Atonement

by Michael Kerr

  “What does that mean?”

  “You know what it means. If Ray is telling the truth, then she has had some kind of accident, and is too injured to use her cell phone. We didn’t have a lot of snow through the night, so there’s no reason to assume she got lost. Worst case scenario, she was walking on the wrong road at the wrong time, and someone lifted her.”

  Clifton hung his head and just stared into his cup for a minute. When he looked back up he asked Logan, “What did you mean when you said ‘if I was investigating this’?”

  “I used to be a cop,” Logan said.

  “And you’ve dealt with stuff like this?”

  “Yeah, Clifton, I was a homicide detective.”

  “Will you help me…and Ray, if we need it?”

  Logan went over to the counter and filled up his cup from the coffeepot. He didn’t want to get involved. Was ready to move on, and was positive that the local law would resolve the case. “Phone the lawyer,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye on how the sheriff proceeds with this. But if your son has nothing to hide it should all work out.”

  “Thanks,” Clifton said as he got up and walked over to the wall mounted phone and picked up the receiver as he ran a finger down a list of numbers pinned to a cork wallboard next to it. He punched up a number, and after three rings it was answered.

  “Kate Donner.”

  “Hi, Kate,” Clifton said. “Did you hear about Tanya Foster?”

  “It’s a small town, Clifton, and I’m the only lawyer here. I hear about everything. What’s the problem?”

  “They just took Ray in for questioning, and I don’t want him there without representation. Can you go and check that it’s being handled right?”

  “Are you hiring me?”

  “Yes, I guess I am.”

  “Okay, so tell me what you know; everything. And then I’ll go across and let the sheriff know that Ray is as of now my client.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Take a seat, Ray,” Sheriff Lyle Bumgarner said, pointing to a chair as he closed the door of an interview room situated at the rear of the small brownstone building that housed the Sheriff’s Department.

  Ray sat where directed at the other side of a metal table that was bolted to the cement floor. He was trembling, afraid for Tanya, and for himself. Guilt was eating at him, but he hadn’t done anything, so was easy about talking to the sheriff, who he’d known all his life.

  “Okay, son,” Lyle said, turning the only other chair in the room round and sitting with his legs either side of the back of it, which he rested his arms on top of. “Like we discussed at your house, we have the makings of a serious state of affairs here. So I want to give you some kindly advice from the get-go, before you say anything that could wind up turning around like a mean old dog and biting you in the ass.”

  “I’ve told you everything I know, Sheriff,” Ray said. “I have no idea where Tanya is.”

  “Let’s go over it. But first I need a cup of coffee. You want some?”

  Ray nodded. His mouth felt as dry as chalk.

  “I’ll be back in five,” Lyle said. “Think over what went down last night, before we get to a statement from you. And bear in mind that once it’s signed it will be an official document.”

  Ray sat and gathered his thoughts. Tried to think where Tanya might have gone, but couldn’t. Maybe she had left the highway to cut through the woods to knock a mile off the walk, especially if she’d thought he would follow her and try to make things right between them. She could’ve fallen and broken a leg, or worse. He just didn’t know.

  Lyle left him to sweat for twenty minutes. Spent the time arranging for the PT Cruiser to be picked up from the motel and brought back to the fenced-in compound at the rear of the building. There were deputies out searching for the girl, and even a local mountain rescue team. He hoped that they would find her unharmed, but had a bad feeling. Gut instinct told him that she was in serious trouble, maybe even deceased.

  “Before this gets to be put down on paper, I want you to tell me all about last night again in your own words,” Lyle said as he set the two paper cups full of black coffee on the tabletop.

  “We drove over to a cookout at Manitou Springs,” Ray said. “Left around nine and set off home. I admit I’d had a few beers. And…and I was feeling kinda horny. I pulled into the trail that leads to the Carver place and parked up. Tanya got a little…very pissed with me. We argued, and she got out of the car and set off for town on foot. I was going to give it a few minutes and then go after her, but I fell asleep.”

