A Rancher’s Brand of Justice

by Ann Voss Peterson

  “Seems to me if Tammy knew about the investigation, she might be able to help.”

  “You might be right, but…I can’t explain it. I just don’t want to make things harder on her than they already are. Not if I don’t have to.”

  “Okay. My lips are sealed.” He put his fingers to his lips as if to illustrate.

  For a second, Melissa could again feel the pressure of his kiss, the weakness inside. She yanked her focus back to the road. Her cheeks felt hot, and she lowered the fan on the truck’s heater.

  How she was going to handle staying in Jimmy’s cabin with Nick, she had no clue. At least Jason would be there, too. And Nick himself seemed wary today. After his experience with his ex-wife, she doubted he was looking for any kind of entanglement.

  At least she could hope.

  She exited the interstate and piloted the truck through familiar streets. She circled the block three times. Satisfied no one was staking out the place, she turned onto a quiet street and pulled the truck to the curb down the block from the modest adobe house she’d always thought of as a second home. “This is it.”

  She and Nick climbed out of the truck, and Nick collected Jason from the backseat. As the three of them walked up the sidewalk to the front door, Melissa couldn’t help but notice how much like a little family they probably appeared to neighbors peeking through their blinds. She’d never planned on a family. Never wanted one. She’d seen too much of what her mother went through to ever put herself in such a vulnerable position.

  Tossing her hair out of her eyes, she stabbed the doorbell with a finger.

  The door swung inward and Tammy appeared in the doorway. A thin woman, Tammy had always reminded Melissa of a doll she had as a kid made of wire with a rubber coating, strong and flexible. But now her bones appeared as fragile as that wire had gotten over time, and her skin draped loosely over that brittle frame. New lines etched her younger-than-her-years complexion. And blue eyes that used to sparkle at Jimmy B’s jokes looked puffy and rimmed in pink.

  Those eyes flared wide. Tammy lurched out onto the step and wrapped her arms around Melissa. She clung as if her life depended on it. “I called your office. They said you were on vacation.”

  Melissa jerked back to stare at her. “Vacation?”

  Tammy gathered her tight once more, as if worried she would slip away. “It didn’t make sense to me. I mean, Jimmy dies and you go on vacation? I didn’t know what to think.”

  “I wasn’t on vacation, Tammy. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”

  Tammy held on for a few more seconds, then released her and pulled back a few inches to study Melissa’s face. “What happened to you? Something bad.”

  Great. She must look as tired as she felt. “I’m fine.”

  Tammy looked past Melissa’s shoulder at Nick and Jason. “And you brought someone?” She looked back to Melissa, unspoken questions written all over her expression.

  Melissa stepped to the side and made introductions. “Jason was the boy Jimmy was collecting from the hotel. Nick was there, too.”

  “A witness? They didn’t tell me there was a witness.” Her lips pursed. “They hardly told me anything.”

  Melissa let out a breath. So Tammy didn’t know Jimmy was under investigation? She hoped not. If anything good could be said about the silence surrounding this case, it was that she might be able to diffuse it before Tammy ever had to know. “There’s more. Can we come in?”

  “Of course.”

  Tammy led them into the well-worn living room Melissa had come to think of as home. The smell of Jimmy’s stale cigars hung in the air like a fading memory. They sat on the wood-frame couch where Melissa had watched John Elway win two Super Bowls, Jimmy shouting his usual colorful profanities at the refs for every flag against the Broncos. In the corner, Jimmy’s leather recliner sat empty. Melissa’s throat started to ache.

  “Can I get you something? A beer? Coffee? Juice? Something to eat? I made cookies.”

  Jason’s eyes brightened, and he gave a little hop. “Cookies? Can I have cookies?”

  “Sure, Buddy,” Nick said. He exchanged looks with Melissa, then looked back to Tammy. “Come to think of it, I’m a little hungry, too. I think some homemade cookies would really hit the spot.”

  “Chocolate chip.” Tammy smiled at Melissa. “They always were your favorite.”

