Chattering Blue Jay

by Paty Jager

  That statement started bells going off in Hawke’s head. “If, as I believe now, Sheridan was working for whoever wanted White killed, why didn’t he kill the woman at the same time if she and White were planning to prove the police in Boise were corrupt?”

  “Good question. Because that would have cured their problem and with whatever clout it took to put White in jail, I’m sure Sheridan would have been cleared of any wrongdoing.”

  Hawke stood and paced the length of the room. “It’s not making sense. Any of it. If the people who put White in jail were worried about Tonya having information, which she does, they could easily kill her in the hospital.” He knew Spruel had talked to the Idaho State Police. They were the ones guarding the woman, but there hadn’t been any attempt on her life.

  “You haven’t seen the woman in the hospital room. She may not be there.”

  At Mathews’ statement, the hair on the back of Hawke’s neck tingled. “Your sister could be walking into a trap.”

  Mathews pulled out his cell phone and punched numbers.

  Hawke glanced at the clock on the table by the bed. 4:15. They had to stop his sister from handing the phone or the note over to the woman until they knew for sure it was Tonya Cox.

  “Sis, it’s Scotty. Don’t deliver the flowers. Or do, get a good look at the woman, but don’t deliver the other items.” He closed the phone. “It went to voicemail.”

  Hawke sat down on the bed. What would Spruel think of him if he got an innocent woman mixed up in this? He wished he knew which part of law enforcement was corrupt. They believed it was the city of Boise. That’s why Spruel had asked the State Police to guard Tonya. If the State Police weren’t involved, they should allow him access, especially if Spruel called over here.

  He pulled out his phone and called Spruel. “I need to get in and see Ms. Cox.” He went on to tell how the hospital wasn’t allowing him access and how he and Mathews had thought about getting a phone to her, but then realized the woman in the bed might not be Ms. Cox.

  “I’ll contact the person in charge and have them give you a call.” Spruel disconnected.

  Mathews phone rang.

  “Mathews,” he answered. He nodded. “Good. Hang on to it. Did you see the woman?”

  He listened.

  Hawke had a feeling the call was from Mathews’ sister.

  The deputy ended the call and looked over at him. “Cassie said the woman had brownish-blonde hair, was thin, hazel eyes, and seemed to be anxious to get out, but her eyes were glazed like someone drugged.”

  Hawke shook his head. “She shouldn’t be that drugged. She had a head injury and a broken arm.” He paced. “As soon as I get the call to go see her, that’s what I’m going to do. And see about getting her holed up somewhere that no one knows about.”

  Mathews stared at him. “You’re not talking about kidnapping her?”

  “That’s what it will look like to the people who want to keep her drugged, but no. I’ll make sure the State Police are in on it.” All he could do now was wait for Spruel’s call to spur someone from the Idaho State Police to call him. In the meantime, he’d read the information Tonya collected one more time. Hawke grabbed the reports on White and read who had arrested him. The same city officer wrote up the reports.

  “Do you know anything about this guy?” Hawke pointed to the name.

  “No, but we can find out. I’ll go get my computer out of my car and we can look him up.”

  Hawke nodded.

  Mathews left the room and Hawke’s phone rang.

  “Hawke,” he answered.

  “This is Trooper McCord with the Idaho State Police. I was instructed to let you know you can come over and talk with Ms. Cox,” a female voice said.

  “Thank you for calling so promptly. Have you been filled in on why you are watching her?” he asked.

  “I have been fully apprised of the circumstances,” McCord replied as Mathews came through the door.

  Hawke watched Mathews set up his computer as he explained to the trooper his idea for getting Ms. Cox out from under the watch of those who might harm her.

  “You do realize I’ll have to let my superior know.”

  He couldn’t tell by her tone if she disapproved or felt her superior would disapprove. “As long as you tell him afterwards and know I’m not telling anyone where the woman will be.”

  There was a long moment of silence.

  “You do know that by knowing this ahead of my superior and not relaying the information could get me reprimanded.”

