“Um, yeah, it’s unfortunate. It’s also at my dig site,” Caroline stated quietly.
“Really?” Bobbie gasped.
“Yes, one of my team members found the body.”
“Ah, so that’s probably how you met up with Rand, huh?” Penny asked.
Caroline smiled slightly and nodded.
“Well, tell us what you’ve been doing all these years, Caroline. We’ve missed you! We always enjoyed your company,” Bobbie said cheerfully.
“Mom, maybe she would like to order something to eat,” Penny countered.
“Well, take her order, Penelope,” she retorted.
Caroline ordered breakfast then Penny handed the ticket to one of the cooks.
Caroline continued the conversation. “There isn’t much to tell really. I graduated from New Mexico State University with a degree in paleontology and now I work at the North America Museum of Natural History in Glendive. I’m currently working, or trying to work, at a dig site in Hell Creek State Park.”
“Are you married? Do you have children?” Bobbie asked.
“Now, Bobbie, let’s not get too personal here, she may not want to discuss it,” Dave scolded.
“Oh, that’s okay. The answer is no to both parts. I was married for two years, but am now divorced.” Caroline didn’t really want to talk about her marriage and divorce. No one had any idea of the hell she’d been through in that marriage except her parents, and she intended to keep it that way.
“You know, Rand was married for a few years too, but now he’s single again,” Bobbie divulged.
“And why are you talking about me?” Rand asked as he approached the booth, startling everyone at the table.
“Oh Rand, you startled me. We were just catching up with each other. I was commenting that you are divorced. Caroline is divorced too. Come on and join us,” Bobbie said.
Caroline slid over in the booth and Rand slid in next to her. He accidently brushed Caroline’s arm with his which sent a sparkling chill through her body.
“What do you want to eat, Rand?” Penny asked.
“Nothing, just some coffee please.”
Penny walked over and poured a cup of coffee for Rand, then refilled Caroline’s cup.
“Caroline just told us that she graduated from New Mexico State University in paleontology and is now working at the North America Museum of Natural History in Glendive.”
“How are your parents doing, Caroline?” Dave asked.
“Oh, they’re fine. They live in Florida year round now. Dad needed to get out of the cold and go where it’s warm because of his arthritis. They’ve settled nicely in a community near Fort Meyers.”
“What’s Robbie up to?” Rand asked Caroline.
Robbie was Caroline’s younger brother. “He’s still at Montana State University, working on a PhD in business administration. I think he will probably end up moving to Florida as soon as he graduates. He seems to love going down to visit Mom and Dad, and he especially likes the girls down there,” Caroline answered, smiling.
“Yeah, he does like the girls,” Rand remarked with a grin.
As Penny brought out Caroline’s breakfast, she remarked. “Like someone else we know.”
“Who’s that?” Caroline raised her eyebrows.
“Parker,” Rand and Penny said in unison. Parker was their younger brother.
“You know, Caroline, I think it’s so great that you went to college, got your degree, and are now doing something you love. You’ve always been a fossil hunter and loved to dig for dinosaurs.” Penny pulled a chair up to the booth and sat down.
“Yes, I’ve been very fortunate. Finding a job as a paleontologist is hard to come by, but this one just sort of dropped in my lap. I enjoy digging at the sites and traveling, a lot more than doing the paperwork. That’s why they hired me. The paleontologists at the museum would rather not go to the dig sites. They’d rather stay at the lab, so it’s a good balance.”
“How often do you report to work in Glendive?” Rand asked. Caroline didn’t know what to think about his interest in her work. In the past, he was never into rock and dinosaur hunting.
“I report in every morning via email. But I don’t go back to the office and shuffle papers until September or October. So, how is everyone in the Callahan family?” Caroline asked, hoping to shift the focus off of her.
“Everyone is doing fine, knock on wood. You know, of course, that Penny is married to her high school sweetheart, Al Harper. Debbie is married to Brent Mulhorn, a lawyer who moved here from Billings. Guy is engaged to Marcia, and Tony is married to Brenda who owns a beauty shop. Parker and Rand are the only two singles right now, and Parker doesn’t show any signs of wanting to settle down with just one girl. He has a new one each week. None of the kids have shown any interest in providing us with grandchildren yet,” Bobbie lamented with a sigh.
Caroline smiled. “I’m sure they will in due time.”
“I hope so.”
Rand asked Caroline, “Where is your next dig site going to be at?”
“I don’t know yet. I won’t start making any plans for the next site until after I get the current one done. With all the interruptions so far, I’ll be lucky to get this dig site done this summer!” Caroline darted a glance over at Rand’s profile.
“I think I would get bored digging for bones,” Rand said, his face turning thoughtful, with a distant look in his eyes.
“What’s the best site you have done so far, Caroline?” Penny asked.
“When I went to England and dug up a Triceratops.” Caroline smiled at Penny.
“In England, huh?” Dave looked surprised. “I didn’t know there were dinosaurs in England.”
“Yes, they can be found all over the world,” Caroline said.
“Caroline, with the kind of work that you do, do you think you’d ever settle down and raise a family?” Bobbie asked thoughtfully.
