Conard County Justice (Conard County: The Next Generation Book 42) Read online

  The three other men exchanged looks. Then Dave said, “Wooee. He never mentioned that.”

  “He didn’t like to brag.” Duke sipped more beer, slowing down his consumption. Getting drunk wasn’t on his menu for the night. “He was fearless, though.”

  Duke, who had a dangerous job himself, decided he might not have paid enough attention to Larry’s courage. Not exactly something you thought of when it came to reporters.

  But Larry had told him once the story of a female reporter in another state. The story had made Larry grin as he related it, but it wasn’t truly funny.

  The woman had uncovered some serious corruption in her sheriff’s department. She’d been digging around for more information when the sheriff himself called her and said, “People disappear in the piney woods out here.”

  No, not funny, and the woman’s editor had agreed. Larry’s reaction should have revealed something to Duke, he now thought. Larry was used to threats. He’d said enough a few times for Duke to pick up on that. But to react that way to the woman reporter’s story? Larry must have faced considerably worse.

  And Larry treated it as if it was all part of the job. Hats off to you, Larry.

  His three companions fell silent for a bit, drinking their beers, and Duke wondered if he should move on. He didn’t want to become oppressive, or to make anyone uneasy. Strangers could do that if they hung around too long.

  At last he rose and thanked them all. No one stopped him, but he caught the furtive glances of sympathy. They were feeling bad for him and didn’t know how to act. The situation had to be uncomfortable. The dead man’s brother, a guy they didn’t even know, sitting here with them.

  Well, that would put paid to a night of fun.

  “Say, Duke?” Merritt stopped him. “Come on back when you can. I’m here most evenings since the wife left me for a bull rider.”

  Duke looked at him. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.” Merritt shook his head. “Anyway, no need to be a stranger.”

  “I won’t.” On the way out, he thanked Mahoney for the beer and received another invitation to return.

  If they were hoping he’d be the life of the party the way Larry could, they’d be sadly disappointed.

  Outside the rain had become heavier again, joining the deepening darkness to partially obscure the far side of the street. How apropos.

  * * *

  CAT WAS STANDING at her front window staring out into the renewed rainstorm as night blew in with it. A battered pickup pulled up in front. Then the driver climbed out and dashed toward her door. Under his rain hood, his face was concealed.

  She heard the inevitable knock, and she went to answer it, positively in no mood to be disturbed. When she opened her door, she changed her mind. It was Ben Williams, and he wouldn’t have driven all the way from his house through this rain for casual conversation.

  “Hey, Ben,” she said, trying to paste on a smile. Her mind was still half in the novel she’d been reading until a few minutes ago.

  “Sorry to bother you, Cat, but I’ve been thinking about Duke’s visit. The department told me you were here.”

  She gestured him inside with a movement of her head and led him to the kitchen table so she could offer him something. It only seemed neighborly. “Should I make coffee? Or I might have a beer left.” She actually thought she had two, but she was beginning to wonder if she shouldn’t drink another herself.

  “I don’t want to put you out.”

  Duke had said the same thing. She must be walking around with impatience written all over her. “You’re not,” she lied. “Have a seat. Beer or coffee?”

  “Neither, thanks. If you want some, go ahead. I’m fine.”

  Given the hollow look in his eyes, Cat figured Ben was anything but fine. She ached for him, for his sorrow.

  She sat across from him, wondering if she needed a bigger table. She’d never figured it would get this much use, but then, she’d never imagined working at home. Nope, that was what she had the department’s office for.

  “What’s up, Ben?”

  “I’m not sure. I used to know Duke.”

  “I kinda gathered that when he said he introduced Larry to you.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded then sighed, a shaky sound. “We didn’t tell him about us, though. It must have come as a shock to him.”

  “He wondered if you were the same Ben Williams. He was pretty sure you were. But I didn’t get the feeling he had a problem with it.”

  “Maybe not. Larry and I had to be secretive when I was still in uniform. Things were bad enough for me, and Larry worried about it. We kind of crept around.”

  Cat frowned, her pain for this man growing. “That’s horrible, Ben. Just horrible that you guys had to do that. I’ll never understand it. Your personal relationship didn’t affect anyone else.”

  “In theory. My parents sure didn’t like it when I came out. Not a word for ten years now.”

  Cat shook her head and sighed heavily. “I don’t know what to say except that’s awful. I’m so sorry, Ben.”

  “I’m mostly used to it. I disappointed them, they kicked me to the curb, and after all this time...” He shrugged. “Their decision.”

  “Maybe they’ll come around.”

  “I don’t think I’d ever trust them again. Anyway, part of the reason I’m here is that I hope to get to know Duke even better because of Larry. If he still wants to talk to me. Plus, there’s nobody I can talk to around here. Larry did a good job of keeping us private.” He met her gaze almost as if he was making a plea. “I know I shouldn’t lean on you this way, but...”

  “You need someone who knows about you two. So you can talk freely.”

  He nodded. “Not fair to you, I know.”

  “Fairness is something we make. Besides, I really liked Larry, and he told me about you. Not much, but I knew. I guess he trusted me.”

