by Jeff Carson
A firefighter picked up the phone and held it up in the air, seemed to think better of the idea and passed it to Vickers, who walked it to Connell.
Rachette put his hand on Wolf’s shoulder. “You all right, man?”
Wolf nodded. “Yeah.” He pointed to his own head, then to Connell’s back. “Thanks.”
Rachette nodded.
Connell turned on his heels, and walked backwards, this time glaring at Rachette. Connell’s eyebrows raised and he nodded his head, then turned back and continued walking.
Wolf noticed Rachette’s hand unconsciously come up to his neck.
They stood quietly for a minute while Wolf steadied his breathing.
Rachette dug in his pocket and held out his can of chew.
“Jesus. Quit being such an enabler.” Wolf snatched it from his hand and took a pinch.
Rachette smiled and gave a sideways glance to the men milling about nearby. He kept his voice low. “What the hell was that? What’s going on?”
Wolf nodded to the surrounding men and two women medics who looked just as pumped full of adrenaline as he was. They all paused their conversations, as if waiting for a speech or something.
He knew that the deputies of the SCSD must have been hungry for leadership, and they sure as hell weren’t getting any. The other uniformed men and women gathered in Wolf’s front yard were shaken up. This was not normal operating procedure, not by a long shot.
It had been a foregone conclusion in the minds of ninety percent of the deputies, and all other county employees that Deputy Sergeant Wolf would be the next Sheriff of Sluice County. For the last two years, Wolf had been in charge of the SCSD in every sense except his official rank. Burton had checked out years ago, effectively handing the reins to Wolf. But now Connell had snatched them away, and he was already steering the department like an inept child. Things were not just going south, they were at the south pole already.
Wolf didn’t know what to say. “All right guys, let’s just get back to work.”
Wolf watched people scatter with subdued nods, with incredulous glances to one another, and shook his head. “Connell was behind this.” Wolf rubbed the side of his neck. “Or the Connells. I don’t need to wait for the fire investigation to know that this was arson. I don’t leave that propane tank on when I leave. Ever. And I saw that flash just inside the door. The tank was turned on, and set to blow by someone. Plain and simple. First they didn’t want me to be Sheriff of this county, and now they’re willing to kill me to get me out of the picture.”
“Wait, what?” Rachette frowned.
Wolf told him about the night before — Gary’s job offer that he turned down, about the big Navy SEAL, and about Gary and Wolf’s falling out after he’d told him about Connell’s actions on top of the cliff, and then refused the job.
Rachette shook his head. “Okay, listen to me. Its time you tell me what the hell happened on top of that cliff. You bullshitted me before, and then went off to Italy, and I just dropped it. I figured it wasn’t any of my business. I figured you didn’t want to rat out Connell. I get that. But now I wanna know. I need to know. Seriously. What the hell happened? I think I’m entitled to a little explanation, and don’t just tell me to suck it up again.” Rachette’s veins were popping out at his temples. “You gotta externalize this shit. Don’t keep it bottled up.”
Wolf couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
Rachette stood with his chin high and chest out.
“All right. Fine. You’re right.” Wolf took a deep breath and looked up the charred mountain. “Connell tried to push me off the cliff that day.”
Rachette whiplashed his head back. “What? Wait…what? What do you mean he tried to push you off the cliff?”
“I mean he tried to push me off the cliff. I ducked. He missed.”
“Holy shit.” Rachette turned and looked toward Connell’s truck as it sped away. “That is…Jesus.”
Wolf nodded and began walking.
“Are you serious? He tried to murder you? What happened? Like, give me details here!”
Wolf shook his head. “I barely remember. I ducked, he missed, so I lured him into the trees, and luckily I got the best of him.”
Rachette strode along side, staring at Wolf and shaking his head. “I don’t want to be in the same room as that guy again.”
Wolf stopped and looked at him. “I don’t think you should be.”
“Yeah, you don’t know the half of it.” Rachette mumbled.
