All About Zane (Travis County Legal Book 1)

by Avery J. Moon

  We circled the block and returned to the house. The boys were given the option of playing in Matt’s room or all of us watching a movie. Not surprisingly, they chose Matt’s room. There were just too many new toys between the two of them to waste a minute of play time.

  Gabe opened a bottle of wine and poured each of us a glass and we sat on his soft, overstuffed sofa to drink them.

  “About what you said earlier,” I said. “Were you telling me you are gay too?” Then I held my breath, hoping against hope I hadn’t just blown everything.

  He looked into the deep red of his wine and nodded. “All my life I’ve tried to do the right thing.” He sighed and took a sip. “By the time I reached college, I knew I wasn’t like most of the other boys. Going out and picking up loose girls at frat parties just didn’t interest me. Staying in with my frat brothers did. Go figure.”

  We sat there for a minute, sipping and letting the wine loosen our tongues.

  “When you got married, was that you still trying to do the right thing?”

  Gabe grimaced. “In multiple ways,” he said, turning to face me on the sofa. “There were a few nights when my frat brothers wouldn’t take no for an answer and drug me along for the ride. So, I picked up a few women along the way. Of course, with my luck, I was the one to choose the girl who wasn’t on the pill and at the right stage of her cycle to get pregnant.”

  Okay, now I was a little confused. “But Matt is Zane’s age, right?”

  Gabe nodded. “Our first was stillborn, but the damage was done. How do you divorce someone because they gave you a dead baby?”

  It was my turn to study the light playing on the wine in my glass. “So all that time, you stayed with her because you thought that was the right thing?”

  “Yeah, at first,” he said. “Then Matt came along and, well, the rest is history.”

  He smiled toward the boy’s room. “But I wouldn’t change that part of it for the world. Matt is everything to me.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. They have a way of worming into your heart, don’t they?”

  He laughed. “Well, I guess I never thought of Matt as a heart worm, but if the shoe fits...”

  We drank the rest of our wine and Gabe poured us each another glass. “This is it for the booze tonight. We want to be sharp for those videos.”

  I couldn’t agree more though the wine was doing a great job relaxing me. Making it easier for me to ask the questions that had to be asked.

  “Your wife left quite a while ago, right?”

  “Yup. Almost two years now. I can only guess she finally figured it out.” His eyes went to a family photo hanging on the wall of the three of them. “She was good about it, though. Didn’t rat me out or anything. She just took a promotion out of state and left. The divorce papers came a few months later.”

  “So it’s final, right? You’re a free man?”

  He shrugged. “As free as a single parent can be.” He gave me a sad smile and lifted his glass to me. “Here’s hoping you get the full flavor of that soon.”

  I raised my glass to his. “Amen.” We drank the rest of our wine and prepared for the war of putting two excited little boys to bed. But before we went into battle, I had one final question.

  “So why haven’t you come out yet? It’s not as bad as you might think. Most people adjust pretty well to it, at least after a while.”

  Gabe took a deep breath. “On an individual basis, yeah. But I’m not at all sure that the community as a whole would support a gay sheriff.” He put his glass on the table, his fingers playing with its stem. “I love my job, and I think I’m damn good at it. But every day I grow more and more tired of living a lie.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think you’re lying to anyone but yourself. I mean, have you ever gone on camera and said you weren’t gay?”

  He smiled at me. “That’s nice of you to say, but a lie by omission is still a lie.” Before I had a chance to reply, he stood up and reached down to help me up. “Now let’s go put the little heathens to bed, so we can get started.”

  Heaven help me, but it took a minute for me to realize he was only talking about the videos.

  Or was he?

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Garage Fire (Colin)

  The boys were pretty much tuckered out by the time we enforced bedtime, so they went to sleep with only a token of complaining. Showers were saved for the morning, so teeth brushing and pajama donning took a minimum amount of time. Matt’s bed had a cool trundle mattress under it, so each boy had their very own sleeping space while being as close as possible at the same time. The way Zane’s eyes lit up when he saw it, I knew a new trundle bed was in the boy’s near future.

