Shadow Canyon

by Vickie McKeehan

  “Jesus.” Lando grabbed his jeans and stretched on a T-shirt over his head. He sat back down on the bed to tie his tennis shoes. “You didn’t touch anything, did you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Did Rufus?”

  “No.”

  “Stay here.”

  “No way. I have to show you where she is.”

  “Right. Like I won’t be able to find a dead body by myself near the channel. Okay. Come on. The dog stays, though.” He opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out a flashlight, then grabbed his service weapon, a powerful Colt Commander.

  They jogged back to where Mallory’s body rested in the basin, a small inlet between two competing riptides. Gemma stood back several feet while Lando charged ahead, studying the corpse.

  He saw right away that Mallory’s pretty face was purple and swollen, proof she’d been in a fight.

  Without moving from her spot, Gemma pointed downward. “There are bruises on the front of her neck and throat. I don’t think she drowned.”

  “She didn’t. Here, hold the flashlight.”

  “That means I have to get closer, doesn’t it?”

  Lando rolled his eyes and squatted down next to the body to take pictures with his phone. Adding several critical shots to the camera roll, he tried to turn the body over and look underneath. He saw nothing but sand. “Who the hell took her clothes?”

  “Get a picture of her hands,” Gemma suggested. “Her usual manicured, pristine fingernails are all broken off like she’s been in a fight.”

  “Yeah. A fight for her life that she lost,” Lando murmured. He stood up and punched in the number for Payce’s house. “I need you at my house pronto, the strand along the beach. And don’t use dispatch. If you have to call me back for any reason, call me directly on my cell.”

  “What’s up?” Payce asked.

  “Dead body. It’s Mallory Rawlins.”

  “Oh, my God. Louise is gonna be devastated.”

  “Yeah. That’s why you need to get out here and bring the good camera we use for crime scenes. I’ll need you to secure the scene and wait for the coroner to show up while I go wake up Louise. Not that he’ll get here before I get back. But I can’t leave Gemma out here to guard the body.”

  “Jeez, Chief. What’s Gemma doing there?”

  “She found the body.”

  “I’ll throw my clothes on and be there in fifteen minutes. I don’t envy you none, Chief. Louise will be…pissed.”

  “Don’t say anything to anyone, Payce. Not yet. Not until we do the notifications by the book.”

  “Got it, Chief.”

  Lando ended the call and stared at Gemma. “You know there’s bound to be talk since you found the body.”

  “I already thought of that. But I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night to take my dog for a walk and bump into Mallory and decide to take her down on the beach.”

  “I know that,” Lando snapped. “But I can’t stop people from talking. Everyone in town knows you two didn’t get along.”

  “Yeah. Well, save your breath. You’ll need it to convince Louise. Because it won’t matter to her. She’ll use this as a rallying cry against the shop.”

  The thought of informing his surly dispatcher about her only daughter’s death had Lando rubbing his forehead, already beginning to pound from a nasty headache. “Count on Louise to raise holy hell and interfere with this investigation every step of the way.”

  “Okay, so you’ll step up your game because I don’t see you letting that happen, not if you set her straight right up front.”

  “I’ll do what I can, but don’t be surprised by mid-morning if she has half the town pitted against the other.”

  Gemma noticed Lando punching in another number on speed dial. “Who are you calling now?”

  “Luke. He’s my go-to guy who’ll be able to give me a heads up about how long she’s been dead. So far, he’s two for two.”

  Gemma rested her hands on her hips and stared over at Mallory’s body. “Another murder so soon after the others. This town’s changing, Lando, and not in a good way.”

  2

  As Lando expected, Louise Rawlins, the woman who’d worked as police dispatcher for more than twenty-five years, took the news hard. She cried for ten minutes or so and then recovered enough to start pointing fingers at Mallory’s enemies. First on that list was no surprise. “Your ex-wife hated my daughter. Gemma should be your number one suspect.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, Louise, but Gemma was with me all night.”

  “Isn’t that convenient? If that’s true, then how do you explain her finding the body?”

