Krewe of Hunters Series, Volume 5

by Heather Graham

  Matt stood. “Let’s get back to the ranch, and touch base with Meg and Scarlet. I’ll give Adam a call and let him know.”

  He didn’t have to call Adam, because just then Jane called Diego.

  “Are you on your way back?” she asked.

  “Yes, but why? Is something wrong?” he asked anxiously.

  “No, but if you weren’t headed here, I was going to tell you that you should be. We’ll wait for you at the museum, then head down to Lyons once you get here.”

  “You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?” he asked.

  “No, nothing. We have a visitor, that’s all. Someone you’re going to want to meet.”

  Before he could ask for details, she hung up.

  CHAPTER 12

  The living room was already crowded when Matt, Brett and Diego arrived; Adam and Jane were there with Meg and Scarlet, and there was another man standing with his back to them as they entered.

  Scarlet jumped up to greet Diego, her smile wide and welcoming. Then the unknown man turned around, and even before Scarlet reached him, Diego froze.

  The man appeared to be flesh and blood.

  But, he wasn’t. He couldn’t be.

  “Daniel Kendall,” Diego said.

  “Yes!” Scarlet said, sounding ridiculously happy for a woman who was hosting a dead man. “Yes, this is Daniel, who’s been trying to reach me. Daniel, Agents Diego McCullough, Matt Bosworth and Brett Cody. Guys, meet Daniel Kendall.”

  “I’d shake if I could,” the apparition told them, grinning.

  “Nice to meet you,” Matt said. “And also sorry to meet you.”

  Diego looked over at Adam, then back to Daniel, and sighed. “I don’t suppose you know who killed you, huh? Because if you did, you would have told Meg and Scarlet, and we’d be arresting him now.”

  “Believe me, you can’t wish I knew who he was any more than I do.” He shimmered for a moment, then solidified. “Sorry. I vanish now and then, so please bear with me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “I can’t really see you anyway,” Adam said. “I can hear you loud and clear, though. I don’t have that extra sense my Krewe do, though over time I’ve grown able to see my son,” he said softly, then turned to Scarlet. “But you…”

  “I see him as clearly as a mountaintop on a sunny day,” she said, obviously pleased. Then she took Diego’s hand and led him into the room, urging him into one of the big upholstered chairs.

  He wasn’t that good at seeing ghosts yet, either, Diego thought. He didn’t want to say that to Scarlet, though.

  But his abilities were firing on all cylinders tonight, though, because there he was, the dead man Jane had drawn, acting as if he was just hanging with friends on a lazy day.

  “Any news on Cassandra?” Daniel asked. “I knew her, though she didn’t know me, if you see what I mean.”

  “I do. And we know where she was until just before her death,” Diego said. “What can you tell us?”

  Daniel went through the same story he’d told Scarlet and Meg earlier. His concern for Cassandra—a woman he’d never met, whom he’d only known as a ghost—was clear.

  I would have liked this guy, Diego thought.

  When Daniel had finished with his explanation, Meg went on to talk about the discoveries they’d made in the journals.

  “Interesting,” Matt said.

  “Do you think we’ll ever be able to figure out the truth about something that happened so long ago? We can’t even question the suspects, much less find any forensic evidence,” Scarlet said.

  “Maybe we couldn’t take someone into a court of law and prove their guilt,” Diego said, “but that doesn’t matter. We can still put clues together and come up with a truth that we believe, and that truth is what we need to help us solve the present case.”

  “I’ll help any way I can,” Daniel announced, then wavered. Seconds later, he was gone, leaving a frustrated “Sorry” hanging in the air.

  For a moment everyone else was quiet.

  “He’s really gone?” Adam asked.

  “Yes,” Scarlet said.

  “I guess it doesn’t make much sense for us to go to Lyons anymore,” Adam said. “When Daniel gets back he can tell us everything he did right up to the time when he was killed.”

  “In that case, we can all go to the bar tonight,” Diego said.

