Enid stood to leave. “Thank you for your time. I’m sorry to make you relive those memories. Take care, Mrs. Keen.”
CHAPTER 17
Enid and Jack sat in the small conference room at the newspaper office. She had spent the last hour filling him in on what she had learned so far.
“So you evidently think there’s something about Boogie worth investigating,” Jack said.
“I don’t really know at this point. But based on what Reggie’s sister Phyllis and Mrs. Keen told me, there’s reason to doubt Boogie’s integrity. On one hand, he is an effective sheriff. By that I mean, he usually catches the bad guy. The crime rate is lower in his county than in many others.”
“And on the other hand?” Jack asked.
Enid laughed. “He’s a chauvinist who loves to goad at me about my relationship with Josh. I don’t think he approves of me, for Josh, I mean.” Her smiled faded. “And he may have helped frame an innocent man, or at least looked the other way.”
“Granted, Boogie Waters is about as old-school as they come. But I’ve never heard of any serious scandal. Then again, I’m not from around here, so I missed some of the history, and I’ve never had a reason to investigate him.”
“It’s funny about Madden. Everyone here has been welcoming and friendly. But I do sense at times that I’ll always be an outsider,” Enid said.
Jack laughed. “Maybe that’s not all bad.”
“If you’re not busy, can you help me do some research on Boogie?”
“Sure. Anything in particular you’re looking for?”
“No, just poke around a bit.” She pulled up the copy of the photo on her phone that she had taken from the inn’s photo album. “I’d like to know who this woman is with Boogie.”
Jack took her phone and spread the photo with his fingers to enlarge it. “Could this be Phyllis?”
“Look at Boogie. He’s got to be at least twenty years younger in that picture. Phyllis isn’t old enough.”
“So let me get this straight. You want me to find anything on Sheriff Boogie Waters that you can use against him. Is that about it?”
Enid laughed. “Stop it. Just see what you can find out, and I’ll do some checking too. Then we can compare notes.”
“All kidding aside, I think you’re onto something. Let’s get to work.”
◆◆◆
Jack Johnson considered himself a blessed man. He had been married to a wonderful woman for many years before cancer claimed her. He had also had a storybook career. First as an investigative reporter at some of the country’s largest newspapers and now as the owner of a weekly newspaper that covered three counties. He also owned a horse ranch in “God’s country,” as he often called it, because it had some of the most serene and beautiful acreage around.
A couple years ago, Jack had taken in Rachel Anderson, a young woman with nowhere else to turn and no close relatives. She loved animals and had briefly planned to be a veterinarian. In exchange for Rachel’s taking care of the ranch on weekends and summers, Jack had paid her college tuition. After a year, though, Rachel realized her love of animals wasn’t enough to get her through the grueling biology classes. With Jack’s approval, she dropped out of school to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.
While Rachel worked at the ranch, she was great with the boarders—the horses and their owners. But then she and Pete at the Madden police station became friends, and he encouraged her to consider cyber forensics. Like Pete, she had a knack for coding, so eventually she grew restless filling oat buckets and mucking stables. Jack helped her search for a good school, and it was Theo who suggested she check out Boston University, near his home town. After an exploratory visit, Rachel enrolled, and Jack had to hire someone to handle the horses. He had tried out a few but still hadn’t found a true replacement for Rachel. He missed her, too, as she was the daughter he and his wife never had.
Another blessing in his life was Enid. They had hit it off as friends from the beginning, and at one point, he thought they might have a chance at a romantic relationship. He was a little older than she, but in all other ways, they were a perfect match. But, before anything serious happened between them, Enid fell for Josh. Not that Jack could blame her. Josh was closer to her age and handsome enough to be a model. If Jack had a son, he would want it to be someone with Josh’s qualities: kind, honest, and humble.
Jack and Enid had settled on having a deep friendship, that space somewhere between love and respect. She was strong—much more so than she gave herself credit for. And like Josh, Enid was also kind, honest, and humble—too much so at times. As a journalist, she had excellent instincts for honing into the truth, often at a high personal cost.
Jack forced his attention back to his search on Sheriff Waters, browsing all the articles he could find and making notes to share with Enid. Surprisingly, Boogie’s public life was nearly tarnish free. His old-school approach to law and order seemed to fit the county’s needs. But Jack wasn’t interested in Boogie’s public persona.
Two hours later, Jack took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes. Nothing but the usual stuff on Boogie. What he needed was a skilled research assistant. Jack glanced at his watch. Rachel would be out of class for the rest of the day. He decided to text her.
Jack: Miss U. Call when U can. Need a favor.
A few minutes later, his cell phone rang and Rachel’s smiling face appeared on his screen. “Hey, you,” he said. “How’s the future world’s-best forensic expert doing?”
For a few minutes, they caught up on family news, teachers, and dorm drama.
“I’m so glad you’re enjoying school,” Jack said. “I need to ask you a question. How can I find information on someone outside of the mainstream stuff? Legally, of course. No hacking.”
