by Mark Bentsen
“This report says you were put in an interrogation room for a routine interview and you got into a fight while you were waiting. The report says you were arguing and then you hit her, knocking her down.”
“That’s not right.”
Paul continued, “The agent’s report says, ‘We could hear them arguing down the hall. Upon entering the room I saw Mr. Wakefield strike Mrs. Wakefield, knocking her to the floor. We had to restrain Mr. Wakefield. During the altercation, Mrs. Wakefield injured her thumb and bloodied her lip.’”
“That’s bullshit! Her thumb was already hurt.”
Paul leaned back and looked at Ernest. “This is the report that was filed by the agents.”
“I don’t care what they filed. That’s not what happened. She sprained her thumb the day before while she was jogging. And she scraped her hands and legs when she fell down the side of a hill. That’s why we came over here—to go to the doctor.”
“The report says you claim her thumb was already injured, but when you spoke to the first agent about entering Canada, you said your wife was sick. There was no mention of an injury to her hand.”
“I didn’t know I had to explain everything just to get across the border.”
“The report states ‘Mrs. Wakefield is a textbook example of a battered woman. She had scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs, including a busted lip and a bruise on her cheek. She would not file a complaint or call in the police, but it was obvious she feared her husband.’”
“Oh, come on.” Luke turned his attention to Ernest who was leaning against a side wall, listening. “Ernest, that’s total bullshit.”
“It says you were separated from each other and the agent that interviewed Mrs. Wakefield said it was obvious she feared retaliation from you if she filed charges against you. There was nothing they could do but let you go.”
Luke was on his feet. “None of it is true. Bonnie and I were talking about how those agents at the border crossing were treating us like criminals. That’s why I was upset. Not upset with Bonnie, but upset with your people. And another thing: Bonnie would never say she was afraid of me.”
“Have you ever hit your wife, Luke?” Ernest asked.
“Never.”
“Luke, you’ve got a temper,” Ernest said. “Is it common for you to lose it?”
“No.” He knew he looked like a hothead, so he took a deep breath and calmly said, “Not unless I have a damn good reason and what you’re saying is not right.”
“Okay, sit down.”
Luke eased back into his chair.
“It says that they heard Mrs. Wakefield tell you numerous times to settle down,” Paul said as he lowered the report to the table.
“She may have said that because your people were treating us like criminals and they had no reason to.”
“Ever been charged with assault, Luke?”
“Absolutely not!”
“How long have you been married?”
“About twenty years.”
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Has she been a good wife?”
Luke didn’t like the way that sounded. “What do you mean?”
“Do you have to discipline her very much?”
Disgusted by his insinuations, Luke shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“So, how often do you hit her?”
“I’ve never hit her.”
“Have you had any other problems over the past twenty years?”
“No.”
“So, you say she’s been a good wife... no problems?”
“We’ve never had any problems.”
Paul leaned over the stack of papers in front of him and pulled out another one. “Not according to the deputies with the Lampasas County Sherriff’s Department. They said you and your wife were separated recently.”
Luke was shocked that they knew about this. “We were separated for a while, but we aren’t anymore.”
“Why were you separated?”
“I don’t think it’s any of your damn business.”
Ernest intervened. “Luke, you have to tell us what’s going on here.”
He sighed and said, “It was something totally out of our control. It didn’t have anything to do with our relationship. We’re doing fine now.”
“Now, why would you separate if everything was fine? Something’s not right and what I see is a troubled marriage and a missing wife. Unless you can convince us you’re telling the truth, we’re going to have to hold you until we find her.” Paul leaned back and tapped his pencil on the table. “We need you to explain this. And this time why don’t you start with the truth.”
Luke looked to Ernest for some help but noticed his eyes narrowed and locked on his, waiting. Luke knew it didn’t sound too good, but all he had to do was explain things and they could get back to looking for Bonnie.
“When the drought hit Texas a few years ago it was really hard on us. We didn’t have much grass in our pastures and had to sell most of our cattle. For a while we had some serious money problems. We were having trouble paying the bills and Bonnie wanted me to borrow some money from my parents. I didn’t want to do that.
“I wanted her to get a real job because her photography wasn’t bringing in enough money. She was working on her second book and said if she didn’t get it finished, her publisher would probably drop her. This was her dream and she didn’t want to quit. We had some tough decisions to make and didn’t agree on what to do. Things got bad for a while and we just needed some time away from each other. But we finally worked it out and there haven’t been any problems beyond that. We got along great the whole time we were separated and now we are back together.”
“How long were you separated?”
“About a year.”
“Did she want a divorce?”
“No, neither of us did. We never had any other problems.”
“No problems?”
“No.”
Paul pulled another piece of paper out of the folder and slapped it on the table in front of Luke. “C’mon Luke, I don’t have time to play all these games. You’re trying to make it sound like you were Ozzie and Harriet when you were far from it.”
Luke picked up the paper and scanned it. His heart sank.
“This is a copy of the restraining order she filed against you back in December. Don’t you think this means there were some serious problems?”
