by Kieran York
Color drained from Faye’s face. “Well, he did a hellova lot of bad too. So you want me to tell Luther you’re looking for him?”
“No, that’s okay. And I wasn’t trying to find Luther violating the law of a felon not hanging out in a tavern. Just wanting to talk with him about Cal.”
“Too damned bad about Calvin. He’d come in here and drink like an infantryman on leave. Pour it down. Then get up and walk out like he was sober as a judge. I never saw the man stumble. A loud old country boy. Jokes as dirty as they come.”
“Any fighting, or anyone you can think of that might want him dead?”
Snickering, Faye answered, “All his family. Remember that old TV show, All in the Family? The Wagner family could have a hit TV show. Or one of those reality shows they’ve got now.”
Royce shook her head. “With the exception of no one getting murdered on the TV version.”
Still laughing, Faye added, “Well, it could begin with a reality show, go to Law and Order, and end with Judge Judy. Justice. Hell, that Judy kicks ass. I was thinking your ex, Lyn. If she’d have stuck around, she could a got voted from D.A. to a judge. She could have a ‘kick ass’ show.”
“That’s she could,” Royce agreed. “She’s doing fine with her new promotion, and loves it. Every time I talk with her, she says to tell everyone ‘hi’ for her.” Royce tossed down a dollar, finished her coffee, and then stood. “Faye, if you hear anything, could you let me know. I want this crime solved. I don’t necessarily think there’s a crazed killer on the loose. I think it is probably isolated. But I don’t want anyone else hurt.”
“Will do, Sheriff. By the way, I heard that Hertha’s returning.”
Under her breath, Royce said, “Everyone in town has probably heard that little tidbit.” Her head hung. She experienced a brief nausea.
***
On the way across the street to the Eagle Inn, Royce was approached by the rookie deputy, Terry Doyle. Less than a year ago Terry, a recent graduate of the police academy, had been hired on as a Timber County Deputy. She stood five and a half feet tall, and was muscular, fit, and attractive. Her light brown curly hair surrounded shinny hazel eyes. Her features were strong. With a medium complexion, her face was attractive. She wore a frown usually. Her smile usually seemed timid when it did appear.
“Sheriff,” she rushed her words, “I just wanted to check with you about when I get to take Chance with me on my daily tour.”
Royce joked, “You want to take Deputy Chance – the Jaws of Justice? Pick any day this week, and a day next week, Deputy.” Royce watched the most recently hired deputy tickling Chance’s ears. “You know her commands so there shouldn’t be any problems. I want her to know she’s a deputy – even when someone else is issuing commands.”
“Sheriff, in the last months I’ve learned so much. I know I gave you headaches early on. I had the training from the academy. I thought I could jump right in and not ride with everyone first. Well, I’ve learned so much from each of the other deputies. And especially you. As women, we’ve got our own requirements. I can’t do much in a fight with a six-foot, two-hundred and fifty-pound man. A mean body builder. Yes, assuredly, I learned the fighting skills at the academy. But you taught me to use my stance, my badge, and my brain to apprehend. Thanks.”
“You learned?” Royce quizzed the young enforcer with a tease in her voice.
“Fight dirty. Attack first, and know the opponent’s weakest points. Hit hard with no holding back. Don’t be ladylike.”
“Got ‘em,” Royce high-fived the deputy.
As Terry walked to her vehicle, Royce gave a nod of affirmation. The woman who started out believing herself to be the best deputy ever created now knew that she would spend the rest of her life learning. And striving to be an outstanding enforcer.
Just as Royce was doing.
***
Glad that she’d found Luther Sumner in the Eagle Inn’s restaurant area, she strode immediately toward him. She was also glad that there were only a few patrons across the dining room. Royce sat opposite him at a small table next to the wall.
He looked up at her with the same viciousness he’d always had. His eyes were steeped in hatred. Luther was in his late forties. He was huge, husky and stood six-three. His was a ruggedly handsome face. It was his cocky personality that drew women to him. Royce never understood the women that flirted with danger, and loved bad boys.
