Carving Knife

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  “You still have the . . .” Seth pointed to his mouth.

  “I do,” Everest said.

  Seth went to the end of the drive and found the uniformed police officer who was managing the flow of people in and out of the scene.

  “There’s a woman asking for me?” Seth asked.

  “Nice to meet you, sir.” The officer held his hand out for Seth to shake. “I’m a big fan.”

  Seth shook the officer’s hand and smiled.

  “Woman?”

  “Yes, sir,” the uniformed officer said. “She’s over there by the trees. But don’t worry, sir. I’ve got your back.”

  Seth smiled. The uniformed officer moved the barricade, and Seth walked into the street. He peered through the flashing lights at the back of the woman. She had the hood to her winter coat pulled up around her head. When he got close, she started walking up the street. He followed her for two blocks. She turned to her right and stopped at an economy rental car. She turned to look at him. For the briefest moment, he saw her face. She got in the driver’s seat, locked the door, and opened the passenger door. He got in. She drove out of the housing development.

  “Any place we can get a cup of coffee?” she asked.

  Seth laughed.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I haven’t talked to you in almost ten years, Martha,” Seth said. “And the first thing you think of is coffee?”

  “No,” Martha Jessep laughed. “I know better than to talk to O’Malley when he’s low on coffee.”

  Seth laughed. She glanced at him and smiled.

  “There’s a gas station down the hill,” Seth said. “I’ll go in and get us a cup and some donuts.”

  “And donuts,” Martha chuckled. “Never talk to O’Malley when he’s low on coffee or donuts.”

  Seth smiled.

  “We’ll go somewhere quiet to talk,” Seth said.

  Martha nodded and drove to the gas station. Seth bought two cups of coffee and a couple packs of small donettes. He used the facilities before returning to the car. He gave her directions up the hill, around the curved mountain road, and past the high pastures to White Ranch Open Space. The parking lot was deserted, and she pulled in. Seth moved to get out.

  “Stay in the car,” Martha said. “He could be here.”

  Seth assessed his old friend. She was terrified. Coming to see him, she knew that she’d put herself at risk for mutilation. She had retired from the Butte Police Department to avoid just this scenario. Seth gave her a few minutes to collect herself.

  He looked out at the wide-open field in front of him. The tall, yellow high mountain grass bent in the fall wind. He watched a rabbit scurry out from under a low bush and zip back under the cover.

  Martha laughed and picked up her packet of donettes.

  “How did you remember I like the chocolate ones?” Martha asked.

  “I remember a lot about you,” Seth said.

  She turned to him and they shared a look of remembrance for the cold nights they’d spent together while working on a case.

  “Magic O’Malley,” she said in a suggestive tone, and he laughed. She laughed and added, “That was a long time ago.”

  “Yes,” Seth said.

  “You’re wearing a ring again,” Martha said.

  “Got married earlier this year,” Seth said.

  “Third time’s the charm?”

  “Hey, Zsa Zsa Gabor has been married nine times,” Seth said. “I get a few more tries.”

  Martha laughed.

  “I remember Bonita,” Martha said. Seth nodded at the name of his second wife. “Went to the funeral. You caught that Saint Jude guy last year?”

  Seth nodded. To change the subject, Seth added, “You’re wearing a ring as well.”

  Martha smiled.

  “Is he good to you?” Seth asked.

  “She,” Martha said. “And yes, she’s good to me. She didn’t like that I was coming to see you, but she didn’t get in the way. Loves me too much.”

  “We’re lucky,” Seth said.

  “I heard you married some hottie,” Martha said. Seth laughed. “Same old O’Malley. How was the Queen of England?”

  “Queenly,” Seth said.

  Martha took a bite of her chocolate donette.

  “God dammit, I love these things,” Martha said. “You’d better not tell Donna. She’ll kill me.”

  “Not a word,” Seth said.

  They drank their coffee and ate their donettes. For a few moments, the grim reason she was in town slipped away in their warm companionship.

  “I heard Mitch’s son is off the streets,” Martha said.

