Speed Trap

by Patricia Davids

  “Ex-wife, but thank you.”

  “I’m sure my daughter will discover who is responsible. She’s very tenacious.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t have much to go on at this point,” Mandy admitted.

  “The case has gone cold,” Donna added with a sad shake of her head. “We may never find out what happened.”

  Garrett caught the faint frown Mandy leveled at Donna. “That’s why I’ve decided to ask for the public’s help. I’m running a piece in several area newspapers asking for any information. I’ve included a photo of Judy and a description of her car. I’m hoping someone saw her that morning and will come forward.”

  “When did you decide this?” Donna asked.

  “This morning.”

  Looking over Mandy’s head, Garrett saw Ina Purdy walking toward him. She had traded in her jeans and oversized work shirt for a navy pant suit. “I was just fixing to call you, Garrett. I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “I’m a little surprised myself.”

  “Guess our sheriff is having a good influence on you. Are you still planning on going to that Colorado sale?”

  “If you’re still planning on keeping Colin for me.”

  The summer sale on the Conway ranch was the biggest sale in southern Colorado. Buyers from all over the country would be there. Besides his contracts with six Kansas ranchers to be filled, Garrett was going to buy cows for his own herd.

  To produce the high-quality cattle he wanted to breed, he needed high-quality cows and the Conway ranch produced some of the finest Angus cattle in the business.

  Garrett was building his son’s legacy. He intended to do it right.

  Ina waved one hand. “’Course I’ll watch him. I’ve decided to let you pick up a new bull for me. That is, if the price is right.”

  He rubbed his chin. “A Conway bull isn’t gonna be cheap.”

  “I know, but I trust you to find me a bargain.”

  A measure of pride filled Garrett at her faith in him. “We can discuss your price range before I take off tomorrow.”

  “You’re leaving town?” Mandy asked, a faint look of concern on her face.

  “Just for a couple of days.” Would she miss him? He was sure going to miss her.

  “Who’s going to take care of Joey?” she asked softly.

  Ina rolled her eyes. “That would be me. ’Course, you’re welcome to come lend a hand. A body my age shouldn’t be working day and night. It’s likely to drive me to an early grave. At least I don’t have to keep that dog.”

  Spinning around, she headed toward her truck parked at the curb.

  Kathryn’s attention was claimed by another group of women. She excused herself and she and Donna left. Garrett found himself alone with Mandy.

  She glanced around, then smiled at him warmly. “I’m glad you came today.”

  “Are you?”

  “Of course I am. The real question would be, are you glad you came?”

  “I am. It felt nice.”

  “That’s a start.”

  Garrett wanted to believe that it was. If God had seen fit to bring Mandy and Colin into his life, then maybe He had been listening all those years ago.

  Mandy breathed a sigh of relief the next afternoon when she saw Garrett’s truck and trailer still parked at the ranch. He hadn’t left yet.

  He might only be leaving for a few days, but she was missing him already.

  He opened the door before she knocked. Had he been watching for her? There was a soft light in his eyes that made her believe he had been. Wiley jumped around her feet, apparently happy to see her, too.

  “I was afraid I’d missed you. I got tied up at work.” Mandy noticed Ina standing in the living room and nodded in her direction. “Mrs. Purdy. Nice to see you.”

  Ina fisted her hands on her hips. “Is someone from your office gonna do something about those kids? I had to call again last night.”

  Taken aback, Mandy said, “I’m sorry, but this is the first I’ve heard of it. What’s the problem?”

  “Those high school hooligans have been holding their keg parties in the old barn across the section from my place. All that loud music and carrying on. I ran them off last month. I told them I’d sic the sheriff on them if they came back. Last night, saw them out there again.”

  “I’ll certainly check it out.”

  “Hmm! That’s what your deputy said, but I don’t expect he did anything and I know why.”

  “Which deputy was that?”

  Ina folded her arms over her bony chest. “Ken Holt. I told him what I saw. I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “’Cause his little brother was the one with the keg in the back of his pickup. Luke Holt’s a wild one. That boy’s looking for serious trouble.”

