Nick Permeter should be here in a minute, I thought, so I set about getting ready for him. I knew Nick probably didn’t sleep alone, being married and all, but what wife wouldn’t give their husband an alibi? Unless she was pissed at him. And if I was married to the likes of Nick Permeter, I’d be pissed all the time.
I got started on some paperwork and didn’t realize that time was passing until Emmett stuck his head in the door. ‘Jasmine back yet with Nick Permeter?’
I looked at the clock. It was after two. I got up and walked out to the bullpen. No Jasmine.
‘Ah, I already looked,’ Emmett said.
‘Anna, get on the radio and find out Jasmine’s ETA,’ I said.
Which Anna did. There was no reply from Jasmine.
‘Her radio working OK?’ I asked the room in general.
‘She never said it wasn’t,’ Emmett said.
‘Try her again,’ I said to Anna.
She did. No reply.
‘Milt,’ Emmett said with a touch of fear in his voice.
‘OK, she was headed to Nick Permeter’s house. Out on Ranch Road two-forty. We’ll head that way. Come on.’
Emmett and I hurried out to a squad car, jumped in, turned on the siren and floored it out of town. Ranch Road 240 hadn’t been deiced and I had to slow the squad down as it skidded and swerved. It was a rarely traveled road that led to only two farms before it circled back to Highway Five. Halfway down we saw the squad car tail up in a ditch.
‘Jasmine!’ Emmett yelled, bailing from the car before I’d even stopped completely.
I got on the radio. ‘Anna, get an ambulance to my GPS location.’
‘Yes, sir,’ she said as I too bailed from the car.
Emmett was in the ditch on the driver’s side, his hands inside the busted window. ‘She’s alive!’ he yelled at me.
‘Gotta bus coming!’ I yelled back as I hurried down the steep wall of the ditch. ‘Is she conscious?’
Emmett shook his head. I could hear him cooing to his wife. ‘You’re OK, baby. I’m gonna get you outta here. You’re OK.’
I nudged Emmett away from the broken window. ‘Let me look,’ I said. I figured she’d skidded on the ice, just like I had, but when I leaned in I saw her head was lolling to the right, blood seeping from several cuts on her head. The window was broken but I couldn’t figure out why skidding on the ice would do that. There was a deep gully carved out of Jasmine’s neck, in a location that couldn’t have been from the broken glass of the window. That’s when I looked at the passenger seat and saw the bullet hole in the side of it. Looking at the road where she would have been driving, I saw only the skid marks from my own hasty stop. Nothing else. Jasmine didn’t slam on her brakes. ‘She’s been shot,’ I told Emmett.
‘It’s bad,’ Anthony said to Anna as he put on his vest.
‘But she’s alive?’ Anna asked.
‘Yeah, I guess,’ Anthony said and sighed. ‘This is getting way out of hand.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘To check out Jasmine’s squad car and then pick up Nick Permeter.’
‘I’m confused,’ Anna said. ‘I thought the Permeter brothers were Dalton’s problem.’
‘Yeah, me, too,’ Anthony said and sighed again. ‘I don’t know what the hell’s going on.’
He headed for the side door and his squad car. Seeing that it was gone – probably taken by Milt and Emmett – he headed to his pick-up truck, figuring he could just handcuff Nick Permeter to the passenger-side door handle. Not perfect but it would have to do.
Anthony knew what he’d said to Anna was a vast understatement. ‘Getting out of hand’ didn’t really sum up what was going on in Prophesy County. Somebody, and he had no idea anymore who that might be, was out to get all of them. Not just him, not just Dalton and not just Jasmine and Emmett. All of them. Even Milt, because the fire marshal had already said that gasoline had been used to start the fire at Milt’s house’s back door. It was only pure luck that Jean and Johnny Mac hadn’t gone to bed yet.
Who was doing this? And how were they all connected? Anthony held himself totally responsible for what happened to John and Reba Connors and was present at the car wreck and murder on Highway Five with the Evans family and the Vaught family, but he had nothing to do with the Permeter brothers or anybody else.
