“Why don’t we check out the diner and have a piece of pie?” Matt gestured toward the building across the street. “I can stop back by for the groceries I need afterward.”
Hardy checked his watch. “Okay, but I won’t be able to stay long. I have some work to do on a silo, and it’s starting to get dark earlier.”
The two men walked across the street and to the diner. They were soon seated at Hardy’s regular table. A waitress with a remarkable resemblance to Andy Griffith’s Aunt Bee and a nametag reading Sandra waited on them.
Hardy had just taken a bite of peach cobbler when the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He knew the feeling well. He was being watched. The spoon next to his saucer hit the floor loudly after he unobtrusively knocked it off. Then he used the movement of picking it up to scan the room, which was more crowded than he was used to.
“Clumsy much?” Matt kidded, apparently unaware that anything was amiss.
“I guess.” Hardy hadn’t seen anybody who stood out. One man had been looking at him, but Hardy was pretty sure it was simply because he’d caught his attention by picking up the spoon. At least he was sure of one thing. He hadn’t seen any members of the Dohner organization. And unless Ted had done some recruiting, Hardy was familiar enough with the men who would come after him to recognize them. It must have just been his imagination.
“So, what do you have to get done during your last two weeks on the farm?” Matt asked.
Their conversation resumed, and Hardy pushed the incident out of his mind, certain he was safe.
Chapter 12
He put the phone on the table. It appeared that Harding Davis was making friends after all. But his time in Shadow was coming to a close, and that simply wouldn’t do. There would have to be a reason for him to choose to stay. Something that would pique his interest. A woman? Maybe, but two weeks wasn’t really enough time. That would come after Hardy made Shadow his home. Davis needed something else . . . something that would tempt him enough to bring him at least partially out of hiding. And he had an idea of what might work.
He smiled as he picked up the phone. He had his players, such as they were, in place; it was time to set his plan in motion.
Chapter 13
Haley automatically checked the time as she answered the emergency phone. Seven-thirteen.
“Shadow County Sheriff’s station.”
“Haley, you’ve got to send Mitch over here right away. It’s terrible.” The caller’s voice was unrecognizable beneath the panic.
“Okay. Slow down and tell me your name and where you’re calling from.” She spoke clearly and firmly.
“It’s Tina Foster, and I’m at the clinic. Haley, they tore everything up and they . . . the dogs . . .” Tina broke into sobs.
“Sit tight, Tina. I’ll have somebody there as quickly as possible. Just stay on the line.”
Haley shoved the idea of what Tina was saying out of her mind and signaled Mitch on the radio.
“Base to sheriff. This is a code three. Repeat, code three to Shadow Animal Clinic.”
“Landon here. Details.” Mitch’s deep voice came over the radio.
“We have a four-fifty-nine with possible multiple ten-ninety-one-D.” They had a burglary, possibly with multiple dead animals. Codes Haley had never imagined using together.
“Ten-four. En route. Estimated ETA seven twenty-five. Radio Snow and Daniels for assistance.”
“Ten-four.”
Haley signaled the two deputies and repeated the codes. Then she picked up the receiver and pressed the lit button. “Tina, are you still there?”
“Who-who would do something like this?” The sheer horror in Tina’s voice told Haley everything she needed to know.
“Mitch is on his way. He’ll be there any moment. Are you still in the building?”
“No.” Tina was crying again.” I brought the cordless phone outside. I just couldn’t stay inside with the—”
Haley heard the siren through the phone and knew Mitch had arrived. “Mitch is there now, Tina, so you can hang up. He’ll take care of everything.” The sound of Tina’s sobbing stopped abruptly when the line went dead.
Somebody had broken into the animal clinic and not only trashed the place; they had also killed defenseless animals. Haley could only imagine what images Tina would have emblazoned on her brain.
“Landon to base.” Mitch was calling on the radio.
“Base here.”
“Call Dr. Waters at home. He needs to come down here ASAP.”
“Ten-four.”
Mitch’s voice was softer. “Prepare him for multiple ten-ninety-one-Ds. Every one of them.”
“Ten-four.”
It wasn’t often Haley heard her boss sound upset, but she heard deep dismay and disbelief in his voice. It must truly be a terrible scene.
She quickly located the veterinarian’s phone number and dialed it.
“Good morning. Harold Waters speaking.” The man spoke in his usual cheerful manner. Haley wished she didn’t have to give him such bad news.
“Dr. Waters, this is Haley Johnson from the sheriff’s station. I’m calling to inform you there’s been a break-in at the clinic. The sheriff needs you there as soon as possible.”
“A break-in?” Shock resonated in his voice. “What on earth would somebody want to steal from an animal clinic? Did they get into the medication?”
This was the hard part. “I’m not sure about theft, Doctor. I’m very sorry to tell you, though, there were no animals left alive.”
“No animals . . . alive . . . Oh, my.” Haley didn’t speak as she gave the man time to gain control of his emotions. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. This is just terrible.”
“Yes, it is.”
Haley sat at her station, unmoving, for a few minutes after hanging up. What was going on? Things like this didn’t happen in Shadow. First, somebody had broken in and robbed the beauty salon and now this?
