Shadow Canyon

by Vickie McKeehan

  “I owe you an apology. I was pissed after Grandma’s talk. Saturday night I took Nova out for dinner. Afterward I persuaded her to stop by the Duck & Rum for one drink. I knew you’d be there. I was hoping to confront you because I was still bitter about my dad. Our dad. I kept throwing back tequila. Nova suspected what I was up to, especially when you went up on stage. She knew I was waiting to have it out with you. Nova tried to get me to leave with her then. But I wouldn’t listen. When we were sitting at the bar, I started spouting off to her. She said I was dead set on making a scene, embarrassing her, so she finally got fed up and left me there to stew. Our night out turned into an almost-divorce situation. I love my family. My kids mean everything to me. Nova said if I didn’t come over here and apologize she’d pack up the kids and move back in with her mother on the Rez. I don’t want that, so here I am. What do I need to do to make this right?”

  Gemma pulled him through the doorway. “Your apology is enough. Look, I just want to get to know you. That’s all. Is that such a bad idea?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Good. Because I’ve never had a brother before. I’d like to know what that’s like before we start fighting with each other. I’m sure we’ll have disagreements over the years, but…I’d like to be your friend.”

  “I could live with that.”

  “Okay then. Because I don’t want your grandmother’s money. My Gram left this place to me. I have a roof over my head, a business, a job I enjoy. Plus, I’m in love. To tell you the truth my life is better than it’s been in years. I don’t need Paloma’s money. It’s all yours when that time comes. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen for twenty years yet. Your grandmother is well aware that my Gram took care of me in her will. That’s why I reminded her that she should take care of you the same way. It’s not about Paloma’s money. It’s about what she holds in her heart. That’s my heritage, the one I didn’t know anything about until my mother decided to be honest for once in her life.”

  “It was mean of me to say all that. I’m sorry I did it in such a horrible way.”

  “It’s okay. Half the town thinks I’m a witch. I doubt you said anything that equaled that. How about some tea? I made a pitcher, added lavender and honey to it. It’s good. You should try some.”

  “So you aren’t still mad at me?”

  “I was never mad at you, Van. And even though I mentioned to Paloma I might look into changing my name to Coyote, I wouldn’t---not if it meant embarrassing you in any way. I would never do that unless you said it was okay first.”

  Van lifted a shoulder. “Thanks for that. But he was as much your dad as he was mine. I won’t stand in your way if that’s what you want.”

  She looped her arm through his. “Thank you. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet. We could sit down together and discuss it with Paloma. She’s offered me your sister’s piano. How would you feel about me taking it?”

  “It’s gathering dust in Grandma’s living room. If that’s what she wants, I’m fine with you taking it off her hands. I’m pretty sure seeing it there every day makes her sad. And my kids aren’t interested in playing the thing.” Van blew out a nervous breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I should probably text Nova that we’re okay now. Otherwise, she might be gone before I get back.”

  “She wasn’t really serious about that, was she?”

  Van took out his cell phone. “I don’t know. When Nova makes up her mind about something, she usually means it. She’s the one who told me not to waste my money on the betting pool at Greendeer’s place.”

  “What betting pool?”

  Van twisted up his mouth. “I’ve gone and stepped in it now.” Over iced tea and vanilla cookies with chocolate glaze, he told her about how the betting pool worked. “Bettors around town were supposed to pick a date and time for when you and Lando would break up for good. Everyone seemed to think it would happen soon. They kept expecting a big blowup between you two every Saturday night that would surely end it all. For some people it was great fun. They wanted to be there to see it happen firsthand. Greendeer was in on it, right there behind the bar, holding the cash, which I’m told has reached almost two thousand dollars. Not a small pool when you think about it. But Nova said you guys looked awful happy up there on stage and I shouldn’t waste my money with it. She thought it was a stupid thing to do.”

  Gemma’s anger rose in her throat, but she tried to tamp it down. If Louise’s witch rumors hurt, hearing about the betting pool was the ultimate slap in the face. “Does Lando know about this?”

