Reining in Murder

by Leigh Hearon

  If she could have actually seen the lumbering figure get out of the patrol car, Annie would have known his identity in an instant. But blinding, sideways rain prohibited distinguishing anything more than a few feet in front and virtually nothing to the rear. It was only when a beefy arm landed on her rolled-down window that she recognized the officer who’d pulled her over.

  “Sorry, Annie, but I couldn’t get your attention any other way,” Dan told her. “I tried honking, tried yelling, but this dad-burn rain drowned me out.” He paused. “Sure hope the river doesn’t rise.”

  Annie wondered if Dan’s curious change of subject only meant he was still trying to gauge just how angry she remained at him.

  “Thanks for the scotch.” She meant it.

  Dan slapped his hefty paw on the window, inadvertently sending a spray of water right into her face. She winced.

  “Glad to do it, Annie.” Dan sounded like his typical jovial self again. What a relief. His wife of twenty-five years might have left him in the midst of more unsolved homicides than he’d faced in his entire law-enforcement career, but Dan was intrinsically an upbeat kind of guy. It occurred to Annie that Dan’s depressed state had affected her, as well.

  Dan cleared his throat and peered into the car, seeking out Annie’s face. His trooper’s hat obediently slid a plethora of raindrops into Annie’s lap.

  “I owe you an explanation. How about if I do it over lunch?”

  “Anywhere except here. You’re bringing the rain inside, and my neighbors are going to think you’ve pulled me over on a DUI if we stay here much longer.”

  “Meet you at Laurie’s Café?”

  Annie’s heart sank. Laurie’s Café was where she and Marcus were supposed to have met just five days earlier. Well, it was the closest restaurant in the area. She’d just have to get over it.

  She smiled up at Dan. “You’re buying, of course.”

  * * *

  Once ensconced in the furthermost booth from the front door, two steaming mugs of coffee in front of them, Annie began to truly relax. This was like old times. She almost wished it was old times—before Hilda’s death, before Marcus arrived, before Trooper came into her life. Especially before Lavender had come into her life. Had life really been that simple and uncomplicated a few weeks ago? Would it ever be that way again?

  She took a deep draught of overbrewed coffee and peered inside the mug. Maybe the remaining coffee grinds would give her insight. She looked up at Dan.

  “You first. I mean, I’ve got a few things to share with you, too, but I know you know a lot more than I do.”

  Dan sighed. “It’s unbelievable, Annie. Hilda’s murder is making people disappear like flies. I mean it. First Marcus, and no, I still haven’t ruled him out as Hilda’s killer, but I do acknowledge that a few holes are beginning to appear in that theory.”

  Annie glanced up with surprise at the sheriff, who was looking slightly embarrassed.

  “I might have exaggerated some of the stuff we uncovered in California.”

  Dan sounded distinctly uncomfortable. In response, Annie arched one eyebrow, a skill she’d learned at sixteen and one that never failed to come in handy on the rare occasions it was required.

  “Well, jeez, Annie, Dory had just dropped her bombshell, and I was in a take-no-prisoners kind of mood. It’s true, Marcus was pretty tight with his Human Resources director, and frankly, I could see why.”

  Annie instantly envisioned a tall, reed-thin blonde with perfectly manicured nails, perfectly coiffed hair, wearing clothes from Neiman Marcus that showed off an impeccable figure that reflected daily sessions with her personal trainer.

  Annie came back to reality with these reassuring words. “But it turns out that nothing was really going on.”

  “In fact, she admitted that she was the one who was pursuing Marcus, not the other way around. Figured with his wife safely in another state, he was fair game. Only, I guess Marcus really did love his wife . . . or at least honored the marriage vow. The last time the gal spoke to him, he pretty much laid it on the line. Told her if she couldn’t get over it, she’d have to find another job. That was one good-looking blond babe, let me tell you.”

  Blond. Annie silently gave herself one point.

  “Well, maybe she killed Hilda, if she was so hot to get into Marcus’s pants.”

  “Believe me, Annie, the same thought occurred to us. But her alibi checked out.”

  “Maybe she got someone to cover for her.”

