by Mark Young
He glanced toward the table and saw her standing there, crying. Quietly, painfully, her grief poured out in tears. He walked over and circled his arms around her. She laid her head against his chest.
“I’ve told you everything I know about my brother. He was a good man. A good brother. That’s what you’ll find out after asking all your stupid questions. He was a good man.”
Creasy removed the headset and peered out the van’s rear window. A quarter mile ahead, he saw Travis Mays’ truck parked alongside the road. The van sat hidden in a grove of trees in a pullout along the river.
He smiled to himself. They didn’t have a clue what this was about — least of all Travis. The dog surprised Creasy when he first broke into the cabin.
Sam. Now he knew the dog’s name.
It cost him a pound of good steak and a healthy dose of knock-out drugs lifted from a veterinary’s office. The dog ripped into the meat and fell asleep a short time later. He’d carefully inserted spike mikes in strategic places in the cabin while the dog lay drugged. The mikes connected to power sources that’d keep everything running hot until he no longer needed them. The transmissions boosted by portable repeaters, nestled in trees across the highway, carried whispered conversations into the van a good half mile away.
Early on, he sensed this woman was a way to get close to Travis. To make those walls crumble that the professor so carefully built up since leaving California and law enforcement behind.
Soon I will welcome you to my world.
Now he had a few more installations to complete so that he might follow their futile investigation. It was time to prepare for another trip to California while these jerks ran around in circles trying to figure out why people kept dying.
They’d never suspect him, even after they started making the connections. A lot of time and money had been squandered. But now, he could hide behind an unbreakable wall of aliases. He would continue to close the noose around Travis’ neck until the man finally choked to death.
He’d teach Travis what it really meant to lose someone you love. He’d make sure Travis writhed in pain before he died.
And Creasy intended to relish every minute of Travis’ agony.
Chapter 26
Lapwai, Idaho
“Baptiste has no alibi for yesterday,” Frank said, as he led Travis and Jessie into his office. “Said he took a hike in the mountains to clear his mind. More likely, he was cleaning his rifle.”
Travis was tired. He’d hardly slept last night after he’d learned everything Jessie knew about Tommy. The man was a workaholic, but still made time for his family — listening to their problems, sharing their joys, making them laugh when they took themselves too seriously. Tommy idolized Frank while still fighting his father every inch of the way. “Like two peas in a pod,” she told him, “and they never saw how alike they really are … were.” Now, here they were back in Frank’s office. Still no answers.
He sat down in one of the chairs facing the chief’s desk. “That keeps him on the list of potential suspects. I don’t know him very well, but I can’t believe he’d take the risk of shooting at us because of what the FBI said. He’s too obvious.”
“Then who would you suggest capped those rounds?” Frank watched Jessie claim a chair near Travis.
“Someone beat us to San Diego and took out Axtell — if it was Axtell.”
“You think Axtell might still be alive?”
Travis shrugged. “I don’t know. Until we’re sure, I’m leaving every possibility on the table.”
There was a knock at the door. Lafata stood in the doorway. “Can I join this party?” He entered without invitation. “I see you’re still alive and kicking, Travis.”
Frank dragged another chair into the room. “Have a seat, Clay. We’re trying to figure out who might have taken a shot at Jessie and Travis yesterday. Any thoughts?”
Lafata sat down, rubbing his jaw. “Probably someone from the professor’s past.” He gave Travis a smirk. “You know, one of those cases you botched.”
Travis tightened his lip. The agent kept hinting around about the past. He wished Lafata would just come out with it. Get it off his chest. Instead, the agent kept hammering Travis with verbal jabs, innuendos, while telling him nothing.
Frank leaned forward. “My daughter could have been killed, Lafata. Enough with the jokes.”
Lafata looked over at Jessie, and then turned his attention back to Frank. “You’re right, Frank. Sorry.” He raised a briefcase to his lap and flipped the latches. “I took a run by the casino yesterday after all the excitement here. Spoke with a Steve Robinette who runs the place.”
