Fire Mountain

by Vickie McKeehan

  “I’ll be here, too,” Luke offered.

  “Make it three,” Gemma declared. “For support.”

  “So I’m not really giving her the fifteen hundred, right?”

  “No. That’s done with.”

  “Then you’ll probably need to make sure Tiffany doesn’t lose her temper and go off the rails. She’s like Mallory, she can be scary when she wants to be. The woman is a bit of a psycho.”

  “So much more to charge her with,” Luke added, looking over at his brother. “Sometimes I love it knowing you’re a cop.”

  Gemma squeezed Lando’s hand. “A clever cop, who loves his sister.”

  After getting back home and getting ready for bed, Lando realized there was still something bothering Gemma. She was too quiet. “What’s wrong?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Come on, you’re stomping around here like you could hit something. Out with it. Don’t make me drag it out of you.”

  “Okay. I’ll tell you what burns me. Tiffany crashes our wedding, shows up out of the blue, never even spoke to me. Then she proceeds to put the squeeze on Leia for money, essentially blackmailing the sister of the chief of police. The nerve of that woman. I thought Mallory was bad.”

  “Mallory was bad. Tiffany’s no better.”

  “I wish we could teach her a lesson.”

  “We’re already planning to send her to jail, what more do you want?”

  “A taste of her own medicine. But I have too much going on to plan it out, refine it so she’d suffer.”

  Lando chuckled, wrapping her up in a hug. “Remind me to never piss you off.”

  9

  The next morning Zeb sat in Lando’s office complaining about the coffee or what passed as coffee. “If you won’t tell Suzanne the truth, the least you could do is get someone else to beat her here in the mornings and keep her away from the coffee pot.”

  “And shoot down an eager go-getter? Suzanne’s revved up to do a good job. That means beating everyone in. Right now, she’s the only one who arrives bright and early on time. After turning on the lights, she runs into the breakroom and starts the first pot. After that, we try to dissuade her as much as we can.”

  Zeb looked over at Lando’s credenza and the Mr. Coffee displayed there. “You cheated and brought in your own. You could’ve at least offered me a cup from your own stash.”

  “It’s the one I had at my house. Might as well make use of it. Enough chitchat. What did your dad say about the coins?”

  “Oh, that, the coins are fake. But they’re very good counterfeits, good enough to fool the buying public or a foolish, sad-eyed collector. You should probably put out an alert to let the coin community know you’ve busted a scam.”

  “I’ll do that, but it’s probably a little too late. In the meantime, there’s a murder that needs solving. This is probably what got Woodson killed.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You aren’t convinced?”

  “No. The coins you found, could’ve been leftovers, his stock from what remained of his inventory. Or it could’ve been scraps, stuff that didn’t quite make the grade or meet his standards. Either way, those coins could’ve been in that trunk for years.”

  “You’re saying he’d made his money and moved on to…what? What was he into around here?”

  “That’s the question. You wanted to know about Painter. Before Leia came home last night, I hung out at the casino around the bar, passed around the photo of Woodson you left with me. The staff knew him well. It seems Woodson and Painter were thick as…well…thieves.”

  “Painter’s what, thirty-five? Woodson was fifty. What was the connection linking those two? What did they have in common besides hanging out and drinking?”

  “Up to no good,” Zeb muttered. “I busted Painter’s younger brother two years back for assault. He’s in Vacaville serving five years because he beat up his girlfriend. Before that, his cousin got caught drug trafficking on the Rez. He’s serving time in Atwater Federal.”

  “So the criminal element runs in the family?”

  “As far back as the old man. My predecessor arrested him for illegal poaching.”

  Lando sat there, feet up on his desk, sipping his coffee. But looking over at Zeb, the idea of not telling him what was going on with Leia nagged at him. He couldn’t mention their plan to go behind his back because he didn’t dare break the family bond. Wife. Brother. Sister. He could picture all three planning his slow death if he breathed a word about what was going down Friday night. He decided his friendship with Zeb would have to take a backseat.

