Hermit's Peak

by Michael McGarrity

  “Maybe ten or a little later.”

  “Which way was the pickup traveling?”

  “Toward their ranch. They were in a hurry. Driving fast. I think maybe Bernardo was by himself and late getting to work. His uncle doesn’t let him drive that way when he’s around.”

  “Did you see any other vehicles on the road?”

  “No. This is not a place where people go driving, except for the town kids who want to drink away from their parents’ eyes. But they don’t come out here much until the weather gets warmer. Did you find the owner of the car?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I hope he’s not injured up in one of those canyons,” Marcelo said. “We’ve got bear, mountain lions, and coyotes out here that will take down a sick or crippled animal very quickly. We lose stock to them every year. If he’s hurt, he could be in big trouble.”

  Gabe turned away from Marcelo. “Thanks for talking to me.”

  “Sure.”

  Gabe walked past Kerney, his face pale, his mouth drawn in a hard line.

  Kerney gave Marcelo a business card, asked him to call if he remembered anything else, and joined Gabe in his unit.

  “Did you get any of that?” Gabe asked as he backed up and started down the ranch road.

  “I got it all.”

  “Let’s go get Bernardo,” Gabe said.

  “Not yet.”

  “What more do you want, for chrissake? We got Bernardo calling Orlando at home, and a witness who puts Bernardo in the immediate vicinity an hour before Orlando’s car was discovered.”

  “I want the same thing you do, Gabe. But first we find out what everybody working the case has uncovered.”

  “My son could be out there hurt or dead.”

  “I know how you feel.”

  “No, you don’t know. You just think you know.”

  Kerney’s call sign came over the radio. He picked up the microphone and responded.

  “Go to secure channel,” the dispatcher said.

  Kerney switched over.

  Garduno came on the horn. “Our subject has eluded surveillance.”

  “When did it happen?”

  “At twelve hundred hours.”

  “Where?”

  “The Rough Rider Bar.”

  “Bring Thorpe in and have him stand by.”

  “He’s standing by.”

  “Swarm the city with every available officer,” Kerney said. “I want that subject found.”

  “We’re already looking. Nothing so far. Stop and detain, Chief?”

  “Negative. Locate and follow only. Morfin gets the call as soon as the subject has been spotted.”

  “Ten-four.”

  “Anything from search and rescue?” Kerney asked.

  “No sign of any campers in the canyons. The dogs are out and the team is still looking. They’ll shut it down at nightfall.”

  “Ten-four.” Kerney’s head hit the roof as Gabe gunned the unit over the flagstone outcropping. “We’re on our way back.”

  “This is bullshit,” Gabe said as he spun the wheel and made the last turn before the county road. “For chrissake, tell Garduno to pick Bernardo up. We’ve got enough to hold him for questioning.”

  The unit hit a series of bowling ball-size rocks and Gabe fought the wheel to keep control. The ruined undercarriage jolted Kerney’s head into the roof again.

  “We do it my way, or you go home,” Kerney said.

  • • •

  One block over from Jessica Varela’s apartment, Bernardo waited in his truck until the lunch hour ended and students were hurrying out of their apartments headed to afternoon classes. He walked down the alley between the two streets, past the detached garages at the back of the lots. He stopped, pushed against the side door to the garage in Jessica’s backyard, and stepped inside. Except for some old garden tools, a rusty green push lawn mower, and several cardboard boxes, the garage was empty. A small window facing the back porch of the house let in a shaft of light. The garage and the window would give Bernardo a perfect hiding place and vantage point.

  He left the garage and continued down the alley, watching and listening for dogs. On his past visits he’d seen only one, a young puppy kept on a leash in the front yard at a corner house. It was far enough away from Jessica’s apartment for Bernardo to easily avoid it. But he wanted to be completely sure he hadn’t overlooked any other dogs that could draw attention to him. He heard no barking as he walked, and saw no evidence of animals kept in the yards.

