Striking Range

by Margaret Mizushima

  After fifteen minutes, Brody checked in with McCoy again. “He said they’re all set, but Hauck hasn’t come down. I figure he’s got to be close to them by now.”

  “The wind is at our backs and should carry sound downhill. Let’s give him some incentive to hurry up.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “He tried to knock Robo out of the game, so he must be afraid of us tracking him. Let’s use Robo as a threat.”

  “How?”

  “Let him speak up.”

  “We risk Hauck setting another trap, but maybe it’ll push him forward instead. Go ahead.”

  Mattie stripped off the oversized gloves that Brody had given her and stroked Robo’s head. She dug a treat from her pocket and told him to sit, facing him downhill; then she asked him to “speak up.”

  Robo barked, sharp yips that carried on the wind. He kept it up while she gave him a treat every few barks. She couldn’t help but think of Pavlov’s dog experiments and the power of intermittent reinforcement, which worked well with dog training.

  They hurried down the trail, pausing occasionally to have Robo “speak up.” Juniper and piñon trees grew intermingled with spruce and ponderosa pines beside the trail, telling Mattie they’d reached the lower altitude. Robo had just sounded off again when the sat phone rang inside Brody’s pack. She paused while he answered the call and listened.

  “Mission accomplished.” He was speaking into the phone but grinning at her. “Bring us another pair of gloves, would you? Mattie’s got wrecked.”

  He signed off and summed up the situation as he put the phone in his pack. “Your plan worked. I guess the guys at the top of the perimeter could hear Robo barking as we got closer. Hauck barreled through like he had the hounds of hell chasing him. They closed around him and took him unaware before he made it to the bottom of the trail. They arrested him with no shots fired. He’s in custody and demanding why.”

  “Ha! He doesn’t realize yet that Cole’s still alive.” Mattie returned Brody’s grin. “Robo took down two fugitives today without a single bite. Now that’s fierce!”

  “Stella and Agent Lawson are taking Hauck to the station, and McCoy’s on his way up, riding Cole’s roan horse to help us retrieve Garrett and Cole.”

  “Mountaineer?”

  “He came down the trail earlier and someone caught him.” Brody shone his flashlight on her face, evidently checking her for signs of the fentanyl exposure. “Do you want to go down to warm up and catch a ride with the state patrol?”

  Though Mattie wanted a crack at Hauck herself, she figured the CBI agent would get the first shot at him. Right now, above anything else, she wanted to make sure Cole and Garrett were safe. “Get that light out of my eyes, Brody. I’m fine. I’ll go back uphill with you.”

  “I thought you’d say that. Let’s find a sheltered spot where we can wait. Okay with you, Robo? Speak up.”

  Robo sounded off, making Mattie laugh. She gave her dog a treat and handed Brody’s gloves back to him before shoving her hands into her pockets. She and Robo followed Brody to a rocky outcropping that would block the wind, where they waited in companionable silence for the sheriff.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Early Monday morning, approximately two AM

  Though they’d come down the mountain together, they’d all gone their separate ways. Sheriff McCoy had driven off with Garrett, taking him to Dr. McGinnis. Cole had loaded Garrett’s lame horse into his trailer beside Mountaineer and headed for his clinic. Brody had gone to stand guard at the lower site on the Redstone Ridge trail.

  And Mattie and Robo had headed to the station in her Explorer. Many hours had passed since their exposure to fentanyl, and she was no longer concerned about renarcotization. Technically she should have Dr. McGinnis check her out, but she thought there was no need at this point. Cole had given Robo a clean bill of health, and that was all that mattered.

  She found Stella and Agent Rick Lawson in the briefing room, both working on laptop computers. When Mattie entered, Stella raised her eyes from her screen and studied her. “I hear you and Robo were exposed to fentanyl tonight. Are you both okay?”

  “Doing fine.”

  “Hmm …”

  Her friend’s reaction told Mattie that she might not look as well as she hoped to portray.

  Stella nodded her head toward Lawson. “You know Rick.”

