by Jeff Carson
“Yes, sir. We found evidence of cocaine,” Rossi said into the silence.
“I hadn’t heard about that. You didn’t tell my mother that.”
“Ah, yes, sir. I apologize. I wanted to speak to you about it first. Your mother was so upset. Like I said, she told me you were a police officer, and I hadn’t told her about the drugs, so I just ... I just figured I would talk to you about it. There is no sense in making matters worse with this type of news.”
Wolf paced back and forth. “Okay. Thank you for that, I guess. Was this cocaine found during the autopsy?”
“No, sir. Actually the drugs were found at the scene, and residue was found on his nostrils,” Rossi said.
“What did the tox screen in the autopsy show?” Wolf asked.
“An autopsy was not called for—”
“No autopsy?” Wolf almost yelled. The static on the phone hissed and popped.
Rossi made a non-committal noise followed by a long breath into the phone.
“I’ll be coming over on a flight tomorrow.”
“I understand, Sergeant Wolf. You’ll want to bring your brother home.”
I’ll want to investigate his death. “Yes. I’d appreciate any help your ... department can give me.” Wolf didn’t know what the regional department of the carabinieri was called. Didn’t know a thing about Italy other than it churned out good food and cars. Research into the operation of the carabinieri was tacked onto his to-do list for the night.
“Of course, Sergeant Wolf.”
Wolf talked with Rossi for another few minutes, arranging some specifics, and then hung up.
He went to the kitchen and set his coffee cup in the sink, then stared out at the dark forest behind the house. Something about John’s death wasn’t right. Correction: everything about John’s death wasn’t right, and there was no way Wolf could learn anything useful about what had happened over a rickety phone connection from five thousand miles away.
He imagined his mother staring sleeplessly at the ceiling of her bedroom, wondering where she had gone wrong and blaming herself for her son’s death. Thinking about her inability to instill the will to live, to persevere, in her baby son. After first losing her husband years ago, and now her son, perhaps she was even entertaining thoughts of ending it all herself.
He took to pacing a groove into his carpet.
The email.
John had been too positive, too excited about the future. Plus, Wolf had known his brother, really known him. His kid brother was a fighter, mentally and physically. There wasn’t a single instance in his life where he could remember John giving up on something or backing down from a challenge. The man had been a lifelong systematic goal-achieving machine. He ate up challenges, no matter how big, and shit them out, leaving them behind for even bigger ones. Suicide just didn’t fit.
And Wolf was going to Italy to prove it.
Chapter 9
Wolf was wrenched awake by the alarm clock on his phone. He grabbed a cup of coffee and his fur-collared Sheriff’s Department jacket and went to the front porch. It had only been a few hours since he’d collapsed onto his bed and caught a couple hours of restless sleep, and his mind and body felt sluggish. Slow. Depressed. But determined nonetheless.
The sky was a blue glow behind the eastern peaks, and his breath was smoke in the bitter cold early-morning air. Elk milled about in the field, and they all turned to look at him as the screen door slammed shut. Animal and man stared at one another for a few seconds, and then Wolf sat on his patio chair and thumbed on his cell phone.
Despite the pre-sunrise hour, his mother answered after the first ring. “Hey,” she said in a hoarse voice. Probably worn out from crying.
“Hey. I spoke with a carabiniere last night. A cop from Italy. He was first on scene to John’s apartment. He’s going to help us with getting John released and brought to Colorado.”
She responded with an exhale.
“You doing all right?” he asked, immediately regretting the question. “Never mind. Stupid question.” They sat in silence until Wolf spoke softly. “We are going to get through this.”
Silence.
“I’m going to go to Italy to get him.”
“You are?”
“Yeah, I am.”
More silence.
“Listen, Mom. I’ll keep in touch, all right?”
“You’d better.” She sniffed and hung up.
Wolf got dressed and headed into town.
