by Cindi Myers
“Jim Trotter and his wife were driving home from dinner and saw the smoke,” Travis said. “They live at the end of the road here.” He turned to greet the assistant fire chief, a slim, redheaded man in yellow bunker gear. “Tom, this is Agent Rob Allerton, with the DEA.”
Tom shook Rob’s hand.
“I was just telling Rob that the Trotters called in the fire,” Travis said.
Tom nodded. “It probably hadn’t been burning very long at that point, but by the time we got here, there wasn’t anything we could do except keep it from spreading to the forest.”
“Was the gate closed when you arrived?” Rob asked.
“Oh yeah. We had to cut the chain. The roof was caving in by the time we got the trucks over to the structure.”
“And you think it was deliberately set?” Rob asked.
“We could smell the diesel fuel as soon as we got out of the truck,” Tom said. “And there hasn’t been any lightning. There’s no electricity to the structure, so that leaves out faulty wiring.”
“Any chance it was a vagrant using the shack for shelter?” Travis asked. “Maybe they had a campfire that got out of hand.”
“Anything’s possible,” Tom said. “We’ll know more after my investigation.”
“Any sign of a vehicle?” Travis asked.
“A vehicle?” Tom frowned.
“The two men who died in the fire had to get up here somehow,” Travis said.
Tom looked around them, but Rob already knew there was no car or truck in sight, other than the fire and rescue vehicles and the sheriff’s SUV. “I guess they could have walked in,” Tom said.
“It’s a long way to walk,” Travis said. “And they’d have to have gear—backpacks, camping equipment, stuff like that.”
“We may find what’s left of it when we clear away the debris and move the bodies,” Tom said. “We might even find identification on the bodies.”
“What did Bryce Reed tell you?” Travis asked.
“That he didn’t know anything,” Tom said. “That no one was supposed to be up here. He thinks they must have climbed the fence and been squatting here and set fire to the building themselves.”
“Why didn’t they try to get out?” Rob asked.
“How do you know they didn’t?” Travis asked.
“The way the bodies are lying.” Rob gestured toward the burned-out building. “They’re facing away from the door. Say an explosion caused the fire—a gas stove, or maybe they had a campfire and tried to get it going bigger by dumping some diesel on it, and the fumes ignited. It might have thrown them backward, away from the fire, but then I would think they would try to get out. Yet both of them are just lying there, next to each other.”
“Maybe they were asleep,” Travis said. “Or they had been drinking or doing drugs and passed out.”
“Maybe,” Rob said.
“Sheriff. There’s something you need to see.” One of the firemen, his face and yellow bunker gear streaked with soot, trotted over to them.
Travis, Rob and the chief followed the firefighter over to a rock cairn about a hundred yards from the shack, across from the remains of what had once been a paved street. “Take a look at that,” the firefighter said, and pointed behind the pillar. An AR-15 was propped against the rocks. “Funny place to leave a gun like that,” he said.
“Unless you wanted to make sure it wasn’t destroyed in the fire,” Travis said. “And you wanted it to be found.” He crouched down and examined it more closely, though without touching it. “We’ll leave it until the crime scene team gets up here.” He turned to look back at the blackened ruins. The firefighter and the chief moved toward the fire truck parked closer to the now-open gate. “What do you think the chances are the two bodies in there belong to the two men who shot at Paige?” Travis asked.
“I didn’t get a good look at them,” Rob said. “And to be honest, their own mothers wouldn’t know them now.”
“The gun is too obvious,” Travis said. “As if someone left it there to find. I’m betting when we test it, we find out it’s the same gun that fired the bullets we found in Paige’s front door.”
The rumble of an engine and the crackle of tires on gravel announced the arrival of the crime scene van, followed by a black SUV. Two men and one woman climbed out of the van and began donning Tyvek suits and booties. The SUV parked a short distance away, and Mayor Larry Rowe got out and walked over to join Travis and Rob.
“What are you doing here?” the mayor asked Rob.
“Agent Allerton is assisting us with the investigation,” Travis said.
The mayor’s eyebrows rose, but he made no further comment to Rob. “What have they found out?” he asked Travis.
Rob wanted to tell the man the information was none of his business. Something about Rowe rubbed him the wrong way—though maybe that was only Paige’s prejudice rubbing off on him. Clearly, she had little use for the mayor. Rob remained quiet and let Travis handle this.
“We’re waiting on the investigation before we announce any results,” Travis said.
A woman in white Tyvek coveralls walked over to them. “What have we got, Sheriff?” she asked.
Travis glanced at the mayor.
“You can talk in front of me,” Larry said. “I know how to keep a confidence, and I think I’m entitled to be briefed about the situation.”
Travis nodded, then summed up their findings for the woman—Darcy Collins, with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. “We’re going on the assumption this is arson, until we establish otherwise. If it is arson, then the two bodies could be murder victims.”
She nodded. “We’ll find any evidence there is to find.”
Travis pointed to the cairn. “There’s an AR-15 behind those rocks I want photographed and bagged for evidence,” he said.