  Mattie offered a handshake as he stood to greet her. Of average height and muscular build, the agent wore his dark hair in a buzz cut that showed a sprinkling of gray at his temples, and he met her gaze with intelligent dark eyes. “It’s good to see you again. I’m glad you and your dog recovered.”

  Mattie acknowledged his words with a nod but wanted to get straight to the point. “Have you interrogated Hauck?”

  “I tried to. He asserted his right for legal counsel.”

  Though disappointed, Mattie had thought that would be the case. “I want to talk to him. Off the record.”

  Lawson narrowed his eyes to study her.

  Stella cleared her throat. “Let us brief you on what we’ve found so far. You don’t want to go in without all the information.”

  Mattie took a seat at the table, and Robo circled before lying down beside her. He heaved a sigh and lay his head down on his front paws. She figured he’d be asleep within seconds.

  Stella flipped a few pages back in her notebook. “I have a lot of information to share with you, and I’ll try to keep it linear. First, Deidra Latimer—she confessed to accidentally killing Tonya with fentanyl patches she obtained from Jim Hauck. She says he coerced her into providing this baby for him to sell on the dark web and that she feared for her life. My take? I think they’re a couple and she’s worked with him for years. Rick and I have found a smattering of missing mom and infant cases in Southern California that we’ve been able to link to the midwife clinic she worked at out there.”

  “Geez.” Mattie released a shaky breath. “Tonya appeared safe when we saw her on the store film. How did Deidra get to her?”

  “It was in the store parking lot. She spotted Tonya sitting out there, approached her car, and apologized to her. Then she manipulated her into going to her house for lunch. I think Tonya was lonely and vulnerable, so she went. Deidra drugged her tea and restrained her.” Stella’s expression was grim. “Deidra has more on-the-job training than she initially let on. She’s skilled in establishing IVs, and she proceeded to deliver the baby under a rapid Pitocin drip. Labor was fast and painful. Deidra says she started with one fentanyl patch for the pain and then added more … but honestly, her story falls apart there. We believe Tonya was conscious when she delivered and then Deidra administered the overdose. She claims she was busy cleaning up the baby when Tonya accidentally died, but again, we believe otherwise. The DA hasn’t filed charges yet, and I’m hoping it will include murder one.”

  This was hard for Mattie to take in. “Why dump her body at that campsite? Why not somewhere closer to Hightower?”

  “She’d camped there before and knew the layout. She said she was surprised to see so many campers there and was unaware that it was hunting season. But when she realized most of the campers weren’t present in the campground at the time, she went ahead with her plan to leave the body. She and Hauck wanted to take the baby from Timber Creek to Denver last night, but they didn’t count on the storm. Deidra ended up taking care of the baby one more day.”

  “Did she confess to hitting Johnson?” Mattie asked.

  Stella’s eyes narrowed. “She did. After she dumped Tonya’s body, she waited for nightfall in a grove of trees near the Balderhouse trailhead. She thought it would be better to sneak through Timber Creek after dark, and Hauck planned to help her ditch the car. The storm slowed her down and the baby was hungry, so she pulled off to the side of the road to try to pacify her. She said when Johnson pulled up behind her, there she was with Tonya’s baby in the car, and she panicked.”

  Mattie had to stop herself from grinding her
teeth. “Any news on the grave site near the Redstone Ridge trailhead?”

  Stella nodded. “We’ve got matching dental records for Rose Marie Harlan, the missing mom from Denver, and there were no infant remains in the grave.”

  Mattie’s body tensed. “Did Deidra confess to killing her?”

  “Not yet. A lot of this has come in since my first interrogation.” Stella gestured toward the two computers. “We’re building a case against her. By the time we talk to her again, I think she’ll cave. And she’ll have incentive to share all that she knows about Hauck.”

  “Is Carla Holt part of the baby trafficking operation?”

  “There’s no evidence of it, and she sent proof of credit card postings that appeared on her account for items purchased in Willow Springs. I also talked to the barista at the coffee shop and confirmed that Carla had been there on Friday afternoon. We’ll check out the midwife in California as well, but so far it looks like Deidra acted alone.”

