It was Friday after all.
Three minutes later, Carpenter put her mind at ease.
She heard the sound of his chain turning, his labored breathing, long before she saw him. Instantly her feet stopped moving and she ducked in behind the hood.
Dabbed at the tiny bit of perspiration that had developed while running in place for the better part of a half hour.
Raquel pulled her hands from her pockets. Thrust them both onto the frigid metal of the engine. Watched as the warmth was pulled from them, turning the fingers chalky white.
Waited, listened, as the sound of a bike approaching grew closer.
She waited until she heard the squeal of brakes before stepping out from behind the car. Pressed a palm to her chest. Pushed her breath out in one long burst.
"Oh, thank God!"
In front of her was a man with wire rim glasses and sandy brown hair. He had a sloping jaw and square shoulders, completely bedecked in puffy down attire.
He looked to be somewhere in his late-forties. His file said he was more than a decade older than he appeared.
"Hey there," Carpenter said. Easy country drawl. "Car trouble?"
"Yes," Raquel said. Watched as he dismounted the bike. "I don't suppose you know anything about engines do you?"
Carpenter set the kick stand on his bike. Smiled at her. Didn't even bother to glance into the car. "Some. If not, I live right up the road here. I can give you a lift anywhere you need to go."
"Oh, thank you so much," Raquel gushed. "I took my car in for some maintenance and they gave me this rental. Darn thing lasted fifteen minutes before going kaput."
Another smile. "You'll get that with rentals."
Carpenter stepped around her. Stood perpendicular to the engine. "What seems to be the problem?"
He never heard Hector exit the car.
Didn't hear the large man circle behind him in three quick steps.
Had no idea hands were on him until Hector jerked his chin in one direction, the crown of his head in another.
Hector kept hold of the lifeless body as it dangled against his chest. Grabbed hold of the seat of Carpenter's pants. Inverted the man as if he weighed nothing at all.
Slammed him head first into the gravel.
It had the intended effect. A large gash opened on the top of Carpenter's helmet. Flecks of paint spewed out into the gravel.
Raquel dropped the hood of the car and climbed inside. Turned it on and slowly backed out onto the road.
In front of her, Hector pulled the kickstand up on the bike. Climbed on and rode a few yards back towards town. Turned a slow circle and pedaled hard, straight at Carpenter's body.
At the edge of the pavement, he squeezed the handlebar brakes tight. Held himself firm as the bike cut a deep groove through the loose gravel.
He let it topple to the ground a few feet in front of their victim.
Lightly he stepped off the gravel, careful not to leave any footprints behind. Raquel pulled the car up beside him and he slid inside.
For a brief moment, they both paused to inspect the scene.
There was absolutely nothing to insinuate it was more than an unfortunate bicycle accident. A perfectly placed fall that snapped his neck on impact.
"Next one is mine," Raquel said. Not a threat. Just a statement.
Several comments went through Hector's mind. He opted against all of them.
Simply nodded as they drove off into the gathering darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The alarm clock went off at six-thirty.
Drew a groan from Drake as he rolled over to turn it off. An annoyed eyebrow raise from Suzy Q curled up against his right calf.
A sound somewhere between a snort and a whimper to drive home the point.
"I know it's Saturday," Drake said. Pulled his legs away from Q. Dropped them to the wooden floor. Sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand over his hair.
He remained that way for several long seconds. Drew in the warmth of the baseboard heater encircling his room. Rose and went into the bathroom.
Unceremoniously he pulled on wind pants and running shoes. A long sleeve Cold Gear Under Armour. A baggy hooded sweatshirt, knit cap, gloves.
Every morning that didn't start with the Zoo Crew began with a trip to the gym. Given his early breakfast meeting and the late opening time of the rec center on weekends, it would have to be skipped today.
Instead, he was forced to brave the elements.
The house was completely dark as he stepped through the living room. He knew Ajax had been up working most of the night, though no traces of it remained.
