“How are you feeling now, Chief?” Oliver asked.
She started to sigh, but it hurt to inhale. “I’m okay. I’m gratified everything has worked out.” She looked at the pastor. He’d been a great help, but she knew that when they were finished, he’d be going back to town to make funeral arrangements. “You know, Pastor, you’ve insisted I call you Oliver. I think it’s time you call me Tess. Fair is fair.”
He nodded and started to say something when they heard a car approaching. Tess turned and saw the green-and-white Jackson County sheriff car coming up the drive to park behind the line of cars already there.
Her heart gave a little flutter when Steve Logan got out of the driver’s seat and looked her way. He then turned and opened the back door so that John and Casey Reno could get out. The anxious parents fairly ran up the drive to hug their daughter, and Tess felt the joy.
“Hey, good job, Chief.” Logan gave her a high-wattage smile and gripped her hand in both of his. “You melted Hardin and everything. He thinks you earned a medal today.”
“It was a team effort.” She let her hand linger in his.
“I second that sentiment.” Casey Reno wiped her eyes and looked at Tess, who reluctantly let Logan’s hand go. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough, Chief.”
“Please, it’s Tess.”
Casey nodded. “I’m glad you’re the chief. And if the mayor pressed the vote today, you have mine.” She sniffled and went back to hugging her daughter.
Just then, Tess’s phone rang. She recognized the number. It was the station in Long Beach, homicide office.
Placing a hand on Logan’s shoulder, she said, “I have to take this.” He nodded and she stepped away to answer the call.
It was Jack O’Reilly.
“We got ’em, Tess.”
“What?”
“The other actors in the shooting, the ones who ran away. We acted on a tip, got the first one. When we told his mom why we were there for her son, she commenced to put a whooping on the kid. He confessed, led us to the other two. It was a setup.”
Tess cleared her throat, still not completely comprehending. “A setup?”
“Yep. It was Cullen’s idea, but these knuckleheads went along. The other kids, they baited JT. When he ran into the alley, Cullen smacked him with the bat. Cullen wanted to kill a cop, Tess. He was trying to rack up gang creds and thought this would be the best way. The plan was to kill JT with his own gun. The truth is finally out there, and we have three in custody for attempted murder of a police officer. Consider your name cleared.”
52
It was early morning before Tess got back to Rogue’s Hollow. Since she’d shot someone in a different jurisdiction, she’d had to stay and be interviewed by their shooting team. She cooperated fully with Sheriff Hardin in his investigation and was pleased to see a thaw in the man. He was an old-school guy, a good cop, and cordial when he realized that the same was true of Tess. Her chest was still pretty sore, but she’d opted not to go to the hospital.
Who killed Glen and Anna became a mystery again. In spite of the evidence all pointing at Acosta, now that Tess knew who and what Roger Marshall was, she didn’t see Beto as the killer. She tried to talk to Marshall before the medics left, but he wouldn’t say much.
He denied shooting Glen and pushing Anna into the creek. He blamed Acosta and then clammed up, screaming for a lawyer. It didn’t matter to Tess; the man would be in custody for the rest of his life anyway, for other things. They had time to prove their case while he was safely tucked away.
Tess wanted only to get to bed. She planned to interview Beto Acosta as soon as possible and needed some shut-eye. He’d recovered from his overdose and was being held in the Jackson County Jail. Pounder had sent her a text saying that Acosta wanted to talk to her.
River Drive was quiet when she turned off of Highway 62; no one was out. It was a cool early morning; temperatures had dipped into the forties when Tess got out of her car. Oliver had come back hours earlier with Bender, and Tess wondered if he was still awake. She’d wanted to talk to him about his capricious God. Tess believed it was sheer luck they’d caught Marshall before he’d had a chance to hurt Kayla.
Oliver disagreed. “I believe in God’s providence, not luck.”
Tess frowned. “Why then does his providence apply only in some situations? Where was his providence where Anna was concerned?”
“Tess, I don’t have an answer you would accept for that question. I have to trust. Either he’s God over everything or he’s God over nothing.”
