Burnt River

by Karin Salvalaggio

  “I think it’s going to break a lot of hearts.”

  “Connor is only six. He won’t understand much. I guess that makes it easier.”

  “Did John often stop at the bar?”

  “Maybe. It’s the only thing open around here after ten at night.”

  “What about the woman who works there, Lana Clark? I hear they were in a relationship.”

  Tyler snorted. “I guess you could call it that. I think John was trying to take a walk on the wild side. Lana wasn’t good for him.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Well, for starters she’s a class-A mind fuck.”

  “Would you care to elaborate?”

  “John didn’t see her for what she really is. Big hair, big tits, big ass. What’s not to like? But believe me when I say the woman is a total bitch.” He took out a pack of cigarettes and tapped them on the table. “John was a great friend. I only wanted what was best for him.”

  “How well did you actually know her?”

  “I knew her back in Georgia. We all did. She lived near Fort Benning. We all used to hang out together. She knew he was with Tanya but that wasn’t stopping her. I could tell she had her eye on him.”

  “Did John know you disapproved of Lana?”

  “I’m not one to keep things to myself.”

  “I’m getting that.”

  “John wasn’t happy with what I had to say, but it didn’t go both ways. It wasn’t like I was angry at him for making an ass out of himself with Lana. I figured he’d figure it out eventually all on his own, so I let it drop.”

  Macy checked the time. “I read in your file that you’re due to join your unit again soon.”

  “Two weeks from today.”

  “Afghanistan?”

  “I put in a request for Hawaii but they had other ideas.”

  “Given your battalion is still in Afghanistan I’m surprised you were granted extended leave.”

  “I’d accrued a lot of time off. If I didn’t use it, I’d lose it. I took a chance and requested an extension.” He looked her in the eye. “I guess they were feeling generous.”

  “I’m sorry but I need to ask about the two hundred pounds of ammonium nitrate that were found in the back of your truck ten years ago.”

  He stared at her for a few seconds before answering. “Never apologize for doing your job.”

  “You testified that you had no idea how it got there.”

  “That is correct.”

  “The judge didn’t believe you. You were sentenced to two years’ probation.”

  “He remembered me from when I was going through the juvenile courts. He wasn’t about to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Neither was Jeremy Dalton.”

  “I made my peace with Jeremy years ago. He made a mistake but I decided to forgive him.”

  “So no hard feelings?”

  “None. My time in the army has been the best years of my life. No regrets.”

  She slid her card across the table. “I want you to contact me or Aiden if you think of anything that could be helpful.”

  “This wasn’t a robbery, was it?”

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of the case.”

  “I’m right though. I can tell from the questions you’re asking me. It doesn’t add up.”

  Macy leaned back in her chair. “Mr. Locke.”

  “Call me Tyler.”

  “I really appreciate you coming in to speak to me, but I’m afraid I can’t give you any more information. I may want to speak to you again, and I’m counting on your cooperation.”

  Tyler pushed his chair back. “Well, you’d better hurry. When you’re due to ship out, two weeks goes by pretty quickly.”

  Macy waited until Tyler had left the room before putting her head in her hands. She rubbed her eyes. Her day wasn’t even half over. She held up a piece of white paper and waved at Aiden through the one-way mirror. Tyler Locke was made of much stronger stuff than Dylan Reed. One of them had adapted. The other had been defeated. How John Dalton had been shaped by his time in the military was still a mystery. She looked through her notebook for the contact details for the therapist in Collier and picked up her phone.

  7

  Dylan sat on the sofa in the living room of his childhood home and waited for the painkillers to kick in. Across the room, Tyler leaned against the breakfast bar, scrolling through his text messages. Dylan closed his eyes. The interview had been exhausting. Macy Greeley may have meant well, but he resented her for feeling sorry for him. He didn’t want people’s sympathy. He wanted their respect. He shifted his weight, but it was no good. His leg was throbbing. It was as if every nerve ending in his body was knotted up in his thigh. Sometimes he imagined taking a gun and blowing another hole right through it. He slowed his breathing. Another five minutes, ten tops, and the edge would be worn down to a dull blade. His doctor wanted him to learn to manage the pain without drugs. He’d handed Dylan pamphlets on alternative medicine and the healing power of meditation. Dylan had driven all the way to the VA hospital in Helena for that little gem. He couldn’t help but resent his doctor too.

  Tyler stretched out his back. “John’s parents have been taken to the hospital.”

  Dylan wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “Pardon?”

  “Annie attacked Jeremy.”

  “You’re shitting me.”

  “Check your phone. Everyone seems to know.”

  “Are they okay?”

  “Far as I can tell. Jeremy’s there as a precaution, and Annie’s in the psych ward.”

  “I’ll call Jessie.”

  “I just got a text. She wants us to meet her at Collier County Hospital in about an hour.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “I’m driving down to Kalispell to see Wayne, so you’re going to have to go without me.”

  “There’s no way I can drive now.”

  “You’ll be fine once you eat something.” He walked over, picked up Dylan’s medication and shook the bottle. “You shouldn’t take that shit without something in your stomach.”

  “Sometimes you’re such a mom.”