  “Not for me, thanks.” Melissa did love Tammy’s chocolate chip cookies, but at the moment she felt anything but hungry. Besides, with Nick and Jason busy chomping on cookies, it would give her a chance to talk with Tammy one-on-one, probably what Nick was trying to communicate with that glance. “Go ahead, you guys.”

  Melissa watched while Tammy set Jason and Nick up at the kitchen table with cookies, two big glasses of milk and Jason’s toy cars. She’d forgotten Tammy’s compulsion of serving during stressful times. It never failed, if you or she or anyone within a hundred-mile radius were going through a bad time, Tammy wanted to feed all humans in her vicinity. It felt so warm and familiar it made Melissa want to cry. “Has anyone from the force or the D.A.’s office been here?”

  “Of course.” She motioned to the kitchen. “My countertops are heaped with bars and brownies and my fridge is stuffed with casseroles.”

  And yet she made cookies? Classic Tammy. “I mean in an official capacity. Asking questions, that kind of thing?”

  The lines on either side of Tammy’s mouth deepened. “Yes.”

  “Who?”

  “He said his name was Calhoun. From the D.A.”

  “I know him,” Melissa said.

  Tammy nodded. “I know they have to run an investigation every time an officer fires his weapon, but from what this Calhoun told me, Jimmy didn’t even get that chance.”

  “What did he ask you about?”

  “That didn’t make a lot of sense, either.”

  “How so?”

  “He wanted to know Jimmy’s mental state and how healthy our finances were. He even asked about our marriage. I asked him what he was getting at, but he wouldn’t tell me. It was weird.”

  Not so weird from where Melissa was standing. It sounded like Calhoun was digging for something he could use to justify the theory that Jimmy had suddenly fallen to corruption. “Did anyone from the force ask you questions?”

  “No.” Tammy narrowed her eyes, as if she was trying to figure out where Melissa was coming from. “Should they have asked me something?”

  “No, no. I was just wondering.”

  Her expression didn’t change. “Is there something going on between the D.A.’s office and the Denver P.D.?”

  Melissa held up her hands, palms out. “I’ve been gone, so I don’t know much more than you do. In fact, I probably know less. That’s why I’m asking. Did you talk to anyone from the force?”

  “Ben Marris was here.”

  “Marris? What did he say?”

  “Besides wanting to know who I thought should be pallbearers?” Her eyes glistened. She blinked furiously, but tears escaped and trickled down her cheeks despite her efforts.

  She rubbed her friend’s shoulder. Tammy swayed beneath her touch. She felt as breakable as she looked. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this.”

  She sniffed and dabbed at her cheeks with a tissue. “I know you are, Melissa.”

  “I want you to know I’m here. Okay, Tammy? I’m here whenever you need me.”

  “Helping them catch the boys that did it and making sure they go to prison will be enough for me, Melissa. Jimmy always said you were the best at your job he’d seen for a long time. And after the situation you grew up in…” She blew her nose, then focused on Melissa, lashes spiked with tears. “He was sad when you went to the D.A.’s office, but he was so proud, too. Said they needed someone like you.”

  The room grew misty. Melissa willed her eyes to stay dry. She hoped she was as good at her job as Jimmy thought. Judging from the little bit Seth had told her, it would take every ounce of grit she had to set thi
ngs right and nail the men behind this. Jimmy deserved that and far more. “Did Jimmy get any threats here at home? Any strange calls? Visitors?”

  “I thought he was killed protecting…” She nodded toward Jason, eating his cookies in the kitchen. “Do you think they were out to kill Jimmy all along?”

  “We don’t know for sure, but it looks like Jimmy might have been the target.”

  Tammy reached back and gripped the leather lounge chair, as if she needed it for support.

  Melissa gave her a long moment. “Anything you can think of could be helpful.”

  “There were threats here and there. But there are always threats here and there. He was a detective. He arrested bad people. Sometimes they made empty threats. It wasn’t anything that seemed unusual.”

  “Do you know where the recent threats were coming from?”

  “No. He kept most of it at work.”

  “What did you notice here at home?”