  “She took her dog out to pee around two-thirty. From what I saw, Mallory had been dead at least four hours. I’m certain the medical examiner will back me up on that.”

  Louise bit her lip. “You’re certain Gemma didn’t do this to my baby girl?”

  Holly Dowell appeared at the bottom of the stairs, wearing her robe, tears in her eyes. “Our baby girl,” Holly corrected.

  Landon knew the history between the two sisters. Holly had been Mallory’s birth mother. At the time an eighteen-year-old girl who had big dreams of becoming an actress. Louise had showed up in Los Angeles to take care of Holly after the birth but ended up bringing the baby back to Coyote Wells to raise as her own.

  Lando wasn’t about to stir up whatever animosity existed so he put all that history aside for now. “I’m positive Gemma isn’t the one who killed your daughter. Mallory put up a fight. And that’s all the information you’re getting. From this point going forward, you’re on paid leave.”

  “You’re suspending me? You can’t do that.”

  “I just did. You aren’t suspended; you’re on paid leave. Huge difference.” Lando pointed a finger at his dispatcher. “I don’t want you anywhere near this investigation. And I don’t want you going around town pointing fingers at people. Do we understand each other?”

  Louise narrowed her eyes. “You can’t stop me from…”

  That’s as far as Lando let her get. “I will stop you from running your mouth and interfering in my investigation. You do that, and you’ll end up looking for another job. Plus, I’ll arrest you for obstructing justice. I’m sympathetic to your emotional state right about now, but I won’t put up with innuendos and harassment. You’ll let me do this investigation by the book or I’ll find out the reason why. Are we clear?”

  Louise patted her face with a tissue and nodded. “You’ll at least keep me informed.”

  “I will not. I’ll share what I can, but I won’t jeopardize this investigation in any way. It should take the coroner a few days to finish his findings. You’ll be given the high points. But anything I need to keep from the public will also be kept from you.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “I’m truly sorry for your loss. I am. But I have a job to do. If finding Mallory’s killer means I won’t be able to pass along everything I learn to you, then so be it. Look, I have to get back. If there’s anything you need, you let any of us at the department know.”

  “I need to know who killed Mallory,” Louise shouted as her boss turned to go.

  At the door, Lando stopped and turned back. “Why don’t you make me a list of everyone who had a falling out with Mallory in, say, the last thirty days? Had she been dating anyone new?”

  Holly cleared her throat. “She’d started a relationship with Billy Gafford about two weeks ago. He owns a cabin out on Lone Coyote Highway.”

  “I know the place. Okay, thanks, I’ll start with the boyfriend.”

  By the time Lando arrived back at the beach, it was almost daylight. The sun peeked over the mountains to the east. He found his senior patrol officer, Payce Davis, and Jimmy Fox, having a difficult time shielding Mallory’s body from onlookers.

  “Louise and Holly must’ve started making phone calls the minute I left,” Lando grumbled.

  “Did you get anything out of Louise?” Jimmy wondered.
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  “You mean besides a hard time? Were you aware Mallory had started dating Billy Gafford?”

  Jimmy and Payce traded looks. Payce bobbed his head. “Go ahead. You tell him.”

  Lando squinted into the sun. “Tell me what.”

  Jimmy looked none too pleased. “Dale had a date with Mallory last week.”

  “Well, damn,” Lando groused. “I don’t suppose there’s another Dale Hooper who’s not on the force.”

  “Sorry, Chief,” Jimmy began. “Dale said Mallory kept asking him out…several times before he said yes.”

  “He couldn’t have said no? This just keeps getting more awful by the hour. One of my cops involved with the victim. Louise already blaming Gemma. This is gonna get messy real fast. What else do I need to know? Either of you guys go near Mallory?”

  Payce looked horror-stricken. “Not me. My wife would have my head. It’s a small town, though,” he pointed out. “I mean it’s not like single people have a lot of options.”

  “Not helping,” Lando grunted with an eye toward several of Louise’s friends he’d spotted, inching their way closer to where the body still waited for the coroner. “I’m putting a stop to this. Now.”