“Got it.” She signaled to her team and they began setting small plastic flags on thin wire stakes to establish an entry and exit corridor. They strung crime scene tape, then began photographing the burned building and the surrounding area.
“It’s pretty clear to me what happened here,” the mayor said, when Darcy had left them.
“Oh?” Rob asked.
“The AR-15 belongs to the two dead guys,” Larry said. “They were the ones who shot at Paige, up here and at her house. They were camping out in that shack and got careless with their fire.”
“We don’t know yet if this AR is the one that fired at Paige,” Rob said.
“You can test it,” Larry said. “I’m sure that will prove I’m right.”
“Thank you for your input.” Travis turned away.
“You’ll let me know what you find,” the mayor said.
Travis didn’t answer. He and Rob walked over to Travis’s SUV, where they stood in the shadowed darkness, watching the investigators move in and out of the glow of work lights.
Travis waited until the mayor had driven away before he spoke. “If the bodies belong to the shooter and his cohort, then we have the guilty parties and we don’t need to look further,” he said.
“Very convenient,” Rob said. “Except we don’t know why they tried to kill Paige, or what they were doing up here.”
“She said she saw them carrying a big wooden crate into an underground chamber or hole or mine shaft or something like that,” Travis said. “Maybe they were stashing stolen goods up here.”
“Any burglaries in the area lately?” Rob asked.
“No. I can check surrounding areas. Maybe something will pop.” He kicked at a rock, which rolled away down the small incline. “It’s too neat. Too convenient.”
“The mayor likes it.”
“The mayor watches too much television.”
“What does he do, your mayor?” Rob asked. “Or is that his full-time job?”
“He has a computer consulting co
mpany,” Travis said. “They specialize in financial management firms.”
“He’s obviously a fan of CNG.”
“He ran on a platform of bringing new businesses and jobs to the area,” Travis said. “And he’s the type who likes to have his name in the paper as often as possible. This is a hot story, so the mayor wants to make sure he’s quoted.”
“I’ve met the type,” Rob said. He tried to stay far away from them. “Do you think Reed was telling the truth—that he didn’t know the men or what they were doing?”
“I don’t believe anyone I don’t know well,” Travis said.
“He came by the Bear’s Den this afternoon to talk to Paige,” Rob said. “He said he wanted to share his plans for the property with her and get her support.”
“That sounds smart. Paige’s group isn’t that large, but they know how to make a lot of noise when they’re unhappy about something.”
“Are you saying they’re troublemakers?” Rob asked.
“Not at all. They do a lot of good for the community, but they aren’t subtle. They’ve made enemies.”
“Reed asked Paige to come up here with him for a private tour. She told him the last time she was up here, someone tried to kill her. He seemed shocked to hear this. I don’t think he was faking it.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Something I thought was even more interesting—he told Paige that ‘wasn’t acceptable’ and that he would put a stop to it.”
“As if he had authority over the shooters?” Travis asked.
“Maybe. Or maybe he was just blowing smoke, trying to impress her with how powerful and in charge he was. Or maybe it was just a figure of speech. He could have meant he was going to make sure the property was secure and no one used it for criminal activity. CNG has held the position all along that they aren’t responsible for anything that has happened while the property was essentially abandoned.”
“I’m wondering if either of those two is the man we saw up here yesterday,” Travis said.
“I don’t think so,” Rob said, keeping his tone casual. “I only got a glimpse, but the person we saw seemed smaller. Like a kid, even.”
“What would a kid be doing up here?” Travis asked.
“Messing around. Seeing what he could find.”
“He was old enough to drive,” Travis said. “He almost ran us off the road. I’m going to have to talk to Paige again. I think she knows more than she’s saying.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Just a hunch. She was acting odd yesterday—evasive, even.”
Rob started to defend Paige, then decided anything he said was going to make the sheriff more suspicious. Travis had a reputation as a shrewd and dogged investigator. Chances were, he was going to find out it was Parker who had fled from them when they were up here yesterday. Rob didn’t know Travis well enough to predict how he would handle that information, but he hoped, for Paige’s sake, that he would go easy on the young man.
A trio of firemen shifted the largest of the fallen timbers and the crime scene team moved in to get their first close look at the bodies. Rob didn’t envy them the task. But they would want to establish the circumstances of the deaths, and secure any identification that was on the bodies before trying to move them.
“Sheriff!” Darcy raised her head and called to him.
Travis straightened and walked over to join her. Rob was too far away to overhear what she said, but he could see the scene clearly in the bright glow of the work lights. She gestured toward one of the bodies, then bent and rolled over the second one. Travis said something, then backed out of the building and returned to the SUV.
“What did she find?” Rob asked.
“Those two didn’t die in the fire,” Travis said.
“Why do you say that?”
“They were already dead. Both of them had been shot in the head.”
Chapter Ten
Rob was eating breakfast in Paige’s dining room the next morning when Travis called him. “I’m going to Bryce Reed’s office this morning to talk to him,” he said. “Want to come along?”