“This isn’t what it sounds like.” Luke glanced at Ernest. “It was a big misunderstanding.”
“People don’t file restraining orders for misunderstandings.”
“When we separated she continued to live in our house. It’s on my family’s ranch,” he said. “The barn and stables are beside the house, and that’s where I do lots of my work. A rancher’s job is not nine to five and Bonnie knew that. She didn’t have a problem with me being around. We didn’t hate each other, we were just taking a break... we thought it might help.”
“Why a restraining order, Luke?” Ernest tone was to the point, demanding. His arms remained crossed across his chest.
“Look, here’s what happened.” Luke leaned forward, laced his fingers and rested his forearms on the table. “One night while we were separated, Bonnie had some friends over to the house for a little Christmas party—about ten people I guess. I told her earlier in the week that I’d stay clear, but the weather changed and it started to sleet. I went over to put the horses in the barn.”
“So you invited yourself to her party.”
“Nothing like that. I didn’t have any choice. When I got there, some cars were parked blocking the barn doors so I went to the house and asked her to have them move them. As you can imagine, she wasn’t too happy about me showing up at ten-thirty during her party, but I really didn’t have any choice. These two guys came out to move their cars. One was a local banker and the other was a lawyer and they were both drunk. They started talking loud so I would hear them, saying all this bullshit that wasn’t true.
About how we were behind on our loan payments and we were on the verge of losing the ranch. The lawyer said he was going to represent Bonnie in her divorce and she’d end up owning the ranch.”
“Was that true?”
Luke lowered his head and nodded. “Yeah, we were behind on our note, but my dad had talked to the president of the bank and they had worked out some new terms. We weren’t going to lose the ranch.”
“Did you know these men?”
“The banker is the son of the president of the bank. He’s a local rich prick named Tyler McAllister. I’ve known him all my life and we’ve never gotten along. His father actually owns the bank. I didn’t know the lawyer, but I know they’re both arrogant assholes and they just wanted to see how far they could push me. I ignored them as long as I could, but finally Tyler told the other guy that Bonnie was the best piece of ass he’d ever had and I lost it. I nailed him right between the eyes. He flew backwards, landing on the hood of his Mercedes. You’d have done the same thing if you were in my shoes.”
Luke leaned back and continued. “As soon as he regained his balance he got up and ran back into the house holding his bloody nose. Later I found out they told Bonnie I picked the fight. She was really pissed and the lawyer convinced her to file a restraining order, which she did the next day.”
“I don’t show that there were any other charges filed against you.”
“No, just the restraining order.”
“Was your wife involved with these men?”
“She said she and Tyler went to dinner once, but that’s it.”
“If you and Bonnie were getting along as good as you say, why do you think she went out with him, especially if she knew you two didn’t get along?”
“Because he bought a bunch of her pictures to hang on the wall in the bank. She said she thought he was a nice guy.”
“Did you and Tyler have any other confrontations?”
“No, I never saw him again.”
“When did you and Bonnie get back together?”
“First of February.”
“Anything else you can tell us about this restraining order?”
“It was only in force for about a month. Finally, when Bonnie realized what a jerk Tyler was, she called and we talked. I told her what actually happened that night and she dropped it the next day.”
“Do you think Tyler is holding any hard feelings?”
“I don’t really give a damn if he does. It’s all small-town bullshit.”
Paul closed his file, leaned back and looked at Ernest who gave a small nod.
“Is there anything else you want to tell us at this time?” Paul asked.
Luke thought a second, “No, but how about that stuff I brought in here yesterday?”
Paul pulled out a different piece of paper and ran his finger down it. “Her windbreaker with blood on it, a shopping list, and sunglasses she had in her purse.”
“Right. It was all at the clinic. Don’t you think something’s going on over there?”
“We’re not sure what to think of it.”
“Why not?”
Paul stood and stared at the floor a few seconds, then glanced at Ernest before he spoke. “Think about it, Luke.”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked.
“How do we know you found this stuff there? You told us she was wearing the windbreaker, but no one in the clinic seems to remember it. How do we know this list was in her purse? And the sunglasses? You didn’t mention it when you filled out the missing persons report. But, now, it’s your story, but you don’t have one bit of proof to back it up.”
“Why would I make it up, for God’s sake?”
“So far, everything you’ve told us has been a lie. Why should we believe this story is true?”
Luke couldn’t believe they had turned everything against him. Never in his life had he been called a liar. He had nothing but his word, and now it looked as if that wasn’t worth anything. He gritted his teeth and said, “Because it is.”
Ernest tilted his head down and glared at Luke over his glasses. “Luke, what we’ve found shows that you and your wife have a history of marital problems. The agents at the border crossing said you hit her, and from what I can tell, it probably wasn’t the first time.”
“Ernest, that’s not right,” Luke pleaded.
Ernest straightened up and said, “Stay here. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
When they left the room Luke’s mind was in a tailspin. He couldn’t believe Ernest believed he hit Bonnie. But he knew he had to convince them they were wrong and wasting valuable time.
