by Jeff Carson
Why was he still convincing himself?
Wolf looked at Nate and realized his friend had been talking. “What’s that?”
“I said her brother is on his way up from Blue Mesa Reservoir. I can take them all to my house when he shows. This is no place for them to be hanging out all day.”
“Did they take her statement?”
Nate nodded. “Yeah, Munford took it. I was there.”
Wolf took his hat off and walked to Cassidy. “Hey, Cassidy.”
She stared up with hopeless glassy eyes.
Jet stretched and groaned, then resumed his deep sleep.
“I’m sorry, Cassidy,” he said.
She swallowed and blinked.
“I just wanted you to know that I’ll go pick up your mother from the airport tonight.”
She nodded.
“I hear your brother is on his way. When he gets here, Nate has offered to put you guys up for the night, or however long you need. He has plenty of room at his house.”
Nate nodded and sat down. “We talked about it.”
Cassidy sniffed, closed her eyes, and leaned on Jack’s shoulder. And then it looked like she went instantly to sleep.
Chapter 5
Wolf made his way to the third floor via the stairs and walked down the long hallway, not bothering to stop at his own office, which was one of a string of four along the west side of the building.
With a good view of Main Street below, and plenty of space, his personal room was a dramatic improvement over his last office, but he spent little time there. Just like the rest of the building, the space made him want to be out.
The Sheriff’s Office stood on the west side of the cathedral-like squad room at the end of the hall. A large cube made of glass that butted up against the exterior windows, the Sheriff’s Office’s architectural design apparently had a psychology behind it. MacLean seemed to embrace it, keeping the blinds open to impress upon his deputies that he was an accessible leader, transparent in his actions. Or so Wolf had heard him declare once to a county-council member.
Not now, though. Right now, the wooden blinds were closed. Over the chatter and bustle of deputies, Wolf heard the bellow of MacLean’s laugh and someone else inside coughing as if choking on liquid.
He walked to the heavy wood door and knocked just below the gold plaque that said Sheriff William MacLean.
The knob twisted and MacLean peered out. “Oh, there you are.”
He pulled open the door and walked back to his desk. “Come in.”
Wolf followed him in and closed the door behind him.
Senator Levenworth sat across the desk from MacLean, sipping a cup of coffee. Next to him, Deputy Barker sat with crossed legs, smothering a smile against his own cup of steaming liquid.
Barker’s smile vanished, and he stood and took position standing next to Wolf.
“Take a seat with us,” MacLean said, landing in his own leather chair, which hissed underneath him.
“No thanks. I’ll stand.”
“You mind freshening this?” Senator Levenworth held up his empty cup. It was unclear whom he spoke to.
Wolf and Barker stared at it for a second, and then Barker stepped forward and grabbed it.
“I’ll take that, Deputy,” Wolf said.
Barker paused. “Wh—? Are you sure?”
Wolf grabbed it from Barker’s hand and left the office.
“Two sugars, please,” Levenworth said before the door clacked shut.
Wolf went out to the squad room and walked to the kitchenette counter area where the coffee maker was. He swirled the meager contents of the beaker and poured it into a Styrofoam cup, filling it a third of the way.
“Sir.”
He turned and leaned back at the closeness of the voice. Deputy Barker had followed him out.
“Hey,” Wolf said. He reached over to the tap and turned on the hot water.
“Sir, I feel I need to fill you in on who Senator Levenworth is.”
The water was scalding in less than five seconds, which was a nice modern feature of the brand-new county building.
“Looks like he’s a friend of yours,” Wolf said, filling the rest of the cup with the water.
Barker blushed and then frowned. “Uh … you’re just going to fill up the cup with water?”
“No.” Wolf ripped two packets of sugar and poured them in.
Barker grabbed a red plastic stirrer and held it out.
Wolf ignored it and walked past him.
Barker stepped next to him. “He’s the chairman of the Appropriations Committee for the Senate. Or the Senate Appropriations Committee, or whatever it’s called.”