For a house inhabited by two bachelors and a dog, they kept it painstakingly clean.
The first breath of air was so cold it stung Drake's throat as he stepped off the porch. Lingered in the back of his esophagus.
Seemed to burn the entire way down.
"God I miss Tennessee," Drake mumbled. Put his headphones in. Turned on a steady diet of eighties hair bands.
Started running, despite the protest of his body.
The first half mile or so was nothing short of painful. Breathing hurt. His cheeks and nose felt like they were on fire.
By the time sunlight started to peek down from Mt. Sentinel, the initial shock was gone. Drake settled into an easy lope. Wound through the university district. Into the South Hills. Back through the center of town.
Seven miles. Fifty minutes flat.
He found the house exactly the way he had left it, dark and silent. Q gave him a disgruntled glance as he came in. Turned her back on him as he stripped down, showered.
Drake dressed in jeans and a team issue Griz sweatshirt from a few years before. Considered grabbing a protein bar for the road. Decided against it.
If he needed to play the part this morning, he was going to play the part. Order breakfast. Sit and chat. Stay as long as it took.
A small smile grew on his face as he thought about how miserable Ava would undoubtedly be.
Drake climbed into his truck at a quarter to eight. Blasted the heat. Made the short drive to Ava's.
Refrained from honking to avoid waking the entire neighborhood.
Just moments after he pulled to a stop, Ava's apartment door swung open. One awkward step at a time she climbed down the wooden staircase from her second-floor home.
Dark blue jeans. Black pea coat. Burberry scarf.
An expression that could kindly be described as sullen.
"Morning sunshine," Drake said. Allowed his amusement to show plainly on his face.
"This place better have coffee," Ava said. Slammed the door shut as they pulled away.
"Wouldn't be a very good breakfast haunt if it didn't."
Ava glared at him from across the front seat. "I've never seen you before ten a.m. You're a damn morning person aren't you?"
Drake cracked a smile. "Been awake for hours. Beautiful morning for a run."
Ava folded her arms across her chest. Settled back against the seat. Mumbled a string of words that sounded a lot like profanity.
Five minutes before eight, Drake pulled the truck to a stop in front of Hal's. Located on Brooks Street on the south end of town, it was sandwiched between a hardware store and a book store.
Despite the early hour, a large handful of cars were already scattered about.
Drake swung out from behind the wheel. Circled around in front of the truck. "Please try to be agreeable. This guy is doing us a favor you know."
"I got it," Ava said. "Just make sure I get coffee within the first five minutes and nobody gets hurt."
"Noted," Drake said. Pulled the door open and motioned her inside.
A wave of sweet smelling aromas hit them full-on as they entered. Salty bacon. Fresh pancakes. Hot coffee.
Drake immediately was glad he'd passed on the protein bar. Could sense Ava perk up a bit beside him.
The entirety of the restaurant stretched out before them. The right side was lined with booths
clear to the back wall. Over a dozen in total.
The left side held half as many. The rest of the room was carved out for an open kitchen area.
A man in his mid-sixties rose from the corner booth tucked tight against the window. He stood a few inches shy of six feet with a paunch befitting someone his age. He wore jeans and a plaid shirt.
A wrinkled Griz cap was smashed down over a thick tuft of unruly silver hair.
"Drake," the man called. Motioned them towards the table.
Drake led Ava to the corner where three other men all sat clustered around a table. He extended his hand as he approached.
"Mr. Traynor, good to meet you."
"Pleasure is all ours," Traynor said. Motioned around the table. "These here are Willie, Poke, and Skeeter. And please, call me Walt."
Drake made a point of reaching out and shaking each of their hands. Said their names in turn.
Willie was a slight man, with stooped shoulders and thin wisps of white hair around his ears. Easily the oldest man in the group.
Drake guessed him to be somewhere in his upper seventies.
