by BJ Bourg
“No. He said he doesn’t know the identity of the individual, but he said it happened a long time ago.”
“How long?”
“I didn’t ask.”
I sighed. I wanted another crack at interviewing him, but I didn’t want to be fed a line of shit. “This is probably bullshit.”
“You’re probably right, because, like I said, he’s feining bad and addicts will say anything for a chance to get some air between them and this place. I see it every day, but…”
“But what?”
“He said he has evidence that will prove everything he tells you.”
“What kind of evidence?”
“He’ll only talk to you.”
I rubbed my chin, wondering if I should waste my time with him. “I mean, how does someone like Cade Baryon come to possess information about a missing person?”
“Beats me, but he claims he’s the only living person who knows about it.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“He said the only other person who knew about it was Wilton Michot, but now Wilton’s dead and Cade thinks his murder has something to do with the missing person.”
CHAPTER 24
As soon as I got off the phone with Captain Boutin, I called Dawn’s cell. She picked up right away.
“Hey, where’d you go?” she asked. “I got out of the shower and you were gone.”
“I sent you a text message.”
“Well, I guess I need to start carrying my phone in the shower then.” She laughed, but I cut her off and explained what was going on.
“Shit! Okay, I’m getting dressed and then I’ll be right there.” She ended the call before waiting for me to answer.
I quickly fired up my computer and accessed our detective database, searching for any active missing person cases. As I scanned the entries, I heard a noise behind me. I turned to see Detective Rachael Bowler walk up.
“Hey, London, what’re you doing?”
“Is it true you applied for one of the sniper positions?” I asked, ignoring her greeting.
Her face blushed just a little. “I did.”
“That’s great. I can’t wait to see you compete for the spot.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will.” I turned away from her and continued searching the files, but nothing seemed to stand out. “Do you know of any missing person cases that haven’t been resolved?”
“No,” she said, leaning over my shoulder. “How long ago?”
“I’m not sure.” I explained what was going on and she grunted.
“I’ve arrested Cade Baryon before. He lies about as naturally as he breathes. He’s probably full of shit.”
I sighed. “We’ll talk to him and see what he has to say. He claims it has something to do with the murder of Wilton Michot. If this case is real but it’s not connected to the Michot murder, would you mind coming in and taking over? We’ll be tied up on the Michot murder for God knows how long and won’t have time to run down leads on a missing person case, so we might need some outside help.”
“Sure, it’s not like I’ve got a ton of other cases to work.” She shot a thumb toward her desk, which was in the cubicle cater-corner to mine. I glanced where she pointed and winced when I saw a stack of files about a foot high.
“Damn, you’ve got a lot of cases. I can ask someone else.”
She laughed. “No, I was joking. I’m always up for a good cold case.”
“Great, I’ll let you know what happens—”
My phone dinged and I checked the screen. It was a message from Dawn telling me she was in the parking lot. I waved to Rachael and headed for the door.
Before Dawn could reach the entrance to the detective bureau, I was out in the parking lot waving for her to jump in my truck. I never quite understood the term “hot mess”, but if it meant the woman was damn good looking even though she was all messed up, that would’ve fit her current condition. Her shirt was still untucked, her boots untied, her hair was wet, and both hands were full.
I watched in amusement as she shoved her file folder under her chin and—using only her right hand—stopped to tuck the tail of her shirt into the waistband of her tight jeans. When she was done, she jogged across the parking lot and jumped into my truck. Before pulling the door closed, she grabbed one of her knees and pulled it to her chest. She held it for a few seconds, and then did the same with the other.
“Are you fixing to run a race?”
“I just pulled my clothes out of your dryer—thanks for that, by the way—and they need to stretch a little. My legs feel like green onion sausage stuffed in these jeans.”
I nodded my understanding and fired up the engine. I hated pulling clothes directly from the dryer and putting them on. Aside from being stiff, I didn’t like the way the static electricity felt against my skin.
“Do you think this is legit?” Dawn asked, slamming the door and pulling her seatbelt on. She continued talking while tying her boot laces. “We’re already in the middle of one major investigation, so we don’t really have time to go chasing down bogus leads on what may or may not be a cold case.”
“Who the hell knows?” I pulled onto Highway Three and smashed the accelerator, heading north toward the Magnolia Parish Detention Center. “Cade could be blowing smoke up the warden’s ass, or he could be telling the truth. In any event, there’s only one way to find out.”
“I’m going to kick his ass if he’s wasting our time.”
“It might not be a complete waste,” I said. “We might be able to use the information as leverage to break him down and get him talking about his relationship with Wilton. If he thinks someone killed Wilton over this secret case, then we might be able to convince him the killer will come after him next.”
“Good point, but what if they’re not connected and we end up wasting half a day on this drug addict?”
I told her Rachael was willing to take the cold case if it pans out.
“Oh, did she tell you she was applying for the sniper position?”
“I heard it from Karen, but she confirmed it this morning.”
