No Help From Austin: Red: Book 5

by Darrell Maloney

  Gomez was lying in a large pool of his own blood. No one could possibly survive the loss of two thirds of the stuff.

  In the case of Duncan, the back third of his head was gone.

  “You can do nothing for these men,” the Ranger said to the doctor. “Step outside, and do not speak to Mr. Savage until after I have questioned him.”

  To drive the point home, he faced the doctor directly.

  “If I find out you did, I’ll throw you in jail. Understand?”

  “Y… yes sir.”

  “What do you think, Judge?”

  “I don’t know, Randy. Believe it or not, I’ve seen a lot of crime scene photos in my years on the bench. But this is the first time I’ve ever stood in the middle of one. What, exactly, are we looking for?”

  Randy smiled.

  “I was hoping you could tell me. I’m still a novice at this myself. I’ve seen a lot of bodies lately, but usually long after the fact, when there’s no prayer of conducting a proper investigation. Actually having the shooter on scene is a new experience for me.

  “Having said that, I suppose we look for things that either corroborate what Savage says or disprove it.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. He’s the luckiest son of a bitch on the face of the earth.”

  “How so?”

  “Neither of them was shot in the back. To tell you the truth, that’s what I fully expected to find.”

  “Why, exactly?”

  “Because John Savage is as cowardly as they come. When I heard on the street he had a gun battle with his two thugs and walked away unharmed my first thought was that he shot them in the back.

  “That’s not the case. The only other option in my mind was that he got the drop on them and fired before they had the chance to respond.”

  “So you’re not buying self defense, even though both of their weapons were out of their holsters and on the floor?”

  “Despite his name, Savage is anything but. He’s a toadie who’s afraid of his own shadow.

  “And he’s not trained in small arms. Trust me on this one, Randy. If these two men had their guns out of their holsters when they saw Savage’s gun they’d have shot him dead on the spot.”

  Randy walked around the room, counting the brass shell casings on the wooden floor.

  “Nine rounds. Classic overkill. What does that tell you?”

  “It supports my theory. People fire until their gun is empty only in crimes of passion…

  “…or, when they’re so scared of retaliation they want to make damn sure their victim is dead.”

  “And we can count out the first option.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So, they were shot from the front. That doesn’t necessarily support his contention he fired in self defense. But it doesn’t disprove it either.”

  “And therein lies the problem.”

  “Let’s go with your theory. He took them by surprise and fired upon them. But why? If he was so afraid for his life he felt a need to empty his weapon, wouldn’t it be better for him to just give into their demands? Give them the money? Why risk his own life with a shootout? Especially when he had to know the odds were stacked against him?”

  “I don’t know, Randy. He was fond of telling people he could only open the vault twice a day. Maybe they forced their way in and told him they were going to take him hostage until he opened it up in the morning and gave them the loot.

  “And maybe they also let it slip they had no intention of leaving him behind as a witness.

  “Maybe if he knew he was going to die anyway, he felt he had nothing to lose by fetching a gun and coming back blasting.”

  “Maybe. But I can’t shake the feeling we’re missing a very big piece of the puzzle.”

  He looked around the room, then said, “Excuse me just a minute, Judge.”

  “Certainly.”

  Randy walked out the bank’s doors and onto the wooden porch outside.

  It was a good thing he did. For the crowd was getting increasingly restless.

  “Let’s just get it over with and hang the bastard,” one man said.

  Another said, “Might as well. The damn justice system ain’t worth a lick any more. Better to hang him than let him get away with murder.”

  Randy brought the chatter to a halt when he announced, “Nobody’s being hung here tonight. You all return to your homes. There’s nothing else to see here. Whatever we decide to do about this, you’ll hear about it tomorrow. Your milling about talking about committing murder yourselves won’t help your situation or anyone else’s.

  “I suggest you get on home now and get some sleep.”

  There were some grumbles but no open argument. A few people started to shuffle away. Others were too stubborn to move.

  “Savage,” Randy called out to the squat man sitting on the steps sweating half to death.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Come inside. Don’t touch anything. I want you to sit on the couch in your lobby and answer some questions for me.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Savage stood up too soon and became dizzy. He reached out to the outer wall of the bank to support himself and to keep from passing out.

  A man in the crowd said, “Go for it, Savage. Save us all a bunch of trouble and have a heart attack. There won’t be a single one of us that’ll come to your aid.”

  Many in the crowd were disappointed, though, when Savage regained his faculties and walked unassisted into the bank.

  “Sit there,” Randy instructed. “Looks like you have a lot of friends out there.”

  “To hell with all of them. I have my bank. And I have their money. That’s all I need.”

  -4-

  “Those surveillance cameras in the corners of your office,” Randy asked the banker, “Where is your recorder?”

  “Those cameras don’t work,” Savage snarled. “In case you haven’t heard the word, there’s a blackout going on. All the electronics were destroyed. Including the cameras and my recorder.”

  Randy smiled before responding.