  We gave them a few minutes to fall asleep before we started working. It didn’t take long. Once the sound of small, innocent snores reached our perked ears, we started in.

  The tapes weren’t marked at all with dates or anything, so it was anyone’s guess as to where to begin. Each tape held about ten hours of video and there was one tape for each night’s surveillance. Lucky for us, the camera only ran when the shop was closed.

  I wasn’t sure what kind of quality we would be viewing since the recordings would be of the nighttime hours, so darkness was a huge factor. But luck was with us. The marina was fairly well lit at night, and the camera had a pretty good view of the boats docked there.

  Lawrence Lawson’s pontoon boat, named Lucinda, was the second in the line. So the view was nice and clear from the camera. Needless to say that is where most of our attention was focused.

  We had three weeks of video to go through, ten hours on each tape. A quick calculation told me that was more watching than we could do in one night. A total of two hundred and ten hours, in fact.

  Of course, there were two of us. But still, more than a single night’s work. We each picked a tape at random and started. Gabe experimented a bit and found that if we put the tapes on a slow fast forward, we could watch them in about a quarter of the time.

  We planned to limit ourselves to two tapes each before resting our eyes with a few hours’ sleep. Whatever we didn’t get watched by tomorrow evening, Gabe would hand over to the department for viewing.

  It wasn’t a perfect plan, and I didn’t like the idea of handing over those tapes to anyone without seeing them for myself, but it was the best Gabe could offer. I didn’t like it, but I understood. If I wanted Mike behind bars, and Lord knows that was only one of the places I wanted him, there were sacrifices I was going to have to make.

  Gabe knew the law. Building a conviction-getting case was hard work.

  This time, however, a sacrifice wasn’t required. The second tape I had chosen, my last for the night, was the game changer.

  The first thing I noticed was the Caddy parking in the marina’s lot. At that point, I hit pause, my heart racing and got Gabe’s attention. He stopped his tape and all four eyes were on my tiny little television when I hit play again.

  The Caddy’s driver side door opened and out stepped Lawrence Lawson. Damn.

  Then the passenger side door opened. Mike stepped out and crossed behind the car to meet his father. They appeared to be arguing, and at one point, Lawrence even shoved his son away. Then they split up, and each went in a different direction.

  Lawrence’s path took him under and behind the camera’s view, so we lost him. Mike’s took him to the first few boats. He boarded each one quickly, then went to the next.

  “Checking for possible witnesses,” Gabe said. “Don’t want to get caught red-handed, now do they?”

  Convinced they were alone, and obviously oblivious to the fact that they were on camera, they opened the trunk. A small, dainty hand flopped out. It was more than I could handle and I hit the pause button, tears streaming down my face.

  “You don’t have to watch this,” Gabe said softly. “In fact, we should probably hand this over to the department right now.”

  I shook my head. “No. I have to see it.” I took a few deep breaths and
managed to stop the flow of tears. They weren’t that hard to stop once the anger started taking over.

  What followed on the tape was gruesome, to say the least. You never got a full-on view of Becca, only her hand, but Lawrence and Michael were easily identifiable as they lifted out the rolled up carpet that held her body.

  Michael, dressed in his customary camouflage hunting outfit, threw the carpet over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, the hand still peeking through the rug. He carried it to the end of the shoreline while Lawrence got the boat and backed it up to him. Then Mike waded in far enough to toss the body into the boat, quickly climbing in after it.

  The boat disappeared off the little screen, but when I would have switched it off, Gabe made me wait. A half an hour later, not fast forwarded, the boat returned to its slip at the dock. There wasn’t a beach that close to the marina, but there was a small picnic area with ready-made fire pits.