  “No idea. I don’t think so. No one was supposed to let the cat out of the bag. Don’t tell Greendeer it was me, okay?”

  “Your secret’s safe with me. But I’m not promising what Lando’s gonna do to Greendeer when he hears about this. What a rotten thing to do.”

  To prove that point, after Van left, Gemma decided she needed to tell Lando about it in person to measure his reaction against hers. She was so furious she needed to walk off her anger anyway. She clicked the leash to Rufus’s collar and headed out the door.

  She didn’t get far. Two steps away from the flower bed, the vision stopped her in her tracks. The scene next to the fountain was like a play where all the actors knew their lines well and played their parts like professionals.

  Five people stood before her, all wearing ski masks and pointing AK-47s at either her or the house, she wasn’t sure which. They were all swearing, cussing, yelling instructions, and roaring out a sting of orders. She heard gunfire, rounds and rounds went off as glass shattered.

  It was so real she glanced back to see if the weapons had hit their mark and destroyed all the stained glass above the front door. But there was no damage at all. Windows were intact. No bullet holes, no breakage, no broken glass scattered on the cobblestone walkway. Nothing was out of place.

  When she turned back toward the fountain, the five people were no longer there.

  Shaken, she plopped down on the bench next to the cairn. “What did I just see? Think. They had their faces covered for a reason. What were they so upset about? And what were they shooting at?”

  She noticed Rufus staring at her like she was a crazy person. “I’m all right, really I am. Don’t look at me like that. I just witnessed something horrific, but I have no idea what it means. Just give me a minute. I’ll be all right. I will. And then we’ll go see Lando at his office.”

  But she was still shaky when she got to her feet. The walk to the police station was on wobbly footing and still-trembling legs. Payce must’ve noticed something was off because he immediately stood up from behind the desk where Louise usually sat.

  “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I don’t know. I think maybe I did. Is Lando here?”

  “Yep. Studying crime scene photos in his office. That’s all he does these days.”

  She wasn’t sure she could hold up to seeing Mallory’s dead body again. In fact, she wasn’t even sure she should mention the crazy thing she’d just seen. After all, she didn’t even know where or if it fit into the case at all.

  The walk down the hallway seemed to take forever, as if she had to tread through molasses to get there. Rufus seemed to understand and pulled her through the thick of it.

  Lando seemed to sense something was amiss because the door to his office opened before she could knock. “Are you okay?”

  The question brought her back to the reason she was there. “Not really. Did you know Adam Greendeer is running a betting pool, speculating on when we’ll break up? According to Van, people all over town are betting against us. That’s why we’ve had so many people showing up on Saturday nights. They want to be there to see it all go down, the big fight that leads to the big break up. They want to see it happen in person.”

  “What? I thought Van wasn’t speaking to you.”

  “He came by to apologize. Nova made him. We’re cool now.”

  “So your brother gives up Greendeer’s money-making s
cheme? Because I know he’s bound to be taking a cut.”

  “Do you realize we went up on stage and people have been…?”

  “Laughing at us? Yeah, I get that.”

  “How long do you suppose this has been going on? We should do something to get back at Greendeer. But what?”

  “We should plan something really devious.”

  “Like a pretend breakup in a very public place,” Gemma suggested. “You don’t think our friends knew about it, do you?”

  “Should we feel them out or just plain ask them?”

  “If we ask outright then they’d know we were faking the breakup. That would lessen the revenge somewhat. Come on, what am I saying? I don’t believe for a minute Lianne or Leia would bet against us like that, not Luke or Zeb either. Look, it might’ve been my idea to fake it, but I don’t want to pretend to break up, not for anyone, not even for revenge.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “Then what do we do? Because I’m not singing for Greendeer ever again.”

  “Maybe that’s it. We don’t have a contract or anything on paper. Fortitude is free to perform anywhere we want. We just won’t show up next Saturday night.”