  “She was the guest speaker at a fund-raising dinner. Four hundred people have her back.”

  “Maybe she hired a hit man.”

  “Maybe you watch too much television.”

  Their food arrived, putting an end to an incipient squabble. Yes, things definitely were getting back to normal.

  * * *

  Dan was mopping up gravy with the last slice of bread from his roast beef sandwich when Annie decided it was time to continue the conversation. Glancing around the café and noting with satisfaction that most diners had left, she threw her paper napkin on the table. It was a gauntlet that Dan recognized. He leaned back, waiting for Annie’s first question.

  “Okay, shoot,” she said. “Who’s disappeared now?”

  “Juan.”

  Annie gave Dan a quizzical look.

  “The stable hand who tried to prevent you from going up to Hilda’s castle.”

  “Oh. Well, maybe he just couldn’t take Todos’s tyrannical methods of getting people to work.”

  Dan sighed. “I know. I’d hate to be under his thumb, too. Then there’s the curse of Hilda’ still hanging around the place. In the last week, more than half the workers have given notice right after they packed their bags. But Juan just . . . disappeared. At six yesterday morning, he’s feeding the horses like usual. At ten, he’s gone. Left all his stuff behind in the bunkhouse, by the looks of it. Todos called us as soon as he found out. We’ve searched the property, and every patrol officer has his description, but it’s like he just vanished.”

  “Well, what of it? The guy was clearly terrified of Hilda and probably jumped whenever Todos turned the corner and saw him. From what I observed, he’s just a little mousy kind of guy. Surely you don’t think Juan is involved in Hilda’s death or Marcus’s disappearance.”

  Dan observed Annie for a few seconds, his eyes focused and shrewd.

  “Did it ever occur to you that the reason Juan was so scared when you were up to the house was because he’d just slit his boss’s throat?”

  It had not. Annie thought about it for a moment.

  “He’s too small. I can’t believe he could overpower Hilda, even on a good day.” She absentmindedly massaged her left wrist.

  “Almost anyone, if they’re worked up enough, has the power to cause serious physical damage to another human being, Annie. You’d be surprised what I’ve seen over the years.”

  Considering that the typical assault case in Suwana County consisted of a short-lived fight in a tavern parking lot where the loser ended up with nothing worse than a black eye or broken nose, Annie thought Dan was overstating his experience. But she held her tongue. She wanted to know more.

  “Well, what does the all-knowing, omniscient Adolpho Todos have to say? He should know Juan and all the workers better than anyone.”

  “He’s been extremely cooperative.”

  Annie snorted. “Sure, now that he’s off the suspect list.”

  “Hold on, now, Annie. Todos doesn’t have to stick around, either, but he’s doing it just to keep the ranch together until the estate is settled. He made it possible for us to interview every single worker on the ranch the day after you found Hilda’s body. He may not be the easiest guy to talk to, but I can’t fault him for his work ethic or the way he’s accommodated us on the property.”

  “So, you talked to Juan. What did you learn? What did you learn from any of Hilda’s minions?”

  “Nada. It’s the recurring theme in these homicides. No one saw anything
, no one knows anything, and no one can think of anyone who would want to kill the boss lady.”

  “Which reminds me.” Annie had had about enough of hearing about Todos’s exemplary qualities. “I got a call from James Fenton yesterday.”

  Her pronouncement had the desired effect.

  “What did he want? And why didn’t you call me immediately?”

  Annie glared at Dan.

  “If he’d told me where Marcus was, of course I would have shared that information. But he doesn’t have a clue as to where his client is.”

  Dan snickered.

  “No, really, Dan. It’s driving him crazy. Until Marcus is found, the estate is frozen, as you well know. Which means he doesn’t get paid.”

  Dan grinned. “Well, there’s a silver lining in every—”

  Annie cut in. “Yeah, spare me your humanitarian views. But apparently a few days before he disappeared, Marcus designated me as the person to find new homes for Hilda’s animals. And he’s given me Trooper,” she added hastily, as Dan sputtered over his coffee, and brown drops dotted her flannel shirt. Really, Annie was getting wetter talking to the sheriff than she would have just standing in the rain.

