by Sharon Sala
"That'll be the chief," Wade said.
Logan stood as Wade let him in.
"Ready?" Josh asked.
When she didn't answer, Wade looked over his shoulder. Logan had her arm out of the sling and was buckling on her holster. They watched her slide the Colt into place, and drop a box of ammo into a shoulder bag before replacing her sling.
"Do you have water, Chief?" she asked.
Josh nodded. "And transportation. Two four-wheelers. It may be a little rough riding out there, but at least you won't have to walk."
"Thanks," Wade said. "Got the room key?"
She pointed. "It’s in the bag.”
Wade picked it up.
"Then let's go," Josh said. "I want to get out of town before anyone notices we're all leaving together."
He led the way to the cruiser, seated Logan in the back beside the box of doughnuts, handed her a tall to-go cup of coffee and a roll of paper towels.
"Knock yourself out," he said, grinning.
"Save some for me," Wade said, and got into the passenger seat beside the chief.
Logan tore off a couple of paper towels, picked up two doughnuts with the towel, and handed them to Wade.
"How many do you want, Chief?"
"Just one for now. I had a bowl of cereal at home."
Josh took the doughnut and laid it on the dash, then started the cruiser and looked up at Logan in the rearview mirror.
"Which way?" he asked.
"You need to be on the northbound highway out of Bluejacket, and once you pass the city limit sign, drive nine miles north," Logan said.
He nodded, and off they went. As soon as they passed the city limit sign, he started watching the miles.
Logan ate two doughnuts and was still working on her cup of coffee when Josh spoke up.
"We just passed the eight-mile mark."
"There will be a blacktop road on your left at the nine mile. Turn left, which is west, and go two miles."
"Yes, ma'am,” Josh said.
Wade kept looking over his shoulder, making sure they weren't being followed, and each time, he and Logan locked gazes. It was obvious to him that the closer they came, the more tense she became.
"Turn here," she said, and the chief signaled the turn, then eyed the speedometer again to mark off two miles.
Wade glanced back over his shoulder again and then caught a glimpse of Logan's face. She looked like someone was driving her to her death, and he didn’t like that.
"Logan!"
She blinked, then focused. "What?"
"Wherever you are in your head, this time you're not alone, remember that."
Her eyes welled. She nodded.
"Coming up on two miles," Josh said.
"I'm watching," Logan said. "Slow down, look to your left...south...look south...STOP! We're there," she said.
The chief frowned. "I don't see a road."
"It's there. I've already walked in. These fences weren't here ten years ago. I don't know who owns this land now, but the fencing was put up after I left."
Evans marked the location on his GPS.
"Give me a few minutes, and I'll find out who owns this." He got out and walked away, punching in numbers as he went.
Logan and Wade sat without speaking, waiting for him to come back.
"Are you feeling okay? Is this going to be too much?" Wade asked.
Logan nodded. "I'm okay, just dreading the inevitable a little, you know?"
Josh came back, opening the door abruptly. "This land is owned by some holding company called Delta Ventures, Incorporated. I'll delve into it more after I get back into town. Right now, I need to figure out how to get four-wheelers in there."
"Cut the wires," Wade said. "I can make it look like someone ran off the road and hit a fence post."
Josh frowned. "I'm supposed to be upholding the law, not breaking it."
"I don't think cut fencing is comparable to murder," Logan said.
Josh couldn’t argue with that. Instead, he opened the trunk of his car to grab bolt cutters, and then headed across the ditch to the fencing. He cut all four wires right up at the fence post, dragged them back into the weeds, then pushed the post over onto the ground.
Logan got as the men began unloading the ATVs.
Wade eyed the ditch and frowned. “That’s too rough a ride for you. Wait here a minute,” he said, and took one across the ditch and came back for her.
"Hang onto me as we cross the ditch. You don't want to slip and fall on your shoulder, okay?"