  “Yeah, I kinda heard that rumor. But I couldn’t help but notice the lamps are all working in your office. And I’ll bet if I walked over to that little refrigerator and opened it up it would be cold inside.

  “Now then, I’m being very civil and courteous to you. Perhaps a lot more courteous than I have to be.”

  “Meaning what, Ranger?”

  “Meaning I have probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. Specifically, a double murder.

  “Now, that being the case, I have the legal right to gather any evidence, including videotape evidence.

  “With or without your permission.

  “So let’s try this again. And bear in mind I will find your recorder. With your assistance, I’ll find it sooner and I’m less likely to do any damage searching for it. Are you willing to tell me where it is, or do I need to search for it?”

  “Screw you, Ranger. I’m the law in this town. Not you.”

  “That may be true, Mr. Savage. But until I get to the bottom of this you’re a suspect. And since you won’t help me, I’m going to have to ensure you won’t run away while I search for evidence.”

  Randy reached behind his back and drew a pair of handcuffs from a belt pouch.

  “You’re putting me in cuffs?” Savage complained. “You have no jurisdiction here. This is my town!”

  “First of all, I’m putting you in cuffs for my safety as well as the judge’s. And especially your own. Because if you continue to impede my case in any way I may just have to shoot you.

  “Secondly, the entire State of Texas is my jurisdiction.”

  “I’m no threat to you! Uncuff me!”

  “Well now, Mr. Savage… a few minutes ago I would have agreed with you. That you weren’t a threat.

  “But then you decided to get an attitude. You refused to cooperate. And that burst my little bubble. You see, I thought you were as pure as the driven snow. I thought
you really were an innocent victim.

  “Maybe I was ready to turn you loose and close my case.

  “But then you had to go and get indignant. You got evasive and stopped cooperating.

  “And it occurred to me that there may be more to you than meets the eye.

  “After all, Mr. Savage, an innocent man would have nothing to hide. An innocent man would have no reason not to cooperate.

  “An innocent man would have no reason not to show me where his recorder was.”

  “I told you, the recorder no longer works. The EMPs destroyed it.”

  “And that may well be the case, Mr. Savage. But your refusal to show it to me gives me reason to doubt you.

  “Now then… last chance. Either tell me where it’s at or I’ll start ripping into walls to see where the camera wires lead.”

  “Okay, okay… In the back office there are several monitors. The recorders are just beneath them.”

  “Very well. Can I trust you to stay on that couch while I leave the room?”

  “What if I don’t? What if I get up and leave?”

  “You won’t get far. And whether or not you cooperate from here on out will go a long way to help me decide what to do with you.”

  “What do you mean, ‘what to do with me?’ Am I under arrest?”

  “Not at this time, no. But when I leave here I’m going to have to decide whether to arrest you and place you in the city jail, or to send you home for the night. Right now I’m leaning toward the former.”

  A light finally came on in Savage’s head. It finally dawned on him that he had nothing to gain by butting heads with the Ranger. His fate was in the Ranger’s hands, whether he liked it or not.

  And he didn’t like it. But for the time being, at least, he had no choice but to accept it.

  -5-

  Randy had been hoping to find video tape evidence showing Savage shooting the two men in cold blood, then taking their weapons and creating a phony crime scene.

  But Lady Luck wasn’t smiling on Randy on this particular night. All the bank’s video equipment was, as Savage claimed, damaged beyond repair by the onslaught of electromagnetic pulses several months before.

  Randy and Judge Moore conferred in Savage’s office, leaving Savage in the lobby, sleeping on a couch and snoring loudly.

  “Well, that’s too bad,” Randy told the judge. “Now we’re back to square one.”

  “Video evidence notwithstanding, you know he’s guilty as hell, don’t you?”

  “Yes, judge, I honestly do. The problem is, there’s nothing here I can see that will support a murder charge. Tell me if you see something I’m missing. But what I see is evidence of a shooting, that’s all. Absolutely nothing to show who drew their weapons first or under what circumstances.

  “I’m going to try to lift fingerprints from the victims’ guns. If they have Savage’s prints on them I will charge him with murder and haul him to Austin to stand trial. But barring that, I have no grounds to make an arrest.

  “Can you direct me to the police department so I can get a fingerprint kit?”

  “We have no police department.”

  “But you have a police chief.”

  “Yes. But it’s always been a part time position. Savage just pretended to be a policeman and worked out of his bank. His predecessor was actually an insurance salesman who did his police work out of his office as well. And to my knowledge we’ve never had a fingerprint kit.”

  “What did they do when they arrested someone?”

  “They took them to the county jail and had them booked there. You can probably get a fingerprint kit there, but you’ll have to break into the jail to get it.”

  “I hope you’re kidding.”

  “Nope. When the power went out the sheriff had no way to feed and care for the inmates. All his deputies quit to stay at home and protect their families. He only had twelve inmates in the jail at the time, all non-violent offenders.

  “So he released them all and told them if the world ever got back to normal they’d have to serve out their sentences. And to go home and be with their wives and kids. Then he hand-wrote a letter of resignation on a yellow legal pad, sent it by courier over to the mayor’s office, locked up the jail and went home.

