When the Wolf Prowls

by Vanessa Prelatte

  “Good-bye, Rick.”

  There didn’t seem to be anything else to say. She got out of the car, turned away, and headed for the doors into the terminal.

  Rick watched her walk away, a look of calm unconcern on his face, a feeling of ineffable sadness in his heart.

  Chapter 45

  In Germonde, Louisiana, the deputy sheriff leaned back in his chair, propped his hands behind his head, and shut his eyes briefly. He opened them again, however, when the outer door opened and a stranger walked in.

  The deputy sheriff didn’t like strangers, so he asked belligerently, “Who are you, and what do you want?”

  “The name’s Fabius Brody,” the stranger responded. “I understand you have a man here in custody by the name of Griffin Solter.”

  “That’s right. What’s it to you?”

  “I need to see him right away.”

  “Sorry. No visitors.”

  “You’re going to want to make an exception in my case.”

  “Oh? Why would I do that?”

  “He’s entitled to legal representation, right? Well, that’s me. I’m his legal eagle.”

  The deputy arose from his seat reluctantly and said, “If you’re his legal representative, I guess you can see him.” He led the way back to a cell, where Brody spotted Griff, lying down on a cot.

  Brody waited until the deputy had left them alone before raising an eyebrow at his friend and saying, “’Fabia, Sweetheart’? Seriously?”

  Griff swung himself up from his bunk and grinned. “I knew that would get your attention.”

  “Why didn’t you just text me the details straight-up?”

  “They wouldn’t let me use my cell phone. I stupidly used up my one phone call to contact a lawyer I looked up in the yellow pages. He never returned my call, and they wouldn’t let me make another. But I persuaded the secretary here who brings me my meals to do me a favor.

  “At first she wouldn’t listen to my pleas to let me use my phone to send a text, but then she changed her mind when I told her that my girlfriend was waiting for me, and she would break up with me and never forgive me if I didn’t explain why I hadn’t shown up. After I told her that, she softened up and agreed to send the text herself if I dictated it to her. When she asked me my girlfriend’s name, I said, Fabia. I knew that you’d catch on and show up here as soon as possible.”

  “So what’s the deal? What’s going on here?”

  “They’ve got a speed trap set up here. Pulled me over for speeding, wrote me up a ticket, said I had to pay the fine right away. I refused, because it was a bogus charge. I know better than to speed in a small town like this. I was actually going under the speed limit. The cop got mad when I contradicted him, ordered me out of the car, and placed me under arrest. When I asked him the charge, he grinned and said ‘resisting arrest’. So he hauled my ass into jail. I figured no sweat. The conditions here are luxurious compared to some of the conditions we dealt with when we were deployed, you know. So I told them that I was demanding my right to a fair and speedy trial and told them to set the trial date.”

  “Wait a minute. What were you doing on these back country roads in the first place? I thought you were going to come by way of Interstate 10.”

  “There was an accident on I-10. After almost an hour of crawling along in traffic, with no end in sight, I got off at the next exit. Figured that even if I had to take some secondary road, at least I’d be moving.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. I’d probably have done the same thing. So, go on with your story. What happened with the trial?”

  “It never happened. Turns out that the mayor of the town is also the judge I had to appear before.”

  “Yeah – I read something about that when I looked this town up on the trip down here. It’s called a ‘Mayor’s Court’.”

  “Well, at least you’re familiar with it. I’d never heard of such a thing in all my life. So, I was taken into the courtroom the next day, but the mayor slash judge never showed up. He sent word that he was sick and postponed the hearing until the following day. The next day, same thing, only this time his excuse was that the road to town had been washed out by a rainstorm the previous day. That’s when I realized I’d better call in some reinforcements – and here you are.”

  “Yeah, I’m here, and some additional help is on the way.”

  They heard a commotion, some loud voices raised in the outer office. Then the door banged open and the deputy sheriff walked back in.