“What? What happened? Is that what that mark on your neck is from? Connell? Is that why you’re talking like you’ve got a wad of gauze in your mouth?”
Rachette rolled his eyes and walked slow. “He overheard me talking to you on the phone this afternoon, and jumped me in the garage.” He flexed his muscles and made two fists. “He shoved me up against the wall and...” Rachette pointed at his neck and looked into the distance. “I really thought he was going to choke me to death for a second. Then he just let go and walked away.”
Wolf took a deep breath and walked on.
“What are we going to do?” Rachette asked.
“There’s something going on here, and we’ve got to figure out what it is. And obviously we’ve both gotta watch our asses.” Wolf walked along the line of emergency vehicles.
“We’ve got to get Connell out of the Sheriff’s office,” Rachette said. “That’s what we’ve gotta do. And put him in jail.” Rachette’s voice went low. “Or kill him.”
Wolf turned with a raised eyebrow.
Rachette held up his hands. “I’m just kidding. Well. No I’m not. You say the word and I’ll kill the bastard.” His face was deadpan. “I know what’s going on, here. The Connells are power-hungry bastards and want to keep themselves at the top. Simple as that.”
Wolf closed one eye. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “But if this was the Connells, they sure as hell want me out of the picture. Maybe that was why Gary offered me that job, and maybe since I turned it down, now they want me dead.”
Rachette looked at Wolf. “Yeah, but they tried to kill you last week. You just said Connell tried to kill you by pushing you off the cliff. Why would Gary offer you a job after they tried to kill you? Why not just skip that little formality and go straight to trying to kill you again?”
Wolf shrugged and slowed his walk. “Maybe Connell and Gary aren’t acting together?”
Rachette nodded and stopped. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. Connell’s always been jealous as hell of you. Like, I mean, let’s face it, everyone knows Gary looks to you as the son he never had, and he looks to Derek Connell like the — well, like the dumbass Connell is. Gary’s pretty much taken you under his wing ever since your dad died, right?”
Wolf stopped and turned.
Rachette raised his chin high again, looking Wolf in the eye.
“Yeah. He did,” Wolf admitted, looking back up at the scorched earth behind the damp remains of the house, then to the orange sky in the opposite direction. He closed his eyes to the setting sun’s rays.
Rachette continued. “So maybe it’s just Connell acting alone. He’s trying to finish what he started last week.”
“I’m not so sure Connell could pull this explosion off. Plus I’d be willing to bet Connell was at the station all day, or he’s got some other perfect alibi. I think it was Gary’s security guy. The large ex-Navy SEAL I met last night.”
Rachette kept silent for a moment. “The guy was big, huh?”
Wolf nodded. “Listen, just watch your ass tonight. I mean, really watch it. No going out drinking.”
Rachette closed his eyes and turned to the sun. “Oh, I’ll watch it. I sleep with my Glock under my pillow at all times.”
Wolf gave him a sidelong glance. “That’s…psychotic. But good.”
Chapter 12
Gary Connell sat on the pebbly soil in between two large sage bushes and dug his boot heels into the ground. He propped his elbows on his knees and looked through the Pent
ax hunting binoculars towards the construction site. The details of the commotion were fuzzy, as it was over a mile away, but he knew exactly what he was looking at. It was the unmistakable shape of another huge excavator sitting on the trailer of an eighteen-wheeler.
Most of the workers were scurrying to their trucks and driving away. They were paying the mechanical beast no attention. At least that was a good sign. They looked to be winding down, not getting ready for a long night shift.
“Well, they’ve got themselves a new horse.” He pulled down the binoculars and stood with a grunt.
Earl sat unmoving on his four-wheeler, and Buck was a few feet away taking a leak against a bush.
Gary put the binoculars away and waited with hands on his hips.
Buck returned in silence, his bushy white mustache twitching underneath unblinking eyes. He spat a dollop of black chew-spit on the ground and sat down on his ATV.
“Get ready for another late night, boys.” Gary said. “Looks like they’re back in business. We’ll head out after dinner.”
