by Paty Jager
Shandra laughed. “Sorry.” Then she sobered. “Your answers could solve why a man died in my arms tonight.”
“Oh my! I’m so sorry. Here let me give you something stronger than fermented grape juice.” Maxine spun around, grabbed a bottle and a jigger. She poured whiskey into the jigger and placed it in front of Shandra. “That should help, Doll.”
She shifted her attention to Ryan, leaning onto her forearms and resting her plentiful bosom on the counter in front of him.
Shandra enjoyed watching men’s reactions to Maxine. She was curious how Ryan would react. To her relief he behaved as she’d hoped.
Ryan leaned back, opened his notepad, and directed his gaze to the woman’s eyes and not her chest. “Did you see Red Hasting in here this evening?”
“Yes.” Her head pivoted Shandra’s direction. “Is that who died?”
Shandra nodded.
“Maxine, keep this to yourself. I still have to notify his next of kin.” Ryan captured the woman’s attention.
“That should have been easy. He was in here with June. They sat at the table in the corner.” She pointed to the table near the hall to the restrooms.
“Did they leave together?” Ryan asked.
Maxine chewed on her narrow bottom lip. “I don’t remember seeing either of them leave. I know June went to the restroom.”
“What did Red have to drink? Did you wash the glass?” Ryan’s gaze was fixed on a stack of dirty glasses sitting next to the sink.
“He had his usual whiskey and water.” She glanced at the stacked dirty glasses. “One of those tumblers could be his.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re going to take all of them aren’t you?”
Ryan stood. “I’m afraid so.” He handed Shandra the keys to his Tahoe. “Would you go grab my backpack out of the back of my vehicle?”
Shandra took the keys. “Yes.” She left as Ryan rounded the bar and studied the pile of glasses.
Out on the sidewalk, she glanced up and down the side street. For the dozen or so people in the place there weren’t that many vehicles parked. What had Red and June drove to town? Why did June leave him? She walked around the corner and stopped. A dull gray pickup slowly cruised by. Shandra pivoted on her heel to watch it move into the street light on Huckleberry. June sat behind the wheel of the pickup she’d parked by the clinic the other day. Why was she cruising? Was she looking for her husband or trying to find out if anyone had found him?
~*~
Ryan counted the glasses waiting on the drain board. “Which table did you say they were sitting at?” he asked Maxine. For a thin woman she had a large bust. Between the ample bust and the wad of hair on her head, she looked like two marshmallows on a stick.
She led him over to a table on the wall to the left of the bar.
“Thanks. Don’t touch or add glasses to the pile by the sink. I’ll bag them when Shandra brings in my kit.”
She nodded and hustled back to the bar.
I should have asked if anyone else had sat here since the Hastings. He noticed a powdery substance on the table.
Shandra strode through the door. Her cheeks were rosy. “I saw June. She drove by slow in that pickup she was driving the other day.”
Ryan pulled out his phone. He dialed Huckleberry dispatch. “Millie, it’s Detective Greer. Send out the officer on duty. Have him pick up June Hasting. She’s driving around in a pickup. Look up the plate number.”
“Should she be treated as a suspect?” Millie asked.
“No. We need to tell her that her husband is dead.”
“Does it have anything to do with the case you’re working?” Millie asked.
“I can’t say for sure until I talk with June. But my gut says it does.” Ryan pushed the off button and held out a hand for his backpack.
Shandra handed it over. “What can I do?”
He nodded to the restrooms. “See if someone could sneak in or out of here that way.”
She nodded and headed toward the restrooms.
Ryan brushed a sample of the powder into a small evidence bag with a brush from his evidence kit. He taped the bag closed with red evidence tape and noted where it was found, when, and the case number. Tucking the evidence into his backpack, he called Maxine over.
“The substance I cleaned off the table could be lethal. Clean it up and make sure no one else comes in contact with it.”
The owner glared at him, but grabbed a wet rag and set to work cleaning up the table.