…
Sarah Muller’s parents lived in the pines a mile and a half west of town. The house was stoutly built with logs and wood beams. Large and well windowed, the home afforded its occupants spaciousness and a beautiful view of pine trees and meadows in the foreground, and majestic Rocky Mountain peaks in the background. The best a generous amount of money could buy.
Wolf pulled up the dirt road and saw the house, lit inside and out in the dim early-morning hour. The Mullers had always been early risers.
Venus gleamed just over the pines in the eastern sky. The sun would be following close behind, having to scale the eastern peaks first.
He rang the doorbell and heard muffled conversation inside. Sarah’s face appeared in the ornately frosted window set in the hand-crafted wood door. She opened it a crack.
“Hi David.”
Her blond hair was askew, like she’d just woken up, but her sky-blue eyes were clear and bright-looking. Wolf couldn’t remember her looking so vital and beautiful. She wore sweatpants and a white T-shirt, both fitting snug to accentuate her perfect body, a rare place in the universe where time had always stood still.
“Hi Sarah. How are you?”
“Good,” She said.
There was a mumbling behind the door, and she looked down and then tucked her head back inside.
“Is that Jack?” Wolf craned his neck.
She leaned back and turned sideways. “Uh, no. Jack! Your dad’s here!”
He heard the faint yell reply from somewhere in the interior.
“Who is that behind the door? Are your parents here?”
“Umm, yeah, my parents are here.”
“Oh,” Wolf said. Apparently they weren’t behind the door, though.
In answer to Wolf’s curiosity, just then a man came behind Sarah and placed a hand on the small of her back. She looked down and stepped out of the way. He was dressed in sweat pants and a T-shirt as well.
“Hi, how you doing? My name is Mark.” The man extended a long arm over Sarah. “Mark Wilson.”
“Hey. Nice to meet you.” Wolf shook his hand.
“Dad!” Jack burst out of the doorway.
Mark stepped aside and ducked back in, as if to respect their distance. Wolf watched as Mark persuaded Sarah to shut the door to leave Wolf and his son alone.
Wolf gave Jack a hug and ruffled his hair. “Hey, bud. What’s happening?”
“Not much.” He stayed latched tight to Wolf. “Just watching toons and having breakfast.”
“Cool. Hey, I’ve gotta leave town for a little bit, so—”
“Where? Where you going?”
Wolf paused. “I’m actually going to Italy.”
“What? Are you serious? Are you going to see John?”
“Yeah, I am buddy.” Wolf nodded.
“Tell him he needs to call me. When is he coming back?”
“Listen, buddy. We’ll talk more when I get back. I think I’ll be gone a week. Are grandma and grandpa here?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, you want to talk to them?”
“No, don’t worry about it. Never mind.” Wolf relaxed a little bit, his worry about the strange man inside diminishing. Sarah’s father had guns, and a concern for his grandson matched by no one but Wolf. “So how’s your mom doing?”
Jack nodded. “She’s actually doing well.”
Wolf nodded, trying to ignore the hopeful expression on his son’s face. She had better be doing well. This kid deserved a good mother.
“Listen,
buddy,” Wolf said, “John’s not doing …”
Jack frowned in confusion.
Wolf didn’t have the heart to tell him what was going on. But he had no choice. It had to come from him. Right now. Otherwise, he would know from some other person in town before the morning was through. It was just how it worked in Rocky Points.
“John died this weekend, buddy.”
Jack’s face fell. He stared at Wolf with glassy eyes, and his lip started to quiver. “What?”
Wolf nodded and hugged Jack. “Sorry, buddy. I have to go get him and bring him back home. That’s where I’m going.”
Jack hugged Wolf again and shook softly with sobs.
“I know, buddy.” It was all Wolf could think to say. “I know.” They hugged and cried, Wolf letting the emotional floodgates go. After what felt like an hour of wallowing in tears he pushed Jack back and knelt down. “All right, bud. Be good. Go back inside. Tell your mom I need to speak to her again real quick, all right?” Jack wiped his eyes and stared at the ground. Wolf wiped his own face and pulled Jack’s chin up. “Hey, buddy, I love you. You know that, right?”