Rob pushed back his chair. “Let me check.” He headed for the kitchen, but met Paige coming out. “What are you doing this morning?” he asked her, the phone tucked under his chin.
“Eagle Mountain environmentalists have a meeting at ten. Why?”
“I might need to be away for a couple of hours,” he said.
“So go,” she said. “I don’t need a babysitter—certainly not now that those two men are dead. You said they were probably the ones who shot at me, right?”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“I’ll be fine.” She set a bowl of fruit on the sideboard and turned back toward the kitchen. “Go.”
Rob put the phone back to his ear. “Sure, I’ll come with you. Should be interesting. Where are you meeting him?”
“CNG has an office here in town,” Travis said. “Come by the sheriff’s office and we’ll go there together.”
Travis was waiting, keys in hand, when Rob arrived. “Just to be clear, I’m not here in an official capacity,” Rob reminded him as they walked to Travis’s SUV.
“I know. But your law enforcement connection seemed to shake Reed a little yesterday,” Travis said. “I want to take advantage of that. Besides, it’s always good to have another perspective.”
CNG Development’s Eagle Mountain offices were located in a newer strip center on the edge of town. The front room contained an empty desk and three metal folding chairs—and nothing else. Rob would have expected a file cabinet or a plant, or even pictures on the wall. Apparently, CNG wasn’t too concerned about impressing visitors.
“Hello?” Travis called when he and Rob entered.
Reed, in khaki slacks and another polo shirt—mint green this time—looked out from the doorway of the office’s second room. “Sheriff!” he said. “Do you have any more news about last night’s events?”
“I have some information for you,” Travis said. “And some more questions.” He indicated Rob. “I’ve asked Agent Allerton to sit in with us.”
“Come sit down and we’ll talk.” He turned to Rob. “Agent Allerton. When I met you at Paige Riddell’s yesterday afternoon, you didn’t tell me you were a law enforcement officer.”
Reed must have been stewing about that all night, Rob thought. “It wasn’t relevant,” he said.
“And now it is?” Reed asked. “What interest does the DEA have in CNG?”
“Agent Allerton is assisting us with our investigation,” Travis said.
Reed looked as if he wanted to argue, but he merely pressed his lips together and led them into a sparsely furnished office. He pulled up two folding chairs and took his place behind the cheap metal desk. He must have seen Travis’s and Rob’s skeptical looks at the budget accommodations. “We rented this space furnished, until we can construct a more permanent facility on the site,” he said. He turned to Travis. “What have you found out about those two men?”
Travis took two photographs from the file folder he carried and handed them to Reed. “Identification taken from wallets found on the bodies identifies them as Joseph Welch and Dennis Petri,” he said. “We’ll be confirming that with medical and dental records as soon as we can obtain them.”
Reed stared at the black-and-white mug shots. Travis handed Rob copies also. The photographs showed two men in their early thirties. Welch had thinning brown hair and Petri had close-cropped, curly black hair. Each faced the camera with a sullen look on his face, booking number across his chest.
“I’ve never seen either of them before,” Reed said, and returned the photos to Travis.
“What were they doing on CNG property?” Travis asked.
“I already told you, I have no idea. They were trespassing.”
“We searched the area and we haven’t been able to locate a vehicle, or any personal belongings, like a backpack or camping equipment,” Travis said. “How do you explain that?”
“I don’t. That’s up to you to investigate.”
“Both men were shot in the head,” Travis continued. “Do you have any idea who might have killed them?”
“Of course not.” Reed managed to look indignant.
“Any theories about what might have happened?” Rob asked.
“No. It’s not my job to come up with theories. These people were on CNG property illegally.”
“What is it about that piece of property that attracts so many criminals?” Rob asked.
“I could turn that around and ask why this county has such a problem with illegal activity in general,” Reed said.
Travis restored the photos to the folder and sat back in his chair. “Have you considered hiring a private security company to patrol the property?” he asked. “Cameras and some lighting might also help.”
“We will be doing all of those things,” Reed said.
“I’ll be posting extra patrols in that area, also,” Travis said.
Some of the stiffness went out of Reed’s posture. “I appreciate that, Sheriff,” he said. “But I know yours is a small department with limited staff. I would hate to take your deputies away from here in town, where they might be needed.”
“Since most of the serious crime we’ve had lately has had some connection to that property or people involved with it, it makes sense to me to focus our efforts there,” Travis said.
“From what little I know of the former owner, he was involved with some shady characters,” Reed said. “The more I consider the situation, the more I believe those two men who died in the fire—and anyone else who might have been causing trouble up there before now—must be related to that. They haven’t gotten the word yet that the property has new owners who have zero tolerance for anything untoward. That is going to change now, I assure you.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Travis said.
“Hello? Bryce, are you here?”
Rob sat bolt upright at the sound of the familiar voice, and turned in time to see Paige in the doorway of Reed’s office. Dressed casually, in a long denim skirt, boots and a long-sleeved red blouse, she still managed to convey an air of sophistication. “Oh!” She took a step back. “I didn’t know you were with someone.”