  “Someone has to do it.”

  “You need to come with me to the hospital. We have to be there for John’s family.”

  Tyler returned to the kitchen and spoke with his head in the open refrigerator. “Yeah, and by going down to see Wayne that’s just what I’m doing. With or without John, we’ve gotta bury that truck.”

  “What’s this about a truck?”

  Dylan’s mother, Sarah Reed, stood in the doorway holding a bag of groceries. Her blond hair was swept back in a ponytail and her eyes were swollen from crying. She placed the bag on the counter and pulled Tyler into a hug. “I heard about John. It’s just awful…” She started sobbing and Tyler held her, mouthing what the fuck to Dylan, who stared at them from the sofa.

  Tyler eased her grip. “I was just making us some lunch.”

  She shook her head. “No, you sit down and I’ll do it. It’s better if I stay busy.” She raised her voice. “Dylan, do you mind taking your feet off the coffee table?”

  Dylan eased his leg down, but instead of staying put he rose unsteadily to his feet. “I have to go meet Jessie in Collier. I’ll get something to eat on the way.”

  Sarah put a hand on Tyler’s arm. “Don’t tell me you’re going too. I really don’t want to be alone right now.”

  Dylan grabbed his car keys from a row of hooks on the wall in the kitchen. “Tyler, I’ll call you later.”

  * * *

  Dylan pulled into the hospital’s parking lot and sat with the engine idling. It was the first time he’d been back since his father passed away a few years earlier. It was supposed to be a routine operation but his father had succumbed to an infection and was dead within a week. Dylan circled the crowded parking lot a few times before finally giving up and pulling into a handicapped space. He dug his badge out of the glove compartment and threw it on the dashboard. It was nearly five in
the afternoon and the sun was still in full bloom. The air was clearer than it had been in weeks. In the distance a vague outline of the mountains was visible. According to the news, the wind had shifted and the authorities were hopeful that the latest wildfire was finally under control.

  Jessie was sitting on a bench outside the front entrance. She had her legs tucked under her and was using an empty Diet Coke can as an ashtray. For a while they sat side by side without saying a word. He closed his eyes and let the smoke drift over him. Jessie held up the pack.

  “Want one?”

  “No thanks, I quit.”

  “Seems the wrong time to quit.”

  “Is there ever a right time?”

  “Guess not.” She paused. “Thank you.”

  Dylan closed his eyes again. “For what?”

  Her shoulders bounced. “For coming. I didn’t think you would.”

  “Now you’re just talking shit.”

  “What did you tell that detective?”

  “I told her everything I know, which isn’t much.”

  “So you’re talking shit too.”

  “I didn’t lie.”

  “Did she ask you if you knew of any reason someone would want to kill John?”

  “I didn’t lie.”

  Jessie leaned in close and whispered. “I killed Ethan Green and John hid his body. That seems as good a reason as any.”

  “That has nothing to do with what happened to John. Nobody knows about that night except for you, me, and Tyler, and we’re not talking. Besides, Ethan’s gone. It’s not like he rose from the dead.”

  “He may not have, but something sure did. All it would take is one of Ethan’s people finding out and we’d all be dead.” She looked past him toward the parking lot. “Where’s Tyler?”

  “He’s sorry. He really wanted to be here for you.” Dylan remembered that look of longing in his mother’s eyes and closed his own. She and Tyler had been sleeping together for years. It had started when Dylan was still in his teens. Like with most things, Dylan found it easier if he just pretended it wasn’t happening.

  “What could be more important than this?”

  “He had to go meet someone about some explosives. He’s going to blow the rest of the cliff. Bury Ethan’s truck forever.”

  “He talks a good talk.”

  “I think he means it. He’s getting what he needs from his friend Wayne.”

  “It’s not a good idea to drag anyone else into this. The fewer people who know, the better.”

  “Don’t worry. Tyler’s got it covered.”

  Jessie looked him full in the face. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying. “Everyone is always telling me not to worry. We wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place if I’d called the cops instead of listening to John. If it comes out, I could go to prison for the rest of my life.”

  “It was self-defense. He attacked you.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? But we covered it up, didn’t we? Now you and Tyler could go to jail as well. And John. I don’t know. I don’t know. Something in my gut tells me what happened to John is related.”

  “That’s only because that night is always on your mind.”

  “Not just me.”

  “Yeah, it’s on my mind too. It’s good that Tyler is dealing with it. He’s solid.”

  She waved her cigarette and ash drifted onto her bare legs. “There’s all this shit swirling around my family. If I try to think about it all at once, I freeze.”

  He sighed. “I know what you mean. How’s Jeremy?”

  “Unfortunately, he’s fine.” She blew on the lit end of her cigarette. “Should be coming home tomorrow.”

  “And your mom.”

  “She’s been admitted. I think they’ll keep her for a while this time.”

  “It would give you a break.”

  “Did the police give you any details about what happened to John?”

  “No, but Tyler made a few calls. It’s kind of crazy how much those cops talk.”

  “Don’t I know it.” She stubbed out her cigarette and slipped it into the can. “Everyone’s pointing fingers at Lana, but I don’t think she had anything to do with it.”