  “I’ve got some guy out in the outer office claiming that he’s the prisoner’s lawyer. I thought you said you were his lawyer,” the deputy sheriff said.

  Brody was beginning to enjoy himself now.

  “Actually, I said that I was his legal representative,” he responded. “You don’t have to be a lawyer to be someone’s legal representative.”

  “Get out then. Get out of here right now!”

  “Sure thing. I have no problem with that, considering that his lawyer is now present to act as his legal representative.”

  “I’ll let the other lawyer back here. Meanwhile, the sheriff wants to talk to you!”

  “That’s great news. As it turns out, I was hoping to have a chat with your sheriff myself.”

  On his way out, Brody called over his shoulder to Griff, “The lawyer’s name is Regis Chidham III. Lew found him for you. You’ll like him. He served in the Corps for a couple of decades. Retired with the rank of colonel, got bored with civilian life, so he went back and got his law degree. Semper Fi, man. Semper Fi.”

  In the outer office, a big-bellied sheriff sat at the desk now, glowering. Two men were standing in front of the desk. As Brody reentered the office, the sheriff nodded to one of the men and said curtly, “You can go in now.”

  The older man nodded and disappeared through the doorway into the cell block.

  Chomping on a cigar, the sheriff swiveled in his chair, glaring at Brody and saying nothing at first. It was a move calculated to intimidate, but Brody was not easily intimidated.

  “Something you should know about me, son. This is my town. Nobody gets in or out without me knowing about it. But none of my men saw you on the road into town. So how did you get here?”

  “By helicopter,” Brody answered. “The pilot set me down in a field just east of here, and I walked the rest of the way into town.”

  “You came in by helicopter? Why didn’t you just drive into town, like a normal person?”

  “Well, I did some research on this little town of yours on the way here. You know what I found out? I found out that your town has a population of only 1,143, yet you have six police officers. On top of that, almost seventy percent of the town’s revenue comes from the money you make on traffic and speeding citations. I decided that driving into your town might be hazardous to my health and liberty, so I decided to use an alternate form of transportation.”

  “I don’t care for your insinuation, son.”

  “I’m not your son, Sheriff. My name is Brody, and I’m an agent of the Federal government.”

  “You work for the Feds? Let’s see some ID.”

  Brody flashed his credentials, but the sheriff said, “Easy to fake something like that, nowadays.”

  “Sure is. My credentials are legitimate, however. You want to verify them? I can easily arrange that.”

  The sheriff decided to take a different tact.

  “Now, there’s no need for that. But I want to know what you are doing here.”

  “I got this funny feeling about my friend Griff. Like maybe his civil rights were being violated. Felt that someone should be here just in case he needed some support when he files his claim regarding bogus speeding tickets, lack of due process, and false arrest.”

  The sheriff’s face turned beet-red.

  “False arrest!” he roared. “I’ve known the arresting officer since he was a little boy. So has the mayor. If it’s his word against your friend’s, we’ll believe our officer. And Solter got due process. He w
as taken to court within twenty-four hours of his arrest. It’s not our fault that the mayor had to postpone twice.”

  “Yeah, I heard about your mayor’s problems. But I’m going to make a prediction here. I’m going to predict that if you call him, the mayor will be able to make it to town within the hour to hear this case.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  Brody cocked an ear skyward. “Hear that?” he said.

  “It’s a helicopter. So what?”

  “So that’s my pilot friend. I asked him to touch down and pick up me and my friend four hours from now. If we’re not ready, he’s going to do two things. One, he’s going to the press and ask them to send out a team of investigative reporters to check out a story about a decorated Marine who’s being held under what appears to be bogus charges and denied due process in what could be the most corrupt little town in America.”

  The sheriff began spluttering, but before he could utter a word, Brody continued, “The second thing my pilot friend is going to do is place a call to your governor. And the governor will take that call personally. I’ll guarantee it. You want to know why? Because his dad happens to be Sloan Lewellen, the Chairman and CEO of the Lewellen Group. Sloan also happens to be personal friends with the governor, and his business interests generate a lot of revenue in this state. So you can believe that the governor will sit up and pay attention. Meanwhile, I’ll be making a phone call of my own, asking some of my friends at the federal level to look into this case in order to determine if any federal laws are being violated here.