Jack filled Rachel in on Sheriff Bernard Waters, explaining that he was looking for any crack in the veneer—anything that might be worth checking further. “Now keep it legal. Promise?”
After the call ended, Jack thought about the brief infat-uation Rachel once had on a hacker with a codename Tommy Two. Tommy eventually left town, especially after the relationship started heating up. Jack hoped Rachel was no longer in contact with him, but he had to accept that she was a grown-up now with a mind of her own, and he trusted her to make the right decisions.
CHAPTER 18
When Enid received a call from Josh asking her to come to his office, she assumed it was an update on the bones. They had made a pact not to discuss business while they were together socially, so even though they had seen each other last night, nothing was mentioned about the investigation.
Walking into his office, the first thing she noticed was how tired he looked. Usually, his eyes sparkled when she walked in. Today, he seemed to avoid eye contact. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, just got a lot on my mind. Want a cup of tea while we talk?”
“No, thanks. Do you have something for me on the bones?”
Josh looked startled. “Bones? Oh, right. No, nothing yet. Boogie mentioned you had talked with him. I was a bit surprised.”
“You’re not the only lawman around. Maybe the best one, but not the only one.”
Josh ran his fingers through his dark mane. “Thanks. I guess.”
“What’s on your mind? I can tell something is bothering you.”
“We need to talk. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Enid was trying not to panic, but Josh’s behavior was alarming her. “Just tell me. What’s going on?”
“I’ve got to go back home, to New Mexico, for a while. Maybe a month or so.”
Enid sat down to control all the emotions and thoughts swirling in her head. “Is this about the story Cade is doing?”
Josh stood up and motioned for Enid to follow him. “I can’t do this here. I need to hold you. Come on.”
Confused, Enid put her notepad back in her tote and followed Josh to the front of the police station.
“Pete, I’m
going to be out for a little while. Try to handle anything that’s not an emergency.”
“Sure thing, Chief. No problem.”
Enid followed Josh out the door. “Let’s take your car,” Josh said. “I’ll drive.”
◆◆◆
Enid and Josh rode in silence during the drive to Glitter Lake Inn. When they arrived, he said, “Let’s go sit down by the lake.”
“You go on down. I just want to let Theo know we’re here. He might wonder what’s going on.”
Josh nodded.
A few minutes later, when Enid walked down the path to the bench by the water, Josh was sitting, slumped forward with his forearms resting on his legs and his face in his hands. When he heard her footsteps, he sat upright. “Hey, Babe.” He patted the bench. “Come sit beside me.”
Enid sat down and leaned her head against Josh’s shoulder, as she had done so many times. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke.
“I don’t mean to worry you. It’s just hard for me to find the right words. I have some unfinished business back home that I need to take care of.” He kissed the top of her head. “I know you have lots of questions, but please don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“I can’t help but worry.” She sat up and turned to look at him. “Can you understand that? If you don’t tell me what’s going on, it means you don’t trust me. That hurts.” She paused. “And you’ll force me to make up my own stories about what’s going on. You don’t have to tell me everything, but you’ve got to do better than just riding off into the sunset.”
Josh gently pulled her back into his arms. “Don’t you ever get tired of being right?”
Enid smiled. “Not really. And, by the way, I need to put something in the Tri-County Gazette about why the Madden police chief plans to disappear for a month.”
“I hadn’t really thought about a public statement, but I guess you’re right. Just keep it short. Tell them Pete will fill in, with assistance from Sheriff Bernard Waters, and that I’m taking accrued vacation time to handle some family business. How’s that?”
“You’ve already talked to Boogie about this?”
“Yes, why?”
Enid didn’t want to admit that she was hurt that Boogie knew more about what was going on with Josh than she did. “It’s nothing. I’ll get that in the next edition, assuming you’re leaving soon.”
“Tomorrow.”
Enid sighed. Josh was not one to procrastinate. That’s what made him good at tending to the needs of Madden’s citizens. “Now that we’ve got the official statement out of the way, what else can you tell me?”
“From the minute Cade showed up, I knew I’d have to face this moment.”
Enid’s mind was racing. “Are you saying that you did something wrong? Did you kill the man who shot your wife?”
Josh was quiet for what seemed like a long time, but it was actually only a few seconds. Funny how much a mind can fill in during that short amount of time.
“No, but I think I know who did.”
CHAPTER 19
Sitting down at the big farm table at Jack’s ranch with him brought back many good memories for Enid. Rachel was on Jack’s phone, and he had the speaker on. While none of them were biologically related, they had become a family. After briefly catching up on each other’s lives, Enid reached for her notepad and pen.
“I’m ready, Rachel. What did you find out?”
“Okay, here’s what I learned. Boogie isn’t clean, but he has managed to avoid any serious consequences.”
“What exactly do you mean?” Jack asked.
“He’s been accused of numerous bad-boy things like bribery, mistreatment of prisoners, even misappropriating taxpayer money. But he was never convicted or even tried for any of these, as far as I could find. And most of it was ten or more years ago. None of it recent. Each time something came up, the sheriff came off looking like he had done a good thing by cleaning up a mess. One person in an interview even said that, and I quote, ‘Sheriff Boogie Waters has his own methods of law enforcement, but he keeps this county safe. That’s what we pay him to do.’”