His gravelly voice was as menacing as she had recalled. “I figured you’d be looking me up.”
Royce responded. “For a change you figured correctly.”
“I’m doin’ absolutely nothing illegal. I’m not in violation of my probation. In fact, I have a legal, successful auto parts and body shop in Dallas.” He sneered. “My warehouse is damn near as big as Timber City.” His words were mocking. “Maybe bigger.”
“Good for you, Luther.” Her words were laced with sarcasm. “I heard you visited Calvin Wagner the evening he was killed.”
“I know him and his son from the old days. I didn’t kill him. I was going out the door as someone else was going in. So it wasn’t me.”
“You might have gone around the block a few times until the customer left.”
“The customer was Otis Brull. I heard him yelling at Cal from the moment he stepped inside the doorway. He was screaming about a gun he wanted to pick up. Called Cal a dirty rotten chiseler. Said Cal wasn’t going to get away with it this time. It was a threat, Sheriff,” Luther snidely interpreted. He wanted to bait her. “I guess a smart sheriff would have arrested him by now.”
“What did Cal and Otis say after that?”
“Cal opened the door so I could leave. He locked it after I hit the sidewalk. They walked toward the backroom, and their voices were out of my hearing range. So if I were you, I’d check out the gun residue on Otis’s hand.”
“The killing happened late at night. I’m certain whoever killed Cal had bathed before the body was discovered. Add to that, Otis had been hunting and Tony claimed to be test-firing some of the repair guns. Thus there would be gunshot residue. They both had excuses for any GSR.”
“Otis might not have bathed.” Luther’s laugh boomed.
“I’m certain his hands are cleaner than yours are, Luther.” Royce glared. “Now, back to questions. You knew Cal well enough to have a chat with him. How well do you know Tony?”
“I knew them both from the old days. Sixteen years ago Tony was a teenager. I didn’t hang out with the teen crowd back then. Hell, I was a grown man then.”
“Luther, other than Otis, who do you suspect killed Cal?”
“Sheriff, if I had a damned confession in my hands, I wouldn’t help you. I told you about Otis to save myself. I don’t give a rat’s ass about this town or anyone in it. I’m on my way back to Dallas tomorrow. As soon as you stop wasting my time, I’m going to pack my rental car, drive to Denver this afternoon, do a little celebrating, and then I’ll fly to Dallas in the morning.”
“You’ll need a much later flight. You’ll need to reschedule. Don’t leave the country. You’re a suspect in a murder case.”
“Suspect!” he said as he slapped the tabletop. “You can’t detain me.”
“Until I’ve cleared you, you’re not going anywhere. It would be a shame for you to get your probation revoked.”
“Give me a fucking polygraph.”
“I’ll do just that.” Royce immediately called the Sheriff’s Department Special Unit. Her stare didn’t leave Luther while she set up the polygraph appointment. She snapped her phone off. “Be there at four this afternoon. If you pass the test, if you’re excluded, you’re free to leave. I want you out of this area a great deal more than you want to leave the county.”
She heard his mumbling curses until she’d walked away from the building.
***
Looking across the panorama of Timber City, Royce saw the familiar truck parked in front of the High Country Animal Hospital. Behind it was a trailer, and a sma
ll moving van. Carrie was outside, welcoming Hertha and the children. Chance bolted toward her vet, Carrie Donovan.
Carrie knelt, welcoming the German shepherd. Hertha glanced up and into Royce’s forlorn face. There was a brief smile. She then turned to call to the children.
Walking as nonchalantly as she could in the direction of Hertha, Royce called to Chance. Chance was wallowing in the attention from Carrie and the children. The children were seven-year old Shavano and her six-year old brother, Antero. The girl, Vannie had her long dark brown hair pulled behind her head. It fell like a waterfall down her back. Antero’s haircut was carefully trimmed, and was suited for his face. Both children had dark brown eyes. Royce admitted they looked sweet.