  “Well, we’ll see about that.”

  “What do you mean, we’ll see about that? Doesn’t seem to me that what Marcus decides to do with his wife’s estate has any bearing on your work.”

  “Welcome to Criminal Justice 101, Annie. It has everything to do with my case. Marcus can’t divest himself of anything of Hilda’s because: A, he’s a suspect in Hilda’s and possibly Wayne Johnston’s deaths; B, he’s missing; and C, judging by the late-night calls to her estate attorney, his late wife may have revised her trust so that Marcus was cut off at the knees. You must know that the Colbert marriage was pretty rocky when Hilda was murdered. Seems to me that Hilda may have been doing a bit of advance preparation for the impending divorce.”

  Annie hated it when Dan was right, which, since his poor performance in the courtroom, was becoming far more frequent.

  “Well, be that as it may, the horses need to be looked after.”

  “Todos is doing a fine job.”

  “I mean, beyond their day-to-day needs. They need to be exercised.”

  “As you may recall, Todos is a former jockey. I’m sure he can take care of that.”

  “Allegedly a former jockey.”

  “No, really a former jockey. Do you think we just take people’s words at face value, Annie? Todos is a card-carrying member of the Jockey Club of Mexico. He got rave reviews from owners who race their thoroughbreds in Mexico City. When Hilda hired him, she knew what she was doing. She hired the best in the business.”

  Annie silently fumed. It was infuriating to learn that Todos was the real deal. She’d wanted him so badly to be a fake.

  “Oh, and he’s got a permanent green card, too. What’s wrong with your arm?” Dan asked.

  Annie looked down, and realized she’d been furiously kneading her left wrist.

  “Oh, nothing. I was cleaning Baby’s hooves, and she decided we were done a tad before I could put her hoof down. I got swiped with the hoof pick.”

  Dan bent over the table and solicitously looked at the angry red mark on Annie’s wrist.

  “Be careful, Annie. You got nicked a few centimeters left of a major artery. I don’t want to have to find you dead on your place from bleeding out.”

  “You know me, Dan. I’m too ornery to die.”

  * * *

  When Annie got back to her car after running errands all afternoon, she realized she’d received a phone call from Dan a few minutes before. The sound of rain pounding on her truck roof must have drowned out the ring tone. She pulled into the parking lot to hear the message.

  “Annie, I wanted you to know that Judy Evans is going to call Fenton to confirm Marcus’s intention to give you the executive authority to divest Hilda’s animals. It won’t change a thing”—he seemed inordinately quick to caution her—“but if Fenton verifies this is what Marcus wanted, we’ve agreed to let you onto the ranch under supervision”—as Dan enunciated each syllable, Annie rolled her eyes—“so you can go through the office and make copies of anything you think you might need should you eventually get that role. Happy now?”

  Annie quickly punched redial, but Dan apparently was off doing business in the service of justice. She left a message for him to call her. On the hour drive up the coast to the only feed store on the Peninsula that sold her horses’ favorite stall treats, she’d remembered what she’d forgotten to ask Dan at lunch.

  At five, she stepped in her farmhouse to find the two Belgian pups still by the woodstove but now encircled under Wolf’s massive paws. It was an adorable sight. If only humans could get along as well as canines, she thought to herself, and, stripping herself of her soaked jacket, headed toward the kitchen. Lavender was chopping onions on the sideboard, singing completely off-tune, and completely oblivious to the rest of the world. I could be an ax murderer, Annie thought. But instead of angrily reminding her sister to lock the door when she was home alone, she thought of the pups nestled by Wolf, and instead, asked how her day was. She immediately regretted it.

  “Sister! What an amazing day! I met the most wonderful people. One of them lives just right down the road. . . .”

  Annie tuned her out to respond to the clang of her cell phone. It was Dan. She ducked out of the kitchen for her bedroom.

  “What’s up, Annie?”

  “I got your message. How soon can I come out to Hilda’s ranch?” Annie didn’t know exactly why, but she felt the sooner she was able to put her own footprint down on Hilda’s place, the better. It was a symbolic way of showing allegiance to Marcus.

