Taming Deputy Harlow

by Jennifer Morey

  “You found the money in your new house, right?” Deputy Miller asked, wiping his hands on a crumpled-up paper towel.

  “Yes.” Hadn’t he heard the rumors?

  “Jeffrey had some break-ins after his wife’s murder. I came across the reports when I was filing some others yesterday. They were misfiled.” He fished on his desk, looking for something.

  “What?” She moved around her desk as Miller found what he searched for and handed her a file folder.

  Reese took it and eagerly flipped open the file. Walking slowly back to her desk as she read, she stood next to Jamie again, allowing him to read with her.

  “A month after the murder, and again five months after that,” she said.

  “Something tells me it’s not the house,” Deputy Miller said.

  No, the burglar had reason to suspect the money was there back then. And now he’d learned the money had always been there.

  The sound of the front door opening brought both Reese’s and Jamie’s heads up. Kadin stepped inside. The office manager, Margaret, greeted him from behind the reception counter.

  In his cowboy hat, boots thudding on the floor, he passed the front counter and approached Reese’s desk. The other deputy glanced back as he chewed his crunchy cheese snacks.

  “Daughter.”

  She faltered a little. He said it so playfully she couldn’t feel threatened, and thought she might be crazy for even associating her reaction to that. Why should she be threatened with the prospect of having her real father in her life? The strangeness? She had parents. Or the newness? The unknown factor. How would this change her life? Her plans. Those were safe. Predictable.

  She saw Jamie notice and teasingly chided him with her eyes for always staying in tune with her.

  “Ella’s real name was Eva Sinclair,” Kadin said. “I tracked her down going through massive paper files in San Diego. She has a mother, three siblings and an estranged father.”

  Reese looked at Kadin with new eyes. The investigation channeled her, kept her on target.

  “The siblings basically slammed their doors on me, but the mother broke down when I told her why I was there.” He bent his head, clearly not liking the recollection of having informed the woman—who must be advanced in age by now—that her missing daughter was Ella Neville and had been murdered four decades ago. “She suspected as much, of course, but...”

  “Why did the siblings shut you out?” Weren’t they concerned about what had become of their sister?

  Deputy Miller noisily rolled the bag of snacks closed.

  “Eva, aka Ella, was a bit of a rebel in her young adulthood,” Kadin said, taking notice of the deputy. “Her mother said she was never the same after her father ran out on them when she was fourteen. He doted on Eva, or gave the impression he did. Eva believed he loved her, but it must have only been the idea of having a daddy’s little girl that made him act charming with her. In any event, Eva started hanging around a rough crowd. Her grades slipped from top of her class to flunking. She dropped out of high school and took up with a boy who sold drugs, got arrested a few times and stole money from her siblings. Eventually she drifted away from her family. Her mother never stopped trying to stay in touch. One day she stopped by an apartment Eva had rented and the landlord said he had evicted her. After a week of no contact, she reported her missing.”

  “Who was the boy?” Jamie asked.

  Kadin took out a photo from his inner jacket pocket. “Not our man.”

  Reese leaned in to see a picture that clearly didn’t match any they had of the man Ella—Eva—had been with.

  “So we have a woman who falsified her name and fled California.” Nothing more.

  “She was arrested for aiding in an armed robbery. Out on bail when she left the state. What’s interesting about that is the money in the robbery was never recovered and more than a quarter of a million was taken.”

  The same amount as what Reese and Jamie had found. “The other robbers weren’t caught? How many of them were there?”

  Deputy Miller glanced back as he sipped from a green can of soda, obviously more interested in what they talked about than his own work.

  “Only one. And no, he was never caught or identified. Eva used her own car in the heist. A witness got her plate number. That’s how she was caught. She never gave away the name of her partner.”

  And she’d fled before her trial.

  “She wouldn’t have given away the name of her partner,” Jamie said. “She must have planned to take the money and run. Telling the police would have led them straight to it and she might not ever have gotten it.”

  “Exactly,” Kadin said, his cowboy hat dipping with his nod. “How’s the search for tourists going?”

  “We have a list of everyone who stayed on or through the night of Ella’s murder.” Reese picked up the handwritten list and showed it to Kadin. “Most of them were families. The others were four couples and two men travelling together. Two of the families checked out the day of the murder, the rest checked out each day after that through the weekend. One of the couples stayed the whole week. Two stayed one night—the night before the murder, and the other two stayed two and three nights, checking out the day after the murder. The men rented all-terrain vehicles from Shadow Mountain Ranch. They were riding the day of the murder, but could have made it back in time.”

  “How did you find that out?” Kadin asked.

  “This morning we checked all the ranches and activities offered during that time. Shadow Mountain kept records.” She pointed to the first name they’d highlighted. “We narrowed down our search to those who stayed the night before the murder but not the night of the murder. One is a couple who stayed in a rental cabin. The two families and the two couples who left the day of the murder, and the men who rented ATVs.” She sat down on her desk chair. “The two families were from Missouri and Oregon. The couples were from California and Colorado. The men were from California. Only one was from San Diego.” She awakened her computer. “We were just about to look up the couple from California when the report on Bishop came in.”

