by Sue Hardesty
Loni pushed the warrant through the crack at Mrs.Taylor, but she refused to take it. "I've come for the children," Loni said. Mrs. Taylor shook her head. "If you resist, I'll haul your sorry ass to jail. Comprendo?" Loni couldn't believe she had said that. Pushing the door open, she shoved the warrant into Mrs. Taylor's stomach and stepped around her into the house.
Two children stood at the top of the stairs. "Are you Max and Trina?" They solemnly nodded in unison. "Your mom wants you home and sent me to get you. Are you ready to go?"
Four frightened eyes turned to their grandmother.
"She won't stop you, I promise," Loni reassured them.
Without a sound, they scurried down the stairs and out of the house with her. Four-year-old Max clung to his sister Trina, who was three years older. They both wore wrinkled white tees and dark shorts.
Loni lifted the two up into her truck and watched Max lean up against Coco. He weakly smiled when Coco licked his face. Trina stared at the road ahead with big blue eyes. Tears ran silently down her face until she saw her mother waiting for them. Chelsa opened the passenger door and lifted the excited children out of Loni's truck, hugging them as though she would never let go of them again. Loni drove away, satisfied.
* * *
Loni slowly drove to the grocery store. She had told Shiichoo she would shop for her, but she couldn't remember for what. Opening her cell phone, she called the ranch.
"Shiichoo? I'm at the store. Shin'a' silgg."
"Do you want Apache bread or fry bread?"
"Am I cooking tonight?"
"Of course," Shiichoo said. "The workers around here are driving me crazy. When is it going to end?"
Loni sighed, ignoring the question. "Dahidgg' ch'ikaagi?"
"What leftovers? You already ate them."
"Ch'ik'eh doleel'. I'll cook."
"So, you pick it." Her grandmother hung up.
Loni snapped her cell phone shut, smiling at Shiichoo's abruptness. No goodbye. Just hang up.
She shopped at Spin's Mexican food stand for tamales.
By the time Loni got to the ranch, Bill Henry was hoisting the new evaporative cooler up on the roof with a very tall crane. The old cooler was in his flatbed truck, cooler pads black from mold. Loni was amazed water hadn't run off the roof out of the rusted bottom.
The refrigeration unit was a square thing sitting on the ground by the back door under the overhang of the roof. Loni could hear the whirring as she watched the Hyster lift the cooler onto the roof. She was glad they were getting it installed even though it wouldn't be needed again until the humidity dropped in the fall. Shiichoo joined her under the tree. "That look heavy to you?"
Loni noticed the worried expression on her face. "Not as heavy as the old one. Just bigger." She took Shiichoo's arm. "Are you enjoying the cool air yet?"
"Getting there."
"Let's go enjoy it some more."
Loni followed Shiichoo around to the front door and into the house. Shiichoo glanced up and deliberately avoided walking under the old cooler vent.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm not walking under that. What if it falls through?"
Loni kept a straight face.
She stayed all night in her old room, wallowing in comfort, no longer sticky from the humidity. But she couldn't sleep. Willie was out there somewhere, but she didn't know where to look anymore. She felt so helpless.
Hearing a boom in the distance, Loni got up and stared out her window at a massive thunderhead cloud boiling high into the sky sending lightning flashes circling overhead. Thank god for the refrigeration unit, Loni thought. Unless the electricity goes out. Here it comes again. The fucking monsoon fucking humidity along with the fucking summer heat.
CHAPTER 23
July 23, 3:22 a.m.
BOBBY'S VOICE SHATTERED Loni's thoughts. "Sounds like a domestic at 47610 Calvin Lane. Passerby heard fighting and screaming."
"Isn't that Chief's address?"
"Yep. Maybe the TV's up too loud." Loni heard something rustle. "Oh yeah. Forgot to tell you earlier your snake DNA came back. You know a Rebecca Childress?"
"Shit, shit, shit," Loni screamed as she turned her SUV back toward Calvin Road.
"Guess I better send someone to arrest her, huh?" Bobby interrupted her tirade.
Calvin Road was close. Racing up the highway, she saw a car hurtling out of Calvin Road and whipping onto the highway in front of her, speeding away. It was Jenny's bright yellow Mustang convertible. Killing her lights and engine, she coasted into Chief's driveway and stopped behind a farm utility truck. It was time to stop stewing about Rebecca.
Loni got out and motioned Coco to heel as she left the door slightly ajar. Easing by the truck, she noted the sign on its side. O'Neal & Son. Jenny's dad? Or brother? Stepping onto the porch, she slipped up to a window, but the blinds were down. Not even a sliver of light. She heard crashing and banging, then silence. Stepping onto the porch, she rang the doorbell and stepped to the side, calling out, "Police." The sound of scrambling was followed by five rapid shots flying through the door. Well, shit. Loni pushed the switch on her shoulder mike and whispered, "Shots fired. Officer needs help."
The door crashed open. A man waving a gun ran out and nearly fell down the porch steps.