  As we watched, the two men got off the boat. This time Lawrence was carrying the now empty rug. Mike made short work of starting a fire and once it was going well, Lawrence tossed the carpet in. It tried to tumble back out as the fire ring wasn’t high enough to contain its length. Mike found a heavy stick and used it to push the rug back into the pit.

  Within an hour the carpet that had held Becca’s body was nothing more than ash.

  “Is this enough?” I asked, my voice rough from anger and tears.

  “Oh yes,” Gabe said. “The two of them will burn in hell for this.” His eyes met mine. “But they’ll spend some quality time in my jail first.”

  That’s when Gabe’s cell phone rang.

  *** (Gabe)

  Gabriel Green’s life hadn’t been all sunshine and roses. Not by a long shot. But sitting there watching those two ditch the body of Rebecca Shepard with her brother beside him was definitely not one of the highlights.

  He’d been almost grateful when his cell phone rang. Until he heard what they had to say.

  How much of a coincidence would it be for the shop of the man that had given them their first real clue as to Becca’s disappearance to burn down on the very night of her funeral? Too much of one to suit Gabe’s taste or instinct. Especially when the fire chief on the phone was talking arson.

  “Was there anyone inside?” Gabe asked, sparing a quick look at Colin.

  “Yeah, the owner,” the chief hesitated. “He was in the back room when the place went up, close by the back door. My men got there fast, Sheriff, faster than the asshole that set it must have expected. They got the man out before he caught fire. He has a good deal of smoke in his lungs, but the docs think he’ll pull through.” Another pause. “Here’s the thing, Gabe. He was tied to his bed when we got there. Pretty beat up too.”

  “Pretty much rules out him as a suspect,” Gabe said. “He gave you any names yet?”

  “Not yet, he’s out cold. Whether from his beating or the smoke it’s too soon to tell. You can bet that’ll be the first question he’s asked when he comes around.”

  Gabe grunted. “My men there yet?”

  “Yup, a deputy by the name of Lester Ferrell. Wanna talk to him?”

  “Please.”

  While the fire chief handed the phone off, Gabe gave Colin a quick rundown of what was happening.

  “How did he know we were on to them?” Colin asked.

  Gabe shrugged, then was back on the phone. “Lester, keep someone with him until he comes around enough to tell us who did this. And let me know the minute that happens. Oh, and Lester, send someone over to watch my neighborhood, too, okay?”

  “You got it, Sheriff. You know something you’re willing to share here?”

  “You’ll be hearing real soon. In fact,” Gabe took a deep breath. “Why don’t you come to my house once you hand that mechanic over to another deputy’s care? I’m going to need a backup for this.”

  “You know I’ll back you up, Gabe,” Colin said softly.

  Gabe hung up and turned to him. “Not this time Colin. By the book from here on out. Have you told anybody what we’ve found? Molly, your mom, anyone at all?”

  Colin shook his head. “No way. As far as I know, only you, me, and Josh knows. And you told Josh when you wanted info on the evidence.”

  “Well, this is far too coincidental for me to let those two remain out on the street.” Then he hesitated. “You think Molly would mind coming over for the rest of the night? I’d say we’d take the boys to her, but I don’t want to wake them if we don’t have to.”

  A phone call later, Molly had agreed. She had tried to insist on walking over, but Colin and Gabe both overrode her on that. Who knew what Lawrence and Michael’s next plans were? It was possible that they involved Colin. Hell, it was probable.

  Gabe rushed dressing in his uniform and came out of his room to find Colin pacing. “Spill it,” Gabe said.

  Colin gave him an odd look. “Today at the funeral, Mike seemed startled when our eyes met over the coffin. Thinking back it was like somehow he knew what I was thinking. But I swear all I did was look at him.”

  “To a man with a guilty conscience that might have been enough.”

  Colin didn’t seem pacified and his agitation was becoming more aggressive. “Please don’t make me sit here and wait. Let me come too?” He was pleading.

  For a split second, he hesitated, but Gabe knew he couldn’t say yes. Not this time.