Before Royce got to the cluster, Chance realized she was being called. Quickly she returned to the sheriff’s side. Royce gave a slight wave. She returned to her vehicle. After Chance was loaded, Royce drove away.
Both Hertha and the children had waved. Royce wasn’t ready to greet them now. She wasn’t aware that Hertha’s move to Timber would be so soon. Anytime would have been too soon. Royce clutched the wheel. Her heart pounded as she drove.
Although it wasn’t a friendly meeting, Royce’s excuse would be that she was going on a call. Royce would drive out to see how Gran was. That might settle her feeling of being unwound.
The woman she’d loved from the moment she’d seen Hertha nearly seventeen years ago was returning. Not to Royce, but to her home and business. Royce recalled when they met. Hertha had mentioned that Timber City was her homeland. She’d reminded the sheriff that the land had belonged to her people long before Royce’s family arrived two centuries before.
Hertha was coming home again. Royce felt oddly excluded. There was no reason for the way she felt. It was irrational, she told herself.
When she reached the edge of town, she pulled her vehicle to the side of the road. A ripple-effect of emotion was scattering throughout Royce’s mind and body. When she shut her eyes tightly, Royce saw the image of Hertha. Her bronze eyes and her smile were like no one else’s. The warmth that the woman exuded was wonder-filled. It always had been. She had always been quietly and softly majestic.
Chapter 6
Gran’s chicken pot pie was baking in the oven. As she entered the cabin’s kitchen, Royce could hear the steam sizzling through the pie crust vents. “This is a treat,” Royce said as the kissed Gran’s cheek.
“And I got your favorite sour cream cake. I was fixin’ to give you that this evening. But you look like you could use a little cheer for lunch. You look down in the mouth.”
“Gran, Hertha’s moving in today.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing. I just waved to her. That was that.”
“That most certainly was not that. Royce, the two of you just went through nearly losing your lives in a fire. To say nothing of the fifteen years you spent together. You are friends with your other exes, Valeria and Lyn. So why not let Hertha be your friend?”
“I didn’t spend fifteen years with them.”
“Hertha needs friends. She’s got those little ones to raise up. Children six and seven years old are a full time job. Hertha took them on because they needed her. She left everything – her business, her cottage behind the animal hospital, her friends, and we were family. She left us behind. She’d just lost her mother and it was like everything was dropped on her.”
“She had the professor.”
Gran plated two wedges of her chicken pot pie and set them on the table. Royce poured coffee before she sat. “Coffee smells delicious.”
“I got that Irish blend by mail order this morning. I knew you’d like it. Good and bold.”
“Thanks, Gran.” Royce wondered if it would help to make her bold. “I love that you try new blends.” Royce sipped, and nodded her approval. She took a bite of the flaky pie crust. “Back a generation, is it true that Mom’s mother begged you for your pie crust recipe so she could use it at her bakery?”
Gran chuckled. “Your other grandmother didn’t beg me. We were friends so I gave her many of my recipes. And in return, she gave me the best daughter-in-law I could have ever hoped for. Molly has been a daughter to me.”
“She always says that the angels picked her mother-in-law.” Royce teased, “And that she had to pick her husband by herself.” Hesitating, Royce became somber. “I’m glad she picked Dad.”
“Any word on the murder case?”
“Not much more than I told you about this morning. I ran Luther down while he was having breakfast at the Eagle Inn. He had nothing to say. Smart mouthed. He hasn’t changed at all. Not that I expected him to come out of prison repentant and contrite.”
Gran sipped her coffee. “He’s into dirty dealing. One of my church friends says Luther was flashing money at the Eagle Inn. That guy has always been too enamored with himself. Royce, you think he had something to do with killin’ Cal?”
“He’s guilty as sin about something. He’s taking a polygraph later this afternoon. I told them to ask universal.” Royce grinned. “That would be if he had impure ideas, knew of any crimes, was committing any crimes, anything at all incriminating. If he passes, it will be difficult to detain him. He’ll go back to his life in Dallas. If he shows deceit of any kind, he tops my suspect list.”