Gary’s cell phone vibrated in his Carhartt pants. He pulled it out and answered.
“Yeah.”
“You heard I take it.” The crackling voice said.
“Yeah. Come over for dinner tonight. We’ll talk about it.”
A laugh was barely audible through the earpiece. “We’re not talking about anything, I’ve got a lot to do. Did you see the latest piece of equipment they’ve got?”
“Yes I did.” Gary narrowed his eyes and looked around. Where the hell was he? “Come on over for dinner, and we’ll talk about it.”
Silence. Gary looked at his phone. The call was still connected.
“Hello? Listen! Come over for dinner tonight, and we’ll talk about it. I’m not going to ask you again.”
Was that a chuckle?
“Hello?” He looked at the phone. “God damn it!”
Buck leaned over and squirted another dark spit. “What was that?”
Gary’s body was shaking uncontrollably. He wasn’t so sure about Plan B. Or C. Or whatever the hell they were calling the godforsaken idea now. Things were getting way out of control, and he knew his head of security was enjoying it. Did Young fuck up on purpose? Gary’s pulse doubled at the thought.
“Nothing. Like I said, we’ve got another late night. Let’s go.” Gary fired up the four-wheeler’s thumping engine, cranked the bars and thumbed the throttle to the limit.
Chapter 13
The day’s light had completely faded, and was replaced by the rising moonlight when Wolf pulled into the driveway of Sarah’s parents’ house.
Mark’s truck was conspicuously gone. Wolf had begun to wonder if the man had moved in.
Dennis answered the door and waved him in.
“Good lord, son,” he said. “You all right? What happened over there?”
Wolf shook his head. “Where’s Jack?”
Angela came down the hall and gave him a hug. “He’s eating dinner. Get in here and have some too.”
Jack and Sarah looked up from the kitchen table. Jack had a long scrape on his forehead with a slight bruise behind it. Otherwise, he looked freshly showered and all in all in perfect health.
“How you doing, buddy?”
Jack closed his eyes and nodded his head. “I’m fine.”
“How’s Brian doing?”
“He’s okay, I guess. He’s got a cast on his arm, and he had to get five stitches in his head. They said he had a piece of wood stuck in his skull!”
Wolf raised his eyebrows and looked to Sarah.
Her eyes watered as she turned to rub Jack’s brown hair, and then she pulled him close and kissed him on the head.
Angela set a plate of chicken and rice down and motioned for them to sit.
“Thanks.” Wolf dug in, inhaling his plate and sucking down the tall glass of water with ease. Angela was quick to bring him a second helping, which he gratefully ate as well.
When Wolf was done, he looked up and noticed the scared look on everyone’s face. He set down his fork, wiped his mouth and looked at Sarah.
Dennis cleared his throat. “Do you think this was arson, son?”
“I’m going to find out tomorrow. We have a couple of investigators going through the scene.”
Sarah was staring at him. Her sapphire eyes sparkled as tears welled up. One rolled down her cheek, and she made no effort to wipe it away.
Wolf’s breath caught. He didn’t know if it was from seeing her in such a state of concern, or because of her heart-crushing beauty.
He cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stay the night here if I could.” Wolf looked at Dennis and Angela.
“Of course. Of course, son.” Dennis placed his hand on his shoulder. “You stay here as long as you need. And I’ve got plenty of ammunition.”
Wolf smiled. He knew Dennis Muller had a keen sense of situational awareness. It was how he’d amassed a fortune in real estate over the years. And he was well aware of the danger the entire family was in at the moment.
“You guys don’t worry,” Wolf said. “But I’m going to call Nate and see if you can stay in their place in Durango.”
Dennis narrowed his eyes. “Do you think we need to?”
Wolf took a sip of his drink, scanning the scared faces around the table, and stopped at Jack’s worshipping stare. He thought back on the flash inside the door. “Yes.” He looked them all in the eye. “But we’ll be fine here tonight.”
Wolf would just have to make sure of that.
Wolf put his phone in his pocket and came inside from the front deck rubbing his hands.
