Diana Anderson - Entering Southern Country 01 - Famous in a Small Town

by Diana Anderson

  “How you want to do this, boss?” Hendrix asked.

  “Go around to the back of his duplex and wait by the door.”

  Hendrix took off ahead of Cal and Justin. They walked across the lawn and up to the front door. They unholstered their weapons. Justin waited on the left side of the door out of sight, while Cal stepped to the right side and knocked on the door. They waited. Through the front window a light shone from inside the duplex.

  Cal glanced at Justin and then knocked harder on the door. They listened. After fifteen seconds went by, Cal motioned to Justin that they were going to use force to get inside.

  Cal positioned himself in front of the door.

  “Boss?” Hendrix called out.

  Cal and Justin turned toward the sound of his voice. Hendrix’s flashlight shone on Salvador. He was in his underwear, handcuffed, and barefooted.

  Hendrix grinned. “He ran out the back door, carrying his clothes.”

  Cal looked at Justin. “Well, that was uneventful.”

  “Yeah, I got an adrenaline rush for nothing. Now, I don’t know what to do with it.”

  Cal looked at Hendrix, “Get him processed and then get back here. Bring Porter with you.”

  Before dawn, Cal and a few of the deputies were in the midst of searching inside and out of Salvador’s duplex. Cal had a kitchen drawer opened and was looking inside when Justin poked his head through the patio door.

  “Found something.”

  Cal stepped outside and looked where Porter aimed the lens of her camera. She took several pictures of a planter. The soil had been brushed away from a rolled up dishtowel. After Porter was through, Justin reached down with a gloved hand and flipped the edges of the dishtowel open. A .380 handgun and butcher knife was inside. Porter leaned in and took more pictures.

  “Looks like we have our murder weapon,” Justin said.

  Cal nodded.

  Hendrix stepped out the door with an evidence bag in his hand. “I believe someone’s a redhead now.”

  Cal looked at the bag. An opened box of hair color was inside.

  By the time Cal was back at headquarters, the time on the wall clock across from his desk said five-twenty. He hadn’t had supper the previous night. His stomach grumbled in protest.

  A BOLO had been sent out on the wire for Callie. He’d sent out a deputy to find Lupe and bring her in for questioning again. He had yet to know how she was related to Salvador. The whole thing baffled him and to make matters more difficult, Salvador wasn’t talking. He had lawyered up right off the bat.

  Cal grabbed his hat and headed for the door.

  * * *

  Cal had sent the day crew home for a few hours sleep and had gone home and grabbed a few as well. He had showered and was back in the office before noon. He opened a manila envelope on his desk. He pulled out the latest forensic report. He began to read over each page. One of the sets of fingerprints that were found in the Jaguar matched Salvador’s. That came from files out of Mexico when he’d been arrested and processed there. Of course, one set was Jorge. The other three sets of fingerprints were still unknowns.

  Porter said over the intercom, “Sir, John Brooks, Mrs. Rayburn’s attorney, is here to bail her out and wants to speak with you about Miss Sawyer.”

  He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. “Send him in.”

  A moment later, the door to his office opened, and he stepped inside. He closed the door behind him. Cal wasn’t a suit man and didn’t have much knowledge about tailoring, but this guy’s clothing reeked expensive even to him. Even his briefcase was top of the line.

  He strolled over to stand in front of Cal’s desk and introduced himself. “Sheriff Rayburn, I’m John Brooks, attorney at law, from the law firm of Brooks, Davis, and Webster. I’m representing Suzanne Rayburn. I’ve met her bail requirements.”

  That’s a mouthful, Cal thought. “Deputy Porter will help you with that.” Cal reached for the receiver of his phone.

  “Also, I’m representing Raven Sawyer.”

  Cal drew his hand back and waited for the inevitable.

  “Since she hasn’t been charged with anything, I’d like to know why you are holding my client.”