“Was Boogie ever married?”
Enid could hear Rachel flipping through her notes. “Yes, he was. Briefly, at least. But his wife died. That was a long time ago.”
“Any girlfriends?” Jack asked.
Rachel grinned. “Glad you asked. That was kinda interesting. You see, he allegedly dated a black woman. But it seems that was where the county drew the line. According to, let’s just say, some information I found—”
Jack interrupted, “You promised no hacking. Remember?”
“Let her go on,” Enid said. “I’m sure she wouldn’t do that.”
“As I was saying, Boogie allegedly dated a black woman who worked at the inn.”
Enid stopped rocking. “At the Glitter Lake Inn?”
“Yep.”
“Rachel, how you could have possibly found this . . .,” Jack began. “Never mind. Go on.”
“This woman worked for the owner. Of course, that was before Cassie inherited the inn. This woman Boogie dated practically ran the place. She cooked and managed the staff. Want to hear the best part?”
Enid and Jack exchanged glances, and Rachel continued before they could answer. “I found an out-of-state marriage record. He married this woman, and I found a birth certificate. They had a daughter.”
CHAPTER 20
Still reeling from Rachel’s revelations about Boogie’s second wife and a child, Enid sat in her office and put the finishing touches on the brief article about Police Chief Joshua Hart leaving town to handle a family matter. There wasn’t much crime in Madden, and Pete, for all of his youthful quirkiness, was a capable officer. More importantly, he wouldn’t hesitate to ask for help if he got into something over his head.
She uploaded the article, but she had already told Jack about Josh’s leaving. Since Jack didn’t seem surprised, she assumed Josh had already told him. If so, Jack didn’t mention it. Even though she and Jack were close friends, he usually steered away from talking about Josh with her.
After turning her attention to a few other assignments about community events, Enid glanced at the clock on the wall. Perhaps she would write an article about the disappearing wall clocks and analog watches. Recently, she had read where young people couldn’t even read the time on a traditional device. These days everything was digital. When someone had asked Jack why the old schoolroom-style clock was still hanging in the newspaper office, he quickly replied, “Because I like real clocks.” Nothing else was said on the matter.
Enid pulled out her notes from her interview with Phyllis. Her brother had been in a South Carolina prison, so Enid pulled up the incarcerated inmate search screen. She input Reggie’s name, and the results came back quickly. Reggie had been in the Lee Correctional Institute. A quick Google search revealed a number of articles about the facility. One reporter from Charleston had dubbed it as “the worst prison” in South Carolina. The fifteen-hundred-inmate facility had recently received a lot of media attention when seven men were killed and another seventeen were seriously injured during a prison riot. According to the Post and Courier’s article, the facility had a serious shortage of guards and was run by gangs.
Why would Reggie have been put in this particular prison when there were other options? It seemed like additional punishment. The site also showed any disciplinary actions against inmates. Reggie appeared to have had a clean record. The search screen also included a photo and physical description. Reggie was an attractive black man, but his eyes were those of someone without hope or purpose.
Enid decided to search for more information on Reggie’s trial. After a few minutes, she found an interesting article in the State newspaper, published two days after the guilty verdict was rendered.
Juror Now Regrets ‘Guilty’ Vote
COLUMBIA, SC—Lester Brown, a juror in a recent Bowman County murder trial, said during an interview he now regret
s his guilty vote against convicted killer Reginald Long. Long was on trial for the murder of his missing girlfriend, Angelina Peterson. According to Brown, he first argued to acquit the accused but then succumbed to fellow jurors after lengthy deliberations. When asked about the reasons for his doubt, he thought the evidence was insufficient to overcome “reasonable doubt” and that the sheriff’s office had rushed to convict Long without exploring other suspects. Long also said the victim’s sexually promiscuous habits were factors in the “hasty trial.” “It was like they put the woman who got killed on trial instead of her boyfriend, and he became guilty by association,” Brown said. Although Brown regrets his role in Long’s guilty verdict, he plans to make no further statements about Long’s trial. “What’s done is done,” he said.
Enid printed a copy of the article and put it in her folder. A quick search revealed twenty-seven people with the common name of Lester Brown in and around Columbia. Besides, there was no guarantee Brown was still in the state. She printed the list.
Starting at the top, she called each one until she had either talked to or left messages for each Lester Brown. Enid then looked in her contacts and called Phyllis.
“No, I don’t know who he is,” Phyllis said. “I remember that article, but he never contacted anyone in our family that I’m aware of. I’ll check around and see if anyone knows him.”
“Thanks, I’ll do some more checking, too,” Enid said.
The next call she made was to Madelyn Jensen. They made plans for lunch at the inn the following day.
Enid rubbed her eyes and temples. What did she hope to gain by talking with Brown? Were the bones at the inn even related to Reggie Long? There were too many questions and not enough answers.
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