  The alley wasn’t used much. Weeds, leaves, and small branches from backyard trees carpeted the lane and there was no evidence of recent tire tracks. Bernardo figured only meter readers and utility trucks used the alley.

  He didn’t see anybody outside, but a few backyard windows were open and he could hear the sounds of music every now and then. Since just about everybody in the neighborhood attended the university, Bernardo guessed some students were home studying or kicking back after morning classes.

  He ran over his plan as he walked to the truck. The only access to Jessica’s apartment was through the front door that led to the ground floor apartment and a staircase to the second story. He would have no trouble getting into the building. During his tour of the empty apartment with the property management dude, he’d unlocked the back door and unlatched a kitchen window. Once inside, breaking into Jessica’s apartment would be no sweat. Her apartment door had been hung with the hinges on the exterior side. All he had to do was pop off the hinges and he’d be in. Then he’d rehang the door and be waiting when Jessica got back from her night class.

  Bernardo had given the man from the property management company a fictitious name and a story that he was moving to town from Santa Fe to attend summer school and looking for a place to rent. If the cops questioned him it would be enough to throw them off.

  He lit a cigarette and drove away, wondering what he would do to Jessica after she got home. There were so many options to consider. But he had all day to decide. The thought struck him that Jessica’s long blonde hair would be a trophy worth keeping.

  • • •

  Russell Thorpe stopped talking and sat on the edge of his chair in the conference room with his knees locked together, looking like an overgrown, burly schoolboy who’d been sent to the principal’s office.

  He didn’t know which made him feel worse, blowing his assignment or lying about it with a lame story about how a beer delivery truck had blocked his view of the bar just long enough to allow Bernardo to leave unnoticed.

  Russell kept his gaze fixed on the wall behind the four men sitting across the conference table and waited for the ax to fall.

  Captain Garduno consulted the notes he’d made while Russell had been talking. “What exactly happened at the vacant apartment?”

  Russell blinked and met Garduno’s hard stare. “Like I said, Bernardo met this man from a property management firm. They were inside the apartment for maybe five minutes. When they came out, they talked briefly, the man gave Bernardo his card, and then left. Bernardo threw the card away. I guess he didn’t like the place.”

  Kerney read the name on the business card. “Aside from Ruth Pino and this Chuck Beasly, did Bernardo talk to anyone else?”

  “Not as far as I know, Chief. He may have when he was in the bar.”

  “He didn’t stop to take a piss or make a phone call?” Art Garcia asked.

  “No, Sergeant.”

  “So, Bernardo went directly from the hardware store to the ranch supply store, to the mesa, and then met with Beasly at the apartment,” Gabe said.

  “That’s right, Lieutenant.”

  “Did he buy anything at the hardware store?” Gabe asked.

  “I didn’t see him walk out carrying anything,” Russell said.

  “That’s strange,” Kerney said. “How long was Bernardo waiting for the hardware store to open?”

  “Ten, fifteen minutes.”

  “You don’t wait for a store to open, go in, and b
uy nothing,” Art Garcia said.

  “Maybe they didn’t have what he needed,” Russell suggested.

  “Maybe,” Gabe said.

  Kerney looked at Gabe. “We’ll follow up with Beasly and the hardware store.”

  Gabe nodded.

  “That’s all, Thorpe,” Garduno said.

  Russell stood up. “Where do you want me, Captain?”

  “Out looking for Bernardo.”

  “Don’t leave until I talk to you, Thorpe,” Kerney said flatly. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Kerney waited to speak until the door closed behind Thorpe. “Do we have anything from the field?” he asked Garduno.

  “With the exception of Gabe, the teller at the bank, and the burger joint manager, so far nobody has seen or talked to Orlando since yesterday morning.”

  “What about the student who called and asked to borrow Orlando’s class notes?”

  Garduno consulted his paperwork. “We’ve talked to every student enrolled in Orlando’s classes. No one admitted to making any such call.”

