Striking Range

by Margaret Mizushima

  “Why talk about this so late in the pregnancy?” Mattie asked.

  This time he scowled openly. “I tried to talk to her a month ago, but she reacted by leaving town. It took me this long to find out where she was.”

  Stella jumped back in. “And what was the result of yesterday’s conversation?”

  “Tonya told me to get out of her car.” He bit off the words. “I called my sister, and she said she would consult an attorney first thing tomorrow morning to see what we can do to stop the adoption.”

  Interesting—so they planned to intervene legally. “Did you tell Tonya that’s what you were planning to do?” Mattie asked.

  “I sure did.”

  “What happened then?”

  “She got mad. Screamed at me to get out of the car.”

  Looks like he’s still mad about it today, Mattie thought as he continued to scowl. Mad enough to kill? “What did you decide to do then?”

  “I’d slept in my car the night before, so I was beat. I got a room in Hightower to wait. I figured that’s where Tonya planned to deliver the baby anyway. I spent some time figuring out which doctor she might be seeing and which hospital she might go to. I zeroed in on that birthing center by the discount store, because that’s the direction she came from when we met.”

  “Did some detecting, hmm?” Stella said.

  “Damn right.” The muscle at his jaw bulged again. “Now what’s happened? Why is Tonya dead and the baby gone?”

  “Those are questions we have as well.” Stella tapped her finger again on the case file. “What do you think might have happened?”

  He threw up his hands and shouted. “How the hell am I supposed to know? I’m just the baby’s father.”

  “From what I’ve been told, you didn’t want the baby to be born,” Stella said, her voice especially quiet in the wake of his.

  He clenched his fists on his knees. “Shit! Who told you that? Tonya? That’s old news. What … a woman can change her mind, but a guy can’t?”

  He was getting worked up, and there was something in Mattie that wanted to needle him more, but she decided it best to let Stella carry on, since the detective seemed to be trying to deescalate.

  “Look,” Skylar said, still angry, though he’d toned it down a notch. “I didn’t want the baby to be born in the beginning, but Tonya didn’t want to have an abortion, so … By the time I told my parents, well, they were shocked, but they didn’t want someone else to raise my kid. My sister’s a lot older than me. She has two kids already, but she decided she wanted the baby. You know, to keep it in the family.”

  Sounded like passing on a family heirloom rather than wanting to nurture a child. Though Mattie had an appreciation for the concept, the way this kid expressed it left a sour taste in her mouth. “When did your family come to this conclusion?”

  Skylar gave her a scornful look. “I told you, about a month ago.”

  Mattie nodded. “You said that’s when you talked to Tonya.”

  “And so …” His words dripped with sarcasm as he slowed his words way down. “That’s when we decided—that’s when I told Tonya. Does that make sense?”

  “Oh, it makes sense.” Mattie could feel her irritation starting to build; this kid’s air of entitlement didn’t sit well with her. “I’m just curious about the decision being made so late in the pregnancy. After Tonya had already made plans.”

  His eyes darted off to the side. “It took a while to figure things out.”

  “Or maybe it took a while to tell your family about it?” She knew it was a dig as soon as she said it, implying that it had taken time for him to work up the courage. Maybe it was because she was tired, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “I can understand that,” Stella said. Mattie leaned back in her chair to let Stella take over. “So your family’s on board, and you tracked down Tonya here in Timber Creek. Was it your intention to wait in Hightower until Tonya delivered the baby? Did you plan to intervene?”

  “Damn right. I planned to find out who she was giving the baby to so I could stop it. You can’t just give a baby to someone else if the father wants it.”

  “So you got a room at the Sleepy Owl. What did you do the rest of the day?”

  “I slept and I figured out where Tonya was going to deliver the baby. I had dinner and turned in early. When I woke up this morning, my dad had left me a message that you’d called. And I came to you, Detective. You didn’t have to track me down.”