Frank nodded. “I know Steve. He sent some legal work Tommy’s way.”
“Yeah, well, this Robinette is hiding something. I showed him that photo from Axtell’s video file. The unidentified man.”
“He recognized the guy?”
“Says he doesn’t know him. But his eyes told me he was lying.”
“How about Travis and I take another run at him? Maybe he doesn’t trust the FBI, or maybe he just didn’t like the way you asked.” Frank gave him a thin smile.
“Hey, whatever,” Lafata said, easing back in the chair. He looked like a man who’d just won the lottery. “The good news is I got a hit on our John Doe. Our people ran it through our organized crime files. Our mystery man is a lowlife by the name of Shane Foster. Heavy into white collar crimes like identity theft, credit manipulation, and stuff like that. No violence in his record. My gut tells me Foster might not be good for the killings. He has connections, but I don’t make him as the trigger man.”
Travis glanced at Lafata. “We get confirmation on the body?”
Lafata shot him an irritated look. “No. I just assumed the crispy critter is Axtell.” Jessie’s groan must have made the agent realize what he just said. “Guess I’m just getting too calloused. I assume the deceased is Pete Axtell.”
“You know what they say about assumptions.” Travis smiled back. The punch line seemed to fit Lafata.
The FBI agent gave him an irritated look before turning toward Frank. “We’ll try to locate this Shane Foster. Jam him up with what we have on the video. That might shake him up enough to talk.” He stood, glancing at the others. “Keep in touch,” he said, finally singling out Travis.
Travis met his gaze. “I’ll put you on my speed dial.”
“Thought you didn’t have a phone?”
“Oh, yeah. Forgot.”
Lafata wheeled around and stalked out.
“You shouldn’t antagonize him,” Frank said. “He has the authority to cut you off from this case at any time.”
“He keeps riding me about the past. I wish he’d just spit it out. Whatever is bugging him.” Travis stood, stretching tired muscles. “I feel we’ve been running around in circles here. Let’s start from the beginning and work the people who were around Tommy. Clients, co-workers, girlfriends, anybody that might have information as to how he spent his last hours.”
Jessie stood up.
Travis glanced at Frank and then toward her. “I’m talking about your father, Jessie. I’d prefer you stayed out of sight.”
“I want to be a part of this. He’s my brother, or have you forgotten?”
“I know. But we can’t focus if we’re always worried about whether you are safe.”
Frank grabbed his jacket. “For once I agree with Travis, honey. Stay with one of your friends, okay?”
Angrily, she grabbed the phone and dialed. “Lisa, it’s Jessie. You off today?” A pause, then Jessie continued. “I need to stay with you for a while. Just for a few days? Great, I —”
“— Have her pick you up here, Jessie.” Frank leaned forward. “Leave your car in our parking lot and wait in the lobby. I’ll have one of the patrol units follow you to her house.”
“You hear that, Lisa. Yeah, I know.” She glanced at Frank and Travis, before speaking again. “I’m outnumbered. Tell you all about it when you get here. Thank
s, girlfriend.”
She hung up, jotted something down on paper and handed it to Travis. “Here’s Lisa’s number and address if you need to reach me.” She walked out of the office.
Travis stuffed the note into his pocket. Frank clenched his jaw.
Travis heard Jessie talking to several of the officers on her way toward the lobby. “You think she’ll stay out of this?”
“I’d give it a fifty-fifty chance. She’s a lot like …” Frank paused, and Travis felt the police chief might be comparing his daughter to someone close to him, someone who probably was no longer around. Jessie’s mother?
Frank seemed to shake from his mind whatever thought he’d just stumbled over. “Let’s get a move on. Where do you want to start?”
“I’ll tell you in the car. I’d rather not talk about this case in this building unless we have to.”
The older man gave him a quizzical look.
“Someone here is watching you. Remember San Diego? Someone leaked that information and we got beat.”
He followed Frank through the outer office to the front lobby. Francis still stood guard over the front counter, talking on the phone. Frank gave her a sign to cut the conversation short. She hung up and folded her hands together.