  “Last I heard he and his family were walking toward San Antonio. Guess they figured they’d fare better there.

  “I just hope he’s not planning to apply for a job with Bexar County. And if he does I hope they tell him to keep on walkin’.”

  “Where’s the jail?”

  “Right behind the old courthouse, on the square. I was just kidding about you breaking into it. The mayor’s got keys. Let’s go roust him out of bed. He’s a lazy cuss anyway. We’ve been up most of the night, no reason why he can’t join in the fun.”

  Randy checked his watch.

  “Tell you what, judge. Lazy cuss or not, I hate to wake a man up from a dead sleep. It’s already past four. Why not wait until sunrise so you can wake him up without feeling guilty about it?”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t feel guilty at all. But you’re right. Just because we’ve been here tossing back possible scenarios most of the night doesn’t mean he should suffer.”

  Randy looked over at the couch, to where Savage was still sawing logs after falling asleep a couple of hours before.

  “He’s sleeping pretty peacefully, for a man who might be charged with two counts of capital murder.”

  “His comfort is rooted in the fact he’s gotten away with murder before.”

  “You talking about Red Poston’s family?”

  “That I am.”

  “Can you provide me with any kind of evidence in that case?”

  “None whatsoever, other than rumors and speculation. The whole town knows Savage was involved to some degree. Likely as just the money man. The doctor’s involved too. Falsely ruled natural causes for Butch’s death, an accident for the others.”

  “Is it true Red’s house had no gas lines?”

  “That much I can confirm. I was around when they built it. It was one of the first all-electric houses in Blanco.”

  “And you’re speculating Butch was poisoned?”

  “Yes. He was already in the ground before I heard the rumors he was injected with some kind of horse tranquilizer. Zarzapan or Zarzapine or something like that. Lethal in large doses. I talked to Red about having him exhumed and an autopsy performed.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said it wouldn’t make any difference. Said it would just confirm what she already knew. And proving he was murdered wouldn’t provide any evidence anyway.”

  “I told her she could ride to Austin to talk to you guys about conducting an independent investigation.”

  “And what did she say to that?”

  “Her exact words were, ‘I don’t need no Texas Rangers. I don’t need no help from Austin. I’m capable of handling this my own way.’”

  “Judge, I appreciate your help on this. And I appreciate you being up all night.”

  “Wouldn’t miss the fun for all the world.”

  “I have a couple more favors to ask, though.”

  “As long as it don’t cost me my money or my virtue, I’m your man. And actually, my money and virtue are long gone. So I’m in. What do you need?”

  -6-

  “I’m temporarily relieving John Savage of his duties as Chief of Police, pending the outcome of my investigation.”

  “Good. So you think you can find enough evidence to charge him?”

  “No. Quite the opposite. I haven’t seen anything here to directly refute his version of what happened. I sure wish I could, but I can’t.”

  “So why relieve him of his duties, then?”

  “I want to send him a message that he’s not as all-powerful as he thinks he is. That we can shut him down if we want to.

  “I doubt it’ll make him change his ways. But hopefully it’ll make him back off for awhile. Hopefully long enough for me to finish a s
econd investigation into the Poston murder. And the murders of Red’s husband and son. What were their names again?”

  “Russell and Rusty Benedict.”

  Randy took a small notepad from his back pocket and wrote down their names.

  “How long are you going to keep Savage on ice?”

  “I don’t know. A couple of days, probably. The Rangers only gave me a little time to check out Blanco. Then I have to report to Victoria to help out with a situation down there.

  “If I can wrap up this case in the next day or two I’ll do so.

  “If I can find enough evidence to charge him I’ll take him to Austin. If I can’t, I’ll have to release him and try to find something else to charge him with later.”

  “You still haven’t told me what you need my help with.”

  “You know everyone in this town, don’t you?”

  “Yep. Most of them since birth.”

  “I need for you to identify a good man who’d be willing to take on the role of acting police chief until I officially clear Savage. Then I need for you to get the approval of the city council or the mayor or whoever is required by your city charter to approve such things.

  “Then I need for you to swear him in.”

  “I have just the man for the job. His name is Lester Booker. He runs the Blanco Library.”

  “You think he’ll be willing to do it?”

  “He will if I tell him to, yes.”

  “One more thing, Judge…”

  “Yes?”

  “Can you ask him to get the fingerprint kit from the jail? I’ll pick it up from him later at the library. Right now I’m going to take Mr. Savage over to the boarding house and get a couple of rooms.”

  “Okay. How much longer until you release the crime scene so Doctor Munoz can come collect the bodies?”

  “Probably tonight. I want to get a little sleep and then look at it a second time with fresh eyes, just to see if I’ve missed anything. If you happen to see the doctor, tell him to keep his slimy hands off of them until I tell him otherwise.”

  “I’ll leave a note on his door on my way home. I need some sleep too. I’m a bit older than you are, young fella.”