“She’s been practicing her ass off, so I think she’ll do fine.”
I glanced sideways at Dawn. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you want to be a sniper?”
“Had you paid attention during our first date, you’d already know the answer to that question.”
I remembered that day well and, although Dawn claimed to hate sniper crawling through the swamps, I had been thoroughly impressed by her abilities.
“You’d make a great sniper,” I offered.
“Whatever you say.” She had turned to stare out of her window and was watching the buildings fly by as we drove through Payneville. It was the same position she’d held last night, but there was a different expression on her face.
“How’re you feeling?” I asked.
She looked at me and smiled. Her brown eyes seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. “Much better, thanks to you.”
I smiled inwardly. Now that she was in better spirits, it made me feel happier. I didn’t like seeing her in pain. It made me feel helpless.
We drove in silence until we rolled into the parking lot of the detention center. When I shut off the engine, Dawn reached out to stop me.
“I’m thinking about taking a trip to Arkansas when this is over,” she said. “I need to spend some time with my mom while she’s still here and well enough to go out and do things.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I have about six weeks of vacation accumulated, so I might take some now and then some later when…”
Her voice trailed off and I frowned, knowing what she meant. As though a weight had been lifted from her chest once that decision had been finalized in her mind, she nodded and opened her door. “That’s what I’ll do. Now, let’s go see what Cade Baryon has to say.”
CHAPTER 25
Capt
ain Boutin had set up a spot for us in the law library and Cade was already seated at a table when we walked in. He wore a red jumpsuit that sagged on him and his eyes were wild.
“You’ve got to get me out of here,” he said before I even closed the door behind us.
“Nice to see you, too,” Dawn said.
His eyes turned to slits when he saw her. “I don’t like you.”
“Aw…does that mean no Christmas presents?” Dawn chuckled, then pointed to the door. “I’ll wait out in the hallway so you men can talk in private. I wouldn’t want my presence to coerce Mr. Baryon into confessing to a crime he didn’t commit.”
When she was gone, I pulled up a chair and dragged it around the table until it was directly in front of Cade. I then sat and rested my elbows on my knees, leaning forward to peer into his eyes. “This had better be good.”
Cade rubbed a cracked hand nervously over his rough beard and nodded. “Oh, you’re going to like this. It’s the mother lode.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Cade looked around me to the tinted glass windows that lined the outer wall. “Can they hear us?”
“No.”
He licked his chapped lips and leaned forward. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I know, but you’ve got to get me immunity first. And I want out of here.”
I stood to my feet and turned to walk out of the room.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Cade said in desperation. “Where the hell are you going?”
“I don’t have time for your games. You either tell me what you know or I walk…it’s that simple. No negotiations, no request for immunity, no special deals…nothing. You talk, or I walk.”
“Come on, man! I’m about to hand you the biggest case of your career. Can you at least consider talking to the DA for me?”
“Sorry, but I can’t make any promises to you. That would be against the rules.”
“Can you just talk to him for me? Without making promises, can you just put in a good word for me?”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Are you going to get straight with me about Wilton Michot, including explaining the true nature of your relationship with him? And I mean the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
He opened his mouth to speak and then clamped it shut, his brow furrowing. I could almost see the wheels spinning in his head. “What did you mean about the true nature of my relationship with Wilton? It sounds like you think we were doing the hanky-panky.”
“Well, were you? According to his wife, you’d drop by in the middle of the night, spend some time alone in the cabana, and then leave with a wallet full of cash. If he wasn’t paying for sex, what was it?”
Cade sneered and pushed an index finger to his lips. “My silence.”
That certainly got my attention, but I didn’t let him know I cared. I casually returned to my chair and folded my arms across my chest. “Go ahead, then, tell me what you know.”
He took a deep, nervous breath and exhaled forcefully. He sat upright and his right leg began to bounce up and down. “Wilton…um…it was a long time ago. Thirty, thirty-one years ago, to be exact. I was seventeen back then and Wilton lived in the same neighborhood as me, but he lived at the front of the street. I lived in the back with the rest of the poor families. I never had anything growing up, you now? Wilton…his dad had money, so he was always riding dirt bikes and three-wheelers and even got a truck when he was fifteen. He was always riding to the back of the street in one of his toys. He’d go off in the woods and would be gone for hours. I’d watch him disappear in the trees and wish it was me riding away like that. Of course, I was smart enough to know my dad would never have the money to buy something like that for me, so I knew it was all a fantasy.”
I was hoping he’d get to the point, but I wasn’t about to interrupt him. He was staring down at his bare feet shoved into cheap flip-flops, as though reliving the moment in his mind’s eye. I knew he was heading somewhere significant with this story, so I sat there and waited.