  He sent Stella a scorching look that Mattie thought made him look comical. She decided to dig a little deeper into how Skylar had spent last evening. “Is that your Jeep parked in the lot?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “It is.”

  “It looks like it was on the road during that storm that moved in yesterday afternoon.” In an effort to keep her statement neutral, she didn’t add, instead of being parked outside a motel room.

  It still seemed to prod a nerve—that muscle in his jaw bulged again. “It was messy on the road this morning.”

  “The sludge was pretty heavy. Did you drive anywhere on the highway yesterday afternoon or evening?”

  His eyes slid sideways before coming back to meet hers. “I got dinner out, and I drove around town to find the birthing center and the hospital. Otherwise, I was in my motel room.”

  Mattie had a niggling feeling that he was lying. If he’d stayed in his motel room most of the day, why had he been so tired that he’d had to turn in early? “Are you sure you didn’t come back to Timber Creek?”

  “I didn’t.” He looked at her for a few beats before turning back to Stella. “Am I under arrest, Detective?”

  Stella gave him a look of feigned surprise, not one of her finest moments of acting. “Why, no. Should you be?”

  “I know my rights. I don’t have to stay here if I’m not under arrest.” Skylar stood, his face dark with anger. This man seemed filled with rage, and Mattie believed he could be Tonya’s killer.

  Stella remained seated and spoke quietly. “No, you don’t have to stay, but we’d appreciate your cooperation. We plan to find out what happened to Tonya and her baby.”

  “I hope you do. But I’ve already told you everything I know about what happened yesterday.”

  “Do you know anyone in Tonya’s life who might mean her harm?”

  “I barely know Tonya anymore. We hadn’t seen each other for at least six months. I don’t even know who’s in her life right now.”

  Though he remained standing, he seemed willing to linger. Mattie wondered if his outburst had been related to her catching him in a lie about where he’d been yesterday afternoon and evening.

  “When you and Tonya were together, did she ever use drugs of any kind? Even prescription painkillers?” Stella asked.

  “Are you kidding me? You must not know her.”

  His sneer held derision, as if Stella should have known better, something Mattie thought ridiculous under the circumstances, but it seemed to project that part of his personality that had irritated her earlier—a superior attitude that he just couldn’t hide.

  Stella remained cool and merely nodded. “I’ve never met Tonya. I’m investigating her death.”

  That response seemed to cool him down. “Tonya had no interest in drugs of any kind. When I knew her, she was in training, trying to get a track scholarship. She wouldn’t even drink a beer.”

  And she got that scholarship too. Mattie felt a twinge of pain as she thought of Tonya’s lost hopes and dreams.

  Stella kept on. “Do you have any idea where the baby might be?”

  Skylar looked at the door. “I have no idea what happened to Tonya, and I don’t know where the baby is. You need to talk to someone who does.”

  He was looking antsy, and Mattie could tell they were about to lose him.

  Stella began wrapping up. “We need to be able to reach you in case we have information about the infant. Could I have your cell phone number?”

  He gave Stella his number, a
nd she jotted it down. “Where will you be today? Are you planning to go back home?”

  “I’ll be here until tomorrow. My sister’s coming from Nebraska, and I’ll wait for her.”

  “Do you think she’ll still come … considering?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know, but she’ll want to know where the baby is.”

  “We need to talk to her after she gets here.” After giving him her business card, Stella showed him the way out to the lobby, while Mattie drifted along behind. When the front door closed behind him, Stella turned, one eyebrow raised. “He got pretty short-tempered when you pinned him down about where he was yesterday.”

  “Look at his Jeep. That vehicle was on the road during the storm yesterday. I think he was lying.”

  “I think so too.” Stella looked out the glass door. “Interesting that he plans to stay around. I wonder why.”

  “Do you think he knows something about the baby?”

  Stella sighed. “Your guess is as good as mine. He’s got a lot of anger against Tonya—maybe because she dared to prevent him from getting his way. He struck me as someone who was used to that. And his innocent act wasn’t very convincing.”