  “Now, the question you and your friend the mayor have to ask yourselves is this: ‘Do I really want all of this attention to be focused on this little town? Is it really worth it to me?’”

  The sheriff looked at his hand and decided to fold. A phone call to the mayor led to a speedy appearance before the Mayor’s Court. And surprise, surprise – the deputy who had arrested Griff failed to appear. The mayor sighed and said that under those conditions, he had no choice but to dismiss the charges. Griff was free to go.

  Brody wasted no time in getting his friend out of town. Soon, they were both aboard the helicopter, on their way back to Colorado.

  Chapter 46

  When the plane Ty had sent to transport Dawn from Pueblo to Mountpelier touched down at Nyetimber, the regional airport where Ty had his headquarters, she exited the plane, walked into the offices of Lewellen Air, and greeted Millie, the receptionist.

  Millie looked her up and down and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Dawn, but you look like you’ve been through the wars.”

  “I feel like I’ve fought a couple of them as well. When I get home, I’m going to take a shower, fall into bed, and sleep for about a week. Meanwhile, I need transportation. Ty told me to take the car he left here this morning.”

  “Yes, he left the keys in his office and asked me to get them for you. Here they are,” she said, handing the keys over to Dawn.

  “Thanks. I’ll be on my way, then.”

  Dawn walked out to the parking lot, spotted Ty’s car, and made a beeline for it. Tossing her stuff into the trunk, she climbed behind the wheel, started the engine and headed for home. Halfway there, however, she changed her mind. She had taken a nap on the plane, and it had refreshed her enough so that she still had enough in her to make one stop along the way.

  When Dawn rang the doorbell at Rafe’s house, Tara answered the door.

  “Hi, Dawn. Come on in. We’re all in the kitchen,” she said.

  “All?”

  “Me and Lotti and her friend Bree. Gabe had to leave this morning, so the three of us brought Rafe home from the hospital. Now we’re having a tea party in the kitchen.”

  “That I have to see. Rafe Melbourne at a tea party.”

  “Well, Rafe’s not actually there. He said he was tired, so he excused himself and went into the den.”

  “I think I’ll take a rain check on the tea party and head for the den, then. I need to update Rafe on some things. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. But stop into the kitchen to say hello before you go, okay?”

  “I’ll be sure to do that.”

  The door to the den was ajar. Dawn stood in the doorway for a minute, taking in the scene. The room was just as it had always been, ever since she had first set foot in it as a child. Rafe had made very few changes since he had inherited the house from his uncle, Nick Melbourne. Nick had been Dawn’s mentor and had served as a second father to her after the tragedy that had claimed the life of her own father. Just looking into the room where Nick had spent so much time gave her a feeling that he was still with them, her and Rafe, if not in person, then in spirit.

  Rafe was seated in an executive-type chair behind the desk, studying some papers. He looked up from them when Dawn crossed the threshold and moved into the den. The frown that had marred his handsome face a second earlier smoothed out and he gave a half-smile as he caught sight of Dawn standing in the doorway.

  “Couldn’t take all the estrogen in the kitchen, huh?” she said by way of greeting.

  “You know me so well,” Rafe responded. “I did fine for the first hour or so. Then the nail-painting and worse, the giggling began. Lotti, not so much, but Tara and Bree – they started grating on my nerves. I decided I’d had enough of female companionship for a while.”

  “In that case, I’m almost afraid to walk in.”

  “Not a problem. You exude eau de cop, and that always neutralizes the effect. So, I’ve been waiting for you to bring me up to speed on the case. Don’t keep me in suspense. Tell me everything, and don’t leave out any details.”