  Lando herded the nosy busybodies onto the far end of the beach. Some had even brought their pets as an excuse to walk their dogs.

  “You can’t be here,” Lando began. “Turn around now and go home. Fix breakfast, have a second cup of coffee, whatever, but don’t plan on camping out near this crime scene again with the intent to report back to Louise.”

  The sheepish look fifty-five-year-old Claude Mayweather gave the chief of police meant he didn’t like getting caught without succeeding at recon. “We just wanted to see for ourselves, Chief, see what was what. But your boys over there are blocking us from seeing anything.”

  “That’s the point, Claude. Now move along before I arrest you for refusing to leave a crime scene. This place is off limits until the medical examiner shows up, maybe longer.”

  Claude picked up the chihuahua he called Peanut and raised his chin. “Louise is one of our oldest and dearest friends. What are we supposed to tell her?”

  “Tell her the truth. Tell her I ran all of you off the minute I spotted you hanging around here. And if I see you back any time today lurking near this spot, you’ll be spending the night in a cell. Is that clear enough for you?”

  “We’re going,” Janet Delgado grumbled, tugging on the leash of her black and white terrier. “Anybody ever tell you how mean you’ve gotten lately, Lando Bonner?”

  “You have no idea how mean I can get, Mrs. Delgado. But keep standing where you are, and you’ll easily find out.”

  “I’m telling your mother. Lydia will hear about this,” Janet promised as she shuffled off down the winding pathway. “Come on, Claude. Let’s go. Chief Bonner has no intention of letting us see what happened to Mallory.”

  Claude gave Lando the evil eye as he lumbered past the police chief. “You’re up for reelection next spring.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Lando huffed under his breath while he exchanged looks with Payce and Jimmy. “See what’s already happening? Sometimes I hate this job.”

  “No you don’t,” Jimmy asserted. “You love being in charge.”

  “And you’re a lot better at it than Caulfield ever was,” Payce added. “My wife thinks so, too.”

  “Yeah, but it’s times like these I wonder what the hell is going on with our town and the people in it. You guys make sure they don’t come back to gawk. I’m heading in the house to get us some coffee. I don’t want anyone getting a look at Mallory like that.”

  “You got it, Chief.”

  Inside Lando’s kitchen, Gemma and Luke were still trying to recover from the shock. She stared at the doctor from the other side of the table. Even though she’d had coffee---she’d started a second pot---the caffeine didn’t help much. Finding Mallory dead would stay with her for some time.

  “So you think she died between ten and eleven o’clock last night.”

  “That’s my best guess, yeah. What I can’t figure out is how she got dumped on the beach without any clothes on.”

  “And practically right in front of Lando’s house,” Gemma added. “He’s taking that pretty hard.”

  “Because it might’ve been on purpose.”

  “You mean like sending a message?”

  Luke patted her hand to keep her from getting worked up. “It’s probably just a coincidence.”

  “Lando doesn’t believe in coincidences.”

  “I know. Before he headed to Louise’s house, I’ve never seen him so mad. I had to threaten to drive just to calm him down enough to deliver the news.”

  Gemma rested her fist under her chin. “Louise will be taking to the streets to find the killer.”

  Luke, whose face looked just like his brother’s minus the dimple in the chin, shook his head. “Uh-uh. Lando will never stand for that. He’ll kick her off the force if she even tries to conduct her own investigation.”

  “We’ll see about that. I’d better load up a Thermos and take the fresh pot of coffee over to the guys. I know Lando jumped out of bed without so much as a shot of caffeine.”

  “Right now, he’s running on pure adrenaline.”

  “I’ll throw together an egg sandwich for him, too,” Gemma said, getting up to dig in the refrigerator. “Want one?”

  “Nah. I need to be getting home so I can take a shower and then head off to work. Nothing like the smell of a dead body to put off patients, not to mention Lianne.”

  “How’s that going anyway? With Lianne?”

  “She’s amazing. We have a lot in common, which is hard to find these days.”