Poke sat in the opposite corner, completely decked out in Griz apparel. He had pale skin and a thick sprinkling of freckles. A heavy walrus mustache. Glasses.
Skeeter sat on the closest corner. Still wore his puffy tan jacket despite the warm temperature inside. Had a matching fishing hat pulled down over shaggy gray hair.
Each one smiled. Nodded politely.
"I suppose you all already know who this is," Walt said. Motioned to Drake. Looked over to Ava. "And this is his beautiful girlfriend...?"
"Oh no," Ava said. "I'm not his girlfriend. We're actually partners on this case."
Traynor's face fell flat. "I'm very sorry."
"Don't be," Ava said. Smiled sweetly. "Ava Zargoza. Pleasure to meet you."
She too circled the table with handshakes. Made a point of mentioning their names in turn.
Beside her, Drake tried his best to stifle a smile.
A waitress appeared and asked if they would be joining the table. Brought them two rounded back wooden chairs. Took their drink orders.
Coffee, black, for Ava. Iced tea for Drake.
Drake drug the first chair up beside Skeeter. Motioned Ava down into it. Waited as she peeled off her coat to reveal a white v-neck shirt and blue blazer.
Still not quite in tune with Montana fashion, but getting a little closer.
Drake settled in between her and Walt. Folded his arms on the edge of the table. Looked at the men in earnest.
"Alright, first things first. What's going to happen in Ogden today?"
He could sense Ava look a question at him. Didn't bother to glance back.
Poke was the first one to field a response. Spread an enormous smile out beneath his mustache. "Good guys by two touchdowns."
"Three!" Willie added.
"Three," Skeeter confirmed. Nodded in earnest.
"What do you think?" Walt asked.
Drake chewed at his bottom lip for a moment. "You know, I always go back to the simple fact that they couldn't even get a real name for that team. I mean, Weber State? Seriously? Weber is not a State."
Willie let out a small wheeze of a laugh. Poke added a belly laugh that shook his entire body.
"Stewart Stadium is no easy place to place, but I'll be surprised if we're not at least twenty points better than them today."
Walt slapped the palm of his hand down twice on the table. Skeeter continued to nod emphatically.
Ava's face conveyed a mixture of shock and revulsion.
The waitress arrived and took their breakfast orders. Delivered their drinks.
Without being asked, Poke handed the sugar dispenser over to Drake.
"You Tennesseans like a bit of sugar in your tea, correct?"
"Yes, sir," Drake said. Accepted the bottle. Turned it upside down over his drink.
Ignored Ava slamming her knee against his beneath the table.
For over an hour, the six sat together.
Drake ate a Denver omelet. Side of wheat toast. Another glass of sweet tea.
Ava kept pace with a plate of rolled apple pancakes. Enough coffee to power a locomotive.
The entire time, the table talked in animated fashion. Not a single moment of dead-time as the old men peppered Drake with questions.
Asked him his thoughts on the current Griz team. On the playoff picture just a month away. On what he'd been doing since hanging up his spikes.
Even threw in a few old stories from his playing days for good measure.
A couple of times they tried to loop Ava into the conversation, but it was a bit of a lost cause. She knew enough about football to stay quasi-engaged. Had enough social grace to play the part.
Lacked any knowledge whatsoever on the Griz.
Drake was just relieved she masked her indifference to ever learn.
At nine o'clock, Willie, Poke, and Skeeter all rose to leave. They shook Drake and Ava's hands and gushed about how nice it was to meet them.
Informed them they had a standing invitation to return any Saturday they'd like.
Drake and Ava both thanked them. Promised they would.
Once they were gone, Drake returned the chairs to their original tables. Slid into the booth beside Ava in the spot previously occupied by Skeeter.
All that remained from the morning's feast were coffee cups in front of Traynor and Ava. A plastic cup of tea in front of Drake.
Traynor looked around Drake out the glass window of the storefront. Watched as his friends piled into their cars and drove away.