Wolf slowed. “So what?”
“So … that’s the committee that basically controls the federal money. And he’s the head honcho.”
Wolf blinked.
“I’m just saying. We need to be delicate with this guy.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
“Yes, sir.”
He reached MacLean’s office with Barker in tow.
“Here you go,” Wolf handed the cup to Levenworth.
The senator furrowed his brow and swirled the contents of the cup.
“Here you go, sir.” Barker held out the red stirrer.
“Thank you, Greg.”
Wolf cleared his throat. “I’m not sure what you’ve already told the sheriff and Deputy Barker here, but—”
“Everything.” Levenworth took a sip of his cup.
“But I’m the chief detective of this department, and I’d like to hear it all again. Let’s start with where you were last night.”
Levenworth took his time with another sip of coffee water, then smacked his lips and frowned, like it was the worst-tasting thing he’d ever had. “Like I told the sheriff, who has since confirmed, I was at my residence in DC. I had a committee meeting yesterday. I flew in to Eagle Airport this morning and drove down to Rocky Points immediately after landing. You can confirm with the aviation company, the pilots, the stewardess … especially the stewardess”—he bounced his eyebrows—“you can confirm with the Senate Appropriations Committee members. That enough?”
MacLean leaned forward in his chair. “Detective Wolf, I have let our esteemed senator know that we’re in no doubt of his whereabouts, but we’re checking on it.”
Wolf nodded. “Can you discuss this deal, this fossil deal, in a little more detail, please?”
“I purchased some fossils from Mr. Frost. I was here to collect my bones.”
“And take them where?”
“To my home in Flagstaff.”
“In the back of … whose truck is it that you’re driving?”
“My own. I keep it at my Beaver Creek residence.”
“Okay.” Wolf nodded. “These bones cost you a million dollars. You were just going to put them in the uncovered bed of your pickup truck?”
“They’re encased in casting material. The drive wouldn’t hurt them any.”
“Ah.” Wolf took off his hat and scratched his hair. “I’m still confused about the terms of this deal. I don’t see how you could just give Ryan Frost a million dollars and trust him to deliver on his end of the bargain. Wouldn’t you rather use some sort of escrow service, or something? A non-cash mode of payment? To get some sort of guarantee you wouldn’t get ripped off in the end?”
Levenworth smiled and stared at Wolf for a beat. “It was the terms the seller wanted. If I hadn’t have done it, there’re a hundred other people who would’ve.”
“Really? A hundred other people could come up with a million dollars in cash?”
Levenworth shrugged. “Who’s to say?”
“And you said you ‘had’ this money.”
“Meaning it was not a withdrawal from my bank. I had the reserves in my own private vault at home.”
Wolf pulled the corners of his mouth down and nodded. “Was that part of the terms? That the money would not have a Treasury Department trace attached to it?”
Levenworth smiled. “Do I need to get my lawyer in here, Sheriff?”
“No,” MacLean said. “I don’ think that’s necessary at all. Do you, Detective Wolf?”
Wolf held up a hand. “So you trusted Ryan Frost with this money?”
“Yes.”
“But you had to trust the seller to deliver on his end.”
Levenworth shrugged. “I trusted Ryan Frost. The digger? He sent photo proof of everything. All the merchandise was accounted for in photographs. I had no reason to doubt Frost. He was my escrow service. The guy’s foundation is his word.”
“Can I see these photographs?”
Levenworth pulled out his phone and pecked at the screen. “I’ve already sent these photographs to your sheriff.”
“I’ve sent them on to you already, Dave,” MacLean said.
Wolf nodded.
Levenworth stood up and came next to Wolf, shoulder to shoulder, angling the screen so he could see.
“You can see here—these are at the dig site.”
The first picture was an exposed bone, looking like it had been dug out but not yet removed from where it had been discovered. It was stone-colored with a web of surface cracks, and had two bulbous mounds on either end. Next to it was a tape measure pulled out and laid down on the ground.