She grabbed him around his waist, and held on tight as he took her down the ditch and then past the fence line.
Josh locked his cruiser, and was tying the duffle bag full of trail cameras to the back of his ATV as Wade got in the driver’s seat.
"Get on behind me," Wade said, as the chief crossed the ditch in his four-wheeler, and rode up beside them.
“You know where you’re going. Lead us in,” the chief said.
Logan threw one long leg over the seat and settled into the seat, wrapped her good arm around Wade’s waist, and off they went.
It took far less time to make the trip in on the ATVs than it had the day Logan had walked it. The old road became visible when they finally got into the trees, and Wade followed it all the way to the water.
Logan tapped his shoulder.
"Stop here," she said, then dismounted and walked a few yards away.
The chief rolled up behind them and killed the engine.
The heat was palpable. Gnats and flies swarmed the new offering of bare flesh. Wade caught a glimpse of a big snapping turtle sliding off of the bank into the water, and a little farther down, Josh spied a gator barely visible in the water.
"Gator out there," he said, pointing.
"Jesus," Wade muttered. "I keep picturing her here, alone and in the dark, digging a grave."
"What's she doing?" Josh asked.
Wade looked back at her and shrugged.
Josh called out. "Logan, is this the place?"
She nodded without turning around.
Wade didn’t realize until he walked up behind her that she was crying, but when she turned to face him, there was defiance in her stature.
"He died here," she said, pointing down, then she walked over to the grove of cypress with the men following. "I dug the grave here by the light of a full moon. After I was through covering him up, I marked an X on the back of this tree with the shovel blade. It's there. This is the spot."
Wade looked back at the distance between where her brother had died and where she’d buried him and shook his head.
"How did you get him this far?"
Logan's eyes narrowed, as if she was reliving it. "There was a heavy tarp over his tools in the pickup bed. It's where I hid. I took it off, rolled him onto it, and then used it like a sled to drag his body to the grave." She shuddered. "The killer won't know this part. All he knows is where my brother died. You need to set up some of the cameras to catch that view. He'll assume I buried him where he dropped. And it's been ten years, so he won't be expecting to be able to see it."
Evans grabbed a couple of cameras and moved off into the woods, cursing swamp grass and snakes as he fastened them to trees where the killer wouldn't see them, then began working his way around the small clearing, putting up a trail camera every twenty or so yards while keeping an eye out for gators until the site was encircled with the cameras.
"We're done here," Josh said. "Let's get before someone sees us in here."
They loaded up on the ATVs, and this time Evans led the way out. He crossed the ditch and then drove the ATV back onto the trailer.
Logan rode the ATV up out of the ditch with her jaw set, ignoring the pain. But when she dismounted at the blacktop, she crawled back in the cruiser as Wade loaded the second ATV. She was hurting and she was weak, but it was done. She set what was left of the doughnuts into the floorboard and then curled up in the backseat and began taking slow, deep breaths, trying to wa
rd off a growing ache in her shoulder.
Wade leaned over the seat after he got in.“I brought your pain pills.”
“They’ll make me sleepy,” she said.
“So what,” Wade said, and shook two out and handed them to her, watching until she popped them in her mouth and washed them down with water.
“Oh my God, my shoulder hurts like a bitch,” she muttered, then eased back down against the seat.
Josh started the car, and then jacked up the air conditioner as high as it would go so Logan could cool off quicker.
"Are you okay, ma'am?" he asked.
"I'll be fine, just shaky. There's a place a little farther west where you'll be able to make a turn without backing up."
"Thanks," Josh said, and took her at her word.
Sure enough, the blacktop ended at a big, open space, free of fencing or roads. Evans took the turn wide, and the trailer made it with ease.
They passed the place where they'd ridden into the swamp on their way to the highway. The ATV tracks were visible, and, unless someone looked very close, it appeared as if a couple of reckless riders went off the road, knocking down the post and breaking the wire on impact.