  He hoped she had some compassion for people who were unjustly charged. “I can’t give you all the details because they aren’t clear to me and my colleague just now, but one injustice has been done by law enforcement, and I’m trying to keep a second one from happening.”

  Again, the silence. Then a long drawn out sigh. “I’ll do my best. But if my butt is kicked, I’ll find you and kick yours.”

  Hawke grinned. He was looking forward to meeting this trooper. “It’s a deal. How can I get Ms. Cox without being seen?”

  They worked out the logistics of getting him in and the two of them out. “See you in forty-five.” He hung up and found Mathews tapping keys on his computer. “Find anything?”

  “The city cop who wrote the arrest files is retired and living in Arizona. That’s a long way to send someone to ask him questions.” Mathews glanced up.

  “And a lot of paperwork. You come up with anything else?” Hawke was trying to think if he knew anyone in Arizona who might check up on the retired cop without needing to go through proper channels.

  “I figure there has to be something to do with the White’s family home that started all of this. Because Felix was the only survivor when he left for school. Why someone didn’t just purchase the land from him rather than set up this elaborate scheme to frame him, I don’t understand.” Mathews glanced up. “You need me to help with snatching the woman?”

  Hawke shook his head. “Just the keys to your car. The people watching me know my pickup.”

  The deputy dug into his pocket and tossed the car keys to Hawke. “I’ll keep digging through the online stuff.”

  Hawke walked to the door.

  “Is this where you plan on stashing the woman?”

  Hawke shook his head. “Nope. I’ll send you the address when I get there.”

  “Wait a minute. How far are you taking my Mustang?” Mathews gave his full attention to Hawke.

  “I’m taking it across the state line. It will be easier to watch Ms. Cox and do our digging when we don’t have to worry about interference from over here. And besides, we believe she killed Sheridan in Oregon, which technically makes her our suspect.”

  “Just don’t drive too fast and check the oil every hundred miles. She’s an oil guzzler.” Mathews returned his gaze to the computer and called out before Hawke closed the door. “Hey! How am I getting there? Where’s your pickup keys?”

  Hawke stuck his head back in the room. “Leave my pickup here. I’ll send someone for it later.” He placed money on the end of the table by the door. “Have your sister take you to a car rental place.”

  «»«»«»

  At the hospital, Hawke drove up to the Emergency Room doors. He’d asked Trooper McCord to escort Ms. Cox down to the Radiology area. He walked in the Emergency Entrance, scanned the area, and followed the signs to Radiology.

  The emergency room was as chaotic as he’d hoped. He spotted Tonya in a wheelchair, with a hospital gown and a robe. A small Black woman dressed in a blue trooper uniform stood behind the chair, scanning the hallway.

  Hawke walked up to the two. “Trooper McCord, I’m Hawke.”

  The trooper’s eyes narrowed. “I.D.”

  He pulled his badge out from under his shirt and flipped open his wallet to show her his driver’s license to show the picture matched the name.

  “Badge was all I needed. Your Sergeant told me your badge number.”

  She’d been checking up on h
im to make sure she handed the woman over to the right person. He liked that. She was thorough.

  Hawke nodded. He held out a bag with clothes he’d brought from Tonya’s backpack. “Want to take Ms. Cox into a restroom and help her change? I doubt we’ll get out of here with her in a hospital gown.”

  Tonya took the bag, peeked in, and looked up at Hawke. “These are my clothes.”

  “From the pack you left behind.” He nodded to the hallway with a restroom sign. “Get changed. The longer we linger here the more apt we are to be discovered by the wrong people.”

  The two walked to the restroom.

  Hawke placed the wheelchair beside another one sitting along the hallway.

  By the time he came back to where he’d met the two women, they walked out of the restroom. The bandage was gone from Tonya’s head. A bandanna he’d added to the clothes from his bag was tied hippy style around her head to hide the stitches. Her left arm was in a cast and a sling.