There was one person they hadn’t talked to yet. One person who could be holding a big old grudge against Anthony, and that was John Connors’ son from a previous marriage. What was his name now? Brewer. John Brewer. Truck driver for Walmart in Oklahoma City. Maybe he should be heading there instead of going after Nick Permeter once again. But somebody shot at Dalton’s car and somebody shot Jasmine in the head. And he didn’t see how that could be any concern of John, formerly Connors, Brewer.
Anthony sighed deep in his soul and turned on the county road leading to Nick Permeter’s house and Jasmine’s wrecked car. Nothing to it but to do it, he told himself.
My wife found me in the ER waiting room. ‘How is she?’ Jean asked, slightly breathless from her rush down from the fourth floor where her office was.
‘She’s alive,’ I said, taking her in my arms.
Jean and Jasmine had gotten tight over the years, with our kids being in the same class more often than not and me and Emmett being best friends and all. It got to the point where they either had to like each other or somebody needed to get a divorce. Luckily they liked each other fine. But that didn’t help my wife’s composure at the moment.
‘What happened?’ she asked, pushing away to look me in the eye.
‘We don’t really know,’ I said, ‘except she was shot and lost control of the car. That’s how she ended up in the ditch. Knocked her head about some, glass cuts in her scalp, nose busted probably by the airbag and a pretty deep gash on her neck where the bullet grazed her.’
‘Grazed? You call that a graze?’
‘Yeah, honey, I do. No hole, just a gash. The bullet’s probably still in the passenger seat. I got Anthony checking that out now.’
Jean sank down on one of the chairs in the waiting room, tucking her crutch between the chairs. ‘Have you heard from Dalton?’ she asked as I sat down next to her.
‘Yeah, I called him to tell him about Jasmine. He’s leaving Holly with his mother and heading home. I’m pretty short on deputies.’
‘How’s Anthony holding up?’
I shrugged. ‘Who knows? Probably better now that this asshole is concentrating on the other deputies.’
Jean took my hand and squeezed. ‘And you,’ she said. ‘Should I be thinking about taking John and heading to my parents’ house?’
I sighed. ‘Yeah, maybe.’
‘And talk to Emmett about taking Petal with me,’ she said.
‘Yeah. That’d probably be a good idea.’
My cell phone rang and I picked it up, seeing Charlie Smith’s name on the read-out. I took the call. ‘Yeah, Charlie?’
‘I just heard,’ he said. ‘You’re down to a skeleton staff. I got officers I can lend you.’
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘Let me see how this plays out. Dalton’s on his way here and I still have Anthony and Anna, although Anna’s pretty much doing administrative stuff right now.’
‘Which just leaves you Anthony till Dalton gets back. Let me send Mike over there.’
I nodded my head, then said, ‘OK. Thanks. I’ll call Anna and let her know he’s on the way.’
‘No problem.’
‘Any word about the DNA on that blood?’ I asked.
‘No. I keep calling them, though. I figure squeaky wheel gets the grease.’
‘Yeah. Another day then you and me are going to the city to bust some ass. ’Sides, I’ve got another possible suspect up there I’d like to chat with.’ Me and Emmett’s plan about the steakhouse was moot now, what with him stuck like glue to his wife’s bedside.
‘Oh?’ he said. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Seems John Connors has a son from a previous marriage
. Grown up now. Might have a problem about his daddy.’
‘Kinda farfetched, huh?’
‘Hey, man,’ I said, a little more heat in my voice than I’d intended, ‘I’m doing all I can.’
‘I know, I know,’ he said and sighed. ‘Gotta hit all the bases.’
‘Exactly,’ I said and hung up.
Jasper Thorne was getting concerned about the county deputies and their kin he kept hauling off to the ER. He’d been hearing some scuddle-butt that somebody was out to get the sheriff’s department and he wondered if he and his partner Sylvia should start wearing vests.
He broached the subject with his partner.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘Well, you know, just in case,’ he said.
‘Just in case what?’ she said and laughed. ‘You think he’s coming after us next? We don’t have anything to do with the sheriff’s department.’
‘No, but we could be carrying another one of the deputies to the ER, like we did with Jasmine Hopkins, and if he wanted to finish the job—’
‘He’d start blasting away at the ambulance?’ she said, grinning at her partner.
‘You ain’t taking this very seriously!’ Jasper said.
