by Bill Crider
“Yeah, I remember now. I was gonna say that I don’t think you need to be going through the house or the barn unless you have a search warrant. Seems like more and more the government is taking away our rights and doing things that are against the Constitution, like making illegal searches and listening to our phones and spying on us with drones and watching us with hidden cameras everywhere we go.”
“The county doesn’t have any drones,” Rhodes said.
He could have added “yet,” because he knew that Commissioner Mikey Burns would love to have drones. The topic hadn’t come up, but that’s how Burns thought. He liked toys and weaponry.
“That’s what you’d like us to believe,” Will said.
“We don’t have any cameras, either,” Rhodes said. “Some of the stores do, but the county doesn’t. We’re not like Houston and Dallas. For that matter, we aren’t listening to your phone calls.”
“So you say.” Will edged closer to Rhodes. “But you’d do a search without a warrant. You’d violate a man’s castle and his property rights.”
Rhodes was getting tired of Will’s rant, but it wouldn’t do to say so. Will might want to fight him, and Rhodes would have to hurt him. Worse, Will might draw his pistol, and that would lead to serious problems.
“I have your sister-in-law’s permission to look around,” Rhodes said.
“You did have her permission, but I educated her about that, and now you don’t have it. You might as well get in your big truck that my tax dollars are paying for and go on back to town.”
“You’re probably right,” Rhodes said.
“I know I am. You cops can’t just run over everybody like we don’t have any rights.”
“That’s true,” Rhodes said.
He thought that it might be time to tell Will that someone else had been there to look around without a warrant, but he decided against it. He didn’t have any proof that anyone had been there, nothing that would convince Will, anyway, and maybe whoever it was wouldn’t come back while Will was there. If he did and if Will got hurt, Rhodes would try not to feel guilty about it. If Will shot somebody, Rhodes would regret his decision, but Will would do the shooting whether Rhodes warned him or not.
“You take good care of the dogs, you hear?” Rhodes said.
“You don’t have to worry about the dogs,” Will said. “I’ll see to it that they’re fed and watered.”
Rhodes didn’t have any more to say. He got in the Tahoe and drove away. He watched in the mirror as Gus-Gus and Jackie chased the Tahoe about a hundred yards down the road before turning back to the house, where Will was waiting for them.
Blacklin County had quite a few people like Will, Rhodes thought, people who believed that the government was intruding into their lives, watching their every movement, listening to their phone conversations, tracking their computer use, and probably planning to swoop down in black helicopters, raid their homes, take their guns, and lock them away in abandoned Walmarts around the country, all of them connected by a secret network of underground tunnels.
Rhodes didn’t know where people got those ideas, whether there was something in the coffee they drank or in the air they breathed or whether they just believed everything they read on the Internet.
Of course, it was possible that Will didn’t believe any of those things and that he had another reason for wanting to keep Rhodes out of the house and barn. If there was anything in there that someone didn’t want Rhodes to see, it would be gone before too long. Will would get rid of it while the dogs were eating.
There was nothing Rhodes could do about that now. He just hoped Will would feed the dogs.
* * *
Rhodes stopped at Walter Barnes’s house, which was only half a mile from the Hunts’. Walter wasn’t there, and hadn’t been there for days. His daughter was, however. She was house-sitting while her parents went on vacation.
“Disney World,” Frances Barnes Noble said. “Can you believe it, at their age? Said they’d always wanted to go, though, so they went. First real vacation they’ve ever had.”
Rhodes asked her if she knew the Hunts.
“Just to speak to in passing. Haven’t seen them since I’ve been here.”
Rhodes explained why he was asking.
“I’m sure sorry to hear it,” Frances said. “He seemed like a nice enough man. I’ve heard he was a drinker, but I never saw him drunk myself.”
Rhodes thanked her for her time and left. Whoever had picked up Melvin, if anybody had, it wasn’t Walter Barnes, who was easily eliminated as a suspect.