Those words had bothered her but not as much as what he said next.
“You did a selfless thing, Tess. You were ready to lay down your life for Kayla. That’s a selfless act. ‘Greater love—’”
“‘. . . has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.’”
He’d seemed surprised when she finished the verse for him.
“You know the verse?”
“It’s on my dad’s headstone. At the time, when he was buried, I didn’t want it there. My mom overruled me. I was angry. I hated that woman he saved, wished she was in the ground and not him.”
“And now?”
Tess shrugged and grimaced as pain from the bullet bit. Weariness settled in. “I’m proud of my father. He’s a hero. I would consider myself a success to be half the cop he was.”
He’d smiled. Tess hadn’t seen him really smile since the dinner she’d shared with him and Anna. Oliver had a nice smile. His stormy green-gray eyes twinkled and a dimple appeared on the right side of his face.
“You’re a success, Tess, a heroic success. Don’t ever think you’re not.”
When she’d left Diamond Lake, Oliver’s words had stuck in her mind and she’d wanted to call him, talk more about heroes and saviors. But now, as she climbed out of the car and trudged into the inn, there was only weariness. She was dead tired.
There was a note on the door to her room from Sheila. Klaus and Addie had Killer; they said they would care for her for as long as Tess needed.
Tess knew she’d have to find a permanent solution for Killer. Her lifestyle would not be fair to a dog. But she didn’t have the energy to think about a solution at the moment; she didn’t even have the energy to shower.
She shucked off her clothes and fell into bed. The last thought on her mind was that she was going to have to write commendations for all of her people. Everyone involved performed above and beyond the call of duty, and Tess was proud of them. But as she began to list the names, her mind shut off and she was instantly asleep.
53
Acosta looked horrible. He needed a shave, and the dark circles under his eyes reminded Tess of truck tires. She guessed he was beginning to come down from the oxycodone addiction. She’d heard that was a nasty withdrawal. He’d refused to talk to anyone except Tess yet had not invoked his right to counsel.
“I didn’t kill Glen Elders or Anna Macpherson,” he said before Tess even had a chance to read him his rights. It was around 1 p.m. and they were seated in an interview room, just Tess and Acosta. The jail deputy was outside the door.
“I have to advise you of your right to an attorney.”
“I understand my rights and I waive them. They told me you found Anna’s belongings in my office. Roger put them there; he must have.”
She slid the form across the counter with a pen and he signed.
“He’s not talking. He lawyered up. But we guessed it was your money Glen took. Care to explain that?”
“Yeah, it was my cash. I admit to being an alimony weasel, but I’m no killer.”
“Why would Roger want to kill Glen for taking your money?”
Acosta ground his palms into his forehead. “I know how it looks. But you have to believe me—I’m not a killer.”
“Are you just a drug dealer?”
“No, I’m not that either. Look, you found me with my gun. I couldn’t even shoot myself. I guess I took too many pills.”
Tess set the digital recorder on the table and went through all the legal requirements. “Okay, then tell me what you are.”
An hour and a half later, Tess left with the story that Beto Acosta was telling. Roger had come to him two years earlier with an opportunity to make some extra money.
“He knew I was hurting from the divorce. He said all of this would be under the table and untraceable. All I had to do was pick up boxes from him—sometimes it was prescription drugs; sometimes it was something else. He packed them in my truck and I took them to Eugene, where someone else took them off. I got money and a couple of bottles of oxy. All I did was transfer the stuff. I never sold it.”
“Where’d you pick the stuff up and where did you drop it off in Eugene?”
“I always picked it up behind the market. Usually early in the morning. As for Eugene . . . well, it was always someplace different. The address would be written on the boxes.”
“Glen found out about this operation?”
“He said he and his girlfriend watched me for a few weeks. I didn’t even know. But somehow he did and he broke into my hiding place and stole my money. He thought it was all money from selling drugs. It wasn’t. I often got paid under the table for alarm jobs. He wouldn’t listen.” He paused and rubbed his face with his hands.