"Thank you so much for doing that. You don't know how much that means to them?"
Drake smiled. "No, not at all. I thoroughly enjoyed myself."
"As did I," Ava said.
The comment was a little forced. Traynor seemed not to notice.
"Good," Traynor said. Smiled and nodded. "Well, I know I've taken up enough of your morning, so let's get to it. You mentioned some questions you had for me?"
"Yeah," Drake said. Did his best to keep his tone light and friendly. "As I mentioned on the phone, Ava and I are working as legal counsel for Alice Galt. Nothing too extreme, just helping her tie up a few loose ends."
"Damn shame what happened to Craig," Traynor said. "He was a good man."
Drake nodded. "That's been the consensus with pretty much everyone we've spoken to."
Traynor nodded again.
"In going through some of their old paperwork, we noticed that you had sold them a life insurance policy with Mountain Life."
"Has there been a problem with it? I can't tell you how many times I had to raise hell to get the guys controlling the purse strings to write a check."
His face clouded over almost instantly. Clearly they were battles that still rested just beneath the surface.
"No, no," Drake said. Waved a hand at him. "Nothing like that." He paused for a moment, considered the best way to approach the question.
Decided to just charge straight ahead.
"Allow me to change tracks on you a little bit. Have you ever heard of an insurer named US Atlantic?"
Traynor leaned back. Pursed his lips. Considered the question. "No. I can tell you they've never operated in Missoula, or in Montana, though."
"How do you know that?" Ava asked.
"I ran the office here for thirty years. Dealt with every company in the state, both big and small. I can promise you, they never had a presence here."
Nothing surprising there. The name alone would imply that they preferred the eastern seaboard.
There was nothing Atlantic about Montana.
"Okay," Drake said. "So then, how might someone from Missoula take out a policy with such a company?"
Traynor winced slightly, as if the notion physically pained him. "Nowadays, they could go online easily enough and do it."
"How about back in the eighties?" Ava asked.
"Back then, would have either had to be by mail or phone,
" Traynor said. "Somebody sees a magazine ad or commercial and decides to go through them. Not terribly common, especially here, but it did happen."
Drake nodded. Processed the response.
"If I might ask, did the Galt's have a policy with US Atlantic? I know what we sold them wasn't a lot, but we gave them a fair price. Worked together for almost two decades."
Drake looked over to Ava. Wondered how much he was allowed to share. At what point attorney-client privilege kept him from continuing.
Ava seemed to read his thoughts. Gave him a small nod.
"Walt, in your opinion, is there anybody in Missoula better situated to answer questions about life insurance than you are?"
Traynor smiled sheepishly. "Oh, I don't know. There's a few other people that know quite a bit as well."
"But if for some reason we ever had to go to court, we could call you as an expert witness, right?"
The smile faded from Traynor's face. "Of course."
"So then anything that is discussed here is considered confidential?"
Traynor leaned forward. Rested his elbows on the table. "Definitely."
Drake drew in a long breath.
"The Galt's did have a policy with US Atlantic. A rather hefty one."
"How hefty?" Traynor asked.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand."
A small whistle slid from Traynor. "I remember going over their finances when they first came in. They didn't have near the income to cover that kind of policy. I mean, I know Alice started working at the hospital a while back..."
"We don't think they were covering it," Ava said.
"When they first contacted Alice to ask where the check should be sent, she had no idea who they were," Drake said. "She even brought us every piece of mail she had on the topic."
"Quarterly statements from you like clockwork," Ava said. "Never the first thing from US Atlantic."
Traynor opened his mouth to speak. Made a face and twisted his head.
"That doesn't sound right at all."
"There's more," Drake said. "After they made contact and asked for her address, they called back the next day and said there'd been a mistake. The money wasn't payable to her after all."
The confused look remained a moment on Traynor's face.
It then slid away, replaced by one that looked like he may vomit.
Dead Peasants (Zoo Crew series Book 2) Page 10