  “We’re going to a bar?” Scarlet asked.

  “Cassandra told a coworker she was going to listen to a band, but it looks as if she either never made it or wasn’t there long before the killer got to her,” Diego explained. “We want to talk to the regulars and staff to see if anyone saw anything. A place called the Twisted Antler.”

  “The Twisted Antler?” Scarlet repeated.

  “Yes, you know the place?”

  She nodded. “I have a friend who plays drums with the house band there. Eddie Keye. Nice guy. He might have seen her if she was there last night.”

  “Do you think someone managed to pick her up in the bar, then take her for a ride, drag her halfway up a mountain and then kill her?” Adam asked.

  “It’s possible. The killer surprised Daniel from behind,” Meg said, “but we don’t know how he’s approached his more recent victims.”

  “He was wearing a burlap bag over his head when he attacked Daniel,” Scarlet said.

  “Obviously he can’t do that if he picks up his victims in public,” Meg added. “But here’s the strange thing. Nathan Kendall and his cohorts—Jeff Bay, Brian Gleason and Billie Merton—wore similar ‘masks’ when they were robbing banks after the Civil War.”

  “I’ve got to think it’s all connected,” Diego said. “Meanwhile, food. Let’s get into town and hit the Twisted Antler.”

  * * *

  Scarlet noticed that Adam and Jane were walking along the sidewalk ahead of her and Diego, with Brett, Matt and Meg bringing up the rear. And while it all seemed very casual and natural, she was pretty sure that the others were consciously making sure that she was surrounded at all times.

  It was rather nice to feel so protected.

  When they reached the Twisted Antler, the band was just setting up. Eddie saw her and lifted a hand, smiling.

  “I’ll introduce you,” Scarlet said.

  “You go ahead,” Adam told the others. “I want to introduce myself to the manager and let him or her know we’re here.”

  As he left to speak with the hostess, Scarlet led the others over to where Eddie and his group were setting up.

  “Hey,” Eddie said as they approached, looking curiously at her entourage. He offered his hand even before Scarlet got a chance to introduce everyone.

  “Nice to meet you,” Eddie said. He pointed to his bandmates, who paused to nod and wave as they were introduced: Jack Isle on bass, Lee Bell on lead guitar and Hanley Warner on keyboard.

  “Friends from back East?” Eddie asked. His tone was casual, but she could tell that he was assessing the group and in particular wondering how Adam—who was not only older, but also still wearing his signature suit—fit in.

  “Diego is my ex-husband,” Scarlet explained. “He’s a federal agent. Adam—” she nodded in his direction “—heads his division, and Matt, Brett, Jane and Meg are also FBI. They’re working the murders up at the Conway Ranch.”

  “Yeah, I was worried, wondering how you were doing. Bad stuff happening here,” Eddie said. “I was going to take a ride up there, tell you maybe you should go back to Florida for a while.” He grinned, looking from her to Diego. “But I see you’re in good hands. Are you guys out to get to know Estes Park tonight or working the case?”

  “Both,” Diego said. “We know the most recent victim, Cassandra Wells, liked coming here, so we figured if anyone had seen anything, it might be you guys,
or the staff and regulars here. Did you know her, by any chance?”

  Eddie nodded. “Casually, from the restaurant and here. She seemed like a nice kid, kind of serious but nice. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

  “Was she in here last night?”

  “I didn’t see her,” Eddie said, “but then, I don’t see everyone.” He pointed back to his bandmates. “Hanley thought he saw her come in, then stand in the back. But she was gone when the set was over. He called that number from the TV and left a message, but no one’s come in to talk to him yet. Hey, Hanley?”

  The keyboardist stepped over as soon as Eddie called. Scarlet knew him casually, the same way she knew all of them, except for Eddie. She knew him better since they’d gone for coffee a few times.