  “Fenton confirmed with Judy this afternoon, so tomorrow, if you’d like,” was Dan’s response. “We just got the search warrant to look for Marcus’s body on-site. The county commissioners aren’t too happy about having to pay overtime on a Saturday, but a week’s up and the guy’s still AWOL.”

  Tell me about it, Annie thought morosely. Then her brain clicked in. Look for Marcus’s body on-site? At Hilda’s place?

  “It’ll be a mudfest with all the rain,” Dan continued, “but we’ll just have to work with it.”

  “Are you serious? You think one of the workers is responsible?”

  “Hard to say. But Hilda’s ranch has enough places to hide a dozen bodies. We just want to make sure we don’t overlook anything in our search. It’s about all we can do on the county’s side. Anyway, the place will be crawling with deputies, so it’s an ideal time for you to come out and go through the office. We’ll put one of our junior members at the door. I promise no one will look over your shoulder if you promise that you’ll make copies of anything you want and leave the originals.”

  Annie fervently hoped that she wouldn’t be present if Marcus’s body was actually buried on Hilda’s property, but she couldn’t see any way of turning down Dan’s rather generous offer.

  “What time should I be there?”

  “How about ten? That should give us enough time to get organized on our end.”

  “Thanks, Dan. And, by the way, I meant to ask you—what’s happening with Wayne’s death? It’s the one I always seem to forget about.”

  “Well, believe me, I haven’t, and enough angry relatives of the deceased are making sure I don’t. What is clear to us now is that Wayne Johnston’s and Hilda’s murders are related.”

  “You mean the same person killed both of them?”

  “No, I just mean they’re related. Someone didn’t want Wayne to deliver that horse you’re caring for. And Hilda knew something about the horse that we still don’t. Your belated delivery of the thoroughbred’s papers pretty much sealed that deal. If Hilda hadn’t been found with them, they might have been two unrelated events. Just where did you say you found them?”

  Annie hadn’t, but she realized that the time for dancing around the truth was over.

  “Well . . . one part was in Hilda’
s hand and the other . . .”

  “In Hilda’s hand! You understand now how withholding that little piece of evidence held up our investigation?”

  Annie did, indeed. And the only way she could make herself marginally feel better was to go out to the friends who never let her down and feed them dinner. Then she would dutifully go back to the kitchen and hear more about Lavender’s fun-filled day. The latter was penance, pure and simple. But she deserved it.

  Yet even the cloud that hung over Annie’s head that day dispelled much of its grayness that evening. As she ladled the last of the mashes into the horse stalls, Jessica came roaring up in her vet van and burst through the door.

  “Good news, Annie! It’s not EHV! The bay’s just allergic to practically everything in your pasture, paddock, and tack room, including straw bedding!”

  Some people might have taken this as bad news. But Annie and Jessica squealed like they were teenage girls again, hugged each other, and whirled around the stable like two ecstatic dervishes.

  The horses thought the two humans were nuts.

  CHAPTER 14

  SATURDAY, MARCH 5TH

  With an ice pick in her hand, Annie was aware that she looked a tad menacing. She didn’t care. She turned to the object in front of her, raised her arm, and swung down using her full strength. A satisfying ker-runch resounded throughout the room. Ah. Progress at last.

  Turning, Annie saw her half sister in front of her, clutching a hairbrush—my hairbrush, she noted. It would make, she thought, a totally ineffectual weapon.

  She hoisted the ice pick again.

  “Thwack!”

  Lavender jumped, her nightgown billowing around her, and emitted a small whimper.

  Annie smiled.

  “And, this, dear Sister, is how we defrost the freezer.”

  After two nights of vegetarian fare, Annie had decided it was time to reclaim her carnivorous roots. Quinoa and pinto beans were all very well in moderation. But if one more grain-based casserole appeared in front of her tonight, she figured she might as well bed down with the horses and share their oats and hay.

  The freezer, she knew, contained long forgotten morsels of pork chops, hamburger, and even a steak or two. When you lived alone, it was easy to buy in bulk and freeze the rest. It was time to find out what nestled among the sharp shards of ice that lay within her retro refrigerator, manufactured long before automatic defrosting was the norm.