  “Hold it right there, Ray”, Lyle said. “Have a mouthful of coffee, and then you can fill in a few details for me.”

  Ray took a sip of the coffee, it was gritty and weak. He screwed up his face.

  “I know, the vending machine should be ripped off the wall, taken out back and thrown in the dumpster,” Lyle said. “So, to sum up, you parked off-road, got carried away, and being as how you were loaded and feeling frisky, you attempted to do more than Tanya was willing to. Right?”

  “Maybe I came on to her a little strong,” Ray said.

  “And you didn’t want to take no for an answer, so you pushed it. Is that what happened?”

  Ray nodded. “I was being dumb. I lost my cool and slapped her.”

  Lyle picked up his cup, swirled it round and drained it. Waited over twenty seconds and let the silence unnerve Ray. “What else did you do to her, son? Tell me.”

  Ray stood up quick, knocking the chair over. “I didn’t do anything else to her,” he said in a loud voice. “She got out of the car and stormed off.”

  “Sit the fuck back down, now,” Lyle said in a quiet but menacing tone of voice.

  Ray picked up the chair and did as he was told.

  “You’ve got a quick temper, son.” Lyle said, turning as the door was knocked and then opened by Carl Purvis, one of his deputies.

  “I need a word, boss,” Carl said. He was frowning.

  Lyle got up and left the room. Closed the door and walked along the corridor until he was sure they were out of earshot. “Spit it out, Carl. What’s the problem?”

  “Kate Donner is out front, asking to see you. Says that she wants to talk to her client.”

  “What client?”

  “Ray Marshall.”

  “Shit, that’s all I need. Okay, show her through to my office. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Lyle went back to the interview room. Said to Ray, “You’ve admitted driving under the influence, son, and of having assaulted your girlfriend, who is now missing. Think hard and long about the position you’re in. If you’re holding anything back, then be aware that as sure as night follows day I’ll find out. If something bad went down, and it was an accident, you need to fess up before you dig a deeper hole than you’re already in.”

  Lyle went to the men’s room for a leak and then rinsed his hands and face before going to his office. Kate Donner was standing by the window, looking out at the mountains that were visible over the rooftops on Main Street. Lyle liked her. She was a good looking and intelligent woman, and had a sense of humor.

  “Hi, Kate,” Lyle said. “How does a cup of coffee sound.”

  “Sounds good to me, as long as it isn’t from that machine in the corridor that pumps out something that the Surgeon General would outlaw.”

  Lyle smiled and went over to his own coffeemaker, which was wheezing industriously on a file cabinet. He filled two mugs and set them on his desk.

  “So you have a client that has not been charged with any crime at the present time,” Lyle said, sitting down and gesturing for Kate to take the weight off.

  Kate sat down and carefully crossed her legs, careful not to do a Sharon Stone, even though she was suitably clothed beneath the knee-length skirt of her charcoal-gray power suit.

  “Ray’s only eighteen, Lyle. And his father is obviously concerned that he has been taken in for questioning.”

  “He voluntarily came down here to give a stat
ement. He was the last person to see Tanya Foster.”

  “He told you that they had words and that she got out of the vehicle and walked away.”

  “And vanished off the face of the earth, Kate. Everyone that knows her has been contacted, and my take on it is that if she was okay she would have used her cell to make a call.”

  “So you suspect foul play, and Ray is a person of interest, correct?”

  “I’m not ruling anything out. The kid has – of his own free will –already admitted to being drunk, and to assaulting her. My concern is the girl’s wellbeing.”

  “I’d like to see him, Lyle, if you have no objection.”

  “No problem. But like I said, he is currently no more than a person that we need to take a statement from. As a courtesy, you can go and talk to him, but I’ll still need to take an official statement from him before we kick him loose.”

  “Thanks. How are Barbara and the girls?”

  “Just fine Kate. We took the RV over to Echo Lake for a few days last week. Made a nice change to chill and be out of uniform for a while.”