Ryan slipped behind the bar and bagged the tumbler-sized glasses.
Shandra returned. “Just past the men’s room there is an office and a storage room to the left. The hallway ends, but the storage room door is open and it has an outside door to the alley.”
Maxine strolled over. “You about through? My customers are asking what you’re doing.”
“How many people know there’s a way out of here through your storage room?” Ryan asked, zipping his bag shut.
“Are you thinking someone went in and out of here through my storage area? I better count my bottles.” She spun as if to walk down the hallway.
Ryan caught her narrow wrist, keeping her attention. “Who knows about the door to the alley?”
“If you’re asking does June. She does. She worked for me before she married Red.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Shandra sat in the Huckleberry Police Station while Ryan called in warrants to search the Hasting house, vehicles, and even the Randal premise. The hands of the clock on the station wall ticked their way to straight-up midnight.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” A woman a decade or so younger than Hazel asked from behind the partition of the dispatch area.
“No. I’d rather fall right to sleep when I get home.” Shandra stood and walked over to the waist-high partition the woman sat behind. “How long do you think Ryan will be? I’ll crash in his Tahoe if it looks like it could be a while.”
“He shouldn’t be long. He’s writing up affidavits to get warrants.” The woman leaned forward. “Did you and Ryan have a good time at his brother’s wedding?”
Shandra smiled at the woman. “I suppose Hazel told you about the wedding?” She held out her hand. “Shandra Higheagle.”
“Millie Hamby. Pleased to meet you. It’s protocol for everyone to know what the cop on a case is doing until the case is closed.”
So this woman was Hazel’s counterpart. Just as nosy too. “It was fine. I think it was good for Ryan to hang out with his family. He works too hard.”
“That he does. But when you’re a large area with small police forces, you make do.” Millie sipped from a steaming mug she picked up off her desk.
Shandra had a question that had been bugging her. “Since Ryan has to go officially tell June her husband is dead, why doesn’t he just do that and ask the questions I know he wants to ask?”
“Because without a warrant in his hand, if she refuses to answer his questions, he won’t be able to search her house and look for whatever killed her husband. She could toss him out and then get rid of the evidence.” Millie half shut one eye. “If you’re going to hang around with Ryan you’ll have to study up on the correct way to do things. From what I hear you tend to do things that could get you killed.”
Shandra’s cheeks heated from embarrassment. It just made more sense to tackle the problem head on than have to jump through hoops. The woman insinuating she was a loose cannon only made her more intent on finding the truth.
A door opened and Ryan walked out. He stopped at Millie’s desk. “There should be warrants coming over the fax. When Deputy Trapp gets here, give them to him and tell him and the other deputies to meet me at June Hasting’s house.”
“Will do. Good luck.” Millie picked up her cup and took a drink.
Ryan exited the area and motioned to the door. “I’ll drop you off on my way to the Hasting house.”
Shandra waited until they were in the vehicle and out of earshot of anyone. “I’d rather go to the ho
use with you. If we’re wrong about June killing her husband, and possibly J.W., she’ll need someone.”
Ryan stared at her before starting the engine. “If she did kill her husband, and I’m assuming it was to hide her involvement with Randal’s death, she is a dangerous person. I’d rather you were tucked in your bed away from any danger.” He started the vehicle and backed away from the curb.
“If you bring me along to tell her about her husband, she isn’t going to know we suspect her.” Shandra wasn’t going to let Ryan walk up to the Hasting house alone. If the woman was crazy enough to kill her husband, who know what she’d do to a lone policeman.
Ryan didn’t say anything as he drove fast out of town with his lights flashing.
Shandra settled back in the seat. Arguing with him wouldn’t work. They both had opposing views of the situation.
Ryan’s phone beeped. He pulled the phone out of the case on his hip. “Greer.”
She peered at him through the darkness in the cab. The road had little traffic during the day and even less at night. She couldn’t rely on the headlights of oncoming cars to see his reactions to the phone call.