  “Did I lose you?” Zeb asked. “You zoned out there for a minute.”

  “No. No. Just thinking what my next step should be.”

  “Want to go bug Tuttle?”

  “Not yet. Ask me tomorrow when he’s had time to finish all three autopsies. Then I’ll pound on his door. I was thinking we should run deep backgrounds on Painter, Thorne, and Berwick.”

  “I’m sure the casino did that when they hired Painter. Lucien Thorne is another story. He works for himself. But keep this in mind, who counts wholly on the commercial fishing business these days to pay the bills? Not exactly lucrative, now is it? That leaves a question mark on Lucien. And doesn’t Darby Berwick have a connection to Fleet Barkley that goes back several years? Weren’t those two in business together once? Maybe Berwick was up to no good with Woodson, too.”

  “Maybe they all were…in it together. Whatever it is. I’m with you, though, I’m inclined to think Woodson’s coin enterprise had run its course, dried up, and he moved on to something else. Then when one of his partners got greedy, that partner killed him by blowing up the plane. What do you say we go take a look at the hangar where he kept that Cessna, nose around there to see if he might’ve kept something that implicates one of his partners? If Woodson was entangled with Painter, it might include the casino. That’s your tie-in.”

  “Trying to get me to do your work for you?”

  “More like I need the added brain power.”

  Zeb grinned at that. “If Painter has involved the casino in anything dirty, then I need to find out what it is and shut it down…like yesterday.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes. So you’re in?”

  “I’m in.”

  While Zeb and Lando plotted their next move, Gemma had been talking up Talia’s neighbors but not by knocking on their doors. That might be misconstrued as interfering in a police investigation. No, she waited until she bumped into them around town—at the grocery store, filling up at the gas station, or paying a parking ticket. Which is how she came to get an earful from Sadie Sawyer standing in the lobby shelling out money for the fine. Sadie had been ticketed for parking in a loading zone at Two Sisters’ Food Mart and wasn’t happy about it.

  “I only went in there for a bunch of bananas. But that Payce Davis followed me into the lot. I’m sure that man is harassing me every chance he gets.”

  “But you were about to tell me what you knew about Talia and Brandt,” Gemma prodded, doing her best to get Sadie back on track.

  “Oh, that. Those two were always at each other, fighting,” Sadie divulged. “I told Talia not to marry that jerk, but she wouldn’t listen, said she was getting up there in years and needed a ring on her finger. And look at her now, dead just six months after the wedding bells.”

  Gemma pulled Sadie down the hall into a conference room for more privacy. “Do you think Brandt could’ve killed her?”

  “He has the temper for it.”

  “Was she planning on leaving him?”

  “Not that I know anything about. Girl was stubborn as the day is long. She probably would’ve stuck it out just for pride alone, unwilling to admit she made a mistake and file for divorce.” Sadie clucked her tongue. “You know he took her for every dime she’d put away and every penny her aunt had left her. That’s where things stood when she went missing. I don’t like living by him, you know. But I heard he was putting the house up for s
ale. Which means he won’t be my neighbor for long.”

  “Was he cheating on her? Did you ever see him with anyone else?”

  “There was this one time Talia went out of town to see a relative. While she was gone, a woman showed up shortly after she left, spent the night.”

  “Would you recognize her again if you saw her?”

  “Oh, yes. Bleached blonde. Plus, she drove a distinctive car, a bright yellow VW bug.”

  “Was she the only woman whoever spent the night with Brandt?”

  “As far as I know. I don’t sit at the window spying on my neighbors,” Sadie snapped. “I’ve got better things to do. But since you’re the mayor, and since you’re yapping your gums, maybe you could make that Payce guy leave me alone and stop following me to the store. He’s a skinny little weasel is what he is.”

  “He’s just doing his job,” Gemma pointed out.