Caroline thought about the question a few minutes before answering. “I don’t think so. I don’t have the time to develop personal relationships like that. Nor could I really devote the time needed to raise a family while doing the work I do.” And I don’t know if I can trust my judgment when it comes to men. The last one I trusted physically and mentally abused me.
Dave asked Rand, “How’s your investigation going?”
“Not good. I still can’t identify the body,” Rand answered grimly.
“I saw the picture on the news, and I sure didn’t recognize him,” Bobbie said as she looked over at her son.
“I don’t know, Mom, but I think I saw him here a few times.”
Rand looked at his sister. “Can you remember the last time you saw him and if he paid with cash or credit card?”
“No, sorry, I only vaguely remember seeing him,” she answered.
Rand’s cellphone started ringing and he flipped it open. “Callahan.” He paused a moment. “Really?” he said with a puzzled look on his face. “Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He snapped his phone shut and downed the last of his coffee. “Well, got to go. There’s someone at the office waiting to see me.”
“We’ll talk with you later,” Bobbie said as she smiled at her eldest son.
Rand slid out of the seat and nodded with a smile at Caroline as he walked away.
Chapter 4
Rand was curious as to why two US Marshals wanted to see him. His mind was racing as he strode down the street. As he entered the sheriff’s office, a few doors down from the diner, two US Marshals were waiting off to the side. Rand walked up and offered his hand. “I’m Sheriff Rand Callahan.”
The US Marshals each took his hand and introduced themselves.
“I’m Don Masters, US Marshal. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Ted Peyton, US Marshal. Is there someplace where we could talk?”
“Yes, follow me.” Rand opened the door to his private office and walked in. “Have a seat.” He motioned to the chairs.
“Thanks,” Don Masters said
as he sat in the chair closest to the desk.
Rand closed the door behind them and then walked around to his desk. “What can I help you with?”
“Have you identified the body you found yesterday at the dig site?”
“No, not yet,” Rand said, surprised by the question. “Do you know something about him?”
“We may know the identity of the body, but will have to see him in order to be sure.”
“Okay, that can be arranged. Can you give me some background information?”
“We’d be happy to assist you any way we can, but we want to be sure it’s who we think it is before we elaborate.”
Rand grabbed the phone and punched in the coroner’s number. “Matt, this is Rand. I have two Marshals here that may be able to identify the body we brought in yesterday. Can we stop by now and have them take a look?” When Matt agreed, Rand said, “Okay, good. We’ll be there in five minutes.” Rand hung up the phone. “If you guys will follow me, the morgue is right next door.” Rand called out to Carlson as he walked out of his office, “Hey Carlson, bring your notebook and come with me.” The US Marshals and Carlson followed Rand out the door along the inside corridor to the office next to the sheriff’s office.
The Coroner’s office was just large enough for a small desk and some filing cabinets with a room for performing autopsies, and a small CSI lab. Beyond the crowded space lie a couple of state office departments, the township offices, and the fire and ambulatory services. All Jordan’s government offices were situated in one block except the courthouse, the district attorney’s office, and the post office.
Rand opened the door and walked in with Carlson and the Marshals. The person sitting behind the desk looked up and nodded to Rand. “He’s expecting you.” He cocked his head toward the back room.
“Okay, right this way.” When they entered the area where they did autopsies, Rand greeted Matt. “Hello, Matt.”
“Hello.” He looked at Rand, Carlson, and at the two US Marshals.
“This is Don Masters and Ted Peyton, US Marshals,” Rand said.
“Nice to meet you,” Matt replied. “Come this way.”
Matt led the men over to the freezer. He opened the door and pulled the slider out that held the body. The body was covered with a sheet so Matt pulled the sheet down, away from the victim’s face, for the two US Marshals to look at him.
“That’s him,” Don admitted as he looked at Ted.
“Yes, it is.”
“Can you give us a name and his next of kin?” Matt asked.
“His name is Marc Baker. It’s the name given to him under the witness protection program. His real name is Michael Seprino. He ratted out some mob bosses in high places, and for his testimony, he was placed into witness protection,” Don disclosed.
Ted added, “He didn’t have any family so there is no next of kin to notify.”
“None at all?” Carlson asked.
“Nope,” Don answered.
Ted turned and faced Matt Dyson. “Will you be doing an autopsy on him?”
“Yes, possibly tomorrow. I have to get a pathologist in to do it.”
“Is there anything else you need from us, Matt?” Rand asked.
“Yeah, do you guys have fingerprints that we can use to match with our database?”
Ted paused for a second. “Yes, I’ll have someone back at the office email them to you.”
“Okay. If you guys want to follow me back to my office, we can continue this discussion,” Rand said.
When they were seated in Rand’s office, Carlson looked at the two US Marshals. “Do you have an address where we can possibly go to and look for evidence?”
“Yes. He lived at Big Sky Apartments. 1506 Main Street, Apt 2A,” Don read the address off his iPad. “He also has a cellphone but not a landline,” Don added.
“Could we have the cellphone number?” Carlson asked.
“Sure,” Don said, and rattled off the phone number.
“So, Don, he ratted out some big name mob bosses? Who were they?” Rand asked.