  “Thanks again. If you get any trouble over this have your superior call Spruel,” Hawke said to McCord.

  “You can bet I will. Take care, Tonya.” The trooper pivoted and headed to the elevator.

  Hawke led Tonya out through the emergency room, into the parking lot, and had her settled in the Mustang before he let out the breath he’d been holding. He didn’t fear the people he’d been avoiding seeing them, he’d feared the security at the hospital going after him.

  “Where are you taking me?” Tonya asked, settling into the passenger seat and tipping her head back.

  “Do you still need doctors care or any medicine?” he asked instead.

  “They were going to let me go yesterday, but someone convinced them to keep me through today. I just have a slight headache. They said it was normal. I could take Ibuprofen if it gets too bad.” She eased her head sideways and peered at him. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Some place where we can piece together the information you’ve gathered and figure out who killed Sheridan.” He put the car in drive and left the hospital, pulling onto the Interstate headed west.

  “You must have found my computer if you’re saying we need to dig deeper.” She closed her eyes and continued. “You saw the evidence I’d gathered that proved Felix wasn’t guilty of murder. He was a gentle man. He’d never kill anything. He told me the day he arrived at the cabin and found everyone, including my uncle bleeding, he tried to help them, but he was too late. He couldn’t believe what he’d seen. He was in shock when they found him.”

  Hawke let her talk. He was curious about how much she had in her head that she hadn’t put down on the computer files.

  Her voice wavered. “Did you know they think I killed Sean? I didn’t. I arrived in time to hear the shot. I peeked in the window, saw Sean lying on the floor, and figured I’d better get out of there before whoever did it saw me.”

  “I’m curious. If you saw Sheridan kill White, why did you go with him?” Hawke glanced over at the pale woman.

  “Because he said if I didn’t go with him, he’d tell you that I killed Felix and everyone would believe him over me. And, I thought he’d lead me to the person responsible for Felix’s going to jail, and since Sean shot him, the person responsible for his death.” Her head moved ever so slightly. “I should have gone to someone with what I’d found. Felix and Sean would both still be alive.”

  “If you did that you could be the one dead,” Hawke said. “If you had taken your findings to the wrong person you could have ended up a missing person.”

  She shuddered. “I might as well be since my actions caused two deaths.”

  “Not your actions. The actions of the person who started it all. That’s who we are going to go after.” Hawke headed out of the Boise traffic anxious to cross the state line and be under the jurisdiction of his home state.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Hawke only stopped the vehicle once to check the oil, add fuel, get some snacks, and let Tonya use a restroom. Five hours later, he pulled up to his mom’s house on the Umatilla Reservation outside of Pendleton, Oregon.

  He’d tossed the possibilities of where to hide Tonya around in his head on the drive and had decided, they’d need computer access. Going to Charlie’s Hunting Lodge in the Eagle Cap Wilderness would make it hard for someone to sneak up on them, but they wouldn’t have internet access. Here, he’d have the Rez police look out for unknown vehicles and they could use his mom’s internet as long as he paid to up her data.

  “What are we doing here?” Tonya asked. She’d slept the first three hours of the trip but had been reading all the signs since their pitstop.

  “This is the Umatilla Reservation and this is my mom’s house.” Hawke slipped out of the car and stretched.

  Two boys about seven-years-old tumbled out of his mom’s house, rough-housing. They stopped at the sight of him. Or rather, the car. They ran over to the Mustang and put their hands on the hood.

  “Cool car,” one of them said, his eyes never leaving the lines of the vehicle.

  “I’d say thanks, but it belongs to a friend, so don’t drool all over the hood or you’ll have to wash it.” Hawke walked around to the passenger side and helped Tonya out.

  The shorter of the two boys looked up at Hawke. “You Mimi’s son? The one who’s a cop?”

  Hawke nodded.

  The two yelled and ran around the side of the house.

  Tonya chuckled. “I take it you’ve been here before.”

