stay pumped and keep your head in the game and not up your ass. Let’s go see Vince.”
Junction Police Headquarters.
The desk Sergeant made a face when he saw me walk through the door and stand in front of him. “Ranger Hart? Have I got that right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How can I help you this morning?”
“I’d like to talk to my suspect in an interrogation room. Is that possible?”
“I guess so. I’ll have an officer bring him up for you. Wait in room two.”
“Thanks.”
Jody and I trudged along the hallway and waited in room two for Vince Agostino. An empty room with cinderblock walls painted pale gray, a gray metal table and three chairs. The chair for the suspect was bolted to the floor.
While we waited, I went over the spell in my head that I intended to use on Vince.
The uniformed officer brought Vince in and secured him to the table. “There you go, Ranger Hart. Let me know when y’all are finished and I’ll take this boy back to his cell.”
“Thank you.”
“Now they’re giving guns and badges to teenyboppers?” Vince chuckled. “What do you want with me, little girl?”
“I want the truth, Vince.”
“I already told the truth to your buddy. I didn’t snatch Kim, the bartender, and you’ll never prove I did.”
I raised my arms and chanted the spell as Vince stared at me like I was a nut case.
Goddess of the earth and skies
Separate Vince from his lies
Truth spills forth from his heart
He helps the police and does his part
His soul is cleansed when lies are gone
Purge his lies Goddess of the sun
So mote it be.
I quickly repeated the spell three times, then pulled my wand out of my jacket pocket and zapped Vince. Sparks flew and I heard Jody suck in a breath behind me.
With no further prompting, Vince began rambling on.
“I didn’t take Kim. I gave her a ride home like Clay told me to do. I dropped her off and went back to the motel.”
“Who’s Clay?”
“Foreman. Boss’s son. Clay Harrison.”
“Is he staying at the motel with the crew?”
“Yep, he’s always with us. He’s the boss on every job.”
“Okay, that’s good to know. Thank you for your honesty, Vince.”
I raised my wand and cleared the spell from Vince’s mind. He wouldn’t remember anything when I was finished.
Lying
Flying
From your mind thoughts go
You forgot what you used to know
So mote it be.
I tapped Vince on the head with my wand and he smiled at me.
“You going to ask me anything, or am I going to sit here all day?”
“All finished, Vince. You can go back to your cell and wait for your attorney.”
“Thanks. That was easy.”
Vince went back to his cell and we left.
On the way to the parking lot Jody said, “That was cool, Gilly. I liked how you did that. Sort of like magick.”
Lazy Jay Motel. Junction.
Jody and I talked over our new information on the way back to the motel. “The owner’s son is the foreman,” said Jody. “He would have been at all the other locations where paving was done.”
“He sure would.”
“He could be the killer just as easily as Vince,” said Jody, “but Vince looks like the guilty one. Why?”
“Maybe Clay Harrison had something to do with casting suspicion on Vince. Makes sense if he was protecting himself.”
“Are we going to talk to Clay now?”
“Yep. Just let me get my boline from my room. You go ask in the office what room Clay Harrison is staying in.”
“I’m on it.”
By the time I gave Pete a bowl of water and hooked my boline on my belt, Jody was back.
“She won’t divulge that information.”
“Why not? She told me Vince’s room number when I asked her.”
Jody shrugged. “Did you flash your badge when you asked for Vince’s room?”
“Don’t think so. Never mind. I’ll go in a minute. First, let me check him through DMV and see which truck is his. We need to get it tagged before we head to his room. Just having the cops
call on him might make him nervous enough to take off.”
“I don’t think so,” said Jody. “He’s done this enough times to be cool.”
Harrison’s license came up and he was currently driving a dark blue Chevy Silverado. I jotted down the plate number.
“He’s probably the one who keeps pointing the finger at Vince,” I said. “I think we’re right about that.”
“Wouldn’t Vince notice if his boss was doing weird stuff at night or siccing the cops on him?”
“Not necessarily. If Harrison was careful, he could have operated just the way he did with Kim. After the bar closed and all his men were in their motel rooms, that’s when he made his move.”
“Still,” said Jody. “He’s living on the road with a dozen guys for weeks at a time and they’re going to notice something.”
“Let’s go ask them what they noticed,” I said.
“Yeah, let’s.”
“First we’ll ask Clay how he did it.”
“We’re going to confront him?”
“You up for it?”
Jody didn’t look too sure. “Yep, count me in.”
“Wait here with Pete until I get the room number.” I ran to the office at the other end of the long building and waited until Francis finished with a customer.
“Would you mind telling me what room Clay Harrison is currently occupying?” I asked.
She was reluctant to part with the information until I emphasized the magnitude of the situation. Hearing her name and the word prison in the same sentence caused her to spew out Clay Harrison’s room number in a hurry.
“Mister Harrison is on the first floor. Room one thirty-two.”
“Thank you.” I left the office, ran back and collected Jody and Pete from Jody’s room. “Room one thirty-two. Let’s go brace him.”
Standing in front of Clay’s door I checked my weapons. Boline, gun, taser, wand. Yep, I had them all.
I knocked on the door and politely called to him in a friendly voice, “Police, Mister Harrison. Need to speak to you.” I’d heard Farrell do it a hundred times when I was riding with the Night Vipers.