* * *
If there was anybody in the county who was more paranoid than Will Smalls, it was Able Terrell. He was a survivalist who’d built himself a compound surrounded by a stockade fence and moved his family and a few others into it to wait for whatever apocalypse was to come, or whatever one he thought was coming. Rhodes had never been clear about exactly what that was. Nuclear holocaust? Zombie attacks? Plague? It could have been anything. Maybe Able wasn’t entirely clear on what it was, either. It didn’t matter. Something bad was coming, and Able would be ready for it when it did.
Rhodes had tangled with one of the others living in the compound during an earlier murder investigation, and Able’s son, Ike, had turned out to be involved in some things he shouldn’t have. The boy had gotten a probated sentence, and he’d been out of trouble ever since, but that didn’t make Able any happier about things. It wasn’t so much that he was so unhappy with Rhodes in particular as that his displeasure with his son spilled over onto the law Able had moved into the compound to avoid, and Rhodes was the visible representative of that law. That made him suspect in Able’s eyes.
The compound was on the way back to Clearview from the Hunts’ place, so Rhodes thought he’d stop by and have a talk with Able about the thefts. Rhodes didn’t think Terrell had anything to do with them or with Melvin’s death, but others had different ideas, at least about the thefts. And then there was Ike. Considering his history, Rhodes wondered about him.
Rhodes turned off the paved county road and drove down a dirt road to the compound. It looked pretty much the same as it had the time he’d single-handedly stormed it and flown over the fence like a comic-book hero. Or that was the way it had been reported on Jennifer Loam’s Web site. The fact that it wasn’t entirely true didn’t matter. There was just enough truth in it to make the story almost believable, and people loved to hear things that were a little bit larger than life, especially when the things were about their local law enforcement. The real thing wasn’t nearly as interesting as the exaggeration. Rhodes thought that was the secret behind a lot of what passed for news in the Internet age.
Rhodes parked the Tahoe in front of the stockade gate and waited for the sand he’d stirred up on the road to settle. He read the signs nailed to the gate to pass the time. They’d been changed since the last time Rhodes had been there, but they were just as aggressive as ever. One read DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE DOG. HE JUST BITES. THE OWNER SHOOTS. Another said, TRESPASSERS WILL BE HOGTIED AND TOLD THEY HAVE A PURTY MOUTH. Rhodes was surprised there wasn’t one that said SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN.
Something else new was the video camera high on a wooden pole that stood just inside the gate. Able was catching up with the times. Rhodes wouldn’t even have to honk to let them know he was there. They’d know already.
Sure enough, the road dust had hardly settled on the Tahoe before the gate swung open a couple of feet and Able Terrell came out. The gate swung shut behind him, so Rhodes wouldn’t be going inside. That was fine with him.
Able didn’t walk far from the gate. He just stood there, waiting. He was dressed in camo gear, which seemed to be the standard uniform in the compound, and in the crook of his arm he cradled an AR-15, which was also part of the standard uniform.
Rhodes got out of the Tahoe and closed the door.
“Hey, Able,” he said. “How are you this fine day?”
“I was doing okay until you turned up
on one of the surveillance screens,” Able said. “What’re you here for?”
He wasn’t a big man, but he wasn’t small, either. He had a wrinkled brown face and black hair with a white streak down the middle. He didn’t wear a hat.
“It’s about some things that have been happening down here in this end of the county,” Rhodes said, “and it’s about Melvin Hunt.”
“What about him?”
Rhodes wasn’t ready to tell Able about Melvin yet.
“You know Billy Bacon?” Rhodes asked.
“Banker in town. I don’t have much to do with banks.”
He didn’t add that he didn’t have any bank accounts, but Rhodes suspected that was the case. Able wouldn’t trust banks. He probably kept his cash hidden in the compound, and Rhodes wouldn’t be surprised if there was a considerable amount of gold in there, too, for use when society collapsed.
“Billy’s had a lot of things taken from a barn on his property,” Rhodes said, “and somebody killed Melvin Hunt.”