  Cal hadn’t charged her with anything. He hadn’t wanted to charge her with anything. He only wanted her to stick around awhile, so he could find out more about the book. What was truth and what was fiction. If she’d left before he’d had the chance to ask her the one most important question of all, he might never have known. But now, there was no reason to hold her.

  Cal stood up from his desk. “I’ll get her for you. I’ll get both of them.”

  Cal showed Brooks out of his office.

  71

  Raven stood up from the bed when she heard keys rattle outside her door. She had been in a deep sleep. Suzanne stood behind Cal in the corridor. Cal opened the cell door and stepped aside.

  “You’re free to go.”

  The dog hopped down off the bed and stretched.

  She stepped closer. “Free? So I can go home now—back to New York?” She hesitated at the door.

  He nodded and looked at Suzanne. “Your attorney is waiting in the lobby.”

  Suzanne smiled, stepped around him, and held out her hand to Raven. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  Raven took her hand. “Come on, Gabe.”

  Gabriel walked out of the cell, and they followed Cal down the corridor.

  Twenty minutes later, Raven was seated across the table from Suzanne in her kitchen. They waited for the coffeemaker to finish brewing. Mavis puttered around in the kitchen, preparing a late breakfast. The morning sunlight shone through the French doors and laid a path across the tiled floor and across Gabriel. He was stretched out in front of the doors. Deputy Hendrix was stationed at the doorway that led out of the kitchen and into the den.

  “Angus might be in here in a moment. Please, don’t let him scare you,” Suzanne said.

  Raven nodded and accepted the steaming cup of coffee from Mavis with a thank you. As she brought the cup to her lips, she heard a commotion from the other room. She looked toward the doorway. Angus stood near the deputy. Two suitcases sat on the floor beside him. He had a large tote strapped over his shoulder.

  The dog raised his head and eyed him.

  “You won’t get away with this,” Angus said as he pointed a finger at Suzanne. “This is just as much my home as it is yours. That pre-nup won’t stand up in court. You’ll see. I’ll have this house and everything else. I’ll see that you end up penniless.” His face was red.

  “Sir, you need to leave,” Hendrix said.

  The dog stood, raised his hackles, and growled.

  Angus ignored the dog and jabbed a finger toward Hendrix. “And you—running me out of my own house, I’ll see that you’re out of a job. You and the sheriff.” He turned, grabbed the handles to his suitcases, and headed for the front door.

  The deputy followed him out. Gabriel lay back down but kept his eyes on the doorway.

  Suzanne looked at Raven and let out a long breath upward that caused her bangs to flutter. “I’m glad that’s out of the way. I’m hungry.” She eyed the plate that Mavis placed on the table in front of her. She thanked her, picked up her fork, and took a bite of scrambled eggs.

  “You seem to be taking this well,” Raven said.

  She swallowed her food and said, “You know, I’d had it in my mind for years that if he and I ever parted ways, I’d be miserable and lonely, but I’ve never felt as free as I do right now, and it feels so good.” She took a sip of coffee and then set her cup down. “I had it all backwards. I was miserable and lonely with him.”

  “He’d always scared me when I was growing up.” Raven tore off a piece of her toast.

  “I never knew you had any dealings with him.” She looked up from her plate at Raven.

  The doorbell rang. Mavis went to answer it.

  “He used to visit my mom when I was very young.” She picked up her coffee c
up. “I guess the last time I saw him come around, I was probably six or seven years old.”

  She took a sip and looked at Suzanne over the rim. Suzanne’s facial muscles had gone slack.

  “Is something wrong?” Raven asked.

  “He visited your mother?”

  She nodded, and then lowered her cup, and placed a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Suzanne! I never should have told you that. I’m just tired. The past week has been … it’s no excuse. I’m sorry!”

  A smile spread across Suzanne’s face. She chuckled with her mouth closed, and then opened her mouth, and laughed.

  Raven watched her in amazement.