  “I can see him wanting to make sure that no one else got that baby, but his sister seems more motivated to give it a home than he does. If they were willing to take legal action, they would have probably prevailed over the adoptive couple. So why kill Tonya? Unless it was an act of rage.”

  “And maybe the baby is in someone’s hands getting medical attention? But … that seems unlikely.”

  Mattie watched Skylar as he walked to his Jeep and got in. She noticed that Robo stood inside the back of their unit watching Skylar too, even as he drove away. She wondered what her dog thought of the young man. No telling what type of intuition Robo had about people.

  EIGHTEEN

  Since the highway was still icy in spots, Mattie drove carefully toward Hightower for their appointment with Carla Holt at her birthing center. Stella rode shotgun, and Robo was catching his first nap of the day in back.

  Stella had already talked to Carla about her employee’s criticism of Tonya’s adoption plan. Tonya had made it to her appointment yesterday morning, and she’d registered her complaint, so the midwife had been aware of the incident and had already reprimanded the woman involved, Deidra Latimer. Carla had also agreed to ask Deidra to come in to her office to be interviewed.

  Stella was writing in her notebook. “Since Tonya’s due date was next week, the baby would have been fully developed and able to survive.”

  “Dr. McGinnis thought Tonya had been moved after death, so it’s possible she delivered in a clean, warm environment.”

  Stella cocked one eyebrow. “Like a birthing center?”

  “Yeah, something like that … or a motel room. What if Tonya went into labor while she was meeting with Skylar? Could he have assisted in the birth, medicated Tonya heavily enough to cause the overdose, and dumped her body?”

  “In that case, where’s the baby today?”

  “With his sister,” Mattie said, thinking it wasn’t too big of a stretch for the sister to have driven with Skylar from Nebraska to make sure she could get the baby.

  “A homicide planned by brother and sister? I’m not so sure about that.”

  Mattie had imagined all sorts of reasons a baby might be stolen from its mother, none of them good. “Could we talk about motive for killing Tonya?”

  Stella shrugged. “Sure. Sometimes exploring theoretical motives for a case is useful.”

  “It’s just that I’ve got several thoughts in my head, and it would help me to get them out in the open and see what you think.”

  “Go right ahead.”

  “Getting Tonya out of the way gives Skylar and his family rights for custody. No legal battle needed.”

  “You’re right, but motive to get rid of the mother might apply to others, such as the adoptive parents …” Stella consulted her notes. “The Thompsons, although the motive could apply to anyone who knew Tonya and wanted that baby. An orphan is easier to take than an infant with a parent who’s motivated to claim it.”

  “True, but Tonya already had an adoption agreement with the Thompsons.”

  “Yes, but it’s not unusual for a birth mother to change her mind during the last days of pregnancy or after the birth. If that happened, the Thompsons wouldn’t have any right at all to the baby. So … it opens up the Thompsons as persons of interest.”

  Mattie nodded, thinking that Tonya had not indicated a change of mind when she’d met her. In fact, she’d seemed determined to go ahead with the adoption. “What if Tonya went into labor, delivered at the birthing center, and something went wrong? Maybe Carla Holt lost both Tonya and her baby, and then she tried to cover it up.”

  Stella pursed her lips and nodded. “That’s possible. Let’s watch both of them carefully when we mention Tonya’s death. See what kind of reaction we get.”

  Mattie drove in silence for a bit before giving Stella a sidelong glance. “I’ve thought of another motive that could be related to the midwife and her assistant, or someone else that’s not even on our radar. What if someone wanted the baby to sell? You know, infant and child trafficking.”

  Stella emitted a prolonged, sibilant breath. “Thought of that one too, though the idea of it curdles my breakfast. I need to research any related cases, both solved and unsolved, in the region—a pregnant woman killed at the end of her term with a missing infant. I’ll do that later this morning.”

  “And we need to look at the schedules these two women had yesterday. See what they were doing in the afternoon.”