“What do you mean the judge refuses to sign the warrant? I gave clear justification for the need.” Ryan swore under his breath and shoved the phone into the case.
Shandra waited. He needed time to rethink.
Ryan flicked off the flashing lights but continued down the county road at sixty. Damn. He’d wanted that warrant so he could search the house and grounds.
Shandra shifted in the seat next to him.
Her road was coming up. He had to make a decision. Drop her off at home where he knew she’d be safe, or take her along to help smoke out the truth.
He grit his teeth. Without a warrant he’d need Shandra. He kept the accelerator on sixty and rushed by her driveway.
She let out a loud whoosh of air.
“I don’t like this, but I’m going to need your help since the warrants didn’t go through.” His gut was twisting like it did the night he’d walked into an ambush in Chicago.
“I promise to do whatever you ask.”
“At some point while I’m talking with June, excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. Look for drugs. I found a powdery substance on the table where they sat in Maxie’s. I’m pretty sure when the autopsy comes in it will say Red was overdosed.”
“Okay.” Shandra leaned forward.
“What are you doing?” He couldn’t take his eyes off the road for very long at this speed. There could be animals or potholes that would throw them over the edge.
“Getting my phone out of my purse. I’ll take photos of the prescription drugs I find.”
“Good idea.” He braked for the Randal’s driveway. The gates were still closed. He stopped and Shandra opened her door.
“I can—” he started to say.
“I grew up on a ranch. I know how to open and close a gate.” The humor in her voice made him smile.
“Leave the gate open.”
She nodded in the beam of the headlights.
Back in the vehicle she asked, “Do you think June is home?”
“The officer on patrol didn’t see her vehicle in Huckleberry. I think after she did her cruise by she came home and is waiting for someone to show up.” He pointed to the dark main house and the downstairs light on in the cabin on the far side of the barn.
He drove up to the walkway that led to the front door, killed the lights, and studied the windows. A curtain on the window with the light moved slightly.
“She’s awake. Let’s see how she answers the door.” Ryan checked his holster. A habit that got him searched every time he’d encountered the gang leaders.
He waited for Shandra to exit and catch up to him before he walked up to the front door. He wanted to know where she was at all times. It was the only way to keep her safe.
He rapped on the door three times and waited.
Rapid footsteps followed by the door swinging wide revealed June Hasting dressed in pajamas, her hair in a braid. “Red?” she questioned. Then stepped back when her gaze landed on Ryan and then Shandra.
“Detective, Miss Higheagle, what are you doing here?” She put a hand to her mouth. “Is it Red? I knew something was wrong.”
Ryan grasped the woman’s arm, guiding her into the small, but cozily furnished home.
“What did you know was wrong?” Ryan asked, easing the woman onto a chair. He took the sofa. Shandra wandered off toward what appeared to be the kitchen.
“When I came out of the restroom at Maxie’s, Red was gone. I’d told him I’d only be a few minutes. But he must have been so upset with me he didn’t wait.” She hiccupped. Tears glistened in her eyes.
“Here.” Shandra placed a glass of water in the woman’s hands.
“How long were you in the restroom?” Ryan asked, not believing a bit of the story or the theatrics. He knew when someone was genuinely upset and when they were faking.
“I don’t know. Five minutes, maybe. I had to wait for a stall.” She dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her pajamas.
“What were you fighting about?” Ryan asked. He wanted to pull out his notepad, but that would look like he was interrogating her. Which he was and didn’t want her to know.
Her head jerked, and her brown eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter. Why are you here?”
“Your husband died outside the Emergency Care Center tonight.” He wasn’t going to sugar coat the news. He had a feeling she already knew.
“No!” she wailed and flung her body over the arm of the chair.
Ryan glanced at Shandra. She wasn’t buying the woman’s theatrics either from the frown on her face.
