by CP Smith
That was the million-dollar question.
“If he killed the others to cover his tracks then I doubt he poses a threat to anyone else, but I’m not taking any chances until I’m certain it’s him and what his motives are.”
Ty leaned forward and braced his arms on his knees. “What’s your next move?”
“I need evidence to present to the mayor before I tip my hand. Mac Macey told me Chance was headed to Twin Bridges yesterday afternoon before I was attacked. He said he had business but would be staying the night since he has a woman there. You got any idea who that might be?”
Ty blinked, surprised by the information. “News to me. He’s got business interests in a few ranches over by Twin Bridges and Virginia City, so he could have had a meeting. As for the woman, I bet someone in the Madison County Sheriff’s Department would know. You’re carrying a badge now, so you could make an inquiry.”
Logan glanced at his watch. “Feel like taking a ride with me?”
“I’ve got time. I finished up Gordon’s truck late last night and don’t have another coming in until tomorrow.”
“Let’s roll then.”
_______________
I’m not sure how Logan trained Max The Wonder Dog to be on guard at all times, but from the moment I stepped foot outside of my bedroom he’d stuck close. Even when I opened the bar, he’d gone in ahead of me with his nose to the ground and didn’t stop until he sniffed out every corner of the building. The amount of training the army must have invested in Max had to be staggering, and I made a note to google the specifics.
Logan stopped by the bar on his way out of town with strict orders not to leave until he returned. Normally, I would have balked at the order. I was an independent woman who could take care of herself, but I was also intelligent enough to know that watching my back, until this business with Chance was sorted, was the smart thing to do. So I hadn’t argued and locked the door behind him.
He was headed to check out Chance’s alibi for yesterday afternoon and to stop by the coroner’s office in Virginia City to see if they’d run a tox screen on Butch Johnson yet. None of us saw anyone on the ridge with Johnson, so if Chance were involved, I couldn’t see how Logan could prove it. Any of it, if truth be told.
Justice was presumably cremated, and Duke was missing with no evidence to point us in the direction of his killer. Rip was the only body that could tell the tale of whether foul play was involved, and with no witnesses to put Chance and Rip together at the time he died, his death wouldn’t provide any evidence against Chance either. All in all, if my brother had done what Logan suspected, it was the perfect crime so far.
I had paperwork littering my desk when I finally sat down after receiving the morning deliveries and talking to Kenzie about the carnival. I held my tongue, but it was hard not to confess to her what Logan suspected. My brothers and I weren’t the only ones who would suffer if Logan were right. Chace most of all. My nephew didn’t deserve the backlash that was sure to come.
I scanned the invoices in front of me and wondered if Logan proved Chance was a killer, if my days as the owner of Big Sky Saloon were numbered. After the show of support we’d received this week, would the town still feel the same about us?
With that depressing thought, I began paying bills and filing the invoices. I had a couple of hours before Rachel and David arrived, since we opened later on Mondays, so I planned to use my time organizing my desk. A chrome cell phone caught my eye beneath some of the papers, so I picked it up. Jamie, or whoever had lost it, must have turned it off because the battery was still charged after two days when I turned it on. With no other way to contact the owner, I scanned the call log and noticed there were five missed calls from the same number. I hit redial, but no one answered. Refusing to spend more time hunting down the owner, I left a message asking the caller to let the owner know where they could find their missing phone, then got to work cleaning my office. I needed the distraction from dead bodies and possible ruin.
I was lost in thought an hour later when I heard Jamie cooing to Max in the outer hallway. “Skye! This dog is eyeing my muffin like he hasn’t eaten in a week. Are you hungry, boy?”
Oh crap! I forgot to feed Max before we left.
“I’m the worst mother ever,” I mumbled, rising from my chair. When I stepped into the hallway, I caught Jamie feeding Max part of her muffin. “He needs more sustenance than that.”
“Then feed him.”
“I don’t have any dog food here. Can you take him for a walk so he can pee and then stop by the feed store and buy a bag for the bar?”
“Sure thing. You got a leash?”