Lulled by the pain pills and the hum of the wheels on pavement, Logan fell asleep, and woke up as Wade was about to carry her into the motel. She was too weak to argue.
He laid her down on the bed, took off the gun and holster, and then her boots, before pulling up a blanket.
"I'm okay," she mumbled, and felt his lips on her forehead as she drifted away.
Chapter Fifteen
Danny Bales ex-wife, Connie, and his daughter, Angela, landed in New Orleans before noon, picked up their rental car, and drove into Bluejacket just before three p.m. Connie was still reeling from the shock, but she'd thought about this all through their flight, and there were things she needed to get off her chest. As soon as she hit Main Street, she drove straight to the police station and went inside.
The door banged shut behind them as she and her daughter walked up to the desk.
"I need to talk to the police chief."
Arnie eyed the sun-bleached blonde in a turquoise sun-dress and sunglasses pushed back on the top of her head, and then at the teenager with purple hair beside her before he realized who they were.
"Connie Bales, is that you?"
"Yes, Arnie, it's me and this is Angela, Danny’s daughter."
"I'm very sorry for your loss," he said. "Just a minute and I'll ring the Chief."
He buzzed his office.
"What's up, Arnie?" Josh asked.
"Connie Bales is here. She wants to speak with you."
"I'll be right there."
Moments later, they could hear the long, steady stride of Josh Evan's footsteps coming up the hall before he appeared in the lobby.
"Ma'am, I'm Josh Evans, the police chief here in Bluejacket. You needed to speak with me?"
"Yes. I'm Connie Bales, Danny's ex-wife, and this is our daughter, Angela."
"Good afternoon, Angela. I'm sorry about your father."
"Thank you," she said, and leaned closer to her mother.
"Chief, I need to talk to you," Connie said. "Angela, you stay here in the lobby, okay?"
She nodded, pulled out her phone, and sat down.
"Then follow me," Josh said, and led the way into his office.
The second they were both seated, Connie started talking.
"Stella told me what's been going on in town. She said you're working on a case involving a man who was murdered back in 2008."
"Yes, ma'am."
"What was the date of the murder?" she asked.
"July 29, 2008."
"Oh God, I was right," Connie said, then put her hands over her face and dropped her head.
"What's going on?" Josh asked.
"That's the same night Danny's nephew, Jody Bales, was killed over on the southside."
"Are you saying there's a connection?"
"No, not in the way you mean. But that night, our whole family was in an uproar. The police were all over town trying to find who'd shot him. A couple of teenagers witnessed it and ran, not wanting to be involved, then one came forward later and named the shooter who was subsequently arrested and went to trial and then later, to jail. But by the trial occurred, I was already gone from Bluejacket. The connection is the damn pickup that Danny persisted in renting out earlier that same night, and the fight we had over it the next morning."
"But what does that have to—"
Connie held up a hand.
"I know I talk around a story before I can get it told, but it's how I am. Bear with me."
"I'm listening," Josh said.
"The guy who rented it the night before, brought the pickup back the next morning, and it was a mess. Mud and swamp grass packed up beneath the undercarriage, and a hole in the oil pan. He just parked it at the house and left without talking to either one of us, and Danny blamed me."
"Why?" Josh asked.
"Because it was my brother, Barton, who had rented it. Danny called him on it after jumping all over me, and Barton told him to take the truck to the car wash and stop bitching about it."
Josh was stunned, trying to take in everything she was saying.
"Barton DeChante, our mayor, had the pickup that night? You're sure?"
Connie's fingers curled into fists.
"Yes, I'm sure. Danny's nephew murdered on the same night Barton pulled that stunt and left me to deal with it. I was so mad at both of them I didn't speak to Danny for a week, and I've never spoken to Barton since."
Josh was trying not to get too excited, but this was the best lead they'd been given.
"I didn't move to Bluejacket until about eight months later, so I don't know the back history of a lot of the residents, but Barton is married, and our killer was looking for someone to kill his wife," Josh said.