  “Look, we want this to stick, right? All nice and neat and with a big red bow on top?”

  He didn’t seem happy about it, but Colin nodded.

  “Then let me handle this tonight. And once your steps are behind bars where they belong, we’ll continue our sleep over. The right way.”

  Then Gabe took the three steps necessary to reach Colin and kissed him full on the lips. While Colin was still recuperating from that, he left to fetch Molly.

  The case couldn’t be wrapped up soon enough to suit Gabe.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Disappearing Act (Colin)

  Gabe dropped Molly off just as his deputy was pulling in the drive. He didn’t even come in, just watched Molly until she was safely inside, gave me a short wave and climbed in the vehicle with his man.

  Molly and I checked on the boys who were still snoring softly, then sat in the living room. I knew she was waiting for an explanation, and I figured it would be on the news tomorrow, anyway. She had the right to know from me.

  So I told her. Everything.

  For a minute, she didn’t say a word, then she exploded in verbal form. I’d never heard her curse before, in fact, she knew curse words I’d never heard outside of the military.

  Finally, she wound down and looked at me. “How long have you known?”

  “Not long,” I said. “We had to make sure we could prove things beyond a shadow of a doubt. Now we can.”

  “Good.” She made another pacing round. “Indiana still has the death penalty, right?”

  “Yeah, but it’s rarely used anymore.” I gave her my nastiest grin. “I’m hoping this will be one of those times.”

  My cell phone rang, and I snatched it up. Assuming it was Gabe, I answered without even checking. It wasn’t. It was Mom.

  “Colin,” her voice shook on even that one word, “Do you have any idea what is going on?”

  Funny, I would have thought Gabe would have started with Michael. He must have gone for Lawrence first instead.

  “Yes, Mom, I do.” Then I caught sight of the mantel clock. Gabe had only been gone fifteen minutes. No way had he reached Mom’s house by now. I thought fast and tried to backpedal my way out of it. “I’m not home right now, Zane and I are at a friend’s house. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, fear in every word. “Lawrence came home and grabbed his survival bag and tried to stuff me in the car.” Then her voice got just a touch stronger. “But I said I wasn’t going anywhere until he told me what was going on.” A beat of silence. “So he left. I’ve never seen him drive that fast before.”

  “Was Mi
chael with him?” I held my breath.

  “Should he have been?” she asked. “Colin, what in the hell is going on?”

  Talk about a rock and a hard place. I’d never lied to my mom before, but no way could I tell her without Lawrence and Michael being safely behind bars first. Then, there was the added need to call Gabe with the news that my step-dad was on the run.

  “Mom, lock the doors and just stay inside. Go to bed and try to get some sleep, and if Lawrence calls you and wants you to go somewhere, don’t go.” Which brought up another point. “Do you have any idea where he was going?”

  “No, and I can’t sleep like this.” She hesitated. “Colin, can you come over? Please? I know it’s late, but I don’t want to be alone. I’m scared, baby.”

  Then I could hear the pounding on the door, even through the phone. My mom gasped. “Colin, the police are here!”

  “Mom, answer the door and talk to them, tell them everything, and then call me back. Okay?”

  She hung up without answering and I immediately dialed Gabe’s number. He didn’t answer. Not that I thought he would. Being in the middle of an arrest run and all.

  I joined Molly in her pacing, making one round for her two. What seemed like an eternity later, Gabe returned my call.

  “Bad news, Colin,” he said. “Both of them are in the wind. Must have found out that

  Ralph made it out of the fire alive.”

  “Is Mom okay?”

  Gabe hesitated. “I’m not sure. I went after Michael and sent another car for Lawrence. They are taking her to the office for questioning. We’re hoping she can tell us where they went.”

  “Mom did say that Lawrence grabbed his survival bag before he left. They could be in the woods somewhere, for all we know.”

  “There is a hell of a lot of woods in central Indiana, Colin. Let’s hope your mom can narrow it down a bit for us.”