“Is that right?” Able said. He didn’t seem concerned. “How’d it happen?”
“He was in Billy’s barn. Somebody shot him.”
“That’s a shame, but that’s what the world’s come to, stealing and killing. That’s why I got me a fence here. Nobody gets in unless I let them in.” He paused and looked at Rhodes. “Not including you, but I’ve fixed things up a bit since you were here the last time.”
“There’s a lot of talk in town about who might be doing the stealing,” Rhodes said.
Able gave a crooked grin, which caused his face to wrinkle even more. “I’ll just bet there is.”
“You probably know what’s being said.”
“I expect so. Everything that happens, they blame on me and mine. People don’t like it if somebody’s different from them and has a different idea about the world. I’ve been blamed for a lot of things before, making meth, growing weed, stuff like that. You know as well as anybody that I wasn’t guilty of any of ’em.”
That was true, as far as Rhodes knew. Or at least it was true about Able. It wasn’t so true about his son.
“How’s Ike doing?” Rhodes asked.
“He’s doing just fine. He’s going to the college again, and he’s getting good grades. I don’t like it that he goes to town, but he says he wants an education, so I’m not going to stand in his way on that. I can promise you he’s not stealing from anybody, though. He won’t be doing that again. He comes straight back here after his classes, and he doesn’t go out again until the next day. If you’re looking for somebody to pin those thefts or Melvin Hunt’s killing on, I can promise you it’s not him or any of my people. I’m keeping a lot closer watch on things now than I used to, and there’s no way anybody here is doing anything you’d be interested in.”
“You thought that before,” Rhodes said.
“Yeah, I did,” Able said, “and I was wrong about it. So I’ve made some changes. I’m sure about everything this time.”
Rhodes was sure Able believed everything he said. That didn’t mean that Rhodes had to believe it.
“Any chance I could talk to Ike?”
“He’s in school today. I don’t think you need to talk to him, though. He’s on the straight and narrow.”
Able had thought that before, but Rhodes didn’t see any need to remind him of it again.
“You heard of anything going on down in this part of the county?” Rhodes asked. “Anything that might help me find out who’s been stealing or who killed Melvin?”
“I don’t hear much. I mind my own business, and I expect other people to mind theirs.”
“You and Melvin ever have any trouble?”
Able thought it over. “Years ago, we did. Didn’t amount to anything. It was before I moved out here. Got into a little scuffle with him in town once. I don’t even remember what it was about. Might have had to do with his wife. I was sweet on her at one time.”
Joyce Hunt hadn’t mentioned that little tidbit. Rhodes wondered if that was significant. He doubted it.
“Haven’t seen Melvin in years,” Able continued. “Might not even recognize him if I did.”
“What about Joyce?”
“I’d recognize her, maybe, but I haven’t seen her in years, either. She didn’t understand about what I was planning to do with my life, and we didn’t get along too well after I told her.”
Rhodes thought he’d gotten about as much out of Able as he was going to get. He could always come back if he had to.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know if you hear anything that might help me out,” Rhodes said.
“I’ll do that, Sheriff,” Able said. “That all you want with me?”
“That’s all.”
“I’ll be going back inside, then.”
“I’ll be seeing you,” Rhodes said.
“I hope not,” Able told him.
Chapter 11
As he was about to pull out onto the highway after leaving the compound, Rhodes saw Ruth Grady drive by in a county car on her way to Billy’s place. Rhodes had been planning to go back to Clearview and see about the autopsy on Melvin and then talk to Riley Farmer, Melvin’s alleged best friend. He also needed to talk to Mika Blackfield, but he’d thought of a thing or two that he wanted to check on at the B-Bar-B. He turned back in that direction and followed Ruth.
She was opening the outer gate when he pulled up behind her. He let the window down and leaned out.
“You can just leave it open,” he said. “I’ll follow you in.”
Ruth nodded and got back into the county car. She stopped at the next gate, got out and opened it, and waited for Rhodes to drive through. He parked at the barn, where she joined him.
