“Come on in.”
“You’re awake,” he said. I saw by his uniform that he was one of Pat Tate’s troops.
“I think so,” I said.
“I’ve been assigned down here,” he said, not altogether happy about it. “Sheriff Tate said that if there was anything you needed to let me know.”
“There’s a whole list of things I need,” I said, eager to rejoin the world. “What’s your name, Officer?”
“Perry Olguin, sir.” He hadn’t crossed thirty yet and was shorter than the nurse—slender, dark-skinned, and hawk-featured. He was cultivating a pencil-line mustache that looked ridiculous.
“Perry, catch me up. What the hell is happening up in San Estevan?”
Olguin frowned. “It’s a mess, sir.”
“Did they get Finn?”
“No, sir.”
I took a deep breath. “So what happened? What about Al Martinez?”
“All I heard was that Finn took Al’s car.”
“Took his car? What about Al?”
“He’ll be all right. His room’s just down the hall. Finn somehow got the drop on him and shot him point-blank five times.”
“And he’s all right?”
“Well, he’s sure sore. He had on his vest and I guess Finn didn’t notice…or see it. Al’s bruised up pretty bad. He can’t breathe so good. He’s lucky.”
“Christ. Did he manage to get a radio call off?”
Olguin nodded. “He radioed in that shots were fired. He told me a few minutes ago that it sounded like a damn war.”
“Worse,” I said flatly. “Does Tate know what direction Finn went? How he went?”
Olguin frowned again. Maybe he had to do that in order to think. “They got a roadblock on State 46, sir. They’re sure he didn’t make it that far.”
“What makes them think he’s going to drive right down the state highway for Christ’s sake?”
“Well…they’ve got every other road blocked, too. And the last word I had was that they were using two helicopters. It’s kind of tough working north and east, though, because of the fire.”
“He’s not going north or east,” I said. “That wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How long did it take after Martinez’ call before the next officers arrived?”
“Just a few minutes…maybe forty or so. Deputy Polk was at the southern end of State 46. He sailed on up there pretty fast. And he didn’t see any southbound traffic.”
And after the deputy went through it was an open road until they knew what the hell was going on and set up the roadblock. Whatever the screwup had been, it was more our fault than Tate’s.
“And he switched cars, so he’s not going to outrun anybody.”
“They found Martinez’ patrol car, you mean?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where was it? Where’d he dump it?”
Olguin paused and frowned even deeper. “They didn’t say, sir. They’re not talkin’ about that on the radio.”
“Shit,” I said. It was after eight. In three or four hours Finn could easily be out of the state if he headed west or swung back around north. Or he could follow the labyrinth of dirt roads, gradually working his way south toward the Mexican border. “And Estelle Reyes is still in surgery?”
“Yes, sir.”
“They recovered Paul Garcia’s body?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And nobody else is hurt? Other than Martinez, I mean?”
Olguin shook his head. Finn—that slimy son of a bitch—was loose and running, and none of us knew where he was.
“Is the fire under control?”
Olguin shook his head again. “That’s going to be a bad one, sir. I heard on the radio that the wind’s picking up. And the fire’s in heavy timber, movin’ up the mountain. They got crews from all around the state, tryin’ to stop it before it jumps across into the wilderness area on the north side.”
I nodded, but it wasn’t the forest fire I cared about. “Is Tate still at the hot springs?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get hold of him on the goddamn radio and tell him I need to talk to him.”
“You can reach one of the deputies down at the campground parking lot. The repeater reaches in there. They can patch through on hand-held to the sheriff up the canyon.”
“I know how radios work, Deputy,” I snapped and immediately waved a hand in apology. “Look, I need to talk with Tate on a telephone, not the radio. Get through to him and have him find a phone. By the time he does that, I’ll be out of here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Olguin left, and I reached for the buzzer to call a nurse. There was no buzzer. I swore loudly. The nurse showed up on the third curse.
“Is there something I can get for you?”
“Damn right,” I said. “I need a telephone.”
“There’s no phone in here,” she said, and I looked at her in disbelief.
“I know that, Nurse.”
“I’ll see one of the doctors. They may be ready to move you now.”
“That would be nice.” I smiled encouragement and then let my head fall back on the pillow. Estelle was in surgery, I was stuck in bed, and it sounded like Tate’s men were either still mining the campsite or helping fight fires.
I hoped somebody was left to hound H. T. Finn’s tail before little Daisy had to learn to speak Mexican.
Chapter 27
“He did what?” I stared at Pat Tate.
The sheriff regarded me as if I’d given Finn the keys myself. Maybe that’s why Tate had driven to the city instead of prolonging our phone conversation. “The son of a bitch parked Al Martinez’s car right in Estelle’s driveway. Then he broke a wing window of your Blazer and that was that.”
“What the hell is that simple bastard up to?” I walked to the window. To the north, the plume of smoke towered like a summer thunderstorm’s anvil—hell, airline pilots were probably smelling the pine smoke at 30,000 feet. “He won’t be hard to find.”
“No. There are probably only a thousand beat-up ’84 Chevy Blazers in the state. But we got every road covered…one agency or another.”
