Oblivion

by Karolyn Cairns

  ~ ~ ~

  Sheriff Wilson was cleaning out his desk when Lindsay arrived. Dan was submerged in paperwork and oblivious. He wanted to keep it that way. He more than suspected his former deputy and predecessor was doing nothing to solve the Turner murder these days.

  “Cam came into the store,” she announced as she shut the door and reached under her shirt to disengage the wire. “It’s all here. He threatened to cut me up too.”

  “Did he confess?” Gary asked and could tell by her angry expression he hadn’t.

  “I’m getting to him,” Lindsay assured him. “He was about to brag about it when we got interrupted.”

  “This is my last week on the job, Lindsay,” he told her. “After Friday we have to meet at your place. I don’t want Dan knowing I’m on this case.”

  Lindsay perked up at his words. “You don’t trust him, do you?”

  Gary scratched his head and sighed. “Dan went to school with Cam’s older brother Greg. I don’t see him pushing this case; no. That’s why we keep it to ourselves. You get a confession on that wire and we go to the FBI. I can issue a warrant for the threats but we both know that would be a waste of time. You have to get close to him to get a confession. He’s not about to violate a protection order so close to his court date.”

  “You think the charges are going to get dropped, don’t you?”

  Gary saw Lindsay’s pretty face fill with anguish. He wished he could tell her something positive. Word was his lawyer got the ring suppressed as evidence because of the way it was retrieved by Lindsay. It was no longer evidence. Reaching into his front desk drawer he pulled it out and handed it to her.

  “Here, I might as well give this back to you now. They threw it out.”

  She looked outraged as she took her ring back. “What do you mean? He had it! He took it from Jace! How could they throw it out?”

  Gary knew she wouldn’t accept this. He had not looked forward to this confrontation. “There is a very clear way evidence is gathered, Lindsay. We can’t prove anything by taking your word you got that ring in his room. It’s just going to help him walk faster if the prosecutor tries to push it. I just wanted reasonable cause to search his room, hoping to find something to tie him to the murder, blood evidence…something other than this.”

  “So it was all for nothing?” she demanded, her blue eyes filled with fury.

  “No, we got an indictment, Lindsay. He’s going to face charges. In the meantime, you need to get him to confess. That just bought us time. I know you feel like I set you up, but this is how the law works.”

  “He’s too smart! He won’t admit it to me unless I push his buttons. What if he comes after me?”

  “We need to hook you up with the means to protect yourself,” Gary said coolly as he withdrew a small .38 caliber pistol from the drawer. “You go out in the woods and practice with that. I’ll show you how to load it and use it. If he comes after you just shoot the little shit. I don’t expect you to risk his killing you too.”

  Lindsay’s hand shook as she accepted the gun from him. It felt cold and alien in her hand. The thought of shooting Cameron if it became necessary shook her up. She set the gun down, not wanting to think about it.

  “What if he has someone else come after me? He has a lot of friends, between here and Helena. I am going to have to look over my shoulder every minute I’m here.”

  “I have a fishing trip this weekend with my son and grandkids,” he told her. “After that I’m going to be watching you every minute I can. Just don’t confront him outside of me being there. We got a month or better before the case goes to court. You just do what I say and hopefully he cracks.”

  Lindsay looked nervous. “What if he doesn’t crack?”

  Gary looked sad. “Lindsay, he’ll get his. Just know you did all you could.”

  He could see she was not convinced. He watched her pick up the gun and went over the basics of loading it and engaging the safety and firing. She put it in her purse with a box of bullets. He admired her courage. From the start he had doubts she would make it this far. That only told him how much she loved the Turner kid.

  Gary watched her put on the ring and wished he could reassure her they would get Cameron. He didn’t tell her, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. She left his office without another word.

  Just then Dan walked in and looked down the hall to Lindsay’s retreating back. “What did she want?”

  Gary shuffled papers around his desk. “I gave her back her ring. No point in holding onto it now.”

  Dan looked relieved. “I could have told you Cam was innocent, Gary.”

  “You did as I recall,” the older man said sarcastically. “That doesn’t mean he is Dan, just that you want him to be.”

  “You still think he did it?” Dan asked in disbelief.

  “He’s as guilty as sin, Dan. And, he’s gonna kill again; mark my words. In a perfect world he’d be in jail right now, not threatening Lindsay Morgan as he is.”

  Dan leaned against the doorframe. “We got nothing on Cam, Gary. Your hunch is just that; a hunch. He’s got an alibi for the explosion and everybody says the Morgan girl is losing it after her boyfriend got killed. Why do you continue to drag this out? You should be loving life now that you’re retiring.”

  “I’ll be loving life when we solve this case,” was his reply.

  “We cost the kid his scholarship with the bust, Gary,” Dan fumed. “Why can’t she be satisfied she got payback for his stealing from the Turner kid?”

  “Cause I don’t believe he just ripped Jason Turner off that day before he dropped him at Marnie’s trailer, Dan. Common sense tells me Jace wouldn’t have let that ring and his last three hundred dollars out of his sight.”

  Dan appeared angry but said nothing. His former deputy held his tongue now, waiting for the last minute he walked out of here on Friday, Gary knew. For that he was determined to investigate this on his own.

  Dan was good as a traffic cop and writing up reports, but he hadn’t the nose for an investigation like this. He accepted what he was shown, not what his gut should have told him.

  Cameron Chase was a cold blooded killer. He killed his best friend for the sheer enjoyment of it that day, Gary was sure. He looked into the kid’s eyes and saw death. If it was the last thing he did; he would seek justice for Jason Turner, even if the system he loved wouldn’t.