“The head of the crime family is John Bosso—they all lived in Florida. They were involved in drug smuggling. The FBI conducted a sting operation on the Bosso crime family and found out Marc Baker, aka Michael Seprino, was the kingpin of the drug smuggling operation. They ‘flipped’ him and all the men that he testified against got some pretty hefty sentences. We originally relocated Baker to California, but he didn’t like it there and asked to be relocated somewhere here in Montana.”
“Any chance this may be a mob hit?” Rand asked Don.
“Anything is possible. But it doesn’t look like he took a bullet to the head. Usually mob hits are bullets to the head, and they usually hide the body.”
“No, it was to the chest as far as we know right now.” Rand sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, looking at Don and Ted. “I think we need to get to his apartment and see if there is any evidence there to explain what happened.” Rand motioned to Carlson.
Ted asked Rand, “Would you mind if we tagged along? We need to close this case since the guy is dead, but we want to tie up loose ends, find anything that could be traceable back to the witness protection program.”
“I don’t have a problem with you coming with us.” Rand reached for his cellphone and called the CSI.
* * * *
Rand, Carlson, Don, and Ted left Rand’s office and got into the sheriff’s cruiser to head to Big Sky Apartments. Dane, head of the CSI, informed them that a team would meet them there.
When they pulled into the apartment complex, Carlson got out of the cruiser. “I’ll go and get the landlord and ask her to bring the key to open the apartment door.”
As they were waiting four CSI members arrived and started to put on their white suits and latex gloves. They handed latex gloves to Rand and the two US Marshals.
Lucy Johnston, the landlord for the apartments, came with Carlson to open the door to the apartment.
When she unlocked the door, Rand said, “Lucy, you need to stay out here and not step into that apartment, okay?”
“Okay, Sheriff.” She went and stood over by the apartment across the hall from the victim’s.
CSI McLaughlin, Janson, Robinson, and Starvorski entered the apartment first, walking through carefully so not to disturb anything. Rand, Carlson, and the two US Marshals came in behind them.
“Careful where you walk,” Lead CSI McLaughlin cautioned Rand and the others. “There appears to be a long red stain on the carpet, along with some dirt. It looks like someone dragged the body out.”
The living room of the sparsely furnished apartment contained a couch and a fifty-two-inch flat screen television. There were no pictures on the walls but there was a computer desk and a computer at the northwest side of the room next to the door. A small dinette set stood alone in the kitchen-dining area.
CSI Robinson proceeded to unplug the computer to take it to the crime lab. He told Rand, “The desk is locked. We’ll have to take the desk back to the lab and break open the drawers to get into the contents.”
“Okay.” Rand looked over and saw a piece of paper on the carpet by the television. He walked over to it and peered down at it. It looked like a business card. “You’ll want to bag this,” Rand said.
Another CSI picked up the paper and put it in a plastic bag. Something about it caught Rand’s attention.
“Let me see that for a second.”
The CSI Janson, handed him the plastic bag and he looked closer at the business card. The name on the card was Caroline Priest. Oh, great, Rand thought. Caroline, what did you do? You lied to me, didn’t you? Is that why you were so irritable?
CSI Janson also picked up two strands of what looked like human hair lying next to the business card and bagged it.
CSI Starvorski hollered out, “In here!”
Everyone went to the back bedroom, and where he stood in the northeast corner, there was a large pool of blood on the carpet. Blood was splattered on th
e walls and on the twin bed that stood against the southeast part of the wall. Rand and CSI Robinson noticed a pick on the floor. It was one that would normally be used at a dig site. There were also some bones that appeared to be fossils. CSI Robinson placed the evidence in a bag.
Rand, Carlson, and the two US Marshals proceeded to the master bedroom while the CSI continued to process the small bedroom. Rand looked through the closet as Carlson and the US Marshals went through the dresser and lifted the bed mattress up to see if anything was hidden underneath.
“Well, there’s nothing here,” Rand said grimly.
“No, there doesn’t appear to be anything in this room,” Carlson answered.
Ted looked at everyone. “Not even a wallet, no form of ID, no papers, nothing. I wonder what possibly could have happened to all those things.”
“Hmm, well, either they’re all in the locked desk, or possibly the killer took them?” Rand questioned pensively. “He didn’t have any ID on him at the site where we found him either, but it looked like someone had emptied his pockets,” Rand remarked.
Why would Caroline have a connection to the murder victim, and what reason would she or the murderer have to keep his wallet, providing he had a wallet? There’s a connection here somewhere.
“Do you know if he had a lot of money on him?” Rand asked the US Marshals.
“Don’t know,” Ted said. “We only give them enough money to get relocated. After that, they have to find a job and do all the rest.”
“How long has he been in witness protection?” Carlson asked.
“Two years now.” Don continued to sift through the dresser drawers.
Rand, Carlson, and the US Marshals ended their search and walked out of the apartment into the hallway. A gentleman named Harold Fenton stood across the hall talking to Lucy. Rand asked him. “You live here?”
“Yes, in this apartment here.” He pointed at the apartment across the hall from the victim.
“Okay, I need to ask you a couple of questions.”
The Last Dig Page 3