  “So the only verified early-morning call to Orlando we’ve got is from Bernardo.”

  “That’s right, Chief.”

  “Do we have Kerri Crombie covered?”

  “We’ve got her buttoned down,” Garduno said. “The ADA has been calling. She wants a meeting with Gabe ASAP. Otherwise she’s going to release Santistevan and Alarid.”

  “Let them walk,” Gabe said. “We can arrest them again later.”

  Kerney switched his attention to Art Garcia. “Can you handle the meeting with the ADA?”

  “No problem, Chief.”

  Kerney got to his feet and looked at Gabe. “I’ll meet you at your unit.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Outside the conference room, Kerney found a nervous Russell Thorpe waiting for him. He led the young man to Garduno’s office, closed the door, and searched Thorpe’s face.

  “You fell asleep on duty, didn’t you?”

  Russell blushed and nodded. “I tried not to.”

  “It happens to every officer at least once,” Kerney said. “Most are lucky and don’t get caught.”

  “Are you going to fire me, Chief?”

  “No. But if you ever lie to me or any other supervisor again, you’ll be driving that imaginary beer truck that stopped outside the bar. Do I make myself clear?”

  Russell gulped. “Yes, sir.”

  “Go to work.”

  Outside, Gabe’s unit was missing from the parking lot. Kerney checked with the dispatcher, who said Gonzales wasn’t on the air, and found Garduno in his office.

  “Gabe took off,” he said. “I need a vehicle.”

  “Take my unit.” Garduno tossed Kerney his keys. “Go easy on him, Chief. He’s a good man.”

  “I know that.”

  • • •

  Chuck Beasly looked at the photograph. He wore a genial smile that seemed permanently fixed on his face. He ran his hand through his thinning hair and nodded.

  “That’s the kid,” he said to the state police lieutenant. “He called yesterday to set up the appointment. I showed him the place this morning, but he didn’t take it. I don’t know why, it’s a nice unit. Maybe he couldn’t afford it.”

  “Did he tell you anything about himself?” Gabe asked.

  “Just that he was moving up from Santa Fe to go to summer school at the university.”

  “What name did he give you?”

  Beasly flipped a page back on his desk calendar and ran his finger down a list of names. “Salazar. Ben Salazar.”

  “How many tenants are in the building?”

  “Just one. It’s a duplex converted from a two-story home. A young woman has the upstairs unit. She goes to the university part-time.”

  “Her name?”

  “Jessica Varela.”

  The name didn’t ring any bells for Gabe, nor did it match with any of the people Chief Kerney had interviewed. “Was she at home when you showed the apartment?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “What did Barela do while he was inside?”

  “Is that his real name? The usual. He opened doors, looked at the backyard, checked the appliances. I gave him my standard pitch about the place. Told him it would probably rent fast and if he didn’t grab it, he’d lose it.”

  “Was he interested?”

  “I thought so, at first. He wanted to know if I was showing it to anyone else anytime soon. I told him a young couple would be looking at it this evening. He even asked me what time I was showing it.”

  “When are you showing it?”

  “Six-thirty.”

  “Thanks.”

  Beasly walked to the office door with the lieutenant. As the officer got to his car, another police vehicle drove up and a man in civilian clothes got out. The uniformed cop froze at the side of his squad car. The guy in civvies limped to the lieutenant and started talking. The lieutenant waved a finger in the man’s face and poked him hard in the chest, his face red with anger.

  For a minute, Beasly thought the men were going to start fighting. But when the cop in civvies pushed the finger away from his chest and said something, the lieutenant backed down.

  Beasly watched the two men get into the lieutenant’s vehicle and leave, wondering what the fuck that was all about.

  • • •

  In front of the hardware store, Gabe killed the engine and set the brake. Kerney could have pulled his shield and weapon for any number of reasons, including insubordination and conduct unbecoming an officer. Poking the chief in the chest and calling him a stupid son of a bitch outside of Beasly’s office had been a dumb thing to do.