“And he’s got Daisy with him.”
“For sure,” Tate said. “We saw the tracks of her little sneakers in the dirt of the driveway.” He sat on the edge of the bed. His fingers twined together and he said quietly, “I don’t believe we lost Paul. Twenty-two years old, for Christ’s sake.” He looked over at me, knowing there was nothing I could say that would make any difference. “We don’t have any background on this guy yet, you know that?”
I nodded. Tate continued, “We’re trying for a print match. What we need is one of those big computers that does that. We have the rifle and it might turn some prints. I think we recovered all the weapons, including that automatic of Arajanian’s. It doesn’t make sense that a punk kid like him can just plunk down a thousand bucks for a fancy gun and a goddamn silencer.”
Tate looked at his watch. “I’ve got two investigators with Kyle Osuna right now,” he said and then added with no sympathy, “That’s one scared kid.”
“He has reason to be.”
“I was there for a few minutes and heard some of the preliminaries. You know why he wanted to talk with us so bad?”
“He was scared shitless, that’s why.”
“Partly. He was in the truck, all right, with the other four. He was up in the cab with Waquie and Kelly Grider. The Lucero brothers were in the back and he says they started the ruckus with the girl, almost the minute she climbed into the truck.”
“They raped her?”
“Eventually, I guess. Osuna says they drove all the way to the head of the canyon to get some more beer at that little store… Chuga’s. Then he says they went to one of the campgrounds up that way. Had themselves a party. By that time Cecilia Burgess was trying to get away—Osuna says she tried to run up into the woods and Kenneth Lucero caught her. Osuna says he tried to stop him
, but Lucero was too much to handle.”
“And after the party?”
“They drove south and Osuna said the girl was pleading with them to let her go, to drop her off when they got to the hot springs. He says they got to fighting in the back, with Waquie and Grider yelling encouragement from the front. Osuna says they were swerving all over the road.”
“And he was lily-white innocent, of course.”
“Sure. So he says. Somewhere north of the campgrounds, push came to shove. Osuna says that Kenneth Lucero lost his temper and hit the girl pretty hard. The truck swerved across the road, since Waquie was both drunk and enjoying the fight, not paying much attention to the road. He jerked the wheel at the wrong time and over she went.”
“Osuna says the truck was southbound on the highway?”
“So he says. In the wrong lane.”
“She gets tossed into the rocks and they drive on home.”
Tate nodded. “More or less. But I have trouble with part of that punk’s story. Osuna told the detectives that he went back up the canyon after a while in his own truck, found the girl, and helped her up to the highway. He says he would have done more, but then traffic came along and he spooked. He says he thought that since someone else was going to stop and take care of the girl, he could slip away.”
“There’s evidence that says that might be true, Pat. Both Estelle and I sure as hell thought it looked like someone had helped her up to the road. Maybe Osuna really did.”
It was the first time during our conversation that Estelle’s name had been mentioned, and Sheriff Pat Tate flinched perceptibly. He looked like he was ten years older than he was…physically tired and emotionally wrung out. He stood up and pushed one hand into his pocket, moving toward the door. He stopped and rested the other hand on the door pull, looking down at it thoughtfully.
“Al Martinez is fine. He’s sore as hell, but fine. But we’re not going to know anything about Estelle’s condition until probably late this afternoon…maybe even tomorrow.”
“I heard.”
“If she pulls out of it, she’s going to be one lucky girl.”
I nodded and looked out the window. I wasn’t sure I wanted Estelle to pull out of anything if she was going to face the rest of her life as a vegetable. No one had put that fear in words, but like a black cloud it hung over our thoughts.
Pat Tate turned and waited until I looked back at him. “Finn isn’t going to get away with this, Bill.” His heavy-lidded eyes didn’t blink. “I wouldn’t say this to anyone but you, but those punks in the truck had it coming. You and I both know they did. And that priest…Parris? He didn’t know what the hell he was doing when he tipped off Finn.” He shook his head in disgust. “But it’s gnawing at me, what a cold, calculating bastard this Finn is. Hell, his girl got raped and smeared on the rocks. He flips out…I can almost understand that. I’d want to kill somebody myself. If he just walked up to each one of them and blew them away, that would be one thing. But the way he did it, Jesus. And he sure as hell didn’t give you, Estelle, and Paul any notice. He just cut loose.”
He stopped and rubbed the door pull with his thumb, idly polishing the chrome finish. “I’m surprised he gave you a second chance, Bill. When it comes to killing, he’s no beginner.”
“He used Arajanian,” I said. “I’m sure of it. The boy did exactly as he was told. Cold-blooded as a goddamn lizard. I’m beginning to think that it’s when Finn had to act on his own that he started making mistakes.”
“I want to know what other connections he’s had,” Tate said. He pulled open the door. “We’re going to find out who Finn is, Bill. And when we catch him, I’d straddle him over an anthill and let him take about three weeks to die, if the law would let me.”
“Keep me posted,” I said. He nodded and had almost closed the door behind him when my memory played a tape I didn’t even know I had. “Pat!”
He peered back in the room and lifted his chin in question.
“When Finn came back to the tent, he picked up the little girl, Daisy.”