“Would you like us to call someone to come be with you?” Shandra asked.
“I have no one,” the woman wailed.
“Surely, Vivian or Cecily?” Shandra persisted.
“Those bitches would only laugh.”
Shandra’s eyes widened in shock as her gaze met Ryan’s.
He nodded for her to go search the bathrooms. Shandra silently disappeared from the room.
“Mrs. Hasting, what were you and your husband doing in town tonight?” Ryan pulled his notepad out. He was pretty sure he was investigating a homicide, and the woman in front of him was his best suspect.
She sat up, sniffed, and drug her pajama sleeve under her nose. “We needed a night out. All that has been happening this week. We needed a change.”
“But we saw you out earlier in the week. You were eating at the Italian restaurant.” He waited a beat. When she didn’t say anything he added, “Shandra and I saw you and Red arguing in the street by the clinic after we left the restaurant that night.”
Her back straightened, and her gaze locked onto him. “We weren’t…How did you...” She closed her mouth and stared at him.
He could tell her mind was clicking to find the right lie even though her eyes were blank. What was she going to make up?
“You haven’t even asked how your husband died.” He’d flip topics. The more he kept her mind buzzing the more likely she’d slip up with a lie.
“H-how did he die?” she asked, but she turned her head as if she really didn’t want to know.
“From what Dr. Porter could tell, he suffocated and had cardiac arrest. Did your husband have a history of heart or breathing problems?”
“Yes. He did. His heart—”
“Whose your doctor?” he interrupted to throw her off the lie she was about to spew.
“Dr. Porter. He’s the only one in town.”
“He said your husband had no history of heart problems.” He’d caught her.
And she knew it.
June sputtered and started to stand.
Ryan put a hand out, restraining her. “Where are you going?”
“I-I…” Her gaze landed on the almost empty glass. “I was going to get more water.”
“I’ll get that for you.” Ryan picked up the glass. Where was Shandra? She
should have returned by now.
“Down the hall,” June called out behind him.
Shandra ducked into the bedroom closet when she heard June scurrying down the hall to the bedroom. She had a good idea what the woman planned to do. She’d photographed a nearly empty bottle of anxiety pills in the medicine cabinet. Pills that had been prescribed this week. The day she visited the clinic. There was no way the bottle should be that empty.
June ran across the room to the bathroom and grabbed the bottle. She struggled with the lid while standing in front of the toilet.
Shandra stepped out of the closet and clicked the camera on her phone.
June spun around with the bottle in her hands, her mouth wide open.
Shandra clicked another photo.
“You!” June shrieked and launched at Shandra.
Shandra tossed her phone on the bed and shoved the crazed woman to the ground.
June crawled to her hands and knees and leaped at Shandra. The woman moved so fast. Shandra was unprepared for the hit. The woman shoved her head into Shandra’s stomach and a fist connected with her cheek.
The last time she’d been struck, she’d froze. And been the victim of more injuries. She pummeled the woman’s head and kicked her off. They both shot to their feet.
Her mind flashed to the core move she’d learned at the self-defense classes she’d taken after Carl threatened her.
June sprang at her again.
Shandra used the woman’s momentum to tumble her to the ground on her stomach. Before June could gain her breath, Shandra sat on her back, pulling June’s arms behind her.
“Shandra, careful she’s pregnant,” Ryan said, bursting through the door.
“No, she’s not. It was just another one of her lies.” Shandra held June’s arms until Ryan slipped handcuffs on her. “While I was digging around for evidence of the drug used to kill her husband, I found a current prescription of birth control pills with five pills missing and a clear bag with different types of pregnancy testers. They have been altered to look like a positive test.”
“You’re as nosy as those two bitches next door.” June raised her head off the carpet and glared at Shandra.
“What happened? Did your husband discover you weren’t pregnant? Did you need to silence him from saying you were the one who went hunting in the woods with Randal and only you came back?” Ryan pulled the woman to her feet.