“He tried to blackmail me, said he knew everything and would go to the police if I didn’t stop selling drugs to kids.” He frowned. “Kids? I didn’t know what he was talking about. I heard Anna tell Octavio she knew where Glen was, that he had promised to tell her something important. I freaked out. I was afraid he was going to tell her about the operation. I called Roger while Anna was talking to Octavio. He said he’d handle it.”
“When was that?”
“Wednesday. The Wednesday before Roger killed Glen.”
“That was when Anna disappeared. You followed her from the church.”
“Yeah, I admit that. But it was Roger who stopped her. I saw them by the side of the road. I swear I didn’t know he was going to kill her.”
“You just stood by and watched? She’s dead now.”
“Look, it’s the drugs—they mess with my head. I had no idea Roger was a killer. I thought he’d just talk to her.”
“Yet you’re certain it was Roger who killed Glen?”
“He told me he did it. He said nothing about Anna Macpherson.”
Tess wanted to reach across the table and slap him. Instead, she continued to question him. “Where did Roger get all these drugs you delivered?”
“All I know is that it was from some guy in California. That’s it. We called him Shorty; there’s no other name I know. I didn’t want to know.”
Tess gave a copy of the interview to the sheriff, who would forward to DEA. Federal marshals had already been notified about the fugitive, but he was out of Tess’s control. Sheriff Hardin had Marshall in Douglas County. And since he invoked his rights, she was certain he would not be talking.
She considered Acosta’s statement. As angry as he made her, she believed the guy. Marshall was the cold-blooded killer, not Acosta.
On a lark, since she was in Medford, Tess decided to stop by the hospital and check on Tilly. She knew the hospital couldn’t force the girl to stay and be treated if she insisted on leaving, but if Tilly’s hip was broken as Oliver thought, she couldn’t have walked out yet. And an idea was brewing in Tess’s mind, a plan she hoped would tie up a couple of loose ends.
She asked for the girl’s room at the information counter and was directed upstairs.
“Chief.”
Tess turned when someone said her name as she waited for the elevator. Bart Dover stepped up. His forehead creased in a frown.
“Mr. Dover.”
“Are you here to arrest Tilly?”
“No. I was nearby and thought I would see how she was doing. I’m hoping she can tell me what she saw the day Glen was killed.”
The man relaxed. The elevator opened and they stepped inside.
“It’s been rough. Her femur was broken and they had to do surgery to insert a pin. At first she was screaming to leave, but she can’t walk. They called me to get her to consent to the surgery.” He shook his head. “It took some pleading, but they fixed her leg. Surgery went well, and she calmed down some last night, but it’s hard for them to manage her pain with the addiction issues. I’m not sure what I’ll find this morning.”
They got off the elevator and he put a hand on her arm. “I think this is my sister’s last chance to get clean. Her doctor came to assess her and hopefully get her back on her legal drugs. If she goes to jail, she’ll be back on meth and I know we’ll lose the fight.” His eyes were filled with emotion. Tess remembered how a few days ago the man had been prepared to completely write his sister off.
She patted his hand. “I’m not here to arrest her,” Tess repeated. “As far as I know, she’s witnessed a murder and been a victim of a car crash. All I want to do is ask her what she remembers.”
He relaxed and then led her to Tilly’s room.
Tess looked toward the bed and saw a slight, pale girl, left leg casted with pins sticking out that looked like some sort of torture device. Tilly’s eyes were closed, her straw-colored hair a wild mess, but it looked clean.
Bart stepped to her side. “Tills, it’s Bart. You awake?”
Her eyes opened, and she gave a low moan and spoke in a harsh whisper. “I hurt.”
“I know, I know. They’re doing all they can. You have a visitor. She just came to talk—if you want to—that’s all.”
Tilly turned her head to look at Tess. Tess saw pain in her eyes, but a bit of clarity.
“Do you mind talking to the chief?” Bart asked.
She licked her lips and swallowed, and Bart grabbed her water and held it close so she could take a sip through the straw.
“I’ll talk,” she said in a barely audible voice.