  “Living with Sandy,” Seth said. “His sister, Sissy, too. They’re blossoming.”

  Martha nodded.

  “Why are you here?” Seth asked.

  TWELVE

  Martha looked at him for a moment before reaching into the back seat. She came up with a thick file. He took the file from her and she reached around to grab another, bigger file. He took that file, and she gave him two more. He looked down at the five battered files in his lap.

  “And these are?” Seth asked.

  “Case files,” Martha said. “Mine, Eliot’s, O’Shaughnessy’s, Lopez’s, and Cavetti’s original file before it was sanitized.”

  “And the USB drive?”

  “Photos I took, some of Eliot’s,” Martha said. “The drive is actually Lopez’s. There’s some interesting stuff on it.”

  She dug around in her pocket before finding the USB drive. She gave it to him.

  “You’ve got Blood Splatter Bob working with you?”

  “He works for my wife,” Seth said.

  “Lucky you,” Martha said. “Our guys . . . It took us two murders before we figured out what was going on. And then . . .”

  “What made you quit?” Seth asked. “It’s not like you.”

  “He killed my dog,” Martha said.

  “Bessy?” Seth winced.

  Martha let out a little sob and nodded. Seth put his arm around her. They stared at the field for a while, before she shifted away from him.

  “At first, I just couldn’t go in,” Martha said. “Bessy, she was my mom and grandmother and sister and . . . She loved me, and what he did . . .”

  Martha nodded.

  “Then one morning, I realized I couldn’t go back,” Martha said. “I didn’t care about anything anymore. I checked myself into one of those private sanitariums in Utah and spent my daddy’s copper money.”

  “If I’d have known . . .” Seth said.

  “Oh, I know,” Martha said. “I don’t think I knew I was going there. A month to the day after I found Bessy, I packed up. I don’t know how I ever even knew about the place. But, there I was, at the gate by nightfall. They let me in, and I stayed a little more than a year.”

  Unsure of what to say, Seth looked at her face.

  “I think Bessy made it happen,” Martha said. “I think she found the place and made sure they had room for me. She was . . .”

  “An angel,” Seth said.

  Martha nodded.

  “Why did you risk coming here?” Seth asked.

  “I could never stand it that he was still out there,” Martha said. “It made me so mad that he got away with it over and over again. When I saw that you were looking into cattle mutilations, I knew . . .”

  “Where did you see that?”

  “It was on the wire,” Martha said. “AP, CNN. ‘Magic O’Malley turns his attention to one of the world’s greatest mysteries.’ Blah, blah. ‘Do you think he can pull it off, cutie-pie-announcer?’ ‘Well, handsome-airhead, if anyone can, it would be O’Malley.’ And I knew he was back at it; just knew it. I said to Donna, I said, ‘O’Malley’s the big prize.’ He’s going to kill you, Seth.”

  “Seems like it,” Seth said.

  Martha grinned. “Same old O’Malley.”

  Seth chuckled.

  “Sorry about Everest,” Martha said.

  “Me,
too,” Seth said.

  “Did he . . .?” Martha asked. “Was he . . .?”

  “Mutilated?” Seth nodded. “Yes.”

  “Did he . . .?” Martha ground her teeth together.

  “I’m sure he did,” Seth nodded.

  “I never thought those worked,” Martha said.

  “A bunch of guys had those ‘suicide’ fake teeth installed,” Seth said. “There was a place just off base that did it. Better than being captured.”

  “Why didn’t Everest use it in the Hanoi Hilton?”

  “He was already married to Joanne,” Seth shrugged. “You should have seen them together. They just belonged together. He knew that, if he survived, he’d have a life with Joanne. I saw him not two days ago. Even all these years later, he said it was worth it.”

  “Did your brother have one?” Martha asked.

  Seth nodded.

  “Did he . . .?” Martha asked.

  “In Laos.” Seth nodded. “He was more dead than not when he took his cyanide pill. Coroner said he couldn’t have survived the trip home. So it’s probably a good thing.”