“And then my luck changed one day.” He shook his head. “I never dreamed I’d have the chance to drive a three-wheeler, much less own one, but that’s exactly what Wilton proposed. I was playing in the woods behind the street and I heard the motor from his dirt bike coming up the trail from deep in the woods. I stopped what I was doing to watch him drive by—like he always did—but this time he stopped.” Cade looked up at me. “He was scared to death. I remember his face was white and he was sweating a lot. His shirt was wet at the armpits and…and I remember seeing blood on his hands.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Blood?”
“Yeah, lots of blood. He was on the verge of panic when he stopped and he looked at me for a long while before saying anything. The first thing he asked me was if I wanted his three-wheeler.” Cade grunted. “What did he think I would say? No kid in his right mind would turn down that Big Red. It had a rifle mount on the front, big tires, shiny rims, and a large rack on the back. So, of course I said yeah. He then said I’d have to earn it by helping him with a problem, but that I would have to keep it a secret. He said if I told anyone he’d report the three-wheeler stolen and I’d go to jail.
“I almost kicked his ass for threatening me, but I wanted the three-wheeler really bad. When I promised I’d keep his secret, he told me to jump on the back of his dirt bike. He then turned around and we headed back into the woods.”
“Where were you living back then?” I asked, making notes as he talked. “Was it in Payneville?”
“No, we lived in Lower Seasville when I was a kid, across the bayou. You know where Highway Eighty ends down there?”
I nodded.
“We lived in the last subdivision on Highway Eighty—right before Dead Man’s Canal—on Ender’s Lane, second to last house on the left. If you keep going where the blacktop ends and enter the woods, there was a trail that led to an old abandoned lumberyard. It used to operate in the sixties and seventies, but it had been closed for quite a while when we moved back there.”
Cade took a breath and then continued. “Well, Wilton took me to that old lumberyard. At first, I thought it was a trap. Like I said, we never really got along and I thought maybe some of his buddies from the private school were waiting to jump me, but then I saw the three-wheeler parked next to the old building.”
“Is the building still there?” I asked.
Cade shrugged. “How the hell should I know? That was the last time I ever went back there.”
“To the old lumberyard?”
Cade nodded. “When we rode up to the three-wheeler, there was a big object wrapped in a thick blanket on the back rack. It was strapped down real good with some chain.” Cade glanced over his shoulder, as though checking to make sure no one else could here, and then said, “Blood was dripping from the bottom of the blanket.”
“Blood? Are you sure?”
“I know what blood looks like, man.” He wiped sweat from his brow and then rubbed his trembling hands on his jumpsuit. “Well, Wilton, he handed me the key to the three-wheeler and said it was mine to keep, but that I had to bury the blanket first. I looked at him like he was crazy and told him I didn’t want no part of what he was into. He told me it was no big deal, and then he reminded me I could keep the Big Red.”
“And that was enough to convince you to do it?”
“Have you ever owned a Big Red?”
I shook my head.
“Exactly!” Cade put a hand to his throat. “Can I get some water? My throat is killing me.”
Wanting to keep him happy, I tossed my notebook on the desk and hurried out into the hallway. Dawn and the warden were standing near the tinted windows. Captain Boutin indicated down the hall with his head. “I already sent one of the jailors to get a glass of water.”
I nodded my thanks.
“He sounds sincere,” Dawn said. “It looks like something definitely happened, and it looks like it scared the shit out of him.”
“It sure does.” I stared at Cade through the glass. He wa
s rocking back and forth in his chair, rubbing his arms as he did so. When the jailor returned with a tall plastic cup of water, I rejoined Cade and handed it to him. “So, you were saying you agreed to bury the blanket…”
“I did, but that was before I knew what was in it.”
“Didn’t you ask Wilton what was in it when you saw the blood?”
“Of course I did. Wouldn’t you?” Cade nodded. “Yeah, I asked him what was inside and he said it was a deer that he accidentally killed out of season. He told me he would lose his scholarship and not be able to go to college if he got caught with a deer out of season, so he asked me to bury it behind the building.”
I rubbed my chin. “Why didn’t he bury the deer on his own? I mean, why risk telling someone else about it?”
“I didn’t know anything back then, but it all makes sense now.” He lowered his voice. “He told me he had to hurry home and get cleaned up for Sunday evening Mass, so he couldn’t help me bury it. The last thing he told me before driving away on that dirt bike was not to look in the blanket.”
“And, of course—”
“I looked in the blanket. What’d he think I was going to do? The first thing you do when someone tells you not to look is to look.” Cade’s expression fell. “I wish I wouldn’t have. If I could go back to that day, I would’ve…”
His voice trailed off and he stared into empty space for a long minute. When he still didn’t say a word, I cut through his thoughts. “Well, what was it?”
“Huh?” he asked, looking up as though surprised to see me there.
“What was in the blanket?”
“Oh…it was an old man.”
CHAPTER 26
“Wait a minute…did you say there was an old man wrapped in the blanket?”
He nodded. “He was all bloody and beat to shit, but I could tell he was an old man.”
“And you’re sure it wasn’t a deer?”