  After a little small talk, Lyle walked Kate back to the interview room and left her with Ray.

  Ray stood up and gave Kate a weak smile. “Hi, Ms. Donner,” he said. “Did my dad send you to see me?”

  Kate sat down opposite him. “Yes, Ray. I need for you to tell me everything. Because if anything has happened to Tanya, you will be a prime suspect.”

  “I promise I didn’t do anything to her, Ms. Donner. She got out of the car and walked away, and I swear that’s the last I saw of her.”

  Kate studied his expression, his eyes, and his body language, and as he started to sob, she went to him and patted his shoulder. “I believe you, Ray,” she said. And she meant it.

  Logan pulled on a parka. Got directions from Clifton to the location where Ray had said he’d parked up off the two-way blacktop, and borrowed Clifton’s pickup to go and take a look at the lie of the land. He knew that there would be police at the scene, but did not let that concern him. He had made the decision that he would investigate, and so was now involved and committed to finding out what had gone down, should the girl remain missing or turn up dead.

  Parking on the verge a couple of hundred yards from where he could see a cruiser sideways on, blocking the trail, Logan climbed out of the truck and ambled up to it.

  “Help you?” a deputy said, climbing out of the vehicle and approaching him, his intense gaze taking in Logan’s features and appearance in general.

  “Doubt it,” Logan said as he looked past the cop, up the trail to where he could see several more cops spread out, moving slowly, working a grid pattern as they searched. It was obvious that they were looking for a body. They had already decided that the chances of finding Tanya alive were against the odds. It was a small town. Outlying properties had already been checked, although it went without saying that if the girl had had an accident and made her way to the nearest house, farm or ranch, then the police would have got a phone call.

  “Just who might you be, sir?” Deputy Earl Dempsey said.

  “Just a concerned citizen,” Logan said.

  “Your name,” Earl pushed. He was just a little disconcerted by the stranger. The guy was six-three or four, maybe two-hundred fifty pounds, and none of it appeared to be fat. He used full eye contact, and was already standing inside what Earl considered to be his space, within arms’ length. But Earl had no intention of backing up.

  “I’m Logan. Staying at the Pinetop Motel. Clifton Marshall and his son are worried over Tanya going missing.”

  “And so you thought you’d come out here and see how we were doing. Right?”

  “That’s about the size of it.”

  “Well thank you for your concern, Mr. Logan, but I’d appreciate it if you went back to your car and left the scene.”

  “You mean scene as in crime scene?”

  “Ah, no, I didn’t say that.”

  “But that’s how it sounded. Do you think that the Marshall boy has murdered Tanya?”

  “Jesus! We’re looking for a missing teenage girl, and…I have nothing further to say on the matter. I suggest you go back to the motel and leave this to us, Mr. Logan.”

  Logan said nothing. Just stared at the deputy for a few more seconds, then turned and headed back to the pickup. He had made up his mind that Tanya Foster had been abducted on the highway, or murdered by Ray or an unknown person. And he knew that the sheriff would be thinking the same, and would initially be looking at Ray Marshall as his only suspect.

  Driving back to the Pinetop, Logan decided that until something broke, there was nothing he could do.

  “Anything?” Clifton said, approaching the pickup when Logan got back and parked at the front of the house.

  Logan shook his head. “There are cops searching the area around where Ray and the girl were parked up.”

  “What do you think happened?” Clifton said.

  “Nothing good,” Logan said. “This isn’t somewhere like New York City that people can vanish in of their own choosing. And I don’t think that Tanya had any plan to run away from home, which means that she didn’t make it back to town because she couldn’t.”

  “The lawyer phoned me.” Clifton said. “Told me that Ray is giving the sheriff an official statement, and then he’ll be free to come home.”

  Logan had been back in his room for less than ten minutes when Clifton knocked on the door. He looked ashen. Had bad news written all over his face.

  “What?” Logan said.