  “What’s so funny, ladies?” Ted stood in the doorway with a manila envelope in his hand.

  Raven looked at him. “Me and my big mouth.”

  Suzanne composed herself and looked at him. “We were just discussing something that I thought I was the only one who knew.” She smiled at him. “What brings you by here this morning?”

  “I drove by the sheriff’s department after I’d heard both of you had been incarcerated and was going to try to see if I could help y’all in some way. Bail you out and find you an attorney or something. I was told that y’all had been released and were sent on your way. I thought I’d come by and check on you.” He looked at Raven. “I’m glad to see that you’re still in town.”

  She nodded. “Until I can get a decent shower and schedule a flight.”

  “Well, I’m hoping that what I have to show you will cause you to reconsider leaving so soon.”

  Raven glanced at Suzanne and then back at Ted. “It’d have to be something of major importance to keep me here. I’m long overdue to be home. My agent has gone above and beyond the call of duty for me as it is. I can’t stay another day.”

  “Well, if I may,” he walked over to the table and opened the manila envelope and pulled out the contents, “I’d like for you to see this.”

  She looked down at the sheets of paper that he held out to her.

  72

  Janie slid a plate of pancakes and a side of sausage links in front of Cal and then sat down across from him. “You look like you’re about to cave-in.”

  He poured maple syrup over his pancakes. “I’m starved. It’s been the longest I’ve gone without food and a decent nights sleep since my tour of duty.” He cut into his pancakes and forked a bite.

  “So you caught the guy that murdered the Neals?”

  He swallowed, shook his head, and then took a drink of his coffee. He set his cup down and glanced up at her. “We’re fairly sure, but there maybe more involved.”

  “More? You mean there are more on the loose around here?”

  He nodded and took another bite.

  “How many?”

  He shrugged and continued to eat.

  She propped her elbow up on the table and rested her chin in her hand. “Okay, I’ll wait ‘til you’re done eating, but the suspense is killing me.”

  After a few minutes, he scooted his plate out of the way and handed his cup to the waitress for a refill. When she had finished, he took another sip and then set his cup down.

  “I feel somewhat better now. In answer to your last question, I don’t know how many. I’m thinking one more for sure and possibly another. The evidence gathered last night at Salvador’s house will still have to be processed through forensics. That takes time.”

  “So, do you have anybody in mind who you think might be a part of this?”

  He smiled at her.

  “What?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “You’ll never believe who’s on the run.”

  “I’ve got to guess? C’mon, Cal.”

  “Callie.”

  Her lower jaw went slack. “Wha … what could she have to do with all of this? I mean, I understand that this guy was her gardener, but—”

  “Callie managed to steal some evidence from the department’s safe. Now, she’s on the run. When we searched the Wallaces’ home, we found more evidence.”

  “I suppose you’re not going to tell me how she managed to steal from y’all’s safe, or what was in it.”

  He shook his head.

  “Then there’s no need for me to even ask what was found at her house.”

  He shook his head again.

  “Well, this is not what I’d expected to hear about her,” she said.

  “Don’t forget, Mom, she wasn’t always a Wallace. She grew up poor and married poor her first go-round.”

  She pushed her bottom lip out and looked off in thought for a moment. “But she had money, Cal, and tons of it. Why would she leave all of that?”

  “She didn’t have it with a Latin lover though.”

  “He’s that good looking?”

  “It’s just an expression I heard from Deputy Porter.”

  “Callie likes men, money, and herself, more than anything else,” she said. “Poor Ted.”

  “Ted will be all right. Their housekeeper told me that they hadn’t been sharing a bedroom for a long time.”

  Janie’s eyes rounded along with her lips.

  He continued, “I just haven’t figured it all out.”

  “Do you think Ted was wise to this?”

  He shook his head. “No. I don’t think he’d put up with it. I think that he would have said something as soon as he’d found out.”

  “What has he said about all of this?”

  “I haven’t spoken with him about this yet.”