“A leg bone?” Wolf asked. He’d seen plenty X-rays of his own leg in the past year. “A femur?”
“Very good. The femur.”
Wolf shifted his weight, feeling a dull ache in his right leg—a nagging symptom from the cracked femur he’d suffered during his fall at Cold Lake.
Levenworth swiped to the next photo, which showed a group of smaller bones laid on a dirty drop cloth.
“Proximal phalanges, middle phalanges … hand bones. You can see the claws.”
He swiped through them faster without pausing. “Like I said, you guys have all these photos now.”
“Wait, stop. Could you please go back to that last one?”
Levenworth swiped back. “One of the ribs.”
Wolf was more concerned with the footprint in the dirt next to it. It had the identical diamond pattern from the crime scene.
“Thanks,” Wolf said, stepping back.
Levenworth sat down.
“Do you know where these bones were … exhumed?”
“Somewhere in northwest Colorado. That’s all I know.”
Wolf narrowed his eyes. “Is this a legitimate deal?”
Levenworth’s eyes went cold.
“It’s a valid question, Senator. You say the bones are from northwestern Colorado. Last time I checked, the majority of land up there where they were pulling out dinosaur fossils was a place called Dinosaur National Monument. I would say it’s gotta be against some federal laws to dig up a fossil specimen from there and sell it.”
“It was found on private property. Well outside the boundaries of the National Monument.”
“I thought you said they were exhumed ‘somewhere in northwest Colorado,’ and that’s all you knew.”
MacLean started rubbing his eyes.
Levenworth gave a conceding hand gesture and nod. “Yes, okay. I was told it was private property, away from the Monument. Clearly, with the nature of my job I was concerned about that. Ryan Frost gave me his word. He said he had proof and he could provide it if need be.”
“And he didn’t show you this proof?”
“He’s a broker. He takes a ten to twenty percent cut of the purchase price. I understood his motives to keep the location secret and I didn’t press. Like I say, I trusted him, but I guess he didn’t trust me. Didn’t want me going straight to the seller and cutting him out. But that’s just good business.”
Wolf let the information settle in his brain for a few seconds. “And, if I may ask, what’s in it for you? A centerpiece in your living room?”
Levenworth chuckled and splayed his hands, like he’d been waiting for someone to ask him the question. “In 2010, a female Allosaurus fragilis that a team found in Wyoming was sold at auction in Paris for $1.8 million.”
MacLean whistled and leaned back in his chair.
“That specimen was considered to be seventy percent complete.” Levenworth twisted a ring on his finger. “This one is seventy-five. At least. And larger.”
MacLean chuckled softly. “That sounds like a payday.”
Levenworth sipped his coffee and shrugged.
“Back to the terms of the deal,” Wolf said. “You were supposed to pick up the bones this morning. When were the bones supposed to be delivered?”
“Frost told me they were going to be delivered yesterday—Sunday. Hence my timeframe of flying in and picking them up this morning.”
“Who else knew about this deal?”
Levenworth pulled down the corners of his mouth. “Hell, I don’t know. I assume the seller had a team. You don’t just dig up a specimen like that alone. Let’s see, then, maybe Frost’s wife? Anyone else he told … his family? I haven’t told anyone else, except for my wife and a contact I have at the auction house in Paris … but I really didn’t get into the specifics of what I had with that contact, other than letting him know I was going to be bringing something big. You know, whet his appetite.”
“You tell any friends in DC?”
He laughed. “Friends? Ha!”
MacLean hissed a laugh through his teeth.
“No, I didn’t tell anyone in Washington. I’ve learned to keep my personal affairs private with those jackals.” He smiled at MacLean—just like a jackal, Wolf thought.
“Anything that struck you as odd about the deal? I mean, other than having to put up a million cash, unsecured?”