  Was Ken’s brother the “personal problem” Ken had been having? If he’d been covering up Luke’s illegal activities, Ken was in some serious trouble himself.

  “You say they were there again last night and you reported it?” Ken had been on duty.

  “I did. Someone’s gonna get hurt in that old place if you don’t put a stop to it.”

  “I’ll speak to Ken tomorrow.” Mandy would listen to his side of the story, but Ina’s account raised some troubling issues.

  Slightly mollified, Ina lifted Colin’s infant seat and slipped a large diaper bag over her shoulder. “Guess I should get going so you can get on the road, Garrett. Remember, I need a proven bull, not one of their untried yearlings.”

  “I remember.” He and Mandy exchanged amused glances as they followed Ina out the door.

  Garrett helped secure Colin’s car seat in Ina’s truck. When he was done, he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and held it out. “This is Colin’s schedule. He normally sleeps until six. After that, he gets his first bottle and some rice cereal.”

  Ina grabbed the list out of Garrett’s hands. “Oh, for pity’s sake. I managed to raise three kids of my own. I think I can watch your boy for a few days.”

  “I’m sure you can. It’s just that I haven’t left him for so long.”

  “And you haven’t left him yet. Are you going? Or are you gonna dither here until the sale is over?”

  “I’m going.”

  “Well, kiss the gal and then get on the road.”

  Mandy felt herself blushing even as a rush of red crept up Garrett’s neck.

  Ina, with a merry cackle, started her truck and drove off.

  As the dust settled, Garrett turned to Mandy. Reaching out, he gently cupped her cheek. “Guess I should follow orders.”

  “I think she was kidding.”

  “I’m not.” Bending his head, he kissed her with great tenderness. Mandy’s heart turned over with sweet joy as his lips moved over hers. This was so right.

  After a long, wonderful moment, he pulled away. Cupping her cheek, he said, “I never thought I’d feel this way about anyone. I wish I didn’t have to leave. There is so much I want to tell you.”

  Mandy smiled at him. “I’ll be here when you get back, Garrett. I’m not going anywhere.”

  The following morning, Mandy tucked the memory of Garrett’s kiss inside her heart and put on her professional face. She couldn’t put off this interview any longer. Pressing the intercom button, she said, “Donna, have Ken step into my office, please.”

  Bleary-eyed and exhausted-looking, Ken entered the room and stood in front of her desk without meeting her gaze.

  Repeating the story as Ina had relayed it, Mandy waited for Ken to deny the accusations or offer an explanation. He did neither. Instead, he said, “You’ll have my resignation on your desk today.”

  “Ken, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. If you’re having family problems, I can understand that. If you need time off, I can arrange it.”

  “Luke has been living with me since our folks split up. He’s troubled, he’s acting out, but he’s a good kid. Ask Donna. She’s spent time with him. Yeah, he ge
ts detention sometimes, but he’s just going through a rough patch.”

  “Ken, you know I want to help, but falsifying a crime report is serious. You aren’t helping Luke by letting things like underage drinking slide by.”

  “I can’t arrest my baby brother. I think it’s best that I resign.”

  “I won’t accept it. I’m ordering you to take a thirty-day leave of absence. If, at that time, you still feel you can’t do this job, then I’ll accept your resignation. I’m also going to suggest that you and your brother get some professional family counseling.” The department would be shorthanded but Mandy knew the other officers would pick up the slack to help her.

  Ken nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

  After he left, Mandy opened the crime scene report that had arrived with the morning mail. The lab techs had been able to pull a partial print from one of the bags of meth that had been seized from the cattle truck.

  The print was a match to an unknown set that had been lifted at her farm supply robbery. It was further proof that the meth had been manufactured nearby.

  A knock at the door made her look up as Donna peeked in. “There is a Jessica Nichols who wants to see you.”

  The name rang a bell, but Mandy couldn’t place a face with it. “Did she say what she wanted?”