  “I would say so.” He sighed. “I honestly don’t know what Larry was working on, but I think Duke wants to know. Did you guys find any hints at his house?”

  “Afraid not, at least not yet. We’re still evaluating evidence. But his computer was gone. I can’t tell about much else.”

  Ben’s head snapped up. “His computer? Who kills to steal a damn computer?”

  “Good question.” The more she thought about it, she felt that might be a pivotal question in all this. A bunch of kids who wanted to steal electronics would wait for the house to be empty. Wouldn’t they? It was certainly a poor excuse for a bloody murder. She closed her eyes. It had been bloody. She really didn’t want Duke or Ben to see the scene.

  Then she looked at Ben again. “Why would he care what people around here thought of your relationship?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t expect it when he told me he was taking a sabbatical out here to write a book. Silly me, I was expecting picnics, hikes, dinners together...all that romantic stuff. Well, I got something quite different.”

  Cat’s chest tightened. “That stinks.”

  “Yeah. But Larry was Larry, and I was used to his secrecy. I figured he had a good reason. Sometimes I even wondered what he thought he was protecting me from. If he was.”

  “That’s also a good question.” Ben had given her two points to put in the mental mill for processing. Hopefully some kernels would pop out of all the chaff.

  “Anyway,” Ben continued, “I was surprised by being kept out of sight. It left me wondering what he might be working on, though he wouldn’t say, no matter how many times I asked. I quit asking. Anyhow, the year I was anticipating with the love of my life turned into two months, and they were...difficult. For me, at least.”

  Cat had no trouble imagining how that must have felt. “It would kind of make me wonder what kind of relationship we had.”

  “The thought crossed my mind.”

  Boy
, did Cat feel bad for him. Relationships inevitably had their ups and downs, but to be kept out of the good things? To be relegated to a back room in Larry’s life?

  For the first time, she didn’t think so well of Larry. “Did he spend any time with you?”

  “He’d come over at night a lot. We’d share some beers or wine, cook together, spend hours just lolling around gabbing. It wasn’t every night, though. Two months may not be enough time to judge long-term, but he really wanted me not to be connected to him.”

  Cat didn’t have to say that was terrible. Ben already knew.

  Still, the secrecy was another layer on this case. As outgoing as Ben was, she’d have expected him to squire his boyfriend around town. Instead Larry had shown up at least a couple of times a week to have a drink or play darts. Not fair at all to Ben to be left out. That must mean something. She made another mental note. She might have to question Duke about it. Great. Most of the time that man did a great imitation of the Sphinx.

  “I have some idea how it feels, Ben. I lost my mother about the time you moved here, but I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as what you’re going through.” Useless words, but she needed to address this man’s grief.

  “I heard. You nursed her, right? Really tough.”

  “But I knew what was coming. I had time to say all those important things, and to show her. You didn’t even get that.”

  He nodded slowly, then wiped under his eyes as if tears had overwhelmed him. “Damn,” he said presently. “I keep crying.”

  “Anybody would. Let it flow.” She rose and brought back a box of tissues to place in front of him.

  He gave her a muffled thanks and wiped his eyes a few more times. “I didn’t mean to dump on you. I just needed to talk to someone, especially about Duke. What does he want?”

  “Justice for Larry. I think I’m supposed to keep him from wrecking the case. He was sure loaded for bear when he got here.”

  Ben wiped his nose, then reached for another tissue. “That would be Duke. He’s a battering ram.” Then Ben shrugged. “That’s part of the job.”

  “Were you a Ranger, too?”

  “I didn’t try, honestly. Wasn’t for me. I met Duke over in Afghanistan, though. I was on a patrol and we met one of his units, and there he was, striding along with his men. That night we all shared a camp, and Duke and I became friends. We met up a few times when we got back to the States. One of those times he introduced me to Larry, who was in town to visit him.”

  “I’d wondered, the way you two talked.”

  “We weren’t best friends, but we could sure have a good time knocking back some beers.”

  Cat tried to imagine Duke having a good time and failed. Of course, that wasn’t a fair judgment under the circumstances. “And Larry?” she asked.

  “We hit it off like a house on fire. A couple of weeks later, we were together. Secretly, of course.”

  Too many secrets, Cat thought. Entirely too many. First to protect Ben while he was still in the military, then hiding an investigation from Duke that had caused him serious problems, and now more secrets. To protect Ben again? No way to know now.

  Given Larry’s penchant for playing it close to his vest, she had to wonder what other kinds of secrets he might be hiding. A chill trickled through her. Not because she suspected Larry might be a baddie, but because now she had to wonder who else he might have crossed in his career. Especially recently.

  Again, no way to know. Frustration began to build in her.

  Ben spoke. “I don’t know what Duke thinks he can do that the sheriff’s department can’t.”

  “I think he wanted to talk to people who’d met Larry. He thought people might be franker with him than with us.”

  “Not likely,” Ben said sourly. “Larry didn’t tell anybody anything. At least not about his work. At this point, I wouldn’t be shocked if he had an ex-wife somewhere.”

  Ouch! Cat’s sympathy rose another notch.