  “Nothing, really.” She perched on the lounge chair’s arm, folded her hands and stuffed them between her knees. “Cory Calhoun asked that same question, though.”

  “About the threats?”

  “Yes. I forgot about that. And something else.”

  “What?”

  “He asked me if I had ever heard Jimmy talk about a woman named Gayle Rodgers.”

  Calhoun, making his case. Or jamming facts in to fit his theories, anyway. “What did you tell him?”

  “That I’d heard him say the name.

  “The night before…” She looked up to the ceiling and paused for a moment. When she resumed, her voice sounded rough and raw. “He was arguing with someone on the phone about her. That’s all I remember. But it wasn’t someone threatening him or anything. It was someone at work.”

  “Another cop?”

  “I don’t know. I could just tell it was someone in law enforcement by the words he used. Shop talk, you know. At least that’s how it seemed to me.”

  “What was he arguing about?”

  “He said he had a lead. He said he was planning to take it all the way if he had to.” Shaking her head, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a tissue and dabbed her eyes. “I wouldn’t even remember it except that he just had that tone in his voice, you know? That determined tone that he got sometimes. Whenever I heard it, I knew he was going to get his way.”

  Maybe someone else had recognized that tone, too. Maybe that’s why someone had to stop him. “Did Calhoun ask for anything? Like your home phone records or Jimmy’s cell…?”

  “No.”

  Interesting. He must have gone through the phone company to get a record of current calls, but to do that, he’d either need a warrant from the court or Tammy’s permission. Melissa would love to see those records herself. “Do you have your last few months of phone records?”

  Tammy narrowed her eyes on Melissa. “Why are you asking all these questions, Melissa? What is going on that you haven’t told me?”

  “Just tying up some loose ends.”

  “It’s more than that. You’re acting like Jimmy is the one being investigated.” Tammy’s mouth flattened to a hard line. Her eyebrows pulled low. “You and your district attorney, you’re trying to prove Jimmy did something wrong. He’s not even in the grave and you… How dare you?”

  Chapter Ten

  “Hold on.” Nick couldn’t sit back and watch this any more. This might be Melissa’s friend and Melissa’s city, but he just wasn’t built to let things fall apart in front of him and not at least try to stand up and take charge.

  He pushed up from his chair. In two steps, he was in front of Tammy Bernard. “Melissa doesn’t deserve this. She’s trying to clear your husband’s name, damn it. Calhoun is the one investigating.”

  Melissa’s hand tightened on his shoulder. “Nick. No.”

  “There is an investigation then. Into Jimmy.” Tammy’s voice barely rose above a whisper.

  The woman sounded shell-shocked, her voice monotone, and for a moment Nick could understand why Melissa had wanted to shield her from additional emotional stress. Too bad they didn’t have the luxury to just sweep any unpleasantness under the rug and focus on cookies and milk. “Melissa just found out about it last night.”

  Melissa took Tammy’s hands in hers and stared straight into the older woman’s eyes. “I didn’t want you to know. Not until I cleared it all up. You have too much to deal with as it is.”

  Tammy shook her head. “No…no. I need to know. What do they say Jimmy did?”

  “Melissa?” Jason called from the kitchen.

  Melissa glanced at Nick, the look holding a silent plea.

  “Melissa,” Tammy said. “Jimmy was always straight with me. He always trusted me enough to tell me the truth. You need to be straight with me, too.”

  Nick gave Melissa a nod. He was far from sure his son would be content with him as a substitute for Melissa, but he’d give it a try.

  Melissa let out a heavy sigh and started explaining the suspicions of bribery and ties to drug gangs. With each word, her voice grew more rough and raw.

  Nick circled back to the kitchen table where Jason was watching, his toy cars held in frozen hands. He had devoured his cookies and sucked down most of his milk. Nick slid back into his chair at the kitchen table and picked up a blue Camaro, the only tool left in the distraction arsenal. “Let’s play cars.”

  Jason shook his head, craning his neck to see Melissa.

  Nick remembered the horseback-riding advice Melissa had tossed back at him. Take control. Focus on the result you want. He zoomed the little car across the oak surface.