“That information you gave us about Pete Axtell. Did you talk to anyone else about it?”
She started to shake her head and then stopped. Her face turned red for a moment. “You mean other than Officer Baptiste, Chief?”
He nodded.
Francis glanced toward the ceiling, trying to remember. “Come to think of it, I did speak to someone. He called for you and I told him you were leaving on a trip. He said it was important to know where you were going, so I told him about your trip and the new lead.”
“You told someone we were going to San Diego to interview Axtell?” Frank sounded like he wanted to explode. “Who did you tell?”
She cringed. “I thought it was all right, Chief. I mean, you guys work together, right?”
“Who did you tell, Francis?” Frank seemed about to lose it.
“Why, he just left. That FBI guy you’re working with.”
“Lafata?”
She nodded. “Did I do something wrong?”
Frank whirled around without answering and stomped into the police parking lot. Travis hurried to catch up and found the chief slamming his open palm on the roof of his vehicle.
“Lafata knew all about our trip.” Frank looked like he was about to have a coronary. “And he acted like he didn’t know anything.”
“Makes you wonder what kind of game he’s playing.” Travis folded his arms. “Let’s just keep this to ourselves right now. See where it takes us.”
Frank opened the car door. “It doesn’t mean Lafata’s lying. I know him. That jerk likes to hold things back. It ticks me off, but what are you gonna do? Let’s go.”
Travis climbed inside. Lafata keeping things about the case to himself? Why? And why did Lafata seem to have a grudge against him? They’d never met before that he could remember.
Baptiste and Lafata knew he and Frank flew to San Diego. And someone killed the person they tried to meet. Travis struggled to find a common thread linking all this together. Anything that might make sense.
Nothing seemed to fit. And he could not shake the feeling that he was running out of time.
Chapter 27
Orofino, Idaho
“I thought your dad wanted you to stay at my place.” Lisa Penny signaled to make the left turn over the bridge into the heart of Orofino, glancing over a Jessie with a troubled look. “I don’t want your dad mad at me.”
Jessie saw the river still running high as she watched a log float beneath the bridge. “Don’t worry. The only one he’ll yell at is me. But I can’t just sit around while they search for Tommy’s killer.” She pointed ahead. “Make the first right. Tommy’s office is down a couple blocks.”
“Duh. It’s not like I don’t know where Tommy …” Lisa stopped in mid sentence as she followed Jessie’s instructions. She pulled into a small parking lot adjacent to a two-story brick office building.
Jessie smiled at her friend. They had rarely been apart since kindergarten when one of the kids tried to pick a fight with Jessie. Lisa — even then, bigger than most of the kids her age — pushed Jessie’s attacker to the ground and sat on the troublemaker. She wouldn’t let the girl up until the troublemaker apologized to Jessie. They had been close friends ever since.
She watched Lisa ease herself from the car, her friend’s weight starting to worry Jessie. Around the first of the year, Jessie suggested they join a gym and work out together. Lisa gave it a try for a few weeks, but family commitments and her job as a busy mom resulted in fewer and fewer trips to the gym. Lisa married a guy from high school who held down a steady job at the Potlatch plant in Lewiston. Two children — a boy and girl — became a part of their family. The children became Lisa’s whole world. “Auntie Jessie” made sure she spoiled them rotten. “You have your fun with them and then I’ve got to straighten them out when you’re gone,” Lisa always complained. But the love in Lisa’s eye told her how much it meant that Jessie loved her children, too. And Lisa would do anything for Jessie.
Cascading sunlight began to chase an early morning chill away as the women climbed the stairs to the second floor. Lisa wheezed as they reached Tommy’s office. Jessie kneeled, reaching beneath a flower pot near the door. “Ah. Here it is,” she said, brandishing a key.
“What do you hope to find?” Lisa pulled her burgundy sweater tighter. “I thought the cops have been all through this.”
“Yeah — FBI, my dad, and Travis — they all took a shot at it. Now, it’s my turn. I know … knew my brother better than anyone. If he hid something, I’ll find it.”