She took a few moments to pray for God to be with everybody at the animal clinic. They needed his strength and comfort.
Then there was one more phone call she needed to make. She picked up the phone and dialed a number from memory.
“Good morning. This is Pastor Rollins.” The voice that had offered Haley instruction, redirection, and comfort during the past nine years nearly brought her to tears.
She took a deep breath to get her emotions under control. “Pastor, this is Haley Johnson.”
“Well, hello, Haley. How are you this beautiful October morning?”
“Not so good right now. I’m calling to request the prayer chain be started.”
His jovial manner was immediately replaced by concern. “What do you need?”
Confidentiality wasn’t an issue with the pastor, as he knew how much he could share with his parishioners and what would need to be kept to himself. “There’s been a break-in at the animal clinic. Tina discovered it when she got there this morning.” A shiver ran up her spine. “The thing is, all the animals were…none of them were left alive. We can’t provide details to others, but I think we need to pray for everybody who has to deal with this.”
“We certainly do.” There was a moment of silence. “Let’s not forget to pray for the people who did this, Haley. They need God’s help to set them straight.”
This was a concept Haley struggled with, even though she understood it. ”Okay.”
“I’ll get it started right away. Do you know where Tina is? I would like to go see her.”
“Just a minute and I’ll find out for you.” Tina would undoubtedly appreciate a visit from Pastor Rollins. She was most likely frightened and horrified beyond words.
Rather than bothering the sheriff, Haley signaled for Wayne to phone the office.
“It’s me, Haley.” She couldn’t remember the last time the jovial man had used her given name. This was going to be terrible for all of them.
“Wayne, I have Pastor Rollins on another line. He’d like to know where Tina
is so he can visit her. Can you tell me?”
“She’s gone home. Her husband came and took her home with him. She’s pretty shaken up.”
“It’s that bad?” Haley was certain she knew the answer, but had to ask anyway.
“Haley, this is the stuff nightmares are made of. Nobody should have to see something like this.”
“Any leads so far?”
“Not really. Jeff should be back at base any moment, though. He’ll fill you in.”
“I’m sorry for any of you who had to look at it. Thanks for calling, Wayne.”
She pushed the button for line three. “Pastor, her husband took her home. The deputy said she’s in pretty bad shape.”
“Thank you. I’ll get the chain started and get over to her house as quickly as possible.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up.
Haley had just finished writing up the report on the call-in when Jeff Fielding walked through the door. One look at the pasty color of the usually robust man’s face told Haley he had seen something awful.
“I got sick.” Least sociable of the squad, he surprised Haley by sinking onto the spare chair. “I’ve seen car accidents and victims of abuse, but Haley, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Let me get you something to drink.” Haley left him sitting and staring into space while she went to the refrigerator in the back room. They kept it stocked with several different kinds of soft drinks and bottled water, and they used the honor system to pay for it. She took two dollar bills out of her jeans pocket and stuffed them into the jar on top of the appliance before she pulled out a bottle of soda and another of water. She wasn’t sure which would help Jeff at this point.
He reached out and accepted the soft drink when she offered him his choice. The bottle was half empty when he pulled it away from his mouth.
“The thing is, I don’t think Wayne or I saw the worst of it. There was something in one of the kennels Mitch wouldn’t let anybody look at. He took the camera from Wayne and was in there for quite a while. Then he had Wayne working on paperwork with Doc Waters, and he sent me back here.” His eyes had a haunted look in them as they met hers. “If what he was looking at was worse than the rest, I’m glad he didn’t want me to see it.”
“Are there any leads?”
Jeff shook his head. “Not yet. Once this makes the news, we’ll probably have everybody and their grandma seeing strange people around town. Don’t be surprised if Mitch pulls one of the other dispatchers in here to work with you for a while.”
“That’ll be fine.” Haley reached over and placed her hand on his trembling arm. ”Jeff, is there anything at all I can do to help you right now?”
He looked at her, his eyes still broadcasting his feelings all too well. “Does God care about animals?”
Another diametrical statement from the man who occasionally swore there was no God. “He cares about his entire creation.” Maybe she could witness and offer him comfort at the same time. “The Bible tells that after God created the animals, he saw his creation was good. If he didn’t care about them, he would have let them drown instead of insuring their repopulation by putting them on the ark.”
The usual skepticism was absent on his face as he looked at her. “Then, pray, Haley. Pray we catch whoever did this before something else happens. Maybe something even worse.”
The fact it was he who asked her to pray nearly brought tears to her eyes. God was at work with the officer.
“Would you like me to pray aloud?”
He didn’t speak for a long moment, but then said, “Yes.”
Pray. She could do that. She bowed her head and did as he asked.
Chapter 14
Hardy had just cleaned the last bit of pork roast from his plate when he heard the scrape of the chair across the table. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised to see the sheriff sitting there.
“Afraid you’ll have to eat alone this evening, Sheriff.” He took a drink of his cola. “I was just about to leave.”
“We need to talk, Davis.” This was a different Mitch Landon than the one who had confronted him before. “And we can do it in here where we’re liable to be overheard, or you can come to the station, and we’ll have a private discussion in my office. But either way, we are going to talk.”