Levenworth eyed Wolf for a second, like he was trying to figure out whether Wolf was needling him, then said, “I guess the secretive nature of the whole find was odd to me. I swear, I really was vigilant in making sure the bones came from private property. Because usually, in the fossil circles, a find like this becomes big news fast. People often like to shout from the highest mountain about what they’ve found, especially if they’re looking to sell it. I mean, why not call in the newspapers, get some news crews in there? Get some buzz going? It did strike me as odd.” He shrugged.
After a few seconds of silence, MacLean slapped a rhythm on his desk. “Well? I think you’ve been a great help, sir. We thank you.”
“And we’d appreciate it if you stayed available,” Wolf said.
Levenworth nodded. “I’m going to stick around for a few days, see how this pans out.”
Wolf nodded. “There is one more thing, Senator.”
“What’s that?”
“It looks like the worst-case scenario happened with your money. I’m sorry, but we didn’t find it.”
The senator looked unfazed. “I’m not interested in the money.”
Wolf nodded. “I understand. We didn’t find the bones either.”
This news clearly shook the senator.
“I’m sorry.”
Levenworth recovered with a convincing smile. “Well, I hear you’re the best. I have no doubt you’ll find them.”
Wolf nodded. “I have no doubt I’ll find the killers either.”
Levenworth hesitated, and then nodded with closed eyes. “Of course, of course.”
Wolf walked out the door and left it open behind him.
Barker’s squeaking shoes trailed behind Wolf into the squad room.
“What’s next?” Barker asked.
Wolf turned around and eyed Barker. The sergeant deputy was the seniormost ranking deputy on Wolf’s squad, appointed to the team by MacLean without any input from Wolf.
Wolf still remembered meeting Deputy Greg Barker for the first time. It had been down in Byron County, when it was still the stand-alone Byron County and not merged with Sluice. Barker had been on crime-scene log duty, standing with his clipboard, a satisfied grin on his beady-eyed face when Wolf had needed to leave and an ambulance had locked him into his parking spot.
T
he image of Barker’s pleasure at Wolf’s misfortune—however temporary and dumb the misfortune had been—was locked in his mind. In that single shit-eating grin, Wolf had read the man like a Where’s Waldo? book. The man was a climber—ready to step on anyone in the process to get where he wanted to go.
“What is it, sir?” Barker asked, his face twisted in what looked like mock confusion.
Wolf had a suspicion his detective was thinking about that exact same moment now too.
“Nothing.”
MacLean stepped out of his office, shut the door behind him, and waved Wolf to the windows. “I need to speak to you.”
Barker took the hint and meandered away through the squad room desks.
Wolf and MacLean stepped to the windows overlooking Main Street three stories down.
The stop sign swayed in the wind below. People on the sidewalks leaned into the raging air. The pine trees bent and thrashed.
“Damn, something’s rolling in,” MacLean said.
Wolf said nothing.
MacLean put a hand on Wolf’s shoulder and squeezed. “I know this is a particularly tough one. Cassidy’s dad and all.”
Wolf nodded.
“I saw her and Jack downstairs. Did you see them?”
“Yeah.”
They stared outside for a few seconds, and then MacLean looked back at his office. Senator Levenworth was apparently staying a while longer.
“I know what you’re going to tell me,” Wolf said.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. You’ve got your nose so far up the senator’s ass it’s not hard to figure out.”
MacLean squared off. “One of these days you’re going to learn some respect. Just because you’ve been sheriff once doesn’t mean you are now.”
“The bones weren’t there,” Wolf said. “And even if we find them during this investigation, they’re going to be held in evidence for a long time.”
MacLean stood silent.
Wolf looked over his shoulder toward the office. “This guy’s a crook. He’s paying with untraceable bills, all cash? He knows the source of these bones is suspect. And you’re going to help him get his hands on them?”
MacLean made a wishy-washy gesture but said nothing.
“You really think this guy can help you with re-election in three years?”