  “No, just that she needed to talk to you.”

  “Okay, send her in.”

  Mandy smiled politely as a middle-aged woman with salt-and-pepper hair came forward with a timid air. She was wearing a blue-and-white waitress uniform.

  As soon as Mandy saw the outfit, the name clicked. Jessica waited tables at the all-night diner just down the street.

  “Miss Nichols, what can I do for you?” Mandy indicated the chair opposite her desk.

  Jessica slipped into it. Smoothing the front of her skirt to erase the wrinkle, she clasped her hands together. “I wasn’t going to come because I don’t know how important this might be, but my boss said I should. I saw the woman in the paper.”

  “What woman?”

  “The one who was killed in that car accident.”

  Mandy leaned forward. “You saw Judy Bowen?”

  “I never knew her name until I read it in the paper, but I’m certain that’s who I saw. She used to come into the diner late at night when she lived here about a year ago. She never left a tip.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “The morning she died. I was walking home. I’d just gotten off my shift and I saw her pull up to the gas pump at Turner’s Truck Stop.”

  “What time was this?”

  “It was just before seven that morning.”

  The wreck had occurred less than ten minutes later. Mandy began taking notes. “You saw her getting gas.”

  Jessica leaned forward. “That’s just it. She didn’t get any.”

  Mandy stopped writing. “I’m not following you.”

  “She stopped at the pump and started to walk into the store. But at the front door, she suddenly turned around and ran back to her car and drove off. I thought she must have forgotten her purse. I’ve done that myself.”

  “Did you see anyone follow her?”

  “No. I turned the corner and didn’t look back. I wish I had.”

  “Did you happen to notice which direction she came from?”

  Jessica pressed one finger to her lips and tapped gently. “I think she came from the south. Yes, I’m sure of it because that’s what made me think she must have forgotten something. She went back the way she’d come.”

  Judy had driven in from the south, not from the direction of Garrett’s ranch which lay ten miles north of town. He’d been telling the truth. He hadn’t seen Judy that day. Mandy had been right to believe in him. “Miss Nichols, did you notice any other vehicles parked in the area?”

  “Just one of those blue-and-white delivery vans. Oh, and there was a tow truck there.”

  Had J. J. or Spike progressed from small-time crime to murder? Was that the reason J. J. had been so quick to pull a knife? Mandy had dismissed him as a junkie with bad judgment. Maybe she was underestimating him.

  Frowning, Mandy asked, “Did you see the drivers?”

  Shaking her head sadly, Jessica looked down and smoothed the front of her skirt again. “No. I’m sorry.”

  “When Judy used to come to your diner, did she come in alone?”

  Jessica rolled her eyes at that. “She used to hang out with that weasel Spike Carver. I think they were doing drugs or something. I see a lot of messed-up people coming in at three o’clock in the morning. Most honest people are in bed by then—unless they have a job like mine. Have I been any help?”

  “More than you know, Miss Nichols. Thank you for coming forward.”

  After the woman left, Mandy sat back in her chair and pondered what to make of this new information. Something or someone at Turner’s Truck Stop had frightened Judy Bowen into bolting out of town. Less than ten minutes later, her car had been forced through a guardrail and she was dead.

  Mandy rose and walked out into the common area. She saw Fred and Benny talking quietly at their desks. Ken had already left.

  She said, “Benny, I want you to bring Spike Carver in for questioning. Fred, I want you to pick up J. J. again.”

  “Why?” Fred rose and pulled his gun from the drawer of his desk.

  “Judy was at Turner’s Truck Stop the morning she was killed.”

  Turning to Donna, Mandy said, “Give Aaron Turner and Mike Peters a call and ask them to come in, too.”

  Donna’s face registered surprise. “You think they’re involved?”

  “Spike was a known associate of Judy before she left town last year. I have a lot of questions about him. Oh, and get me a DMV report on both J. J. and Spike. I want to know what kind of vehicles they drive.”

  Benny and Fred took off and Donna made the call while Mandy paced in front of the dispatcher’s desk. When Donna hung up, she said, “They’re on their way.”