As she started to unlock the door, Jessie saw a women unlocking the adjacent office further down the landing. The woman glanced at Jessie and smiled before disappearing inside.
Jessie hesitated. “Lisa, here’s the key. Let yourself in and I’ll be back in a minute.” She walked down the landing and knocked on the door.
“Hi. Come on in.” The woman stood behind a desk, going through a pile of mail. “Aren’t you Tommy’s sister? I thought I recognized you.”
“Yeah, I am. I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.”
The woman extended a hand. “We met a long time ago. My name’s Abigail. Just call me Abby. And you’re Jessie, right?”
Jessie nodded, shaking Abby’s hand. “You heard what happened to my brother?”
Abby frowned. “I’m so sorry. He was such a good man.”
“Thanks.” She pushed an errant strand of hair from her face. “You must see who comes and goes from my brother’s office,” she said, glancing at the window that offered a view of the landing in front of Tommy’s office. “Anyone in particular come to mind? Anything out of the ordinary around the time he disappeared?” She knew she sounded desperate. It was exactly how she felt.
“I don’t know. I try to mind my own business.”
“Please,” Jessie said. “Anything you can give me would be a great help.”
Abby laid the mail back on the desktop. She offered Jessie a chair and sat down herself. “Well, there really wasn’t a lot of traffic. A few clients and such, I imagine. Except …”
“Yes.” Jessie held her breath.
“There was one person. A woman. Came to his office several times. In fact, one night when I was working late, I saw her sneaking in. She looked nervous.”
“Really? Can you describe her?”
Abby beamed. “Better than that. She’s married to that guy who runs the casino. You, know, Whitewater. I think her last name is Robinette. I go there from time to time. Once I met her husband, Steve Robinette. Nice guy. What a hunk. He comped me and my husband dinner and drinks.”
Jessie leaned forward. “You sure it was Mrs. Robinette?”
“Oh, yeah. I don’t know her first name, but I saw her and Mr. Robinette at
the casino several times.” She clutched her hands tightly. “I don’t know how to say this.”
“What?”
Abby flushed, a reddish hue warming her pale cheeks. “The way she carried on I thought maybe Mrs. Robinette and your brother were … you know.”
“Seeing each other? Romantically?”
Abby’s cheeks darkened a deeper red. “It might be nothing, Jessie. Like I said, I only saw her a few times.” The woman leaned on the desk, clasping her hands. Her blush seemed to pale. “You don’t think what happened to Tommy had anything to do with Mrs. Robinette, do you?”
Jessie stood. “I don’t know, Abby. Mind keeping this to yourself? At least until we check it out.”
“Promise. My lips are sealed.” The woman crossed her heart.
“Thanks.” Jessie left, joining Lisa in Tommy’s office. She saw her friend sitting on a couch near the window. She quickly shared Abby’s information.
“Tommy and Robinette’s wife?” Lisa said. “Wow. That sounds like trouble.”
Jessie sat down at her brother’s desk, running her hand softly over the top. “It doesn’t sound like Tommy. He wouldn’t, you know —”
“Mess around with another man’s wife?” Lisa giggled. “You’ve been hanging out in the woods too long, honey. Have you seen Mrs. Robinette? She looks like she just stepped from the pages of some high-class magazine. All looks and glamour. After all, Tommy is a man. A good-looking one at that.” Lisa must have seen the hurt in Jessie’s eye. “Hey, what am I thinking. I forget he’s not …” She seemed to be searching for the right words.
None came.
Jessie turned her attention to the desk and began searching. She must try to find something that would tell her about Tommy’s last day on earth. Some clue he left behind.
Jessie and Lisa failed to see a van following them all the way from Lapwai to the Orofino office. Jessie White Eagle and Lisa Penney. He ran the license plate through the system. He assumed the woman with Jessie was the registered owner. The driver swerved the van to the side of the road and parked as he watched the women approach Tommy White Eagle’s office. He saw Jessie walk over and enter the office next door, then return a short time later to join Lisa.