  “Oh, that’s right, take up for him instead of the taxpayer.” Sadie turned to go and stopped. “I liked Talia. Make sure that husband of yours catches her killer.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Gemma was beginning to dislike Brandt Lewis. Could she have been wrong about him killing Talia? What was she missing? Needing a lot more insight, she decided to find out more about him. Even though she knew Lando had already run him through a series of checks, she went back to her office and searched the Internet. After typing his name into the search engine, sixteen different profiles popped up on five dating sites.

  “Brandt’s been a very busy boy,” Gemma muttered, only to glance up from her screen and see Leia standing in the doorway. “What’s up?”

  “That’s an odd question when you already know the answer.”

  “I do?”

  “I should’ve known you’d start asking questions, sticking your nose into this thing with Tiffany.”

  “You might want to close the door. Zeb is having coffee down the hall with Lando.”

  “I’m not stupid. I waited until they left together before I came inside.”

  “Listen to yourself. You’re slowly heading over that cliff. You’re not even focusing on your wedding, the big day you’ve dreamed about all your life with the man you adore.”

  Leia dropped into a chair in front of the desk and covered her face with her hands. “I know. I’m riddled with guilt and don’t know what to do about it.”

  “You’re talking to me, remember? I left your brother when I was eighteen without a backward glance. I hurt him. Bad. And yet, here I am Mrs. Lando Bonner. Again. He gave me a second chance. Tell Zeb the truth. Sit down with him and have a heart to heart.”

  “And what if he doesn’t want to go through with it? What if he decides he doesn’t want to marry me?”

  “I don’t think that’ll happen. But if it does, you’ll at least know where you stand.”

  “Alone and dumped? Really? That’s your advice? If the chocolate shop doesn’t work out, I wouldn’t rely on your psychic abilities to put food on the table.”

  “What do you want from me, Leia? Because I’m bordering on compassion fatigue here. You’re the one who’s acting like an ass.”

  “What if Tiffany won’t back off?”

  “With the chief of police nipping at her heels, are you kidding me? You really don’t know your brother very well, do you? Stop worrying about it. You’re driving yourself nuts.”

  “You wouldn’t have let yourself been blackmailed, would you? You would’ve told Lando the truth.”

  “We’ve always been two different people, but yeah. Since leaving Genevieve Wentworth behind, I don’t like anyone telling me what to do. That includes the likes of Tiffany Ringgold.” She took in Leia’s sad eyes. “Look, if it makes you feel any better, I might be wrong about Brandt. My mind’s been so scattered lately trying to do this new job that I might have misread a few things.”

  That perked Leia up. “That’s what I like about you, you admit when you’re wrong.”

  Gemma grimaced. “And what I like about you is that you’re always willing to point it out.”

  “Sorry. But Brandt is not a nice guy. I don’t have it in for him or anything like that. Talia said he’s worthless and I believe her.”

  Gemma laid everything out that she’d found online. “That’s a lot of profiles for a guy who’s married. The next-door neighbor thinks he might’ve been having an affair with a woman who drives a yellow VW.”

  Leia opened her mouth to reply and let it close. She sat there a few minutes. “A bug? This woman drives a yellow bug? That’s what Tiffany drives.”

  “Hmm. Isn’t that interesting? Which makes me wonder, did Tiffany just drop in from the sky when all this crap started hitting the fan?”

  “A little more than two weeks ago,” Leia corrected. “Sounds like Tiffany knew Brandt long before she approached me. Maybe she’s in town because of him.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. Where is Miss Tiffany staying, do you know?”

  “Nope. We should probably find out though by following her damn car.”

  “Well, we know where it will be Friday night for sure, don’t we? Captain Jack’s. You did change the meeting place, right?”

  Leia’s face broke into a smile. “I sure did. And I’m beginning to feel a whole lot better about things for the first time since you got married.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Oh, shut up,” Leia retorted.

  “That grin you’re wearing tells me you don’t mean it.”

  “No, but I could.”

  Gemma stuck her tongue out at Leia like she’d done when they were kids. “You’re such a brat. I need to round up volunteers out at Protect the Paws to pick up trash along the roadway. Know anyone who’d be interested?”

  “Sure. I could call in some favors.”