  “Oh.”

  Cal looked over Janie’s shoulder and watched Angus make his way over to their booth. She looked to see what had his attention. She turned back, made a face, and crossed her eyes.

  “I saw that, Mom,” he said as Angus stepped up to the table.

  “You just had to go and let that bitch out of jail, didn’t you?” Angus asked.

  Cal picked up his coffee cup and said, “Suzanne’s attorney took care of that for her.”

  “I know you could have kept her longer if you tried.”

  “No, and I wouldn’t have if I could have.” He took a sip of his coffee and then set his cup down.

  “Well, I hope you’re happy now that she had me vacate the premises.”

  Janie looked up at Angus. “I guess that little pre-nup thing you signed came back to bite you in the ass, huh?”

  “Shut the—”

  “Hey!” Cal slid out of the booth. He towered over Angus and looked down his nose at him. “Don’t even think to talk like that to my mother.”

  Janie grabbed Cal’s fisted hand.

  Angus took a quick step back but soon recovered. He shook his head. “You pussy!” He turned and stomped out of the diner.

  Cal watched him leave. Janie let go of his hand. He slid back into the booth. His jaw clenched.

  “You shouldn’t let him get to you like that,” she said with a look of concern.

  “How did you ever manage to hook up with someone like him?” He looked into her eyes.

  She gave him a half smile. “He came at me like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, just like he did Suzanne.” She adjusted herself in her seat, folded her arms on the table, and leaned forward. “You were too little to remember when we divorced. We split up on your fourth birthday. I threw you a small party. Had a few of your little neighborhood playmates over. He came home from work, ran them off, and found a reason to slap me around. I was used to it, if a person can get used to something like that … let’s just say, I was conditioned to it. Anyway, you were trying to be a little man and come to my rescue. Angus did something that he hadn’t done before. He made the mistake of putting his hands on you. I got his .380 out of his dresser drawer, pointed it at him, and pulled the trigger—over and over again. He shit himself and then left.”

  “You shot up the house?”

  “Nah, the gun was empty. I just kept pulling the trigger, hoping there was at least one bullet in there. Anyway, he came back several days later and packed all of his things, left, and never came back.”


  “I can’t believe you shot at him.”

  “I snapped, Cal. What can I say? He had broken my arm before. I wasn’t about to let him do the same to you. He towered over me, so there was no such thing as a fair fight. And back then, I’d been too afraid to leave him. It’s like I had a wake up call and snapped at the same time. I never want to be put in that position again. Life in prison over a piece of crap like him isn’t worth it. I’ve often wondered if he ever laid his hands on Suzanne.”

  “You had to raise me alone.”

  “Not at first. My dad was around during that time for three years before he passed.”

  Cal smiled as he remembered.

  “He took you fishing,” she continued, “taught you how to ride a bike, and steal cookies from the cookie jar without getting caught.”

  He laughed. “I still miss him.”

  “Me too.” She patted his hand and then got a serious look on her face. “I wonder what Angus is going to do now?”

  “What do you mean?” Cal picked up his coffee cup and brought it to his lips.

  She shrugged. “He’s been a kept man for years. Now, with no money to call his own … well actually, he never had any money he could call his own.”

  He straightened in his seat and set the cup down. He stared through her.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  He lowered his gaze and scanned the table in thought. He looked back at her. “You said you shot at him with a .380?”

  She nodded.

  “Do you still have that gun?”

  She shook her head. “No. Like I said, he came and got all of his stuff and that included the gun.”

  He grabbed his hat and scooted out of the booth.

  “What?” She looked up at him.

  “Thanks for breakfast.” He turned.

  “But … Cal?” She grabbed his hand.

  “Mom, I’ll talk to you later. Right now, I’ve got work to do.”

  She watched him hurry out the door.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Cal stood in Suzanne’s den. Mavis had left the room to find her. A minute later, Suzanne walked into the room.