  Gabe turned and looked Kerney in the eye. “Sorry, Chief. I was way out of line. I’ve been acting half-crazy.”

  Kerney studied the mounted antelope in the store window, a centerpiece display for the chain saws arranged on tree stumps and wood logs at the animal’s feet.

  “You have cause,” Kerney said. “No apology necessary. Let it slide.”

  “Did you jump on Thorpe for lying about how he lost Bernardo?”

  “I read him out royally. He stays on the job.”

  “He’s a good kid.” Gabe shook his head. “Jesus, cops. We’re a crazy bunch, aren’t we?”

  “Sometimes we are.”

  Inside the store, rows of caps and hats were hung on lines that ran above the center aisle, and cattle brands burned into wood boards were nailed to the walls above the shelves.

  “Yeah, Bernardo was in this morning checking on something at the order desk,” the manager said.

  In his early thirties, the man looked impatient and not at all happy to have cops in the store distracting his customers.

  “Who did he speak to?” Gabe asked.

  “Jessica talked to him.”

  Gabe glanced at the young woman standing behind the center aisle order counter. She was blonde and very Anglo looking. “Where is Jessica now?”

  “That’s her at the desk.”

  “Is her last name Varela?”

  “You got it.”

  “Can you relieve her for a few minutes and give us a place where we can talk?” Kerney asked.

  “Sure. Use the break room in the back. I’ll have Jessica meet you there.”

  Just off the receiving dock, the break room doubled as a storage room for excess inventory. Jessica Varela entered and pushed some strands of hair away from her face.

  “What’s this all about?” Her voice carried a childlike quality.

  “You spoke to Bernardo Barela this morning,” Kerney said.

  “I don’t know why he came in.” Jessica kept her head slightly lowered and gave Kerney a sidelong, timid look. “He knew the fence post driver he’d ordered wouldn’t get here for another ten days. I told him that earlier in the week.”

  “Did he talk to you about anything else?” Kerney asked.

  “He always tries to talk to me. I don’t mi
nd it if I’m not busy.”

  “What did he talk about?” Gabe asked.

  “This morning?”

  “Yes.”

  “Silly stuff. He wanted to know if I liked to study and do homework with other students in my classes.”

  “He knows you go to the university?” Kerney asked.

  “Sure.”

  “What else does he know about you?” Gabe asked.

  “That I’m divorced and that I moved up here from Albuquerque. How old I am. That’s about it.”

  “Has he tried to date you?” Kerney asked.

  Jessica shook her head and her long hair covered one eye. “I think he’d like to, but he hasn’t asked. I’d turn him down anyway. He’s too young and I’m not interested in dating. After what I’ve been through, men aren’t very popular with me right now.”

  “What, exactly, did you tell him about your study habits?”

  “Just that I like to study alone, and with my job and school and all I don’t have a lot of time to socialize and stuff.”

  “Did you mention there was an apartment for rent in your building?” Gabe asked.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “He didn’t ask?”

  “Why should he? He doesn’t know where I live.”

  “Have you ever seen Bernardo away from the store?” Kerney asked.

  “No, just here. Did Bernardo do something wrong?”

  “What time do you get off work?” Gabe said.

  “Today? At five. Then I go straight to the library and study before my classes.”

  “What time do you get home from classes?” Kerney asked.

  “Nine-thirty. You’re scaring me with these questions. What’s going on?”

  “We think Bernardo is a stalker,” Kerney said.

  “And he’s stalking me?” Jessica’s voice quivered.

  “Possibly.”

  “What should I do?”

  “Keep to your normal routine,” Gabe said. “We’ll be watching Bernardo.”

  “What about me? Who’ll be protecting me?”

  “There will be a plainclothes officer following you when you leave work,” Kerney said. “You’ll be under constant observation.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until the situation is resolved. I’d like to take a look inside your apartment.”

  “What for?”

  “To make sure Bernardo hasn’t been there.”