  Twenty minutes later, Aaron and Mike walked in. Mandy wasn’t sure which she disliked most. Mike’s belligerent attitude or Aaron’s overly friendly one. She interviewed them separately, but both men told the same story. Neither of them remembered seeing Judy Bowen, but both of them remembered that J. J. and Spike had been hanging out at the truck stop the morning she died.

  It wasn’t much help, but it was something. However, when Donna handed over the motor-vehicle reports, Mandy’s hopes rose sharply. When Benny came in with Spike an hour later, Mandy was ready for him.

  Inside the interview room painted a dull gray, Mandy sat in a wooden chair across a small table from Spike. He sat leaning back in his chair, trying to look relaxed. Mandy wasn’t fooled.

  Fred came in and stood behind Mandy. Leaning down, he whispered, “Looks like J. J. flew the coop. No one has seen him since he got out on bail.”

  That wasn’t good news. Mandy turned her attention to Spike. “You used to do drugs with Judy Bowen.”

  He shrugged. “So?”

  “So she’s dead.”

  “I know.”

  Mandy opened the folder in front of her. “You drive a 1999 Ford pickup, don’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What color is it?”

  “Black. Why?”

  “We have a witness who said Judy was run off the road by a black truck.”

  Spike sat up. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

  Mandy folded her hands in front of her. “Did she owe you money? Was that why she bolted when she saw you?”

  “I never saw her.”

  Fred stepped forward and pounded his fist on the table. “We’re going to get a sample of paint from your truck and it’s going to match the paint that transferred to Judy’s car. You murdered her.”

  Spike licked his lips. “I wasn’t driving my truck that morning. I loaned it to someone else.”

  Fred leaned closer. “Who?”

  “I want a deal before I say anything el
se,” Spike said quickly. He sat back and waited.

  Mandy’s gut told her something wasn’t right. This was too easy.

  Fred straightened and folded his arms. “Tell us what you know and we’ll talk deal.”

  Spike’s gaze darted between them. “Okay. Garrett Bowen was driving my truck that morning.”

  Mandy’s mind screamed no, but she kept her composure with difficulty. “Why would you loan your truck to Mr. Bowen?”

  “We’re business partners. He pays me to cook meth. I deliver it to his place and he handles the distribution. That’s all I’m gonna say until I talk to a lawyer.”

  Mandy left the interview room and turned to Fred who had followed her out. She raked her fingers through her hair. “I don’t believe it. I’ve been out to Garrett’s place a dozen times.”

  “He’s got hundreds of acres he could hide a lab in. Just because he wasn’t cooking it in his kitchen doesn’t mean he’s innocent. I knew he was guilty from the start. I’m going to get a search warrant.”

  Fred started down the hall, but stopped to look back. With a smirk, he said, “Bowen sure pulled the wool over your eyes.”

  TWELVE

  Garrett shifted Colin’s carrier to his other hand and unlocked the front door. “Man, you’re getting heavy. What’s Ina been feeding you while I was gone, lead pellets?”

  Colin kicked his feet and cooed. Wiley, wagging his tail frantically danced around the carrier and whined.

  Smiling, Garrett pushed open his door. “Yeah, I missed him, too.”

  Garrett had been able to fill his orders and buy the cows for his own herd in record time. He’d left the sale a day early and had driven straight through because he needed to see his son. For the first time in his life, the idea of God as a loving father began to make sense.

  Garrett was constantly amazed at the way his heart had expanded to encompass Colin and Mandy. He couldn’t imagine his life without either one of them.

  If only Mandy felt the same after he confessed what a coward he’d been.

  She wasn’t expecting him back until tomorrow. Tomorrow he would tell her everything. If their relationship had any chance, there had to be honesty between them. Telling her would be hard, but he hoped, and prayed, that she would understand. His confidence wavered. What if she didn’t understand? If he destroyed the evidence of his shame she never had to know any of it. He glanced over his head. That was what he needed to do.