“Do you really think we’ll find anything else here?” she asked.
“Probably not,” Rhodes said, “but I thought about something this morning that we should check on.”
“Are you going to keep me in the loop on it?” Ruth asked.
“You’ve been talking to Hack,” Rhodes said.
Ruth grinned. “He claims you never tell him anything.”
“And you believe him?”
“Not for a minute.”
“You always did show good judgment. Anyway, here’s what I’m wondering about. I assumed that because the lock was cut on the front gate, Melvin Hunt came in that way. But what if he didn’t?”
“Who cut the lock, then?”
“Suppose Billy Bacon came and found Melvin in the barn. He got angry and shot him. What would he do then?”
Ruth looked down at the ground and didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Rhodes let her think about it.
“All right,” she said. “Here’s what you’re thinking. Bacon shot Hunt and went home. Left him right where he was lying. Hunt didn’t have a gun, or if he did, we didn’t find it, so Bacon couldn’t claim self-defense. He didn’t know what to do. He talked it over with his wife, and they decided to have Bacon come back and ‘discover’ the body. He cut the lock himself to make it look as if Hunt had done it.”
“We didn’t find any bolt cutters,” Rhodes said. “Billy slipped up.”
“Or?”
“Or it didn’t happen like that. Somebody else cut the lock.”
“Hunt was here with somebody else?”
“Could be. Or not.”
“I’m out of the loop again,” Ruth said.
“Somebody cut the lock and came to the barn. What if Melvin either was already there or came in and surprised them?”
“How did Melvin get here?”
Rhodes told her about what had happened that morning. When he’d finished, she said, “You think Will Smalls had something to do with this?”
“Not necessarily. What I think is that someone wanted to look into Melvin’s house to see if there was something there that could implicate him. He walked along the creek and came up through the woods. Melvin could have come along the creek in this direction and come through the woods. He might have
stumbled into something.”
Ruth pushed her hat up on her forehead with her right thumb. “Why would he come here at all?”
“To steal,” Rhodes said. “Or maybe he knew something was going on. I don’t know the answers. I’m just thinking about what might have happened. What I do know, though, is that we should walk down to the creek and see if we can tell whether Melvin or someone else came here that way. Melvin’s truck is at his house, so he either walked or came here with somebody.”
“They got into an argument, and his partner killed him?”
“Like I said, I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure it out. If we can find out how Melvin got here, that might help.”
“What if his wife was his partner?” Ruth asked. “She could have driven here with him, killed him, and gone back home.”
“It could be like that,” Rhodes said. “Ivy would like it. We need to check out all the possibilities.”
“Let’s go for a walk, then,” Ruth said.
* * *
Something resembling a road curved through the trees near the barn and into the pasture. It was really nothing more than ruts with weeds growing between them, like Gunnison’s driveway, but rougher. The Tahoe could have traveled it easily, but since Rhodes didn’t want to take the chance of missing anything along the way, walking was the only option.
The sandy ruts didn’t hold any footprints, however, not from humans anyway. Bacon’s cattle had walked in them, and feral hogs had trampled all over them, obscuring any track that Melvin Hunt or anyone else might have left.
The road led up over a little rise, and on the other side were a dozen or so Hereford cattle, all cows and calves, in the pasture. Rhodes didn’t see an adult bull. Bacon probably kept a bull in another pasture. The cattle were grazing on the sparse pasture grass and didn’t pay any attention to Rhodes and Ruth after looking them over for a few seconds, except for one cow that stretched her neck a bit and mooed. Rhodes wondered if this was Billy’s entire herd or if there were more down in the bottoms.
The dam of a stock tank rose up to the right of the cattle, and Rhodes thought that it probably had fish in it. Most of the stock tanks in the county did. There’d been a time when he’d get a chance to go fishing now and then, and he’d even carried fishing gear in the back of his county car. He hadn’t wet a hook in so long, however, that he couldn’t remember the last time.