‘Oh, come on! What’s to take seriously? If he starts shooting at the ambulance bulletproof vests aren’t gonna help us that much! We’d just end up hugging a tree or upside down in a ditch.’ She pointed at the scars on her face. ‘See this? A bullet didn’t do this. A car wreck did this. And with me in the back of this thing? With no seat belt? I’d be a goner for sure.’
‘Yeah, but I’d have my seat belt on,’ Jasper said.
Sylvia shook her head. ‘Then you go get you a vest,’ she said. ‘Be my guest.’
‘To Chicago?’ Emmett said, rubbing his face like he was scrubbing it at the sink. We were in Jasmine’s hospital room, Emmett sitting by her side, Jasmine still unconscious. I’d just broached Jean’s suggestion that she take Johnny Mac and Petal to her parents’ home in Chicago.
‘Yeah, they’ll all be safe there,’ I said.
‘That’s a long way away. And besides, Chicago? That’s kind of a rough town, right? How’re they gonna be any safer there?’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t want Petal that far from her mama. In case—’
‘Stop it. In case nothing. She’s got a concussion is all. She’s gonna snap out of this in a New York minute,’ I said. ‘Besides, the McDonnells live in an upscale suburb with its own police department. The kids couldn’t be safer if we stuck ’em in our jail.’
Emmett looked up at me. ‘Maybe that’s what we should do. Bring in a lot of toys—’
‘Remember this asshole got in the shop once before,’ I said.
‘So why did you mention it?’ he said, glaring at me.
‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I wasn’t thinking.’
Emmett sighed. ‘I know Petal would be safer with Jean somewhere else than here in town. Jasmine had mentioned sending her to her sister’s in Little Rock. I do want her out of town, but Chicago?’ He shook his head. ‘Man, that’s just too far away.’
‘Like Little Rock’s not?’ I countered.
Emmett looked at his wife, silent except for the drip of the bags going in her veins and the occasional beep of the monitors. ‘Hell, I don’t know what to do,’ he said. ‘We need to protect them, but Chicago?’
I nodded. I had to agree. I wasn’t sure I wanted Jean and Johnny Mac that far away either, but they needed to be out of town. ‘You still got that fishing cabin on Lake Blue?’ I asked.
He turned and looked at me, a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes. ‘Yeah. I do. I most certainly do.’
‘Who all knows about it?’
‘Me, you, Jasmine’s sisters, Dalton, maybe Anthony, although I don’t think he’s ever been there.’
‘Mostly people we can trust?’ I asked.
‘Only people we can trust,’ he said.
‘I’ll take ’em up there myself.’
‘Remember how to get there?’
‘Does the pope shit in the woods?’
He didn’t laugh. ‘Stop by the school and get assignments for Petal, OK?’
I wouldn’t have thought of that. Although I’m pretty sure my wife would have.
Since I was already at the hospital, I took the elevator up to the fourth floor to see if I could catch my wife between patients.
‘Hey, Brenda,’ I said to the woman who sat at a desk outside my wife’s office.
‘Hey, Sheriff! How you doing?’
‘Fine,’ I said. ‘You?’
‘Fine. You looking for Doctor McDonnell?’
‘Good guess,’ I said, smiling at her.
She smiled back. ‘She’s got a patient but he should be leaving in less than five minutes.’ She nodded to a couple of easy chairs against a wall. ‘You wanna have a seat while you wait?’
‘I could take a load off,’ I said, and headed in that direction.
It was less than five minutes when Brenda said, ‘She’s free. You can go in.’
I wasn’t surprised that I hadn’t seen her patient leave. There was a back door to Jean’s office that led to another elevator. Patients came in the front entrance by Brenda and out the back. That way patients didn’t see each other. Which, in a small town like ours, wouldn’t be wise. Everybody knew everybody and rumors would be flying.
Once inside, I kissed my wife, settled down on an easy chair across from her desk and explained about the idea me and Emmett had come up with.
‘A fishing cabin?’ Jean said, raising one eyebrow. I hate it when she does that. It’s a definite sign of disapproval.
‘It’s a nice fishing cabin,’ I said. ‘Two whole rooms!’
The eyebrow did not go down.
‘And a kitchen. And an indoor bathroom!’