  Hanley kept his head shaved—crazy for cold weather, Eddie liked to tease him—but he’d gone mostly bald by the time he turned thirty, so he’d decided to embrace the bald look and buy himself a big old hoop earring. In truth, like Eddie, he was just a nice guy who loved his music.

  “Hanley, you thought you saw Cassandra last night, didn’t you?” Eddie asked him.

  Hanley nodded. “Yeah.” He pointed to the back of the room, where there was a ledge with a few bar stools to the left of the door, providing a better view of the stage than the bar itself did.

  “She was just standing there, leaning against that support beam off to the left,” Hanley said. “It looked like she was talking to someone, but they were behind the beam.”

  “Okay, now we know she at least made it inside,” Diego said.

  “I hope you catch the guy,” Hanley said. “I wish you could pretend this was still the Old West and shoot the bastard’s kneecaps out, then torture him to death.”

  “Hey, don’t be shy, Hanley, tell them what you really think,” Eddie said drily, and then looked at the others again. “I gotta say, screw that humane punishment thing. I feel the same. At least Colorado has the death penalty. I hope you get the guy and that he gets it.”

  Adam had joined them just in time to hear the last. He introduced himself and shook hands with the band, then said, “My agents—and the police—will get him. What happens next will be up to a jury.”

  “Unless he shoots at you, and then you get to shoot back, right?” Hanley asked. “Sorry, I was crazy about her. We were just friends, but not ’cuz I didn’t want more. But she wasn’t into dating, not until she got herself through school.”

  “We’re allowed to defend ourselves, yes,” Matt said.

  “Well, I hope he shoots at you, then,” Hanley said. “I mean, I don’t want him to hit any of you or anything, but…”

  “We understand,” Brett said.

  “Are you guys going to stay around awhile?” Eddie asked. “If you are, we can try to point out some of the regulars when they show up, along with anybody I noticed in here last night. Maybe they’ll know who Cassandra was talking to or if she left with someone.”

  “That would be great,” Diego said. “Thank you.”

  “I think your table is ready,” Eddie said, pointing to where the hostess was standing and looking their way.

  The others thanked him and headed over to take their table, but Scarlet waited and thanked Eddie again herself.

  “The ex, huh?” he said, a rueful smile on his lips.

  She nodded.

  “But you’re not ready to let go, are you?” he asked.

  “He came to help,” she said, ignoring his question.

  “I just hope he’s smart enough to know what he has,” Eddie told her.

  “I…”

  “You’ve always been honest. You don’t owe me an explanation.”

  “I don’t really even have one,” Scarlet said. “We’re divorced, but he came to help me anyway, and yes…I do still care about him. And I hope you and I are still friends.”

  “We are. I just hope they really can catch this killer.”

  Scarlet nodded and hurried to join the others at the table.

  Their waitress was there, trying to convince them that Rocky Mountain oysters were a can’t-miss hit with visitors.

  “I know what they are, and no thanks,” Brett said. “I’ve never wanted eel in my sushi, either, even if an eel is just a snakey kind of fish.”

  Everyone else opted out, too. At Scarlet’s suggestion they all went with beefalo steaks, which she explained were a little sweeter than regular beef, but very good.

  Scarlet noticed a tall lanky man standing with his back to her by the same support beam where Cassandra had been standing the night before. She started to say something, but before she could, she saw a waitress move right through him, then pause and shiver before moving on.

  The man turned and saw Scarlet, and grinned.

  It was Daniel Kendall.

  “We have a spy on our side,” she commented.

  “I thought Daniel might join us,” Adam said, without turning to look.

  “Good,” Diego said. “All help appreciated.

  Their food arrived just as Eddie spoke into the mike by his drum set and introduced himself and the band, Snow. They began to play. Hanley sang lead on their first number.

  The band was good, and from the way the Krewe members applauded, Scarlet thought that they looked like any group of friends out for a casual night.

  She wondered if they could ever really let go of what they did for a living and simply enjoy themselves, or if seeing the dead made wariness a way of life. Maybe it wasn’t so bad even if it did. They seemed to have perfected the art of having fun while staying vigilant.