I retrieved his leash and a twenty from my purse, handing them both to Jamie. A few moments later, I heard Jamie arguing with Max. “Come on you stubborn dog.”
“What’s the problem?” I called out.
“He won’t budge. He’s dug his heels in.”
“Logan commanded him to stay by my side,” I explained. “I bet you need to tell him to heel. He’s on guard until he gets further orders.”
Jamie stuck her head through my office door with a funny look on her face. “Explain how and why a dog would follow orders?”
“He’s a war dog. Trained by the military. He’s as much of a soldier as Logan was.”
“Huh.” She looked back at Max. “Heel, soldier.” Max appeared at her side, looking up for further instructions. “Now what?”
“He should follow you. I know when Josh says heel, Max keeps close to him wherever he goes.”
“You gonna come with me now?” she asked Max and took two steps away. He immediately changed position and sat at her side. Jamie giggled and took two more steps away. Max moved with her and she laughed again. “This is so cool,” she called out and kept moving. I listened to her footsteps and Max’s nails on the hardwood floor until they left the building, then got back to work.
Ten minutes later, I heard the front door open again and footsteps across the wood floor. I expected to find Jamie and Max standing in my doorway when the footsteps stopped outside my office door. Instead I found a man who looked vaguely familiar.
“Bar opens at two on Mondays. Sorry, but you’ll have to leave.”
The man didn’t seem to hear me because he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. The hair on the back of my neck began to rise when his mouth pulled into a sneer.
“You’re that bitch who threw beer on me.”
Warning bells rang loudly in my head. I remembered him now. Logan had pointed a gun at him after he’d made an aggressive move in my direction Saturday night. He was one of the ranch hands who’d gotten into a fight. His eyes were meaner now than they’d been that night, and a little glassy as if he’d been drinking all night.
My attention darted to the baseball bat I kept on hand to break up bar fights. It was leaning in the corner just out of his line of sight. When I looked back at the ranch hand, my intentions must have shown on my face, because he lunged at the same time I dove for the bat. I shoved the open door in his direction, giving me a few precious seconds to reach the weapon, but not long enough. Before I could raise it in self-defense, he backhanded me, ripping the bat from my hand as I went flying to the floor. I rolled to my knees quickly, shaking my head to clear it, and caught a boot in my ribs before I could move. Air escaped my lungs so violently that no sound came out. But the pain in my side was like nothing I’d experienced before. Fire burned through me as I tried to crawl to safety. If I could just reach my cell phone, I knew Logan would save me.
“Fucking cunt,” the man roared as I inched closer to my desk on shaking hands. “I’m gonna teach you a lesson you’ll never fucking forget,” he threatened, then brought the bat down on my hand.
The searing pain, as multiple bones shattered, closed off my vocal cords and I rolled to my back, clutching my shattered hand. Sweat clung to my body, dripped from my forehead as I tried to pull enough air into my lungs to scream. But the moment I opened my mouth to let
loose a call for help, the man straddled me and covered my mouth. Then he leaned in close to my ear, his rank breath suffocating me. He was intoxicated, just as I suspected.
“We’re gonna play first, then you’re gonna round up all the money you got in the place to pay me back for my losses. If you keep your mouth shut while I fuck you, I might let you live.”
Bile rose in my throat. He was going to kill me anyway. I knew that as well as I knew my name. I didn’t want my last moments in this life to be degrading and perverted. No man had ever touched me but Logan, and I would rather die fighting than change that. I wouldn’t allow him to sully the most beautiful thing I’ve experienced in my short life. I wouldn’t allow him to touch what only belonged to Logan.
My good hand shot between us when he rose and ripped the front of my shirt open. I raked my nails across his face, jamming my thumb into his eye socket with such force I heard a popping sound. When he howled in pain, clutching his eye, I tried to roll from beneath him. He was too heavy though, so I bucked and shouted as loud as I could before he brought both his hands to my throat and began to squeeze. I clawed at his hands, beat at his face, but nothing worked. Soon, dark patches began to invade my eyesight and I could feel myself slipping away. I focused on my brothers then, on Logan, and tried one last time to buck the man off. But he was just too strong. Too determined. As tears rolled from my eyes, a small smile pulled across my mouth as I stared up at my attacker. I’d dislocated his eye from its socket and blood was leaking down his face. At least Logan would have the evidence he needed to catch this killer.