"Coco, attack." A brown blur hit the runner in the knees, and the gun flew out of the man's hand as he hit the ground hard. The dog's jaw at his throat and her vicious growl paralyzed the man. Loni snatched the gun from the ground and shoved her own gun in his face. "Coco, off." The dog lifted her head but kept growling. "Hands behind your back," Loni directed him, "before Coco changes her mind." Handcuffing him, she kept an eye on the open door.
The man glared at her as Loni searched him and found his billfold. His driver's license read Colin O'Neal. "You Jenny's dad?" she asked. Loni saw no resemblance. He was emaciated with a translucent pallor on his drawn face and bald head gleaming in the light of the open door. His work shirt hung on him as though it belonged to someone else. Shoving him into the back of her SUV, she asked him again. He grunted a yes.
Walking back up the porch steps, Loni peered inside. No sound, no movement. She cautiously stepped into total destruction. Bookcases pulled off the walls, pictures broken on the floor, furniture ripped and broken. Wall insulation hung out of huge holes like pink cotton candy at a fair. Making her way carefully through the debris, Loni crept further into the house. Still nothing. She thought about getting Coco to search, but she didn't want her cutting her pads on the glass. She passed the kitchen and bathroom. Nothing.
Chief was nailed to a bedroom wall with his hanging intestines wrapped around his feet. Soaked in blood, his yellow shirt hung in tattered strips. His eyes were already clouded, and his mouth was open on a silent scream. Loni stumbled, almost heaving on the evidence. Bile rose in her throat from the foul iron smell of blood mixed with bowel waste. Scattered on the floor in front of Chief were hundreds of children's photos covered by bloody footprints.
Backing out, Loni rushed to the porch railing, grabbing onto it for support and gulping fresh air in deep breaths. She leaned over and held on until the shakes stopped and her stomach settled before she called Bobby. "Chief's dead. Send the coroner and call the Phoenix crime lab. Tell them we need the full crew. It's really bad, Bobby."
"Bad how?"
"He was tortured." Loni took another deep breath. "I need Carl too."
"I called him. James too."
Pulling O'Neal's gun out of her belt, Loni bagged it and sat on the porch steps, waiting. Staring at the gun, she recognized it. She could read Chief's initials in the fancy silver scrolling on the gun handle. She got up and walked back into the house, searching around for the Taser. It was at Chief's feet, almost hidden in the intestines.
The coroner arrived first. Loni sat on the steps and waited until Doc Benjamin came out and sat down with her.
"Do you know who did it?"
"Yeah. Colin O'Neal. He's locked in my SUV over there."
"Any idea why?"
"Not a clue."
Silent again, Loni watched the flashing red and blue growing larger as they approached, dimming in the bellowing dust.
James ran up first with Carl not far behind. They stopped in the light pouring out of the front door entrance as Doc Benjamin stood, his voice sad. "You don't want to go in there."
"What happened?" Carl asked.
Loni watched Doc, waiting. Doc sat back down. "Chief's dead. Tortured."
"Who?"
"The perp's in my SUV, Carl," Loni said. "It's your tenant, Colin O'Neal."
Carl's face registered shock. "You talked to him?"
"Not yet."
He stomped toward Loni's SUV, swearing.
"Carl, he's mine." Loni ran around him, blocking his way.
"Fuck you, Loni. That bastard's mine." He reached around her for the door handle. Finding it locked, he went berserk, pounding and kicking. "Give me the goddam keys, Loni," he threatened. "Now."
James towered over Carl as he grabbed him. "Calm down. We'll sort this out." He pushed Carl back against a tree. "Loni. Why don't you go on?"
Loni scrambled to her car. "Good idea." She opened the back door of her SUV and motioned Coco in with O'Neal.
Loni backed out slowly, working her way around the scattered cars, leaving flashing lights behind. Turning her cell phone to record, she recited the Miranda to O'Neal.
"Get this dog out of my face," O'Neal begged. "He'll kill me."
"Do you understand these rights?" Loni repeated.
"The dog, goddammit."
"Do you understand these rights?"
"Shit, yes. Back your dog off now!"
"Coco. Release." Loni watched her back away from O'Neal and sit. She kept her growl dark and low.
"Would he really kill me?"
"He's a she. And yes, she would really kill you." Loni's anger spiked. "At least she wouldn't torture first."
"He deserved it!" O'Neal spat. "He raped my Jenny over and over. Started when she was only ten. He threatened to kill all of us if she didn't let him."
"Why didn't you report him?"
"He accused me before I found out. Jenny got too old for him, but he couldn't leave her to talk. I spent ten years in prison for his crime. He destroyed my family." In her rearview mirror, Loni saw despair on his face. "Didn't help, killing him. Didn't help. My Jenny's a mess, so angry. My son's a meth head. My wife's gone. Committed suicide." He started to cry. "She always believed I did it."
Loni didn't ask any more questions. It wasn't the first time she had witnessed the total destruction of a family with the act of rape. Robbery she could usually deal with. Even a beating. But something about rape was final, like death. The sky was turning pink as she walked O'Neal into the station. Bobby saw her face and stayed quiet. He helped her book O'Neal and took him to lockup.