The eyebrow went down, only because she needed it to so she could roll her lovely brown eyes. ‘My parents’ house has indoor plumbing, too,’ she said. And yes, I can interpret sarcasm. ‘Plus central heating, comfortable furniture and nine rooms rather than two.’
‘Oh, nine rooms,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘The kids could get lost!’
‘Milton!’
Personally I disapprove of her using my full name like that. She knew it reminded me of my mother scolding me. I was beginning to wonder if we knew each other’s buttons a little too well.
‘Jean!’ I shot back. ‘Look,’ I said and sighed. ‘Emmett doesn’t want Petal that far away from him and, truth be told, I don’t want you and Johnny Mac that far away either. We don’t know what this guy’s gonna do next. I want to be able to get to you when I need to.’
‘And what makes you think he can’t find us even better at a fishing cabin on Lake Blue than at my parents’ house in Chicago?’ she demanded.
‘Nobody knows about the fishing cabin,’ I said.
‘Nobody?’ That damned eyebrow again.
‘Well, me and Jasmine’s sisters, and Dalton and probably Anthony—’
‘Now I’m feeling really secure!’
‘OK, how about a compromise? They’re moving Dalton’s mama to a hospital in Oklahoma City tomorrow. What about we get the county to pay for a couple of rooms for you and the kids and Holly? We’ll keep it on the down-low. Nobody but you, me, Emmett and Dalton will know about it.’
Jean sighed. ‘I guess,’ she said grudgingly.
‘Were you really looking forward to seeing your folks?’ I asked, my voice gentle.
‘It’s been a while,’ she said.
‘After this is all over, I swear we’ll take all of spring break and go to Chicago. Deal?’
Jean’s father had been sick lately and, as both he and her mother were getting on in years, I knew she wanted to get up there as soon as she could.
She gave me the eyebrow, then lowered it and held out her hand. ‘Deal,’ she said and we shook on it.
I could only pray that this thing would be over before spring break.
I’d barely gotten in my office from the hospita
l before Anna called me on the intercom and said that there was somebody on the line who wanted to speak to Emmett. ‘Well, tell them he’s not here and take a message,’ I said.
‘I tried that,’ she said, ‘but he insisted he speak to someone. Said he’s Bob Huntley, the bailiff for Judge Norman?’
Hell, I thought. Another complication. ‘Put him through,’ I said and sighed. I didn’t need this right now. There was enough going on to keep my mind occupied. When the phone rang, I picked it up and said, ‘Sheriff Kovak.’
‘Sheriff, I need to speak to Emmett Hopkins.’
‘He’s not available right now, Mr Huntley.’
‘That’s what your girl told me, but he called me a little while ago and said that Dave Norman was murdered. Is that right?’
‘Well, his brake lines were cut, yes, sir,’ I said.
‘What more can you tell me?’ Huntley asked.
‘That’s about all—’
‘Bullshit!’ he said. ‘What made y’all start looking into his wreck in the first place? I know there’s more going on here!’
‘We’ve been having some trouble here,’ I said, not wanting to get into it all. ‘It may be connected.’
‘How so?’ he asked.
‘Mr Huntley,’ I said, ‘this is an ongoing investigation and I can’t really get into the particulars, but—’
‘Again, I say bullshit, Sheriff! I’m an officer of the court. I know about confidentiality. Maybe I can help.’
I thought about what this guy might know about the judge’s cases that corresponded with ours. I thought maybe he might have a point.
‘OK,’ I finally said. ‘Let me tell you what’s been going on.’
NINE
Jasmine’s squad car wasn’t hard to miss. The butt end of it was blocking half of the eastbound lane. Luckily – for the squad car, not so much for Jasmine earlier – this wasn’t a well-traveled road. Anthony pulled as far off the road as he could get without landing in the ditch himself, parked and got out. He stumbled down the icy embankment and opened the driver’s-side door. The window on that side was gone and blood soaked the cheap fabric seats. He saw the hole Milt had mentioned, in the top half of the side of the passenger seat, in a straight line from the broken window. He pulled on gloves and got some tweezers out of the crime-scene kit he’d carried with him. It didn’t take long to find the spent bullet. It was the same caliber as the one found in Dalton’s tire. The police department had the wherewithal to check if the two bullets came from the same rifle. Anthony was pretty damn sure that answer was gonna be yes, indeed.
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