  Thinking about the children who were still missing hit Mattie hard. She turned to Lawson. “Is there hope of reuniting these missing babies with their families?”

  “If we can gain information from Deidra or Hauck about who these children were sold to, there’s hope. Kidnapping and the potential of crossing state lines means the FBI will become involved. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

  Fatigue threatened to overwhelm Mattie. She needed to stay focused on what she could accomplish right now … tonight.

  “There’s more info from the lower site,” Stella said. “The bomb squad dug up what looks like a kill kit. A waterproof case containing a sawed-off shotgun, ammo, zip ties, knife, duct tape, and a Taser. Also a black powder pipe bomb with wiring that hadn’t been attached yet. We think this kit was all John Cobb’s work. Whether or not he left it for others besides himself to use remains unknown at the present.”

  “That sounds like John Cobb.”

  Stella nodded. “The bomb squad will move up to excavate the site at the midpoint tomorrow morning, and they think they’ll find a similar kit. The forensic team will work on the suspected grave site by the cave. If we find a body up there, we’ll see if the remains are from our missing mom from Colorado Springs—Kaylee Cunningham.”

  “What’s your theory on who buried these women? I don’t see how Deidra could have done it.”

  “Right,” Lawson said. “The most likely suspect is John Cobb. His markings on the map correspond to the burial sites and the kill kit. And Hauck wanting to come here to investigate that map indicates he didn’t know what was buried there. So I believe Cobb buried those bodies as well as the kill kit, but I don’t understand why he would go to the trouble of taking these women up into the mountains to bury them. Why would he risk being seen on a trail that others use for hiking?”

  Mattie thought she knew the answer. “John Cobb liked to burn bodies up in the high country, and his MO was to use a large fire pit. He transported me at night, so that’s probably what he did with these women.”

  “Hauck recovered several bags of drugs and money hidden in that cave,” Lawson said, his gaze intense. “That’s what he was after all along.”

  Mattie’s face warmed with embarrassment. “Right. He used the fentanyl on us. There was money too?”

  Lawton nodded. “Two bags of cash in large bills, equaling about a million. Deidra told us that Hauck knew Cobb had stolen from the operation before he got arrested in May, but he didn’t know where Cobb hid it. He needed you and your dog to find it for him. I wondered why Robo didn’t find the other bags of fentanyl when you searched that cave.”

  Mattie wanted to kick herself. “After we found the first bag, I left Hauck there so I could return a call from the sheriff on the sat phone and give Robo his reward for working. I didn’t ask Robo to sweep to the end of the right wall or the far corner. When I returned, Hauck had been digging, and he said he didn’t find anything more. I shouldn’t have believed him, and I should have never left him alone in that cave.”

  Lawson shrugged. “He’s a chameleon. There are lots of people who never should have trusted him.”

  “Have you talked to Hauck’s superior back in San Diego?” Mattie asked.

  “Yep. He is not pleased, and he’s not getting any sleep tonight either.”

  “Could others be a part of this?”

  Lawson raised his chin as if to acknowledge her concern. “I’m sure internal affairs will investigate.”

  Mattie looked at Stella. “I still want to talk to Hauck, but not about any of this.”

  Stella’s eyes narrowed, and she nodded slightly as if acknowledging that she could guess Mattie’s goal. She turned to Lawson. “What are the odds that Hauck has information about a homicide that occurred thirty years ago that involved the Cobb brothers?”

  Lawson raised a brow. “What are you talking about?”

  Stella briefed him about the shooting death of Douglas Wray as well as why it interested them.

  Lawson looked at Mattie. “We haven’t had time to go back that far. We don’t even know yet when Hauck turned—before or after he joined the force in San Diego.”

  “I want to find out if he knows anything about my father’s death. That’s all I need.”

  “And you think he’ll tell you?”

  Mattie straightened. “I doubt it, but I have to try. This won’t be a formal interview. I just want to talk to him.”

  Her shoulder muscles tightened as she waited for Lawson to mull things over.