"I'm going home now, Bobby. You can keep this and listen to it." She handed him her cell phone. "Put it in the evidence locker when you're done." Loni walked out. Sick at heart, she hadn't mentioned she saw Jenny leave the crime scene. She knew she had to go find Jenny, but she wasn't ready to face it yet. And she was too tired to look for Willie. Maybe later.
* * *
The sun had been up a long time by the time she finished booking O'Neal and drove to the hangar. Heat poured onto Loni's head as she parked and walked Coco out to wander and sniff. Daniel was working on an airplane engine. She walked back in and leaned against him for a little comfort and warmth.
"Hard day, turkey?"
"If I gobble, will you shoot me?"
"Tell big brother all about it."
Letting go, Loni leaned against the fuselage. "I lost someone I thought was a friend."
"Never have enough of those." He patted her shoulder. "Who'd you lose?"
"Jenny O'Neal. An art teacher at the school."
"Yeah? I know her. She just drove by here. Stopped at Rebecca's house."
Loni snapped to complete awareness. "Oh shit." She ran out of the hangar and called Coco as she headed toward Rebecca's house. Jenny tortured Chief. Reaching the side of the plane hangar, she stopped to call Bobby for backup. Coco waited beside her.
The huge garage door groaned as it started lifting. Loni pulled her gun while she waited for the door to get high enough to see under. She heard an engine roar to life and a propeller wind up, sucking air from around her. Slowly a spinning propeller appeared and the fuselage followed. Loni backed up a few steps.
As the plane cleared the garage, she shot out both the front tires. The plane stopped, and the engine shut down, the propeller slowly whirring to a standstill. Loni heard a shot as she and Coco slipped behind the plane, hiding behind a cabinet. Coco's bark warned Loni of an approach. Jerking up, she saw Daniel running toward her. "Stop, Daniel," she hollered. "They'll shoot you!" Loni sighed in relief as she watched Daniel turn to run around to the side of the garage.
Loni heard Jenny's voice. "Loni, is that you? I need help. Rebecca has a gun on me."
"Hang on, Jenny. Police are on their way."
A bullet passed through the back of the garage. "Help me, please!" she heard Jenny cry.
"Throw out the gun," Loni yelled.
"Goddammit, give that to me," she heard Rebecca say. The gun went off again. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Rebecca opened the door and started climbing down. Blood ran down her arm. "I need a doctor." She collapsed onto the floor, holding her shoulder.
"Jenny, throw the gun out and climb down." Loni walked closer to the door, out of Jenny's sight.
Slowly the door opened, and Jenny stuck out a foot, feeling for the step.
"Jenny, I've got a gun pointed at you. I won't hesitate to use it. Throw your gun out before you climb down."
"But she kidnapped me. Why are you being so mean?"
"Jenny, for the last time, throw the goddamn gun out."
Loni watched it land under a tree beside the garage and moved in to catch Jenny as she climbed down. She handcuffed her before Jenny realized what happened.
"I need an ambulance at... Daniel? What's the address here?" Loni said into her mike.
Lola's voice jarred Loni. "Are you alright? Are you shot? Talk to me!"
"I'm fine," Loni interrupted her. "I have a vic with a shoulder wound. I'm at the Wagner Airport. Resident Number 9."
Loni thought she heard relief in Lola's voice. "Got it." She hung up.
Loni drove Jenny to the police station as Daniel waited for the ambulance with Rebecca. "Don't let her out of your sight," she warned Daniel. "She murdered Rene and tried to kill me."
"How the hell you figure that?"
"I'll tell you later."
Ignoring Jenny's screaming and kicking, Loni was determined to book her as she pulled her out of the SUV and hauled her in the station. "You bitch, you goddamn worthless breed," were the last words she heard as she and Bobby shoved Jenny into a cell next to her father. The first sight of her father had shocked Jenny into silence.
Leaving Bobby with the prisoners, Loni slowly hobbled down the stairs and limped around the corner to sit behind the booking desk with Lola, rubbing her ankle.
"She was kind of rough on you, huh?" said Lola.
"She even tried to bite me!" grumped Loni.
"Still want her for a girlfriend?"
Loni glared back, trying not to laugh. "Haven't decided," she flipped back. "How do you know I don't like rough?"
Bobby's slow voice interrupted them as he walked in from upstairs. "Your phone's locked in evidence. Listened to the confession. Tully's up with them now. Seems they can't talk fast enough, accusing each other for everything." He scratched his head, his long blond hair falling forward before he pushed it back on his head, trying to cover a bald spot. "She part of it?"
"Probably. She was there." Loni closed her eyes, feeling drained. "I need someone to go to Jenny's house and search for bloody clothes." She thought a minute. "Tell them to look for a tube of epoxy matching Rene's valve at Rebecca's house."
"CSI should find plenty of evidence at the scene," Bobby said.
Loni nodded in agreement. "Did you send someone to the clinic to watch Rebecca?"
"James is there," Lola said. "What are you charging her with?"
"Rene's murder and Rosie's attempted murder. I'm sure it's her fingerprint in the epoxy on the valve. And her DNA in the blood. Also, attempted murder on me. She's the one who shot at me and sicced the rattlesnake on me."