  “That sounds like Tyler’s doing. He’s got all these conspiracy theories. So many that I don’t really listen anymore. How about you? Still clean?”

  Jessie lit another cigarette. “I’ve not touched a drop since that night on Darby Lake.”

  “I think it’s time you told me everything.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the whole thing was fucked, that’s why. Why were you hanging out with that asshole in the first place? You knew damn well he was bad news. If I’m laying everything on the line for you, I think I deserve to know why.”

  “That’s more than John ever asked for.”

  “John was family. He couldn’t see through you like I can.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Dylan thought about this for a few seconds. Jessie was one of the few people in the world he felt he knew better than himself. He’d watched her for years. During the four years she was away, he’d imagined the worst, and he hadn’t been far off. He’d seen the scars on her wrists. He’d peeled back the bracelets when she was too wasted to notice. He leaned in and looked her in the eye. More than anything now, he needed the truth.

  “I think you were playing games. You knew hanging out with Ethan would piss Jeremy off so you went and did it.”

  “You’ve got it all wrong.”

  “I’m here to learn.”

  “I was sitting in my car at The Whitefish. I couldn’t drive. If I’d gotten another DUI, Jeremy would have kicked me out of the house and taken custody of Tara again. What’s fucked is that I don’t even remember meeting Ethan, but he must have offered me a ride. One minute I’m sitting there, contemplating sleeping it off, and the next I’m in his pickup truck pulling into the Darby Lake picnic area, laughing my head off. It was that same way I always get. I can’t see where the line is but I can sure as hell cross it every time. One minute I’m okay, the next I’m not. In the morning I couldn’t remember much of anything.”

  “Come on. There has to be something you remember.”

  “I remember taking a swing at him and waking up half naked with my face in the dirt. Ethan was dead and I was still drunk. I had bruises so deep they lasted for weeks.” She closed her eyes. “He must have beaten the crap out of me.”

  “I know what you looked like. You were out at my place for three days. And for the record, you were a total bitch.”

  “I don’t even know who that girl is anymore. If I met her on the street I swear I’d slap her.”

  “I came close a few times.”

  “Which brings me back to what I said earlier. I’m surprised you came.”

  Dylan plucked one of the cigarettes out of her pack and held it in his lips, leaving it unlit.

  “I mean, look around. It’s not like my friends are coming to see me.”

  “That’s bull. You’ve got plenty of friends. Monica would come in a heartbeat. You just haven’t called her. Which brings me to my next question. Why did you want me here?”

  “You’re John’s best friend. You know everything.”

  Dylan pulled the unlit cigarette out from his lips and put it back in the pack. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear but it would do for now. “I can’t believe he’s really gone.”

  “I can’t stop crying.”

  For a few minutes they said nothing.

  “Did Annie really attack Jeremy?”

  “I don’t think she really meant to hurt him. She was just upset.”

  “Jessie, I hear she threatened him with a knife.”

  “Aiden says she never so much as pointed it in Jeremy’s direction.” She pressed a tissue to her eyes. “Anyway, I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight. The things she was saying…”

  “You can’t let it get to you. She’s not well.”

  �
�That’s the thing. She actually sounded pretty lucid.”

  “Still.”

  “It wasn’t her usual crap. It made me miss her even more.” She lowered her voice. “How’s your mom? Any better between you?”

  “She’s fine, but we’re not.” He checked the time. With any luck his mother would be pulling a night shift working out at the diner at the truck stop. “Do you need a ride anywhere?”

  She stood up and stared out past the parking lot toward the Flathead River, where a thin thread of silver wove through the trees. “I wish I could go for a ride. I wouldn’t stop until I was anywhere but here.”

  “Play your cards right and I’ll take you there someday.”

  She placed her hand on his forearm before standing. “I need to go see about Jeremy.”

  “Do you want me to wait?”

  “Nah, it’s okay. Aiden said he’d make sure someone gave me a ride home.”

  Dylan gripped her elbow and pulled her toward him. They were both unsteady on their feet. He hugged her close but she stood with her arms inert by her sides. He held his lips to her forehead for a second too long. When he finally walked away she wouldn’t look him in the eye.

  “I’ll come check on you later,” he said, cursing under his breath for never knowing when to let go.

  8

  Macy held up Dylan’s and Tyler’s DMV photos. “What do you think?”

  Aiden plucked Tyler’s photo from her hand and hung it on the wall of the incident room. “I think Tyler is a very angry man.”

  “While Dylan is a very broken man.” Macy stared at Dylan Reed’s face. He’d aged considerably since the photo was taken. She checked the date. It was only two years old.

  “Unless you count Tyler’s six-year-old nephew Connor, neither one of them has an alibi for last night.”

  “True, but I’m not seeing a motive either. Do either of them drive a late-model V8?”

  “Tyler drives a Suburban. As far as we can tell, it’s the only vehicle registered to him.”

  “And Dylan?”

  “Like pretty much everyone else in the state, he’s got an F-150 pickup truck. And just so you know, I don’t see Dylan or Tyler doing something like this.”

  She put his photo to one side. “I don’t either, but we should check anyway.”