  “I have, but I’ve not met those two before.” Hawke walked Tonya up the dirt walk to the cement steps and knocked once, before opening the door and pushing Tonya through.

  His mom walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her colorful flowered apron. “Hawke what a wonderful surprise.” She said this as she studied Tonya, speculation glittering in her eyes.

  “Mom, this is Tonya. She and I will be staying with you for a few days.” Hawke eased Tonya through the small, tidy living room and into his mom’s favorite room, the kitchen.

  “I see, for how long?” Mom hurried to the cupboard, pulled out two glasses and placed them on the table.

  Tonya sat, her gaze slowly taking in the well-used kitchen.

  Hawke hadn’t really noticed the faded wallpaper and worn vinyl flooring until he looked at it through the eyes of a stranger. He should get someone to come replace the flooring. He’d purchased a new cookstove for her two years ago. She’d refused a dishwasher, claiming washing dishes kept a person grounded.

  “How long have you two been seeing each other?” his mother asked, filling the glasses with iced tea.

  Hawke raised his hands. “No, we aren’t seeing each other. Tonya is under protective custody.”

  The pitcher hit the table with a thud as Mimi put her hands on her hips. “You brought trouble to my door again?”

  “Again?” Tonya asked, her expression relaying she found this exchange interesting.

  “There was never any trouble when I brought Kitree here,” Hawke said, trying to figure out how to get his mom to warm up to the idea of using her house as a base of operations.

  “And why haven’t you brought her back to visit?”

  The sadness in his mom’s voice made Hawke feel like the small boy who hadn’t been able to save her from his stepfather’s blows.

  “I promise, this summer, I’ll bring her to visit. She’s been asking when she could come see you again.” His words brought the light back into his mom’s eyes.

  The back door banged open and one of the two boys that had run their hands over the Mustang stopped inside the door.

  “What did you want, Phillip?” Mimi asked.

  “Annie says we can’t swing unless we give her a carrot. Can Gray and I have a carrot?” The boy kept his eyes on Hawke as he talked.

  Mimi laughed, “That Annie has become the queen of the backyard.” She opened the refrigerator and handed the boy two carrots. “Tell her these are to allow you to swing the rest of the day, Mimi says.”

  The
boy nodded and ran out the door with the carrots.

  “Is that the same Annie I met several trips back?” Hawke asked.

  “The one and the same.” Mimi smiled.

  “I take it her grandparents gave up on getting her from her father?” Hawke had remembered meeting the father and daughter before. The man had thought Hawke was there to take his daughter away.

  “James managed to talk the grandparents into keeping Annie one weekend a month and not taking her completely away. But they spoil her and so does her father. She has become a handful.” Mom sat down. “Tell me why you brought Tonya here.”

  Hawke only hit the high points. Tonya had information that other people wanted, and he, Tonya, and a friend who would be joining them, were going to work on finding everything they needed to keep her safe.

  “I’m going to up your data on your internet so we can use your computer and service to do most of the digging.” Hawke held up his hand before Mimi could say a word. “I’m paying for the upgrade and I’ll pay this month’s electric bill.” He saw her glance toward the cupboards. “And I’ll give you money to get groceries.”

  She smiled. “You’re such a wonderful son. If only you’d be as obliging with grandchildren.”

  Tonya laughed and picked up her iced tea when Hawke glared at her.

  He’d texted his mom’s address to Mathews when they stopped for gas. His phone vibrated. It was Mathews.

  On the road. Should be there in four hours.

  Settling in. Hawke replied.

  “Did you bring clothes with you?” his mom asked.

  “I’ll run home tomorrow when Mathews is here and get some. I thought Tonya could borrow some of the clothes Miriam left behind.” He knew his mom had saved everything he and his sister left behind when they moved out. And his sister had always loved clothes. There was a closet, dresser, and boxes of clothes, though outdated, they would fit Tonya.

  “I’ll show you to my daughter’s room,” Mom said, moving through the kitchen door.

  Tonya stood but looked at him. “Is Miriam your sister?”