Dennis and Sarah sat on the long couch with their socked feet on the coffee table, staring at a muted nature show on the television.
It had been dark for a few hours, and Angela and Jack were already in bed upstairs. Dennis bent forward, picked up a cold Newcastle from the table, and pointed it at him.
“Thanks.” Wolf took a seat next to Sarah and gave cheers to her dad. His body ached, and his mind was fuzzy; both in need of a good rest. He took a long pull of the beer, and decided the warm massage of the alcohol would do for now.
“What did Nate say? How’s Brian doing?” Sarah asked, pulling her hair behind her ear.
“He’s doing okay. Broken arm, mild concussion, a few stitches, but he’s all right.” Wolf took another sip and glanced at Sarah, and did a double take when he noticed she was looking straight into his eyes.
She turned away and readjusted her leg so it rested lightly against Wolf’s.
At that moment, he was completely aware of her breath, the fragrant scent of her shampoo, and light dose of flowery perfume. Looking at her leg as it pressed lightly against his, he couldn’t help but feel aroused at the sight of her taut thigh muscles underneath her white sweatpants.
“Hey.” Dennis was leaning forward, glaring at Wolf.
Wolf froze and looked at Dennis. “Yes?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while now.” He shifted forward on the couch. “Do you know a guy named Bill Chester? Or William Chester?”
Wolf raised an eyebrow. “No. I don’t think I do. Never heard of him. Why?”
Dennis shook his head with a gasp and took a sip of his beer. “He’s got that property on —“
“Geez, Dad, don’t you ever think about anything else?” Sarah raised her hands to the heavens.
He paused, not taking his eyes off Wolf. “Anyways. He’s got that huge property on the east side of Cave Creek,” he swept his hand, “on the side of the low mountain, kind of at the base of Winslow Peak, there?”
Wolf nodded. He’d seen the property many times. Anyone who was driving into town from the north did.
Dennis shook his head. “You don’t know him?”
“No, I’ve never heard of the guy. Why?”
Dennis slumped his shoulders and slapped his knee. “Man. I really think that would be a great spot for a development. I want to buy it from hi
m, but I can’t find him. He bought it back in the late nineties, and then he just lets the land sit there. He’s got the same house sitting on it, an old piece of junk, completely falling over. It’s just strange.”
Wolf shrugged. He could think of worse things to do with thousands of acres than just let it sit. “I have no clue. But, you know, I wasn’t here much during the late nineties.”
Sarah’s leg moved away from his.
“I’m telling you, though. That guy bought the land for 1.2 million dollars. He just leaves it? Never goes in there? It’s just strange.” He sat back, turning to the television. “I want that property. There’s really some good opportunity there.”
“Can’t you just look it up on public record how to get in contact with him?” Wolf leaned up, stealing a glance at Sarah, who was now glaring at the television as if it were an old enemy.
“You would think. But he’s got a paper trail that just disappears.” Dennis yawned, slugged the rest of his beer, and stood up. “All right.” He looked at Sarah, who was blank-staring at the TV, and then to Wolf. “Well, if you ever hear anything about that guy, let me know.” He nodded at Wolf and kissed his daughter. “Try to get some sleep now.”
Wolf nodded, watching him leave up the stairs, knowing they both knew sleep wasn’t on the schedule for him tonight.
The room fell into a deep silence. Sarah sat motionless.
“Sarah.”
She rolled her eyes a little and looked at him. “What?”
He shifted on the couch to look straight at her. “What’s going on? Everything okay?”
“What do you mean?” She kept her eyes on the muted TV.
Wolf reached for the remote and shut it off. “I mean, I really need to start getting answers from you about some things.”
She looked down. “Answers about what?”
“All right, how about this. You’re sober now, right?”
She turned with a serious look. “Yes.”
“And you feel like you’ve kicked the pills for good?”
“Yes.”
He looked out at the full moon in the window above her. “Then can you tell me what happened all those years ago? Why you started using? Is there a reason? Was it something I did?”