A few minutes later, Paul opened the door and said, “That’s all we have for now, so you can go.”
Luke followed Paul down the hallway, through the reception area and out the front door. Paul lit a cigarette and flicked the match into the grass before turning to face Luke.
“Let me fill you in on something. About ten years ago, against Ernest’s wishes, his daughter married a guy she’d only known for a few months. He was about ten years older than her but seemed like a great guy. After a few months, Ernest noticed she was changing. She wasn’t the happy-go-lucky girl she’d been. She seemed nervous all the time and quit spending time with the family. He started to notice bruises on her arms. Once she had a black eye and when he asked her about it, she said she fell down, and everything was fine.
“But, one Sunday after they’d been married about a year, she didn’t show up for church, so he went to check on her. The son of a bitch had beaten her up. Broke her jaw, ruptured her spleen and did some other stuff to her I won’t even mention. Turned out he’d been beating her and sexually abusing her since they got married. They filed charges against him and when he got out on bail, he skipped and hasn’t been seen since.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but what does it have to do with me?”
“Anytime anything like this comes up, Ernest takes it very personal.”
Luke raised both hands, palms toward Paul. “I understand, but you need to believe me. This is not what’s going on.”
Paul nodded. “Luke, before I was a cop, I worked in the security business for thirteen ass-sucking years. I can read people pretty good and I can tell you’re a good man. I believe everything you said in there, but Ernest is the one calling the shots on this, and there’s nothing I can do.”
Chapter 14
Luke was unlocking his car when he saw Ernest get into a black and white GMC Denali parked beside the building. He had to talk to him and make him understand.
“Ernest, can I talk to you a minute?” Luke said, running up to his vehicle.
Ernest fixed his gaze on him but didn’t take the car out of gear. Hopeful, Luke said, “You have to believe me, I wouldn’t do a thing to harm Bonnie.”
He glared at Luke. “I’d like to believe you, son, but I don’t like the way things look right now.”
“All that stuff that happened back at home doesn’t mean anything,” Luke said as he dropped down on one knee at the open window. “It’s all in the past and doesn’t have a thing to do with our relationship now.”
“I’d be more inclined to believe you if you had told me about it. Right now I can’t do anything for you.” Ernest turned his head away from Luke and looked out the windshield, staring at nothing in particular. After a silent moment, he looked back at Luke over his bifocals, and said, “In fact, I’m pretty darned pissed at you.”
He jabbed his finger towards the building. “You embarrassed me in there. I’ve been standing up for you all along and now, to have all of that come out like that makes me angry. Those inspectors at the border say they’re sure you hit her.”
“They’re wrong! I’ve never hit her in my life and never will. You have to believe me.”
“This is a small town. I’ve known most of those inspectors since they were kids and I’ve only known you for one day, Luke. They don’t have any reason to lie.”
“Ernest, I’m telling you the truth. Let me tell
you—”
“Luke I’ve got work to do right now.”
“Do you think I’d be hanging around the police station if I had something to do with my wife’s disappearance? What can I do to make you believe me?”
“I don’t know, but every trail we have ends with you.” Ernest looked back toward the highway and sighed. “If you want me to believe you, you’ve got to give me something to work with. Can you think of anyone else you talked to in Cardston?”
Luke pondered a few seconds. “There was one guy in the waiting room at the clinic. He was huge, must have been six-eight and weighed at least two hundred and fifty pounds. Looked Native American. When I came in he was talking to Bonnie and I wanted to move over to the corner out of the way. He got pissed off and made a scene. Everyone in the waiting room looked at him like he was about to start a fight.”
“Sounds like Willy Standalone. Did he have a tattoo of an Indian chief on his arm?”
“Yep, that’s him.”
“That’s Willy, and he’s one mean son of a gun. Everyone in town’s got a story about Willy. You don’t want to get on his bad side. Over the years he’s always been in some kind of trouble. Usually getting drunk or fighting.” Ernest took off his straw hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “One night about six or seven years ago, he was drinking down at The Sunny Side Inn, and some guy picked a fight with him. Willy hit him one time, crushing his skull. Killed him instantly. Judge sent him to prison for manslaughter.”
“I thought he looked like someone I didn’t want to mess with.”
“He is and most folks around here were glad he was gone because everyone’s scared of him.”
Ernest reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a cigar, removed the cellophane wrapper, and looped a finger around it. “He got out of prison about a year ago and came back to town. Hasn’t been in trouble since. But, he’s a powder keg that might blow any minute.”
“He wasn’t too happy with me, that’s for sure. He glared at us until he went back to see the doctor. Bonnie said that his son was with him.”
“Probably was. Got one they call Little John. Just graduated from high school this year and he’s going to college in the states on a football scholarship. He’s got potential but I don’t see how he’s going to make it unless he gets his head on straight. When Willy went to prison, Little John started running with the wrong crowd. It’s such as shame, because deep down he’s a good kid. And pretty smart, too.”