  Stella nodded. “I hope the ME can give us an estimated time of death after the autopsy today. That would help us pin down the time frame.”

  It would help, but with the body exposed to the weather like it had been, Mattie doubted he could provide anything more specific than a time window. “One more thought related to the men at the campground yesterday. Tonya might have been killed during some type of sexually motivated assault and losing the baby was collateral damage. In that case, the infant might also be deceased.”

  “Regarding assault, that’s another question the ME might weigh in on. And yes, it’s a possibility.”

  Mattie glanced at Stella, who was staring out the passenger side window. “Any other motives I haven’t mentioned?”

  Stella answered in a low voice. “I have this wild idea.”

  “Go ahead … tell me.”

  Stella sighed. “What if this all became too much for Tonya? What if she decided a late-term abortion was the way to go, and the whole thing got botched? That might explain the dosing with pain meds.”

  “But why dump her body in a campground?”

  “Because she had a friend or acquaintance out there willing to help.”

  Mattie thought about it and couldn’t imagine the Tonya she’d met seeking that option. But then, she’d been surprised by human behavior before, and talking to the girl one time wasn’t the same as knowing her well enough to predict her actions. “That’s part of why you’re interested in the Nebraska contingent of hunters at the campground.”

  “Right.”

  “And Robo did lead me straight to Reagan Dawson when he picked up his scent by Tonya’s body. But of course, I think that’s because he’s the one who found her.”

  “Finding the deceased to throw off suspicion and muddy the water isn’t a new concept for a killer.”

  Mattie agreed. “When you talked to Tonya’s best friend, did she say something to make you think this could be a possibility?”

  Stella turned toward her. “Not in specific words, but she did say that Tonya wavered between abortion and adoption in the beginning. She also said that Tonya had quit calling her back this past week, which made her wonder if she was dealing with something she didn’t want to share.”

  “Hmm …” Mattie pondered this bit of information for a brief moment. “But then, there could be all kin
ds of reasons for the lack of contact. Maybe Tonya was dealing with her home environment, or she didn’t feel like sharing her feelings as she moved closer to the adoption. What did her friend say about Tonya’s relationship with Skylar?”

  “That in her opinion, Tonya had ended it because of his insistence that she get an abortion. She said Tonya wanted to make up her own mind, and once she decided on adoption, she didn’t want to hear anything more from Skylar.”

  Mattie thought things might have changed since early in Tonya’s pregnancy—young love could be volatile, especially under such strained circumstances. “Since Tonya agreed to meet with him yesterday, I wonder if she still had feelings for him. Of course, according to Ben, she was upset that Skylar showed up, but still … I wonder if she was conflicted in some way and it caused her extra distress.”

  They passed into the Hightower city limits, and Mattie slowed as her navigation system offered directions for the next turn. She steered into a well-kept neighborhood of newer homes and pulled over to the curb in front of the first one, which had been built adjacent to the back parking lot of the local discount store. A solid wooden fence separated the store from the residential neighborhood, and Mattie wondered if its proximity explained why Carla Holt had been granted approval to run a business from her home. In small towns like Hightower and Timber Creek, the lines between commercial and residential real estate often became blurred.

  The house looked like a rambling ranch from the outside, its red brick not an exact match to the rust-colored siding on the new addition, which ran parallel with the street. A metallic-blue Ford Fusion sedan, dulled by road grime, sat parked in the driveway in front of the garage.

  Robo woke up as she shut down her engine. She told him he was going to stay before she and Stella exited the vehicle. He yawned and sat to watch them go.

  They headed down the sidewalk to an outside entry on the addition, marked with a sign that read MOUNTAIN VIEW BIRTHING CENTER in large letters while Carla Holt’s name and her credentials were recorded in smaller script at the bottom. A smattering of rock salt was evident on the sidewalk, but the sun had risen well above the horizon, and its warmth, combined with the salt, had melted any residual ice from last night’s storm.