  “Bishop?”

  Jamie explained what happened.

  “Great. So I almost lost another daughter.”

  “No. I had Jamie with me.” She knew that would be the best way to assure him she was fine.

  Jamie sat on the chair he’d scooted close to hers when they’d arrived back from the lodge. Reese navigated to a DMV database and then moved a piece of paper aside to see the license numbers she’d listed. “The couple from San Diego registered under the man’s name. Darius Richardson.” She clicked her way through the pages on the site and found nothing current. “That’s odd.” She searched again. “There are no current records for him. His last registered address is in San Diego.” She opened a photo of the man. Darius Richardson looked close to forty. “This is thirty years old.” Darius would be almost seventy now, the perfect age for someone who could have murdered Eva. She printed copies of the information.

  “Maybe he died,” Deputy Miller said.

  Reese looked over at him along with Jamie and Kadin. Then she searched another database for a death record and found none. “Nope. It’s like he disappeared.”

  Kadin took a seat across from them on a wooden chair. “He stayed at the Never Summer Hotel the night before Eva’s murder.”

  “And now he’s nowhere to be found,” Kadin said. “He’s looking like he could be your killer.”

  Reese studied the photo. If this was the man in Eva’s photographs, he’d gained weight and lost a lot of hair. It was hard to tell if he was the same person. She could see some similarities but they would need more proof.

  “May I?” Kadin indicated her computer.

  Reese turned the monitor so he could see the screen and put her keyboard and mouse in front of hi
m on top of some papers. He navigated to a site he knew of and likely had special access to. The idea intrigued her. What would it be like to have such sophisticated resources a fingertip touch away?

  Kadin must have found what he was looking for. He next took out his phone and called someone.

  “Mallory. Kadin Tandy.” He smiled slightly as the man on the other end spoke. “How are the kids?” He paused longer this time as the man likely rambled on and raved about his kids. “Penny and I are doing well. Clayton is growing like a weed and already feisty like his mother.” He chuckled. “I called for a favor. I need you to check the nonpublic records on someone.”

  He’d called a law enforcement officer in San Diego.

  “Darius Richardson.”

  Reese glanced at Jamie, who seemed as rapt as her. Meeting his eyes, she melted as always into their blue allure. The way he looked at her felt like a physical touch. He reached over and put his hand on her knee, heating up the moment. On purpose? Trepidation drowned in the wake of desire. He made her feel so good.

  “Can you email me something over on that?”

  Kadin’s question pulled her from Jamie’s gaze and they both looked at Kadin.

  He ended the call. “Darius Richardson was wanted for questioning in relation to another missing person case. The woman’s mother reported her daughter went out with him a few days before she disappeared. He was believed to be the last person to see her alive.” He used his phone to type, then looked up at Reese. “Check your email.”

  Reese opened the email, Jamie leaning close, his body heat doing delicious things to her concentration. She read the email with him and quickly became stunned.

  “Paula Kowalski went missing the week before Ella’s murder.” Darius hadn’t been found. The woman hadn’t been found. Could it be they were together?

  The couple who had stayed the night before Eva was killed...

  “This case is getting very bizarre,” Jamie said. “Why disappear without the money?”

  “If he murdered this missing woman, he’d have plenty of reason.” Kadin pointed to her computer. “There’s an address in the email. Darius’s sister lives in Durango.”

  Reese gaped at him. “Eva’s body was found on Highway 149.”

  “That’s on the way to Durango,” Deputy Miller said, now facing them on his chair.

  “He might have been on his way to see her,” Jamie said.

  Reese looked at him as they added up all the clues. “With the missing woman.”

  “That’s what you need to go find out.” Kadin stood. “I’d go with you but I have a wife who’s going to require copious amounts of attention.”

  Reese smiled, charmed with the love the two of them had for each other. “We can handle it.” How easily she said we.

  Chapter 10

  Darius Richardson’s sister lived in an old two-story colonial in downtown Durango. Reese didn’t have much to say the entire trip. She kept going over what Jamie had told her. He’d literally been a mercenary and thought he’d gone to work for a reputable private military company. The things he’d done to escape such a dangerous man should trouble her, but discovering his brutal capability, learning the greater depth of a man she perceived as someone much softer, only made him more fascinating. That troubled her. She liked his ability to fight for his freedom and to remain on the right side of the law.

  He was like no one she’d ever met. She couldn’t get past that, its effect on her. She didn’t know why he was so different. Mercenary, yes, but as a man after her heart. What was it about him that made him different?

  She looked over at him as they walked toward the front door of the house. He looked back at her. He always had a way of dissecting her. He never said anything, she just knew he could see things in her that guided him in how he treated her. Would he use a touch or a kiss to manipulate her or would he use words? Turned out this time he used neither.

  He must have known the night before last had shaken her foundation. She still wasn’t sure how to handle her inner chaos. Doing nothing gave her the least discomfort. She could not pretend that night had been no different than the other times, a casual fling. But she couldn’t face what it had really been.