Jack nodded.
“All right. I’ll see you soon, okay?”
Sarah opened the door. She looked at Jack wiping his tears and shot a questioning look at Wolf, which turned quickly to an accusing one.
“Bye, Dad.” Jack turned and walked inside.
Wolf stood straight. “So, how are you doing, Sarah?” This time Wolf put the full weight behind the question.
“Fine, David. I’m doing just fine,” she said.
Wolf had to admit, she looked fine. He felt a stab of jealousy for the new guy now skulking somewhere behind the door.
She crossed her arms and watched Jack walk inside. “What was that all about?”
“I have to go out of town. I’ll be gone all week, all right?”
She shrugged her shoulders and looked down.
Wolf saw the shadow in the door window. “Hey, Mark, come here for a second?”
Sarah glared at Wolf.
Mark stepped around Sarah, out onto the front porch.
“Can I talk to you for just a second?”
“Of course, David. Of course.” Mark nodded his head to Sarah, who stepped in and closed the door quietly.
Wolf turned and walked a little way down the massive front deck, and Mark followed next to him. Wolf stopped and placed his hands on the railing, and then looked out into the pines, now brightening as the sun threatened to crest the peaks.
“What do you do, Mark?”
“I’m a builder. Custom homes,” he said blowing into his hands and rubbing them together. “Man, starting to get cold overnight already.”
Wolf nodded. “And do you know what I do?”
“Yep. Up for appointment to sheriff, from what I hear.”
“And you’re shacking up with my ex-wife, who’s one day fresh out of rehab, at her parents’ house, where my son happens to live.”
Mark shifted and scratched his head, smiled, then let it die. “Yeah, I guess that’s exactly what’s going on. Look, I met Sarah in rehab. I’m … I wasn’t in the rehab myself. Well, not this time around. I was before. I’m an addict, but I’m clean, and I have been for over six years. I spend a lot of time helping out at the center as a counselor. Sarah and I met, and we’ve become close.”
“Okay,” said Wolf, feeling another jolt of jealousy. “How’s she doing? Did she kick it this time, or what?”
Mark crossed his arms and shivered a little. “She’s doing very well, David. Now is a critical time of the process, but she made some serious breakthroughs, and I’m confident she has more than enough momentum to keep clean this time. For good.”
Wolf nodded. “And this isn’t the beginning of a toxic relationship between you two, where one of you falls back into the drugs, and the other follows, and you end up huffing meth in a shack in the woods?”
Mark’s hearty laugh echoed back from the forest. “No.” He looked at Wolf’s expression and sobered his own. “No, David. This isn’t one of those relationships. In fact, she wants to help out at the clinic for the foreseeable future. She has devoted parents to support her, her loving son …” he looked at Wolf and looked at the ground.
“And she has you,” Wolf completed his sentence.
Mark pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Look, I don’t want to threaten you with violence if you end up hurting her or my son, so I won’t. You seem like a good guy who’s smart enough to figure that out for himself.”
Mark laughed again.
Wolf couldn’t think of anything else to say, so he shook his hand.
They walked back to the door and Sarah cracked it open and let Mark inside.
“Sarah, can I talk to you?” Wolf asked.
She stepped out and the door closed softly behind her.
Wolf nodded at the tall shadow behind the door’s frosted glass. “He seems like a good guy.”
Sarah nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, he really is a good man.”
“Well, I just wanted to let you know … John died.”
“What?” Sarah’s eyes went wide and met Wolf’s.
Wolf nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be going to Italy. I’m thinking for at least a week. I just wanted to let you know. You know, before you heard it from someone else.”
Sarah nodded and opened and closed her mouth.