  “See how it works? I’ve decided to call Ellen and Shaun Emberley. Those guys are always complaining about litter, always talking about cleaning up the environment. Let’s see if they back up their grumbling with a little action when it’s needed.”

  “Hey, they’ll enlist somebody to do it for them, probably a couple of employees. Bet?”

  Gemma chuckled. “No. I don’t care who they tag to help out, though. I’m scheduling them for Sunday. You still spending the weekend at the cabin?”

  “I’m not taking days off to pick up someone else’s garbage. I do that enough at the restaurant six days a week. Besides, going to the cabin depends on what happens with Tiffany.”

  “Don’t do that. Don’t let Tiffany decide for you. And if you go, you should take Zeb and get away from the stress. Two days by yourselves might just be the ticket to getting back on track.”

  “How will I ever face him if he finds out?”

  “Take it from me, don’t start your marriage out with a lie. It won’t work. I’m begging you to come clean with Zeb.”

  “Maybe. I just need to get Tiffany out of the equation first.”

  “You’re making excuses, Leia.”

  “I know. But it’s all I’ve got.”

  The local airfield was a non-towered setup with a V-shaped landing strip that served the western quadrant of Del Norte County. Nearby pilots kept their planes in a long, narrow outdated building that had been around since crop dusting and barnstorming were a thing.

  But thirty years ago, the owner had appropriated state funds to turn the site into what it was today—a place where planes and helicopters could refuel during medical transports, firefighting disasters, evacuation emergencies, or to support a host of agricultural needs in the area.

  The hangar wasn’t much to look at—a metal building with a tin roof. But it offered all the necessary conveniences any local pilot might need at a stopover. They could get something to eat, take a shower, change clothes if need be, and refuel.

  After flashing their badges, the on-site manager, a man by the name of O’Dell Owen, let Lando and Zeb take a look around before leading them into a locker room where the pilots could store their gear.
<
br />   Lando tried all the keys on Woodson’s key chain found at the crash site until one opened the right metal locker door.

  “You think he might’ve been keeping something illegal in there?” O’Dell asked, hovering to the side to get a better look at what was kept there.

  “Won’t know until we get inside,” Zeb pointed out.

  “Thanks for your help,” Lando told O’Dell, right before lifting up the handle on the locker. “You can go now. We’ll let you know if we need anything else.”

  O’Dell, a man in his thirties, seemed insulted at the brushoff. He heaved a sigh. “We haven’t had a pilot crash in the ten years I’ve been here. Leave it to Woodson to break that streak. That man was always on the wild side.”

  Lando decided O’Dell might be more valuable if he allowed the guy to have his say. “Was Woodson ever in trouble with the FAA?”

  “A few fines here and there for faulty equipment, but nothing major. Pete always fixed whatever the issue happened to be, but that wasn’t the problem. Pete would come in here juiced up, and he’d often fly that way.”

  “Drugs or alcohol?” Lando pressed.

  “A little of both. I thought it funny that a DEA agent would act like that.”

  “You mean ATF?”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” O’Dell said with a wave of his hand. “Woodson still flew under the influence, more times than not.”

  “But the Cessna was in good working order?” Zeb asked. “He didn’t ignore citations or required upgrades because he couldn’t afford to fix his plane, right?”

  “No, he always had plenty of cash.”

  Lando studied O’Dell’s body language. “How many people have access to the planes? Is there regular security around here? Or could anyone simply waltz in here and tinker with them at any time of the day or night?”

  “It’s a public airfield. But we do lock the hangar and let pilots use their own keys to access it. That way, they can fly out any time they need to.”

  “Right. Okay. We’ll let you know if we need anything else,” Lando said, turning back to the locker and peering inside. He noticed an extra set of clothes, tennis shoes, and a dark gray shaving kit. After handing off the little bag to Zeb to go through, Lando spotted a larger carryall made out of canvas sitting on the bottom rack. Picking it up, he noted how heavy it felt. “Let’s see what’s in here. I’m almost afraid to open it.”