  “And Everest was from Scotland?”

  Seth grinned.

  “I know,” Martha said. “Once a nosey cop, always a nosey cop.”

  “He joined SF in Fort Bragg,” Seth said. “He was already British Special Forces. A bunch of them joined as a way to support the war. He was on Saul’s team. Saul loved him. I guess I did, too.”

  “I’m sorry about your friend,” Martha said.

  Seth nodded and looked down at the files. They sat in silence for a while until the car was getting cold and the coffee was gone. They both knew the CBI was looking for him. It was time for him to head back.

  “Why do you have these?” Seth asked.

  “Eliot sent them to me,” Martha said. “He knew he had only a few days left. He wanted me to have them in case the killings started up again. You have any ideas who’s doing the killing?”

  “Brent Davies,” Seth said.

  “So you know,” Martha said.

  “Did Eliot?” Seth asked.

  “O’Shaughnessy knew,” Martha said. “Jen Cavetti, too. That’s how pointless it is. Some people get away with anything because of who they are, plus . . .”

  “Plus?”

  “He’s going to tie you up with something stupid,” Martha said. “Make sure all your time is filled up with doing useless runaround stuff so that he can kill with impunity.”

  “Like cattle mutilations?”

  “Like cattle mutilations,” Martha said. “You’ll be too busy to make a real case against him, and, if you file, he’ll say it’s harassment. You’ll never be able to get him, Seth. He’s untouchable.”

  “Sounds like I don’t have a choice,” Seth said.

  “You can get out.”

  “Doesn’t suit me,” Seth said.

  “Then you don’t have a choice,” Martha said.

  “Why Montana?” Seth asked. “Why did he come after you?”

  “His family has a house outside of Butte,” Martha said. “Another old copper family. His sister lives there. I was just the cop in town. Fair game, I guess.”

  “Did you interview his sister?”

  “He tortured her as a kid,” Martha said. Her voice softened, and she added, “Lovely girl. Really overcame a lot. She’s amazing. She’s not angry or bitter. She’s . . . wonderful.”

  “Donna?”

  “How’d you know?” Martha smiled.

  “Magic,” Seth grinned.

  Laughing, Martha punched his shoulder.

  “Lucky guess,” Seth said. “How do you keep him from coming after you now?”

  “His mother’s father,” Martha said. “Brent is dependent on his grandfather’s status and income.”

  “And his grandfather is . . .?

  “Milford Davies,” Martha said.

  “Governor Davies?”

  “He was,” Martha said. “He’s the Chief Justice for the Montana Supreme Court now.”

  “Psychopath?”

  “Oddly no,” Martha said. “Narcissist, probably, but nothing too unsavory. He’s really great. He and Donna’s grandmother divorced when the kids were young. He moved home to Montana, and Donna’s grandmother stayed in Florida. Donna’s mom got pregnant with Brent when she was fifteen or something, moved to Arizona, and married a military guy.”

  “Donna’s father?” Seth asked.

  “Right,” Martha said. “Milford didn’t know what was happening until Donna’s mom was killed by the military guy. There was a case, but I guess it went nowhere. Milford’s protected Donna ever since. I met her a couple years later. She was there when Bessy . . . Visited me in the hospital. We have a good life.”

  Seth gave a slow nod while he thought through what she’d said.

  “You think the grandfather knows?”

  “Milford?” Martha shook her head. “No, I don’t think he knows. I mean, I think he could know, if he thought about it a little bit, but he’s not that kind of a man.”

  “What kind of a man is he?” Seth asked.

  “The kind whose sole focus is what’s ahead of him,” Martha said. “People distract him from his goals. He’s actually said that to me.”

  “I thought my dad was bad,” Seth said.

  “Your dad was bad,” Martha said.

  Seth stared out the window for a while. Martha turned on the car to get the heat going. In the field in front of him, the rabbit took a slow hop out from under the protection of the bush. A hawk dove from the sky to snatch up the small rabbit. The rabbit let out an eerie screech—a sound Seth hadn’t heard in fifty years. Seth felt a mixture of sorrow and fear as he watched the hawk fly away with the rabbit in its talons. He waited for the car to warm up before speaking again.