“Are you going to be there for the polygraph test?” Gran issued her impish smile. “You’d be more likely to make him nervous. He dislikes you.”
“I wouldn’t mind making him nervous, but naw. I thought I’d go back to check on the Rasp Meadow area. I want to see if there was any more damage to the Crossing. Also since Tanner is there, I can check with him to see how much of the fire is to being contained.”
“I hope that beautiful area was spared. But all of Colorado is beautiful.”
“When I was at Rasp, I thought about the cold case Dad worked on. Or tried to work on.”
“Your daddy was newly deputized – well, he was a rookie. Only been with the department a year or two. The sheriff back then said some murderer just dumped the body. None of our local women were missing. Had to be someone from another town. Probably Denver. The young woman, they figured was about twenty. Buried in a shallow grave at the Crossing. Behind brush and tree. The body had probably been there for a couple months. Your daddy was sick about it. He didn’t want any cold cases in this county.”
“I don’t want any cold cases in this county.” Royce put her fork down. “I was just a toddler when they found the body. Hunters found it. What I recall about it was later seeing Dad pull out the file and study it from time to time. Even nearly twenty years later, up until he died, he would place it on his desk, thumb through the paper reports, and sometimes tears would form in the corners of his eyes. He would shut the file.”
“Your daddy always promised he’d solve it. He didn’t get a chance.”
“Forty years ago.” Royce looked away. “After all the time that’s passed, I’m not sure if there’s a chance. Evidence we have might not be anything helpful. Forensics might have some of the samples. We now have DNA tests. But with so many years – it might have disintegrated. I wish I could find out who the woman was. Give her a name.”
“Royce, you got a better chance of finding out who killed Cal.”
“If Luther passes the test and is excluded, we have at least one less suspect.”
Gran offered her mountain wisdom, “If you only got two suspects, you still don’t have the killer.”
Smiling as she stood, Royce uttered, “But at least we don’t have a bazillions suspects.” Royce picked up her hat. “I think on the way to Rasp Meadow, I’ll stop by the Wagner Ranch to chat with Nita and Tony. Maybe one of them will confess. After Cal’s homicide is solved it will give me time to look into the cold case.”
“You got your daddy’s ways. Royce, he resented the fact that he didn’t solve that murder. It festered. One time I told him he should let go of it, like his boss- the sheriff said. Your daddy told me that he owe
d it to her to change her headstone from Jane Doe to her real name. And her family had a right to know.”
Royce called to Chance. She hugged Dora Madison. Each year her grandmother was getting more fragile. “I love you, Gran. And I’ll try not to be too late tonight.”
Trying and achieving were two different things. She would try, but she was dubious that she’d finish the reports on her desk before nine or ten.
“Be safe,” her grandmother said, as she always did.
***
Royce located Tanner Morris at the Elk County Fire Station. The firemen were in a more jubilant mood than they had been. The fire was ninety-five percent contained. It was a matter of checking for hot spots, and cleaning up as much unburnt timbers as they could. Any fuel needed to be neutralized.
The comradery of the firefighters was evident. As some entered the fire shelter, they did so with soot and smoke covered uniforms. Holding googles, helmets, and gear bags, they’d put them off by the wall. Hotshot hoes and fire rakes were leaned in the corner. They were symbols of the fire crews’ implements of salvation. They’d navigated their way through danger. The men and women were exhausted.
Tanner gave Royce a quick hug. “Glad to see you, Sheriff. Thanks.”
“Thanks?”
“Well, the fire chief told me that you’d given me a glowing recommendation. I know you told me to take my time about my decision. We both know what I should do, Royce.”
“You should do what you think is best for your own future.”
“The Chief said I could get on board here immediately. They could get the paperwork pushed through by next week.”
Royce smiled at his joy. “I’m happy for you. Tanner, you’re a good man. I’ve enjoyed working with you. When you find out your exact hire date, let me know. I can get your papers from the Sheriff’s Office turned in so that you won’t be out a paycheck.”