As darkness began to pull me under, I whispered, “I’m sorry,” to the men in my life who would grieve me. At least I could leave this world knowing Logan would watch out for my brothers. They’d be fine eventually. All three of them. It broke my heart thinking about what they would have to endure, but at least they could lay me to rest with the knowledge that I’d fought to stay with them.
A light began to shine in the distance, and I turned my eyes toward it. It was peaceful and warm. And there was so much love pouring from it that I wanted to run toward it. But it was gone just as quickly as it appeared, and I drifted into nothingness to the sounds of vicious growls and cries of pain. Max The Wonder Dog had arrived.
Twenty-Three
Dickweed
LOGAN LOOKED OVER the coroner’s report for Butch Johnson. He had a blood alcohol level of point zero eight, so he’d had more than a few drinks. Add the livestock sedative, ketamine, to the mix and it’s no wonder the man walked off the ridge. He and Ty had spent close to an hour picking the coroner’s brain about Butch Johnson and Rip Jackson. He couldn’t prove either died suspiciously, so the cause of death would be listed as accidents. More dead ends.
“The coroner said ketamine is widely used on ranches. Do you have a lot of ranch hands who use it recreationally?”
“I’ve heard of a few overdoses,” Ty returned, leaning against Logan’s truck.
Frustration churned in his gut. If Butch Johnson’s death was indeed an accident, then why was Logan attacked when he tried to give notification? The puzzle pieces all pointed to Chance, no other explanation fit, yet he couldn’t prove a fucking thing.
Ty pointed to a log-framed building on the same lot as the coroner. “Sheriff’s department. You wanna ask about this so-called woman Bear sees?”
They were off Highway 287 just outside of Virginia City. The landscape rolled into the base of rocky mountaintops around the multiple buildings. Snow covered everything, but there were no other buildings or homes close by. Just like Ennis, Virginia City was a small town. One with no police force, so they depended on the sheriff for protection.
Logan glanced around the parking lot and found a single vehicle with the sheriff’s logo on the side. Ty had said they have a small force policing all of Madison County, and it looked like they were all gone but one.
“Duke said Justice Bear owned most of the law enforcement and judges in this county. What are the chances we’ll get a straight answer out of anyone in there?”
Ty didn’t blink an eye at the allegation, which told Logan everyone knew Justice Bear had the county in his hip pocket. “Less than one percent.”
“Then I’ll change tactics. I’m looking for Bear to give notification. Maybe they’ve seen him around or know where he is. Friendly like, rather than accusatory. Just one of the boys like they are.”
Ty studied Logan a moment before answering. “Turns you stomach, doesn’t it? After putting your life on the line for ten years to have those in authority bought and paid for by filth.”
Yeah it turned Logan’s stomach to have to play games. He used to be on a team that helped overthrow corrupt governments. He was proud of his time in the military. Proud of the work he’d done. Proud to have put his life on the line for the people of this country, so having no power to take down corrupt officers and politicians burned hot through his veins.
“Yeah,” Logan bit out through clenched teeth.
Both men turned and headed to the front entrance of the sheriff’s department as the county coroner pulled out with a wave to them both. The log building looked more like a vacation rental than the heart of law enforcement for Madison County. Once inside, they found a mostly bald man in his middle fifties on the phone. He barely looked at them as he raked a hand through his hair looking agitated and on alert, so Logan scanned the area until his attention caught on a bulletin board. There were several alerts posted to the corkboard. Stolen vehicles, missing animals, but the one that caught his attention was a double homicide in Twin Bridges. A mother and daughter who lived together in the small town had died by blunt force trauma on the same day Justice Bear had died. According to the bulletin there was no motive found for the murders. Time of death was between 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. An itch began to worm its way down his spine, just like it had when Logan had stared at the burned out mortuary. There were fewer than nine thousand people in Madison County and in less than a week’s time there had been seven murders.