“And?”
“He called her Ruth.”
“Ruth?”
I nodded. “His pet name for her. I don’t know why. The first time we talked with him at the springs, he called her that. Ruth. We didn’t think it was important then. But now…it’s something… it might lead somewhere.”
Pat Tate frowned and I could see the wheels turning. No easy answer held up its hand. “When I find the son of a bitch, I’ll ask him,” he said.
“I want to be there when you do.” He nodded and I took that as a promise.
Chapter 28
By late afternoon of the next day I was stir-crazy. Worse, I hadn’t seen Francis Guzman, hadn’t heard about Estelle…I was goddamned marooned in that stupid little room. There was nothing wrong with me other than a few stitches. “Admitted for observation” might be a nice way of saying that I’d been sidelined on purpose.
The manhunt for H. T. Finn was centering on the western half of the state…it was top-of-the-hour news on both radio and television and splattered a headline across both the evening and morning papers. No reporter had sought me out. Sheriff Pat Tate had hidden me away.
Shortly after 3:00 p.m., I was sitting in the hard vinyl chair by the window of my hospital room. I’d had a fitful night’s sleep and, for want of anything better to do, a short morning nap. The only medication they forced on me was a mild painkiller and I took that gladly. My back hurt worse than my shoulder.
The first rifle bullet had blown through my vest and skinned across my back just below my shoulder blades. The projectile had never broken the skin, but the bruise and burn on my back was two inches wide and nine inches long.
I’d been lucky with that one. The other bullet had done more damage, ripping first through the edge of my vest and then through the muscle over my right upper arm bone. The bullet hadn’t actually hit the bone, although the shock wave had caused all kinds of “neurological confusion,” as one of the doctors put it. An hour in surgery had put stitches in all the right places. One of the doctors told me that in two weeks I wouldn’t even know I’d been nicked. Two weeks was forever.
There I sat, newspaper folded on my lap, looking ninety years old, when the door opened. Dr. Francis Guzman looked about as old as I did. And now that we were face-to-face, I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him. He closed the door behind himself and leaned against it. He may have needed to. The bags under his eyes were black and deep.
I rose and he waved a hand at me. “No, don’t. Sit.”
“I’ve been doing nothing but sitting all day, Francis.”
He pushed himself away from the door, walked slowly across the room, and shook my hand. His grip was firm and he hung onto my hand for just a moment. “How’s the shoulder?”
“Fine. What’s the word?”
He grinned—barely that…just a weary twitch of the lips and a little dance of light in his eyes.
“I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to get up here more often to see you,” he said. “I looked in on you a couple times yesterday, but you were either under the anesthetic or asleep. Sheriff Tate told me last night you were getting antsy.” He grinned. “I dropped in this morning and you were sleeping in that chair.”
“Yeah. The hell with that. How’s Estelle?”
“She’s doing as well as we could hope.”
He started to say something else, but he was sounding just like a goddamned doctor. I interrupted him. “That doesn’t mean a damn thing to me, Francis. Just tell me in simple English.”
“She’s going to live, barring complications.”
“Complications?” Francis looked around the room for something to sit on. “Take the bed,” I said. He flopped down and fell back, arms over his head. After a moment he pulled himself up to a sitting position.
“Whenever the brain is injured, there’s all kinds of problems,” he said. “It’s a hell of a lot harder making sure all the bleeders behave themselves.” H
e pointed his finger as if it were a pistol. “Apparently the bullet hit the point of her skull right here.” He tapped the rear crown of his head. “A glancing blow, but…” He took a deep breath. “With a high-powered rifle there’s just so damn much force involved. She has a serious skull fracture.”
I waited while he decided what he wanted to say. “At first they thought that some skull fragments might have penetrated the dura, maybe damaged the brain tissue itself.”
“And?”
“She was in surgery a long time. She’s strong, and the docs did a fine job. The wound is clean. No chips. Hell of a lot of bruising, and that’s always worrisome with the brain. But they did a fine job.” He grinned with a little more energy. “I was there to make sure they did.”
“Any paralysis?” I said, and my voice was husky.
He shook his head. “Not that we can tell yet.”
“Is she conscious?”
“In and out, but that’s to be expected for a couple days.”
“I’d like to see her.”
Francis Guzman nodded but held up a hand. “It’d be best for both of you to let it wait until tomorrow.” He stood up and rolled his head around, trying to loosen the neck kinks. “Give her a few more hours of rest. We’ll know more then, anyway.”
“Francis…”
He looked at me, one eyebrow cocked—just like his wife.
“What about the baby?”
The young physician smiled, and my relief was like ocean surf. “She told you, huh, Padrino?”
“Yeah, she told me. She didn’t lose it, did she?”
“No. She’ll be fine. Tough stuff. She really is.”
“I’m sorry this happened,” I said, sounding lame and dumb.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” he said. He stuck out his hand again, and I got up. “We’d all be geniuses if our foresight was as good. Who knows what might have happened if you’d waited. But she’ll be fine. So will you. And the next time you have a vacation, we’re all going to go to Lake Tahoe or somewhere where neither one of you can get into trouble.”
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