  “Oh, no. Adam needs to know why. And he needs to get your band’s name off his marquee like…right now.”

  “Agreed. Want to come with me?”

  “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss the look on his face when we tell him. Let’s go.”

  On the ride to the bar, Gemma prodded. “You’ve been super distracted lately. What gives?”

  “I can’t locate Louise’s personnel file. I searched every drawer in my file cabinet. Hers is the only folder missing. Then I went down to the basement where we keep the old records. I spent two hours hunting through every old carton I could find just in case it had been misplaced. Then I poked through a storage room filled with more boxes. I came to one very disturbing conclusion. Louise’s personnel file hasn’t been lost, it’s been obliterated. It isn’t anywhere in the building. It’s gone on purpose. I suspect she took it for a reason.”

  “Which means she’s hiding something.”

  “Zeb and I have been digging into her background. Her credit file begins when she arrives in town. That stuff Rima mentioned about how Louise showed up here at the age of nineteen is mysteriously accurate. Zeb’s been prodding more information out of his mom, trying to pick her brain about what she remembers. It’s as if Louise Rawlins never existed until she arrived here.”

  “Did you check to see if she had any connection to Marshall Montalvo?”

  Lando’s eyes widened. “That’s an interesting road to follow.”

  “Since Montalvo pretty much owned Reiner Caulfield, who’s to say he didn’t have a great deal of influence over Louise---chief of police and dispatcher---working with Montalvo.”

  Lando pulled the cruiser into the almost-empty parking lot of the Duck & Rum. “What’s the plan? I say we threaten to take our act over to Bodie’s Outpost.”

  Gemma made a face. “That’s not exactly our kind of crowd, music-wise. They like their Country and Western old-school, leftover from the sixties. I suppose I could practice my Patsy Cline. But no one sings like Patsy so I’m sure it’d be a major disappointment. I might be able to do a few Dolly Parton cover songs. And you’d have to…”

  “Listen to you. Greendeer wouldn’t know we’d be bluffing.”

  “Why are we bluffing, though? I mean this guy took bets behind the bar about us ending our relationship. Adam’s holding the money, money that people gave him in the hope they were guessing the exact date that we’d split up. That’s cold, Lando. Cold.”

  “Then I guess we end our association with this place and Greendeer.”

  As he reached to open the car door, Gemma grabbed his hand. “There’s always us putting together a new venue. We could open our own place.”

  “You’re looking at six months to get a liquor license. Minimum. Do you really want people listening to us when they’re sober?”

  “Ouch. That’ll put a ding in my ego, however accurate. Then we have to teach Adam Greendeer a lesson about betting against us.”

  “Agreed.” Lando let himself into a hall of empty tables. He spotted Adam sitting at the bar going over his books.

  “Hey, what brings you guys by this early in the day?”

  “Deceit,” Gemma uttered between clenched teeth.

  “Is it true you’ve been running a betting pool about us breaking up?” Lando began. He saw the answer in Adam’s eyes. “That’s what I thought. We just came by to tell you to get another act for Saturday nights. We’re done.”

  “Now wait a minute, don’t be so hasty. I’ll give you guys a raise if you stay put.”

  Gemma folded her arms across her chest ready to do battle. “No deal. We know now we can’t trust you…about anything.”

  “Look, it was all in fun. What my customers do is none of my business as long as I don’t catch them doing anything illegal on the premises. I’m a live and let live kind of bar owner. The clientele is here to drink and have a good time. You guys provided the good time, the good-natured fun.”

  “You took money and bet against us,” Gemma continued.

  “The pool wasn’t even my idea. Harry Ashcomb came up with it.”

  “Harry? Why would the pharmacist take an interest in whether we broke up or not? What does it matter to him?”

  “It was a joke,” Adam said, trying again. “It doesn’t mean anybody is laughing at you guys.”

  “It kinda sounds that way to us,” Gemma explained. “Put yourself in our shoes.”