  The front door opened, and she heard Lando stomping the sand off his shoes before tracking the dirt onto the hardwood floor.

  “Hey, I was just getting ready to make you breakfast and bring you some coffee.”

  “Not sure I can hold down food. But my head is aching for caffeine.”

  Gemma took hold of his shoulders and pushed him into a chair. “How did Louise take it?”

  “Like you’d expect. She’s a hard-nosed woman, always has been. Did you know Mallory was going out with Billy Gafford? And last week she had a date with Dale.”

  Gemma frowned into her coffee. “Dale? Those two have nothing in common. But it’s odd that whenever we have trouble around here, like say the last month or so, Gafford’s name keeps popping up.”

  Luke rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been in town that long and doesn’t like other people. Gafford is about as antisocial as they come.”

  “Which has my cop instincts working overtime,” Lando noted. “Why does a guy like that pick little ol’ Coyote Wells to settle down in the first place? With so many other coastal communities out there, why here?”

  “We do offer a beautiful, quiet, scenic place to live,” Gemma proffered. “But to a guy like Gafford, he seems to prefer his solitude.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t make sense,” Luke said. “If he feels that strongly about keeping to himself, then why date a local in the first place? Gafford would have to know that the town would get wind of him going out with her. Word would spread eventually.”

  Gemma wasn’t so sure. “Not if the two of them were really careful. Maybe they really clicked with one another.”

  “Has anybody ever really clicked with Mallory?” Lando wondered aloud. “Think about it. In all the years we’ve known her she’s not exactly the type to stay with one man.”

  Luke stood up to leave. “There’s a first time for everything. Maybe Mallory fell hard for Gafford and he didn’t want…complications. It happens all the time.”

  Gemma nodded and sipped her coffee. “I could see that. Gafford likes his space. Mallory pushes him to make a commitment he didn’t want. She was moving too fast. Not everyone gets on the same page as fast as you and Lianne did.”

  Luke grinned. “Yeah. It just…when it feel
s right, it’s like everything lining up for once. Look, I gotta get out of here and get to work. Let me know if you guys need anything else.”

  Gemma sighed. “This isn’t exactly the way I wanted to start out the week. Mallory and I certainly didn’t like each other, but I can’t believe she’s dead, ending up like that…in such a violent way.”

  “As soon as the coroner arrives, I’ll have to check inside Mallory’s house, interview my own patrol officer, and then go track down Gafford.”

  “Why talk to Dale?”

  Lando took a slug of coffee. “Because I was informed earlier that he went out with Mallory on a date last week.”

  “That certainly puts the kibosh on the theory that Mallory was serious about Gafford.”

  “Mallory has never been serious about anyone that I know of, that was my point.”

  “No argument there. One date hardly amounts to homicide, though. Dale just isn’t the killer type.”

  “I’ve been doing this a long time. You’d be surprised how easy it is for the average person to lose control enough to murder someone.”

  Gemma pursed her lips. “I still say it’s not in Dale to do that, even to someone like Mallory. My money’s on Gafford. Do you know where he works? All I know is he’s a construction worker. That’s what he told me anyway.”

  “You talked to Gafford? When did you two cross paths? Did he come into the shop?”

  She’d walked right into that one. “Okay. Here’s the deal. When I was looking into Gram’s murder back in May, I went out to visit Duff Northcutt. You remember Duff, right? He owns that spread near the bend in the road. You know, lives in a house that looks like a barn.”

  “I know the one. But that still doesn’t tell me what Duff has to do with Billy Gafford.”

  “Duff told me that Billy bullied him several times after moving into his cabin. Billy’s standoffish, yes, but not afraid to get into a neighbor’s face when he’s threatened. You might get Duff to tell you why exactly. Duff wouldn’t tell me. Maybe it’s a prideful guy thing. Anyway, all I know is Gafford threatened him.”

  “Threatened him over what? How serious was it?”

  “That’s just it, I don’t know. But that’s why Duff keeps his shotgun nearby, just in case.”