Tess moved to the side of the bed. Tilly looked run over by a truck. The circles under her eyes would rival Beto Acosta’s.
“Hi, Tilly. I’m Chief O’Rourke.”
Tilly nodded.
“I need to ask you about Glen, what you saw that day. Do you remember?”
“He’s dead.”
“Yes, and Anna too.”
Tilly sucked in a sob. “I killed Anna, didn’t I?” A tear rolled down her face.
“I doubt Pastor Mac would place that blame on you. You tried to help her, and you saw who pushed her into the creek, didn’t you?”
The head bobbed again. “I thought it was Beto Acosta. Glen and I took his money.”
“How did you guys get to his money?”
She swallowed. Tess saw the muscles in her neck work. But she seemed to be getting stronger.
“I heard him one night, saw him with the drugs. Glen and I wanted to stop him. We followed him for a long time. Figured his routine, saw the cash, took it. He was out cold. I think he does drugs.”
Yeah, Tess thought, he sure did.
“Beto called Glen, asked him to meet. I wasn’t supposed to be there. I hid on the other side of the creek. I thought it was Beto. But it wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t Beto?” Tess frowned. “You saw the man clearly?”
She gave a slight nod. “It was dark, but getting light. I assumed it would be Beto. There was yelling—the voice was wrong; it wasn’t New York. Then, when he pushed Anna into the creek, I saw.”
“What did you see?”
“It was Dixon, the store guy. Glen yelled his name. Glen said, ‘No, Roger, no.’ But he fired anyway.”
She reached a hand out and Tess took it. The grip was weak. “Glen wanted me to get clean. He tried to help me. But that day I was so messed up, so loaded. Thought I remembered things wrong. I kept thinking Beto just wanted his money back, but the voice was wrong. Now I can think a little clearer. I’m sure of it. It was Dixon who killed Glen.”
The girl began to sob softly. “I’m as worthless as people say, aren’t I? Glen,
Anna, Killer, they’re all dead because of me.”
Tess leaned close to the bed, inhaling antiseptic hospital smells, hoping what she had to say would make an impression. “Listen to me. The only person responsible for Glen’s and Anna’s deaths is the killer, the one who fired the gun. You are a victim here, not a murderer. And Killer is alive; she didn’t die.”
Tilly sniffled, opened her eyes, and looked at Tess. “But she got shot first.”
“I can’t explain it, but she lived. She lost her leg, but she’s alive.”
“Glen loved that dog.”
“She got shot trying to protect him. Now she needs someone to take care of her.”
“Who?”
“I was hoping you would. I know you’re going to have a hard time walking. Killer has to learn to live on three legs. Do you think you’d be up to taking care of her when you’re back on your feet?”
Tilly swallowed, face brightening. “You’d trust me to do that?”
“I think Glen would trust you.”
–––
Tess drove back to Rogue’s Hollow deep in thought. Tilly seemed lucid and certain now, but she’d be shredded in court. They had a strong circumstantial case against Marshall, but she hoped something more solid would come up. Bender and Logan were both lobbying the state lab for results. They had two handguns, the one Beto’d had in his hand, which was the gun registered to him, and the one found in his office, which had the serial number filed off, plus the weapon recovered from Marshall at the cabin. They had the brass Tess had found and the slug from the dog, so they could determine which gun fired the bullet.
She checked her phone. No message from them yet.
As she approached the turnoff for Rogue’s Hollow, she thought about Jack O’Reilly’s news about the three missing subjects being located after all this time. That had rocked her world. But not as much as the news about Roger Marshall rocked the little town of Rogue’s Hollow. Doug Dixon had resigned, effective immediately. Whether or not charges would be filed against him for harboring his foster brother remained to be seen. Because Marshall was a fugitive, it would be up to the Feds to file charges. She found herself feeling sorry for the little man. While there was no excuse for sheltering a monster like Marshall, if Dixon truly didn’t know . . . well, Tess found that Oliver’s phrase “have a little grace” resonated with her. He’d been able to say that about Dixon after discovering it was likely because of the mayor’s actions that Anna was dead.
Crisis Shot Page 27