  “They found Tanya. She…she’s dead. The sheriff is holding Ray for questioning. And they say that drugs were found in his car. This is turning into a fucking nightmare, Logan.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Logan drove Clifton into town to meet with Kate Donner, because the man seemed in no fit state to get behind the wheel.

  “I’ll be in the diner up the street,” Logan said, parking the pickup in a slot outside the hardware store, above which was located the office of the only lawyer in town.

  “I’d be obliged if you sat in on this, Logan,” Clifton said. “I’d like you to hear what she knows firsthand. Will you do that for me?”

  Logan followed him up the narrow staircase. There was a short landing at the top with a door facing them. The upper half of the door was a frosted glass panel with K. DONNER ESQUIRE in gold leaf on it.

  “Come in,” Kate said when Clifton knocked lightly on the glass.

  They walked in to a room that was a little small for the desk, chairs and filing cabinets that crowded it. “Take a seat, Clifton,” Kate said as she stood up to greet them. “And tell me who this is you’ve got in tow.”

  “This is Logan,” Clifton said. “He’s a friend and knows all about what is happening.”

  “Then Mr. Logan knows a lot more than the sheriff or I do,” Kate said. “What interest do you have in this?” she said, directing the question to Logan.

  “You heard the man; I’m a friend, which makes me an interested party. And it’s just Logan. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Donner.”

  Logan gave her a small smile and put his hand out. Noted a lot about her without taking his eyes off hers. And her eyes were almost violet, like the actress Liz Taylor’s had been. Kate Donner looked to be in her mid-thirties, about five-nine, and her hair cascaded onto her shoulders in mahogany drifts. The dark power suit looked a little shiny, but did not detract from the slim and almost beautiful woman that wore it. No wedding band. Clear varnish on short, manicured nails. No obvious downside, but as he was all too well aware, looks could be skin deep.

  Kate shook the proffered hand. Was surprised at how big it was, and noted the numerous white scars on the tanned knuckles. The man seemed to fill her office. He was very tall and powerfully built, with a craggy face and short mid-brown hair that had a little gray at the temples, which was the same color as his eyes. She guessed that he was in his late forties.

  “Okay Mr―”


  “Just Logan.”

  “Right, Logan. I find this a little unusual, but if Clifton is happy to discuss this in front of you, I see no legal reason not to.”

  Kate offered them coffee. Clifton shook his head. Logan accepted.

  “Your son, Ray, is at this moment in time and by his own admission guilty of drink driving and being in possession of an illegal substance,” Kate said to Clifton. “And all that is penny ante when faced with the fact that he is now a murder suspect.”

  “Ray wouldn’t have harmed Tanya,” Clifton said. “He thought the world of the girl.”

  “I’ve spoken to Ray,” Kate said. “He swears to God that she walked away from the car and that he then fell asleep or probably passed out.”

  “Do you believe him?” Logan asked her.

  “For what it’s worth, yes. He seems to be genuinely bemused and distressed.”

  “So what’s the official line?”

  “Humor me, Logan,” Kate said. “Just who are you?”

  “Just a concerned third party.”

  “Bullshit! You act like a cop, or a private investigator. And you’re not local.”

  “I’m an ex-cop,” Logan said. “I’d much rather just get on with being who I am now, but Clifton asked me to look at this, so here we are.”

  Kate took a pack of cigarettes from a desk drawer and fired one up.

  “They’ll kill you,” Logan said.

  “Probably, but I keep it to five a day. And life kills us all eventually, whether we smoke or not.”

  Logan smiled. Her take on it was one he shared.

  “Officially, what I know at the moment is very little,” Kate said. “Tanya’s body was found between where Ray had parked up and the ruin of the Carver house. Until there has been an autopsy, we won’t get spit from the sheriff. Unofficially, from a police source, she was strangled. And that is all I know.”

  Clifton lowered his head and cupped it in his hands.

  “Was anything taken from her?” Logan said.

  Kate shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of. They recovered her purse and cell phone at the scene.”