  “I think Deputy Wray should go ask our prisoner if he needs anything,” Stella said quietly.

  Lawson put his hands up in surrender. “See what he has to say.”

  “Deidra’s in the private cell,” Stella said. “Hauck’s in the block.”

  When Mattie stood, Robo awakened and followed her down the hallway that led to the jail. She keyed in the code that released the lock on the door into the jail lobby, where she noticed that Terry Simpson was on duty. Terry was a beefy guy and one of their younger corrections officers. He looked up from his computer screen. “Hey, it’s Mattie and Robo.”

  She raised her hand in greeting. “I’m here to talk to Jim Hauck. Do you have any other customers in back?”

  “Nah, just the woman you brought in earlier, but she’s in the private suite.” Terry quirked the corner of his mouth at his joke. “Do you need some help?”

  “No, thanks.” Mattie scanned the lobby, locating an aluminum chair that looked like it wasn’t too heavy. “I’ll take that chair in with me. Would you release the lock?”

  The lock buzzed and clicked and Mattie opened the door, directing Robo to come with her and then telling him to heel. Four cells lined the left side of the room with a walkway to the right, allowing a wide berth for passing. Solid walls separated the cells, which each contained a sink, a toilet, and a built-in platform holding a mattress, but bars at the front limited total privacy.

  Since it was the middle of the night, the cells were dark, but dim lighting lit the passageway. Mattie carried the chair to the second cell, where she saw Hauck rise from the bed.

  “So it’s Mattie Wray and her dog,” he said as he walked toward the bars. “Did you bring that chair to break me out of here?”

  The strip of lighting behind her glowed enough for her to see his engaging smile, which she now recognized for what it was. Pure cunning and manipulation.

  She set the chair outside the cell, staying well beyond his reach, and sat and studied him for a minute while she stroked Robo, who settled down beside her. She was surprised that Hauck looked tired and worn as he sank to sit on the end of his bed. Though she felt nothing but contempt for this man who’d stolen babies to sell and then tried to kill Cole and her dog, she refused to let that show. “Did you get some sleep?”

  Again with the smile. She remembered how Rainbow had called him the Silver Fox. The nickname suited him well.

  “Some,” he said. “The accommodations are comfortable enough.”

  “Do you nee
d anything?”

  “An attorney. But I hear I’ve got an appointment with one tomorrow.”

  She sat and waited for a few minutes while they studied each other. Finally, she spoke. “I want to talk to you off the record.”

  “That’s not how this works, Deputy. You know that.”

  “It’s how this works for tonight.”

  “You’re wearing a wire.”

  “No, I’m not, and I don’t want to talk to you about things that happened here in Timber Creek anyway. I want to talk about only one thing.”

  He continued to smile. “And that would be your interest in your father’s death.”

  Mattie nodded slowly. “What do you know about it?”

  He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and spreading his hands wide in an open posture. Mattie recognized the pose—friendly, honest. But she remained fully aware that he knew all the right postures as well as she did. “I can tell you that I’d never before heard the name Douglas Wray until your sister called me a couple years ago,” he said.

  “What did you learn about the case after you looked into it?”

  “I know nothing more than you know.”

  Mattie continued to study him. Was he telling the truth? She could usually tell when suspects lied, but not Hauck. He was polished.

  Hauck leaned back slightly, moving his hands to his knees. “I’ve looked at a lot of cases over the years, Deputy, and I’ve solved some tough ones.”

  It felt bizarre listening to him talk as if he was a hotshot detective. Maybe he had been at one time.

  Hauck went on. “I can tell you that the Douglas Wray case has been looked at many times by some of the best, and until you came up with the John Cobb lead, everyone had hit a dead end. It’s too bad we weren’t able to interrogate him.”

  It felt like he was taunting her. Deidra had told them that Hauck had ordered John Cobb’s death, and Mattie believed that to be true. But Hauck seemed willing to talk, and even if he was spinning his words to make himself look innocent, she wanted to know what he had to say. She nodded, leaning forward slightly to imitate his posture, encouraging him to keep going.