“You guys will have to take Jack for the week. You have keys if you need to get into my house for anything of his.”
She nodded, unable to disguise her shock.
Wolf turned and stepped off the porch. The gravel under his boots scratched with each step until he reached the truck. As he got in, he glanced back to the front porch and couldn’t help but notice a tall man hugging a beautiful sobbing woman against his chest.
Chapter 10
The sun had fully risen over the peaks of the Continental Divide, and was blasting a glare off his windshield as he headed east down the hill. When he reached the highway, he hung a right and headed into town.
There were a few deputies already at headquarters, and a few who had been there all night, so the parking lot was almost half full.
He pulled off Main Street, into the gravel lot of the building and parked his SUV. Leaving his travel bags in the back seat, he walked to the main entrance. The front doors of steel and glass were warm to the touch.
Tammy, the receptionist, call operator, radio dispatcher, and general ass-kicking motherly figure of the department, sat still behind the reception desk looking down at an open file. She raised her eyebrows over her red plastic frames and smirked. “Sergeant Wolf. You have been a naughty boy, I hear.” She dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned forward. “About time that piece of shit got what was coming to him.” Then she sat down and resumed perusing the file in her hands.
Wolf rolled his eyes and scanned his card to enter.
The loud chatter in the Squad Room was snuffed to silence with the clack of the door shutting behind him. Every deputy in the room looked in his direction, then awkwardly to files, or computer screens, or a dirty fingernail.
Wolf stood still and scanned the room. Somewhat with relief, he didn’t see Connell. With everything on his mind, he would be just fine if his short stop-in was without confrontation.
He ignored the stares, and one hearty pat on the back, and walked over to Burton’s office. He gave the heavy wood door three solid knocks.
“Come,” called Burton, barely audible from outside the door.
Sheriff Burton didn’t look up as Wolf entered. He was filling out a 10-04-D form. The “D” was for disciplinary, Wolf knew, though he hadn’t filled one out before.
Wolf kept his eyes averted from what was being written, or which deputy, or deputy sergeant, the form was for, and sat down. When Burton ignored his presence, Wolf stared out the window at a few birds chasing each other through the pine trees.
Burton slapped his pen down and scraped the fo
rm into a manila folder, then creaked back in his chair. He spent a long few moments bouncing and swiveling, pondering Wolf with a disappointed grimace, then stood and looked out the window, leaving his chair spinning in a lazy half circle.
“I don’t know what the hell happened between you two, yesterday,” Burton said, “but I know you. And I know Derek. And I know you probably won’t tell me that Derek started whatever the hell happened up there, so I won’t ask.” Burton turned and pointed at Wolf. “You have to keep yourself under control. You need to play nice with Derek if you see him this morning. In fact, you need to play nice for the rest of your career here.”
Was that an admission that Wolf had the job as sheriff?
Burton sat back in the seat with a heavy sigh.
Wolf knew the sheriff’s old bones were ready to call it quits. He didn’t need any of this so late in the game. Wolf felt almost sorry for the old man.
Sheriff Burton held out his hands. “Well?” he said, leaning forward on his elbows. “You wanna tell me what happened?”
Wolf smiled and looked behind the sheriff again, this time focusing on the resort with its dormant ski lifts. Wolf considered it, then fixed his gaze on Burton and shook his head.
Burton sat back, wheezed through his walrus mustache and crossed his legs. A faint satisfaction gleamed in his eyes. “All right, all right. But I hope this little scuffle doesn’t hurt your chances with the council.”
“Me neither, sir.” Wolf said.
“And now you have to go?”
“I need to go over there to get John.”
Burton put his elbows back on the desk and buried his face in his hands for a second. “I was so sorry to hear about your brother, son.” He had a look of deep sorrow. “Keep in touch. I don’t see how my old ass could help, but, if you need anything, just holler. I’ll try to keep you in good standing with the council while you’re gone, but … it would be much easier if you were here.”