  “So he has a weakness?”

  “Brent?” Martha nodded. “Status. How things look. His mother. I think that, if you go through the files, you’ll be able to figure out how to nail him. I hope so, at least.”

  Seth picked up his coffee cup from the cup holder and lifted it to his lips. It was empty. He looked at the cup and then at Martha.

  “Thank you for all of this,” Seth said.

  “You’d do it for me,” Martha said.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t,” Seth said.

  “It was right around the time Mitch died,” Martha said. “I don’t think you were really on the planet then.”

  “That’s kind of you,” Seth said.

  “You’ve always been kind to me,” Martha grinned. “Sometimes too kind.”

  He chuckled, and she smiled.

  “Listen, why don’t you leave me here?” Seth said. “I can call nine-eleven, and they’ll send a uni to come get me. I’m sure there’s an agent in charge waiting at the scene to chew my ass.”

  “You sure?” Martha asked. “I don’t want to leave you in the lurch.”

  “I’m sure,” Seth said. “Are you driving home?”

  Martha nodded.

  “Then you’d better get going,” Seth said.

  “I’m sorry, Seth,” Martha said. “Really sorry. This thing . . . destroyed me. You have a hottie wife and play for the Queen and . . .”

  “Life has always thrown me a lot of curve balls, Martha,” Seth said.

  She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

  “I really glad we . . . you know,” she said.

  “Me, too,” Seth grinned. “Head up to Black Hawk, not the way you came.”

  “Good idea,” Martha said.

  He got out of the car. She waved to him when she drove away. He waited until Martha’s car was out of the Open Space. He waited a little longer, until he thought she’d turned off the main road and was on her way up the mountain. Only then did he call 911. After letting them know where he was, he set the phone down in the middle of the parking lot. Spinning in place, he ran down the path. He returned to the parking lot without the files just in time to see the angry CBI agent pull up. He leaned over and p
icked up his phone.

  “Can we get some coffee?” Seth asked when he was seated in the passenger seat. “Maybe breakfast?”

  The CBI agent in charge gave him a dark look.

  “I’m buying,” Seth smiled.

  The CBI agent in charge shook his head and drove back down the hill.

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  THIRTEEEN

  Seth spent the rest of the day in the care of the CBI agent in charge. After breakfast, they went downtown where Seth gave an official statement, a new DNA sample, and another set of fingerprints. His truck was towed to the CBI for their forensics team to go over it. He and his truck weren’t set free until late afternoon. He went home to find a note from Maresol. She was out with her friends, and dinner was pulled pork, which was cooking in the crockpot.

  He exchanged his usual roper boots for hiking boots and grabbed an outdoor jacket. He found a large backpack, filled his water reservoir, and tucked it into its pouch in the backpack. Clara bounded after him into the truck. In case he was being followed, he took a circuitous route back to White Ranch Open Space. He parked at a music-industry friend’s home near the path at the bottom of the hill to avoid the video-monitored parking lot. He hooked Clara to her leash, and they took off up the mountain at a steady clip.

  They were nearing the top of the mountain when his phone rang. He groaned. He’d forgotten to take the battery out of his phone. Anyone in law enforcement could track him. He took out his phone and looked at it. The Golden Police were calling him. He scowled and answered the phone.

  “O’Malley.”

  “Seth?” Ava sounded angry.

  “Hi.” Genuinely surprised to hear her voice, Seth smiled. Clara looked up at him.

  “Where are you?” Ava asked.

  “Clara and I went for a walk,” Seth said. “I figured you’d be at Everest’s most of the night.”

  “We got kicked off the case.” Ava’s voice cracked with emotion.

  “What?” Seth asked.

  “That’s what I said when the agent in charge told me, ‘What?’ I was completely dumbfounded. Oh, and they kicked Bob off the case. Bob! The guy who knows more about these cases than anyone in the world. He’s off the case.”