  Dawn moved into the room and seated herself in a chair placed to one side of the desk. When she had finished the whole story, Rafe said, “So Kit Blakewood killed him. I’d say he met his just desserts.”

  “Rick Rikovsky wouldn’t agree with that, unfortunately. He would have preferred to take Marc alive, so that he could sweat some answers out of him regarding the Hartingen case.”

  “Yeah, that was an unfortunate turn of events for him, I suppose. And speaking of unfortunate turns of events…”

  “What are you leading up to? What’s going on?”

  “The poisoning case has taken an unexpected turn.”

  “In what way?”

  After Rafe had filled her in on Amethyst Gascoyne’s veiled threats to him, Dawn responded, “I’m glad that the lieutenant took the thing seriously and put Noritaki on the case. What’s going on there? Has she found out anything interesting?”

  Rafe picked up a file that had been sitting on his desk. “See for yourself,” he invited. “That’s Noritaki’s report.”

  Rafe was old-fashioned in that way. Even though Noritaki had originally submitted the report electronically, Rafe had printed it out so that he could study the hard copies of the report.

  “Start with the first one, Noritaki’s interview with Jillian Kaelar,” Rafe suggested.

  Dawn did just that. Picking up the report, she skimmed over the preliminary details concerning time, location, and date, and read the summary of Jillian Kaelar’s statement.

  Incident Report of Noritaki, Detective Dara:

  Kaelar stated that after drinking some coffee at a restaurant where she was having breakfast with former co-worker Amethyst Gascoyne, Kaelar became violently ill. Gascoyne offered to drive Kaelar to the hospital, and Kaelar accepted the offer. On the way to the hospital, Gascoyne informed Kaelar that she (Gascoyne) had poisoned Kaelar’s coffee.

  Gascoyne then told Kaelar that when they arrived at the hospital, she would tell Kaelar the name of the poison she used so that the doctors could give her the antidote.

  Gascoyne admitted to Kaelar that she had put poison in Kaelar’s coffee as a way to punish Kaelar for firing Gascoyne.

  When Kaelar and Gascoyne arrived at the hospital and Kaelar demanded that Gascoyne reveal the name of the poison, Gascoyne denied poisoning Kaelar.

  At that point, hospital security was called,
and Gascoyne was taken away.

  Kaelar was later told by her doctor that she had ingested a non-lethal dose of atropine.

  Kaelar also revealed that Gascoyne had been fired because she falsified her job credentials.

  Kaelar stated that she had accepted Gascoyne’s invitation to breakfast because Gascoyne had claimed that she wanted to apologize to Kaelar.

  Dawn glanced at Rafe after she had read the part of the report regarding the real reason Amethyst Gascoyne had lost her job at Lancing-Aberford.

  “So she lied to us about being fired because of bad performance reviews,” Dawn observed.

  “She did indeed,” Rafe responded. “Take a look at the resume she submitted to Lancing-Aberford. Noritaki obtained a copy of it and included it in the files.”

  Dawn picked up the resume and glanced at it. “She states here that she has a master’s degree in finance. I’m assuming that the truth is somewhat different?”

  “You’d be right about that. Noritaki discovered that she didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree. Just a couple of business classes from a community college. If you look further down, she also claimed that she had previously worked for The Kingsfold Group, where she had increased income in her department by one hundred fifty percent. That also turned out to be false.”

  “How did she manage to slip by in the first place? Didn’t the people who hired her check up on her?”

  “Noritaki asked Jillian that. She didn’t put it in the report, because it’s a bunch of hearsay, but according to her, Jillian claimed it happened because her own supervisor, who hired Amethyst, believed he always knew intuitively who the right person for each job was. He was so enthralled with Amethyst that he accepted her claims without any supporting paperwork. He did call her former employer, but because of privacy laws, the person he spoke to said that he could only verify that she had worked for the company. Since Amethyst had several glowing letters of recommendation, the supervisor just let it go and hired her. Turns out that the letters were falsified as well.”