Harding Beau Davis knew for a fact if he didn’t want to go with the man sitting across the table from him, he wouldn’t be going. One thing he’d learned during his years on the force was size didn’t always matter. So, even with Landon’s taller height and additional fifteen or twenty pounds, the sheriff wasn’t going to get him to cooperate by intimidation.
The two men sat, looking into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an hour. Neither was backing down. Hardy was impressed, despite himself.
“I’ll go with you,” he finally agreed, “but you’ve got five minutes, and then we’re through.”
Mitch nodded warily. “We’ll see how you feel about that once we’ve talked a little.”
Hardy didn’t feel any differently about it when he sat on a chair in the sheriff’s office, and he certainly wasn’t inclined to extend his visit when Mitch told the dispatcher to notify him of emergency calls only, and then shut the door and locked it. The closed vertical blinds didn’t tickle him pink, either.
“Just say what you have to say.” He wasn’t in the mood to channel his inner Jack Bauer.
Mitch opened a drawer and pulled out a folder. He placed it on his desk and stared at it as he began to talk.
“Yesterday morning, a break-in was discovered. The animal clinic out on the edge of town was totally trashed.” He raised his eyes and looked directly at Hardy. “There were six dogs, two cats, and a rabbit being housed there. Not one of them was left alive.”
“I’m sorry, Sheriff, but I don’t see what that has to do with me.” Hardy had a thought.” You’re not thinking I had something to do with it, are you?”
“You tell me.” The sheriff slid the folder across the desk. Hardy opened it and immediately wanted to close it again. Instead, he steeled himself and looked. The folder was full of pictures of carnage. As he looked at them more closely, his trained eyes began to take in details. Things were not exactly what they appeared to be. He looked back up at the sheriff. “I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”
“Look at the last two pictures. Closely.”
Hardy flipped through until he came to the bottom of the stack. At first, he couldn’t make out anything different about the picture. He leaned closer and took a good look . . . and his heart kicked into overdrive.
Somebody had written something in blood. For Davis
“Now, any ideas?” Mitch reached across and took the folder back. “Because your name is the only real evidence I’ve been able to find at the clinic. So far, there is nothing else of substance.”
“Different Davis.” Hardy sat back in his chair and leveled his gaze at the sheriff. “I guarantee you they haven’t found me.”
The sheriff’s skepticism showed. “How can you guarantee that?”
That was an easy question to answer. “Because I’m still breathing.”
Landon’s gaze went from Hardy to the folder before finally resting back on Hardy’s face. “I don’t believe you’re directly responsible for this, but I do have to consider the possibility somebody is trying to get your attention. A part of me wants to tell you to pack up and get out of town, but I’m not going to do that.”
“Why not?” If the situation were reversed, he’d be packing Mitch’s suitcase for him.
“Because you’re a human being, and I’m not chasing you away from people who can help you. I know you ran from Chicago, and I understand why. But this is Shadow. We take care of our own, and like it or not, you’ve become one of us.”
“For another week.” This incident was all the more reason for Beau Harding to disappear.
The sheriff gave him an assessing look. ”We’ll see, Davis. We’ll see.”
Hardy stood
up. “Yes, we will.”
He felt the other man’s eyes drilling holes in his back all the way out of the room. As Hardy stepped aside to miss the man standing outside the door, he automatically excused himself as his mind stayed on the animal clinic. Had somebody found him? If so, who? It couldn’t be any of the Dohner organization. If anything, it had to be an individual or small gang he’d managed to irritate. That opened the door to too many possibilities to even consider.
Ideas swarmed his mind as he drove to the farm. As Joe Ryman, he caused several people and smaller organizations grief. His actions were solely to help build his cover, and he had forced himself not to look back. When Harding Davis “died” and been proclaimed a hero, it hadn’t taken the press long to link him to his undercover past and crucial testimony against Teddy Dohner. So, pretty much everybody in the country knew Harding Davis and Joe Ryman were one and the same. But, how would they know him as Beau Harding?
For Davis could mean a myriad of things. Had the sheriff even considered locals in the area with the name? Or had he automatically jumped the gun and placed the blame on Hardy?
Heaven knew many things could be blamed on Hardy.
Besides Kari’s death, the one thing he felt the guiltiest about was Audrey Dohner. As Ted’s niece, she had been Hardy’s ticket into the inner circle. Even though she knew their relationship wasn’t real and used it to suit her own purposes, she had no idea he was a police officer. Hardy had no way of knowing whether her uncle would have believed that, though. He tried not to think of what Dohner might have done to her--niece or not.
Before Kari Jeffries, the nearly four years he and Audrey had been “together” were the most dangerous to his faith. They had never taken their act past public displays of affection, but it felt more wrong to Hardy than anything else he’d ever done. As a young adult, he had vowed to wait for the woman he loved before partaking of so-called romance. So, when he kissed Audrey, or held her tighter than was comfortable, he felt like he was cheating on his future wife. And even though they meant nothing, his actions had somehow cheapened something precious.
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