  “Okay, okay. Would you stay here if I told you something about Mallory that might help ID her killer?”

  Lando narrowed his gaze. “Greendeer, are you telling me you have information and haven’t mentioned it before now? And you’re only doing it because we’re threatening to leave? I’ve known you how long? Why would you do that?”

  “Because I don’t want to get mixed up in all this just like I didn’t want to get involved with all those women going missing back in May.”

  “I’m seeing another side of you, Greendeer. I don’t like it. All this time I thought you were an upstanding kind of guy. You’re the one who helped me ID Rance McIntire by his American Express card. But right now, I’m with Gemma on this. I can’t bring the band in here every Saturday night knowing you’re so reluctant to do the right thing unless you’re backed into a corner with no options.”

  Desperate now to save his entertainment from walking, Adam blurted out what he’d been keeping to himself. “Denise Coolidge saw Dale with Mallory the night she was murdered. There. Now you know.”

  “Dale Hooper?”

  “Yeah. Dale your patrol officer. Now, will you reconsider?”

  “We’ll think about it,” Lando said as he stormed toward the door.

  15

  “There’s probably a completely innocent explanation,” Gemma drawled as she followed Lando outside.

  “Then why the hell didn’t he mention it to me when I asked about his relationship with Mallory? If it meant nothing he should’ve been up front,” Lando grumbled as he scooted behind the wheel.

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure he had a reason. You should probably calm down before talking to him.”

  “Oh, I don’t intend to go banging on his door in the middle of the day without getting more information. Nope. I’ll wait until he goes on duty tonight and catch him unaware. While he’s sitting at the dispatch desk, I’ll talk to him then. He’ll be closer to a jail cell.”

  “Ouch. That’s sneaky.”

  He cut his eyes to her. “Like someone else I know. Want me to drop you at the shop?”

  “Sure. Where are you headed?”

  “Someone has to ask Denise Coolidge about what she saw the night Mallory was murdered.”

  “Wait. I’ve changed my mind. Instead of taking me to work, now’s a good time to look over that Jane Doe file you wanted me to read.”

  “No
w? I really wanted to be with you when you went through that.”

  “I guess it can wait then. Something’s been bothering me about that conversation I overheard…when Dale was on his cell. If you feel this strongly about confronting Dale, you need to look into his cell phone records and see who he was talking to that night at Mallory’s house.”

  “Good idea. If I don’t kill him first.”

  “Lando, you’ve known Dale all your life. Dale didn’t kill Mallory.”

  “Then what’s he hiding?”

  “Maybe he’s into something he can’t get out of, maybe he’s in over his head.”

  “He could’ve come to me any time with a problem. He knows that.”

  Gemma rolled her eyes at that. “Sometimes…how shall I put this? You can be a tad difficult to talk to.”

  He pulled the cruiser to the side of the road and angled in his seat to stare at her. “Is that why you go behind my back most of the time? Because I’m so difficult to talk to?”

  “I go behind your back because you’re stubborn and so am I. There’s stuff I feel strongly about doing and…let’s face it…you try to tell me what to do. We’re like two opposing sides butting heads. I think we’re getting better…other than that misstep I took going into Mallory’s house.”

  “Going? Really? Call it what it is. Breaking and entering, theft, and then pretending the next morning that everything was just fine.”

  “I said it was a misstep on my part. The truth is I don’t think you’re a team player. You like everything to go your way.”

  “Don’t turn this on me. You admit what you did was wrong. I’m in the middle of a very sticky murder investigation where I’ve called out the victim’s mother trying to protect you.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. I get caught up. Maybe that’s what’s happened to Dale.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t look at Dale as a friend as long as he’s holding back. If he won’t come clean about Mallory I can’t help him unless he’s honest with me. Look, I acknowledge I might possibly be hard to talk to at times, but in my defense, I’m the one who’s ultimately responsible for catching the bad guys. It’s on me if Mallory’s killer goes free.”