  “Not that I think he did,” Ben hastened to say. “But the last few days, I’ve been wondering what else he might not have told me. Pointless.”

  “I know. I’m sitting here wondering the same thing.”

  Ben sighed. “I’m sorry I’m taking up your evening. I’ll go home now, but I want to talk to Duke some more. We may still have to iron out a few things.”

  “I’ll tell him.” Cat walked Ben to the door and watched him drive away over pavement that glistened beneath streetlights.

  The weather had nothing on the storm she felt brewing.

  * * *

  THE RAIN WAS really beginning to annoy the three men in their gully. They’d had to move up the slope because the creek was so engorged, and now they sat with their boot heels dug in to keep them from sliding down into the rushing water.

  “This wasn’t a good idea,” the second man said. “I know the gully conceals us, and we’d be able to move down it to cover if we needed to, but that damn mountain forest doesn’t look quite as thick now. We could have maneuvered among the trees.”

  “Not as well,” answered Man Three. “Come on. We’ve been through worse.”

  “I didn’t retire to do this all over again.”

  The first man didn’t say anything. If he sighed, it was lost in the pouring rain and the rushing of the creek. Bellyaching was part of a soldier’s coping mechanism. He mostly ignored it.

  The second man spoke again. “We can’t do a damn thing tonight to finish this mission. That’s bothering me more than the effing weather. I want this done and over with.”

  “Face it,” said Man One, speaking for the first time in over an hour. “We’ve got a serious case of mission creep going on here. If you two would stop complaining and start thinking, we might get out of here sooner.”

  “Yeah?” asked Man Three. “What is your huge brain telling you?”

  “That we need to be even more cautious. We need to be able to break in without the homeowners or kids waking up so we don’t have to be on indefinite hold. Has anyone thought of halothane?”

  “Like we can get any out here,” snorted the second man. “And how are we supposed to aerosolize it to fill an entire house?”

  “I wondered about that, too. Anyway, thinking ahead, I brought a big canister, a tube and a mister that should do it. It’s in my truck.”

  The other two fell silent, maybe stunned by the first man’s prescience. Halothane, a surgical anesthetic, could put people to sleep for a little while. In theory it wouldn’t kill them unless they got way too much.

  “Why didn’t you say so before?” asked the second man.

  “Because I didn’t want to use it. It’ll leave traces in the blood. It’s not easy to come by, so that would point in two directions—a hospital and the military. How many directions do we want these cops to be looking? Two isn’t enough. And it sure doesn’t point to a bunch of teenagers.”

  “Hell,” muttered the third man.

  “So try to think of something better,” suggested the first. “I just threw it out there to stir your brains. Find a way around the halothane. Don’t just sit here and moan.”

  “But you’ve really got it?” asked the third man.

  “Absolutely. But it’s the last resort, hear me?”

  They heard. They understood. They didn’t have to be happy about it, though.

  Chapter Five

  The morning brought sunshine and crisp air. The storm of the day before had caused the springtime temperatures to drop enough that Cat wondered if they might get more snow.

  It wouldn’t be unusual at this time of year. She loved the changeability, especially in the spring and autumn.

  She considered wearing her uniform, then decided against it. Running after Duke mostly wouldn’t call for it. And if she needed it later, she could put it on. One way or another, it wasn’t going to be a day at the office.
>
  She phoned him as she stood on her small front porch and waved to people driving to work. He answered immediately.

  “Duke.” Crisp, no nonsense.

  “Hey, Duke. You ready to start the day?”

  “Sure. I’ll need a shower first. Just got back in from a run.”

  She couldn’t resist asking, “So was it a run or a jog?”

  She thought he snorted, but she couldn’t be sure over the phone.

  “It was a run. Where should we meet?”

  “I’m hankering for a latte, so Maude’s it is.”

  “That’s the City Diner?”

  “Yeah, but everyone around here calls it Maude’s.”

  “I can see why,” he replied dryly. “Give me twenty, please.”

  Presto, change-o, she thought as she tucked her phone away. Better take her car in case he got a wild hair. It would have been a great morning to enjoy a run of her own, except she had one problem Duke didn’t: she was known to almost everyone. Privacy didn’t exist for Cat on the street.

  The morning breakfast crowd had begun to trail away by the time she arrived. There was one group of older men who had turned Maude’s into their meeting place and always sat in the back. Generally they were too busy talking among themselves to pay much attention to anyone else.

  Cat exchanged waves with them and took a table right in front of the window. A few minutes later, Maude appeared with a tall paper cup. “Latte, right?”

  “You know me too well.” At least Maude didn’t slam it down the way she would have slammed a coffee cup. “Thanks.”

  “That new guy coming along? The one you’re babysitting?”

  Cat nearly froze in surprise. How had that gotten around? Loose lips in the department? “Where did you hear that?”

  “Don’t recall. You know how things float around here.”

  Amazing Maude said so much. A warning of some kind? She had the feeling that Maude, per usual, wouldn’t say another word about it, so there was no point in asking. Maude had already turned away to stomp back behind the counter and wait for a customer who needed her to tromp back into the kitchen.