"Oh...Stella told me some years back that Barton's wife left him and he remarried. I haven't met wife number two."
"When did he lose his first wife?" Josh asked.
"I'm not sure. Danny and I were going back and forth to court trying to iron out all the stuff regarding Angela, but I remember something about her leaving him for another man. Stella said Barton caught her with the guy, and then they were both gone."
"Do you remember the man's name?"
"No. You'd have to ask around. He was kin to some family here. That's all I remember."
"I'm going to ask you not to repeat this," Josh said.
Connie nodded.
"I understand. And I am sorry to God if my suspicions are all wrong, but Barton has a mean streak. He was mean when we were kids, and he only got worse as we got older. You know that old saying, you can choose your friends but not your family? Well, that was us. We didn't like each other and made no bones about it, and we still don't. Now, I've said what I came to say. We'll be at Stella's if you have any other questions."
He saw her to the front lobby, and then watched them driving away before he went back to work, but he couldn't stop thinking about the ramifications. Barton DeChante? Lord, what a scandal this was going to be if there was any truth to it. He wondered if Arnie remembered anything about Dechante’s wife skipping out with another man. He'd lived here all his life.
He started up the hall and found Arnie in the break room getting a cold Mountain Dew.
"Hey Arnie, I need to ask you something."
"Yes, sir?" Arnie asked.
"Do you remember anything about Barton DeChante's first wife? Was there a story about her running off with some man?"
"Oh yeah...that was a while back, maybe 2008."
"Tell me what you know. Like who was the man? Someone said he was related to a family in Bluejacket."
"Yes, the Baptiste family. It was quite a scandal because Justin Baptiste was married, too. When they ran away together, it not only broke up Barton's marriage, but Justin's as well."
Josh resisted the urge to grin. He knew where he was going next
.
"I'll be out for a while. Radio if you need me."
"Will do," Arnie said, and carried his Mountain Dew back to his desk while Josh went out the back door.
He glanced at the time as he got into the car. It was a little early, but Johnny Baptiste might already be home. He'd swing by the house first before checking his job site.
The adrenaline rush of being on a killer's tail was a high that never got old. Just like he'd been when he was a little boy, Josh had always wanted to be the cop who caught the bad guy.
He upped the fan on the air conditioner and accelerated, then braked almost immediately to miss a mangy cat that ran out into the street. The cat appeared to have missed a few meals and was obviously a stray. He could almost count the ribs as he drove past.
He took a right turn at the next block, and saw Johnny pulling into his drive from the other direction. Josh pulled up right behind him and got out.
"Hey, Chief," Johnny said.
"Johnny, do you have a minute? I need to ask you a couple of questions about your cousin, Justin."
Johnny frowned.
"The family doesn't talk about him anymore."
"Has anyone heard from him since he left?"
"Not that I know of. We all thought he would surely stay in touch with his Mama. He was her only son."
"Was he really having an affair with Mrs. DeChante?"
"I didn't know about it beforehand. I never saw any sign, but Barton said he saw them together and then his wife up and disappeared the same night that Justin disappeared, and well...one plus one makes two, you know?"
"You mean it was all just on Barton DeChante's say-so? No one else ever saw them together?"
Johnny's eyes widened as he realized where the Chief was going with his questioning.
"Are you saying it wasn't true?"
"I'm not saying anything," Josh said. "I'm just asking. Do you know if Justin packed a bag when he left?"
All the color faded from Johnny Baptiste's face.
"Lila didn't believe it for the longest time."
"Who's Lila?" Josh asked.
"Justin's wife. She didn't believe he was cheating on her. She kept telling the family he didn't even pack a bag, but Granddaddy was still alive then, and he was a strict-by-the-bible, church-going man. He kept saying, 'Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife', over and over, mad at anyone who disputed his beliefs. It was easier to let it be than argue."