  Jason’s eyes flicked down to the car. His fingers tightened around the vehicle in his hand.

  Nick made his car take a sharp turn, imitating the screech of tires on pavement. Taking a looping detour around cookie plate and milk glass, he drove it back toward him.

  Jason moved his car, bringing it alongside Nick’s. He blew air through his lips, providing engine sound effects for their game.

  So far, so good. He made a fishtailing turn with the Camaro and started back the other way, an ear cocked for the conversation in the living room. Melissa might never forgive him for confirming Tammy’s fears, but at least on the Jason front he might be on to something. He could hope.

  BY THE TIME MELISSA explained everything she knew about Calhoun’s investigation, she felt she’d been wrung dry. At least Tammy had dealt with it far better than Melissa had feared. The older woman had loaded her up with the past year or so of phone records, none of which showed any suspicious calls. And when they left, with cabin keys in hand, all three of them were weighted down with some form of casserole or desert.

  But before they could go to the cabin, Melissa had to talk to Seth. As soon as she left Nick and Jason parked on the street outside a playland-equipped McDonald’s just a few blocks from the D.A.’s office, she felt strangely alone. And strangely uncomfortable. She half ran all the way to the office.

  Melissa might have been alone when she stepped into Seth’s office, but Seth wasn’t. Cory Calhoun leaned back in one of the chairs in front of Seth’s desk, ankle propped on knee. His orange hair looked extra bright against the pale of his skin. He turned squinty eyes on her. “Glad you’re back, Melissa.”

  She’d bet he was glad. “Hi, Cory.” She looked past him and focused on Seth.

  For a man who prided himself on his looks, Seth was dangerously close to disheveled. Dark circles cupped under bloodshot green eyes. His hair appeared as if he’d raked his fingers through it a bit too often. And his red tie was slightly askew. No doubt these past few days had been tough on him, as well. She could only hope his patience was still intact. At least his patience with her, if not Calhoun. “I need to talk to you, Seth.”

  He nodded. “Have a seat.”

  “Alone.” She didn’t let her gaze slide to Calhoun, but she could sense the smug look that had to be on his face about now.

  “Listen, I have enough on my plate without having
to act as some sort of referee between you two.”

  Calhoun held up his beefy hands. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m just doing my job.”

  “And I’m not?”

  “Let’s just say I know this mess is a little more personal for you.”

  Damn right it was personal. Melissa managed to bite her tongue before the words slipped out. All she needed was Calhoun to convince Seth she was some kind of hysterical female who couldn’t separate her personal feelings from the job. “I just want to find the truth, Cory. Same as you.”

  “Glad to hear everyone’s so agreeable.” Seth motioned to the chair next to Cory. “Have a seat and we can get started.”

  So Seth had planned their meeting to include Calhoun. So much for privately questioning the preconceived notions of her fellow investigator.

  She stepped to the chair and lowered herself into it. Carefully crossing her legs only at the ankles, she suppressed the urge to fold her arms. Best to appear open, relaxed, like she had nothing vital invested. She gave Seth a controlled, businesslike smile. “You were going to fill me in?”

  “There’s not a lot that you don’t already know. Jimmy was accepting payoffs from Sanchez in return for ignoring the drug activities of him and his gang.”

  “Do you have proof of that?”

  “I have witnesses,” Calhoun said.

  “Witnesses who don’t have a reason to lie?”

  Calhoun didn’t answer.

  Score one for Jimmy. “Do you know how the Latin Devils supposedly contacted him?”

  Seth’s green gaze flicked up to Calhoun then dropped back to the report. “Phone? In person?”

  “All of the above.”

  “Really?” Melissa said. She pulled out her envelope of phone records. “Then why don’t these calls show up on the phone company’s records?”

  Calhoun held out his hand.

  Melissa turned away. She leaned forward and placed the copies on Seth’s blotter.

  Seth slapped the phone records down on top of Calhoun’s report and started perusing.

  “There aren’t any calls to Gayle Rodgers or gang members.” She tossed a look Calhoun’s way. “Jimmy was clean.”