Eleanor and Eloise Carter had lived together in a small nondescript house in Twin Bridges. Eleanor appeared to be in her seventies and Eloise, mid-fifties. They were the picture of innocence with wide smiles and attractive yet plain faces. They looked like they attended church twice weekly and knitted sweaters on their front porch, waving at their neighbors as they walked past.
Logan looked at the date again and tried to remember the order of events for that day. He’d met Skylar on the side of the road around seven in the morning. He helped her open the bar at noon then Kenzie arrived an hour later. They were holed up in Skylar’s office a good two hours before Chance made his entrance. That put Chance in Ennis between three and four in the afternoon. Skylar reported that Chance paid Kenzie a visit that night, standing in her front yard to scare her for trying to stop his bid to destroy the James siblings. Logan needed to talk with Kenzie. If Chance showed up during the window of death, then he’d know whether this case was related.
Logan reached for his phone in his hip pocket and found it missing. He’d turned it off while speaking with the coroner and must have laid it down while inside.
“Do me a favor and take a picture of this bulletin, I left my phone in the coroner’s office.”
Ty glanced at the alert and his brows pulled together as he took a picture. “I think I know that woman.”
Logan had been heading for the door to retrieve his phone but stopped and turned back just as the officer hung up one phone and picked up another line ringing nonstop. He tuned out the deputy as his voice grew tense and focused on Ty. “You know her?”
Ty nodded. “It’s been a few years. When I was a kid. I’d seen her around town.”
“Could she be connected to Justice or Chance Bear?”
Ty hesitated before answering, but Logan missed his first word because the harassed deputy was barking out an order to get to Ennis on an assault call at Big Sky Saloon. One dead and one injured female en route to the hospital by Life Flight.
Logan bolted from the station and headed to the coroner’s office with Ty trailing behind him, with his phone to his ear. The door was locked when he got there, so he raised his foot and kicked it open. His cell was sitting on a desk. When he turned it on to call Skylar, there were ten missed calls from Jamie in the past thirty minutes. And five missed calls from the mayor.
The female victim had been Life Flighted to Bozeman . . . Life Flighted. Christ Jesus, please don’t let her die.
His hand shook as he hit redial. He would never forgive himself for leaving her side. He’d calculated wrong. Thought Max would be enough of a deterrent for Bear if he got close.
Jamie answered on the first ring. She was shrieking so loudly he couldn’t understand a fucking thing she said, so he roared, “Jamie!” down the line so she’d stop. When she was silent, he swallowed and asked the one question he needed answered. “How bad is she?”
On a shuddered breath she destroyed Logan’s hard-fought control. “Bad. Oh, God, Logan, they stuck a tube down her throat so she could breathe. He strangled her and broke her hand. Jared said . . . he thinks she’ll live, but he’s not certain about oxygen deprivation. Her throat swelled from being strangled close to death and he doesn’t know . . . doesn’t know how long she went without oxygen. If she lives, she could be brain damaged or worse.”
Logan’s knees gave way and he sank to them with his head bowed as Jamie cried in his ear. “Who did this to her?” the question was strangled. He could barely speak. He knew the answer, but he wanted it confirmed so he could hunt down Bear and kill him with his bare hands.
“One of the guys from Saturday night. That drunken brawl you and Ty broke up. Max ripped out his throat after Skylar blinded one of his eyes.” Jamie hiccupped through tears. “He bled to death before paramedics could arrive, Logan. There’s blood everywhere.”
Logan was shocked silent, but a blurry image of the man he’d drawn his weapon on popped into his head. Not Chance Bear, but some unknown and unforeseen danger to Skylar instead. He remembered the man had leered at her before Logan had stepped in. He should have seen it coming. Should have known. Bile rose in his throat and he silently prayed to God she hadn’t been violated on top of everything else.