  In the middle of the second song Scarlet saw Eddie nod toward a man near the front of the stage without missing a drumbeat.

  Diego must have been watching Eddie closely, because she saw him nod in return, get up and head toward the man Eddie had indicated.

  When the man turned, she saw that it was one of their Conway Ranch newlyweds, Charles Barton, and Gwen was sitting next to him.

  “I thought everyone stayed in last night after we came back from The Stanley,” Adam murmured to Brett.

  “They didn’t leave by the front door,” Brett said. “And the back door is kept locked. Guests are only given the key to the front. I checked.”

  “I didn’t see a back door,” Jane said.

  “It’s behind the pantry, which is behind the kitchen, and that’s behind the dining room,” Scarlet explained.

  “I didn’t see or hear a car leave, either,” Brett said.

  “So they walked into town?” Meg said.

  “I’m sure Diego is asking them, but I think I’ll go join the conversation,” Meg said. “Come on, Scarlet. Go with me.”

  They stood and headed through the crowd to where Diego was speaking with Gwen and Charles, arriving in time to hear him ask, “So you saw her?”

  “Yes,” Gwen said, giving a little shiver. “We saw her picture on the news earlier and realized we’d seen her in here last night. I don’t think she ordered anything, she was just standing by the back. We were going to tell you about it, but then we didn’t see you all day.”

  Scarlet stepped right into the conversation. “Hi, guys, just curious—how did you get here last night?”

  Gwen quickly turned to her husband, a look of guilt on her face. “We told Ben we were in for the night when we saw him locking the front door, but then we were both wide-awake, and we saw an article about these guys in the guidebook in the room, so we decided to check them out.”

  Charles spoke up. “When we were dating, she used to sneak out the back to meet me, and we thought it would be fun to do that together. Trisha gave us a tour of the place when we got there, so we knew where the back door is and slipped out that way.”

  “And walked down the mountain to town?” Meg asked politely.

 
; “Oh, no. But we didn’t want to drive,” Gwen said, “because we both wanted to drink, so we called Tim and Bess Weatherly, a local couple we met and wanted to get together with anyway. They picked us up just down the road. Walk? This far?” She laughed. “No way on earth. And we used the front door when they brought us back.”

  When Brett must have stopped watching and finally gone to bed, Scarlet thought.

  “Where are Tim and Bess tonight?” Diego asked.

  “Bess works tonight. She’s a waitress at the twenty-four-hour omelet place,” Charles said. He frowned suddenly, looking at Diego. “You don’t think that we… Oh, no, no, no!”

  “What?” Gwen looked confused.

  “He’s suspicious of us!” Charles said. He glared at Diego.

  “We’re not suspicious of you. We just want to talk to everyone who was here last night,” Diego assured them. “We’re trying to find out where Cassandra Wells went when she left here and whether she was still here when she met her killer.”

  “Like I said, she was just standing at the back, but she wasn’t there very long,” Gwen said. “Although I did see her talking to someone.”

  “What did he look like?” Diego asked.

  “It wasn’t a he,” Gwen said. “It was a she.”

  “A woman?”

  “Yeah. She was—hmm, not sure. She might have been tall, or she might have been wearing heels. And I didn’t see her face, because she was turned away from me. She had long hair, though.”

  “Was she still here after Cassandra left?” Scarlet asked.

  “I don’t know,” Gwen said. “I was watching the band.”

  “Do you think your friends might have noticed the woman who was talking to Cassandra?” Diego asked.

  “I don’t know,” Gwen said. “You could go ask Bess, and Tim will be picking her up when her shift is finished. Neither one of them is related to Nathan Kendall as far as they know, but they called today to say they’re not taking any chances and neither should we.”

  “Thank you,” Diego said. “Enjoy the band.” He glanced at Scarlet. “And they’re friends of Scarlet’s, by the way, if you want a CD or an autograph or something.”