  A woman in her midsixties with light blue eyes, no glasses and white hair in a bob opened the door. Jamie had called ahead, so she was expecting them.

  “Deputy Harlow?” she said to Reese.

  “Yes, and this is Jamie Knox. He spoke to you on the phone.”

  “Yes, yes, of course. Come on in.” She opened the door wider and stepped aside. “I called your office to make sure you were who you said you were.” When Jamie and Reese entered she closed the door with a raised brow. “You never can be too sure these days.”

  “We wouldn’t expect you not to call and check,” Reese said, finding the woman endearing. She used honesty well.

  The woman invited them into the small front living room. An archway to the right of the door led to a dining room with an antique table and hutch. Victorian furniture in the living room took Reese back in time. Red accents in throw pillows, flowers and a mosaic area rug drew the eye from a clutter of antique collectibles. Narrow windows kept the lighting dim.

  Reese sat on the sofa next to Jamie. Darius’s sister sat across from them on a wing-backed gold-and-red chair.

  “When you said you needed to talk to me about Darius, you really got my attention. I haven’t seen or heard from my brother in almost thirty years.”

  Reese shared a glance with Jamie. That news wasn’t going to help them.

  “We discovered he may have dated a woman who went missing before he took a trip to Never Summer forty years ago,” Jamie said. “Another woman was reported missing shortly after he left California. We we’re hoping you could tell us if he came to see you. I realize it was a long time ago.”

  “Oh, yes. I remember. Yes, it was a long time ago, but I remember it because he didn’t come to see me very often. He was with a girl. Paula was her name. She had a Polish last name.”

  “Kowalski,” Jamie said.

  “Yes, that was it. Quiet as a mouse, that thing. I did all the talking.” She leaned forward as though sharing a secret. “I do most of the talking, anyway, but most people at least interrupt me.” She leaned back and gazed off in memory. “Not her.”

  Jamie took out the photo of Paula they’d obtained before traveling here and showed it to the woman. “Is this her?”

  “Yes, that’s her.”

  Next, Jamie took out the photo of the man with Eva and handed it to the woman. “Is this your brother?”

  She took the photo and nodded almost immediately. “Yes, that’s him. Who is the girl he’s with? She isn’t the one he brought here.”

  Reese had to take time to recover from confirming the identity of the man in Ella’s mysterious photos, and confirming he was with Paula. This was a huge break in the case. No one before her had uncovered this much in the investigation. She met Jamie’s glance and more than the revelation passed between them. Every time she looked at him he gave her flutters of arousal. Maybe if she let herself stare into his eyes for however long it took not to be aroused she’d be cured of this strange spell. Maybe it wasn’t possible to look at him and not be aroused.

  “Did he mention anything about going to Never Summer while he was here?”

  The woman had to think for a moment. “He talked about some of the things they did. Horseback riding, river rafting. He called before he left San Diego to tell me he was driving here. He didn’t tell me he was bringing a girl.”

  “Did he talk about the women he was involved with in San Diego?”

  She shook her head. “Darius never talked about his girlfriends. He and I grew up in a broken home. Our mother was an alcoholic. Darius coped far worse than me. He could never hold a steady job. He did dru
gs. He kept his emotions to himself. When we were kids he protected me and he took care of me at home. I think that early responsibility took its toll on him. He always struggled.”

  “But he was never arrested,” Reese said.

  “No.” The woman smiled. “Darius was careful in his illegal activities. His reputation was very important to him. Nobody told him he had no reputation to protect.” She laughed lightly. “Bless his heart, he saw himself an equal to everyone, rich or poor. He did illegal things but he thought of himself as an honorable and respectable citizen of this country. He was a proud man.”

  “Did he ever talk to you about money?” Jamie asked.

  The woman shook her head again. “Another personal thing he didn’t discuss. He was sensitive to how people perceived him. He didn’t make a lot of money and had no special trade, but he coveted his image. Like I said, proud. Don’t ever say to his face that he didn’t amount to much. In his mind, he was a great man.”

  “You loved your brother,” Reese said.

  “Yes. It breaks my heart to speculate what must have become of him. He must be dead, or he’d have contacted me.”

  “Even if he was suspected in a murder?” Jamie asked.

  The woman flinched and her pleasant, thoughtful look turned to one of dismay. “Murder? Darius would never murder anyone. Is that why you’re here? Who was murdered?”

  “The woman in the second photo I showed you,” Jamie said. “She was the first to go missing. We aren’t sure if Darius is involved or not. The other missing woman, too—the one he brought here.”

  “Oh...my goodness. That comes as quite a shock to me.” She put her curled fingers up to her mouth and stared across the room. Then she lowered her hand. “I just can’t believe it. Darius may have done drugs and stole things but he was not a killer.”

  Many killers had Darius’s character...the pride, the reputation. He may have appeared incapable but he wasn’t.

  “Did he ever steal money?” Reese asked as gently as she could with such a blunt question.