Chattering Blue Jay

by Paty Jager

  Hawke set him on the ground, glad Herb had fastened a leash to the dog’s collar.

  “Here’s your clothes.” Darlene handed him one of his duffle bags. “Be careful,” she added.

  “Always. Thanks for doing this. It is safer for everyone.” He hugged Darlene and shook hands with Herb.

  He led Dog to the fancy car. While he placed the duffel bag in the back seat, Dog christened the back wheel.

  Hawke laughed and told Dog to load up. He jumped in the passenger seat his eyes bright.

  Behind the steering wheel, Hawke put the car in gear and they headed out of the county. On the way he talked with Mathews, asking him to put together a list of the people who should be questioned about the water contamination.

  Before he pulled up to his mom’s house in Mission, Spruel called and said Trooper McCord would be headed to the homestead tomorrow with another trooper.

  Everything was set. Now to see if they could come up with the evidence that would corner the person responsible for all the deaths.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Mathews and Tonya were seated together on the couch when Hawke walked in the house. They both looked up.

  Dog walked over and sniffed them. He remembered them because his tail wagged at Mathews, but he planted his butt on the floor in front of Tonya and stared. He still didn’t trust the woman.

  “I’ll put this in my room and then make the call to Mrs. Childress’ brother,” Hawke said, moving through the room and into the hall. He heard his mom’s voice and a child’s in the kitchen.

  After dropping his duffel on the bed, he wandered into the kitchen. It was a year older version of Annie sitting in the chair at the table. Wet paths ran down her cheeks.

  He pulled up a chair and grabbed one of the cookies on the plate. “Do you remember me?”

  She sniffed and studied him. “You stole a cookie from me.”

  Hawke laughed. “I did. But I brought you another one.”

  She nodded.

  “Why are you so sad?” He bit into the cookie and watched her take a deep breath and glance at Mimi.

  “She’s learning it’s not good to always be the one giving the orders,” his mom said. “We were discussing how you need to treat people how you would like to be treated. Not like they are your slaves. That’s bad karma. If you are nice to people, they will be nice to you. You aren’t special. You may have gifts, like singing, drawing, good with numbers, but you yourself are no more special than the person next to you.”

  Hawke nodded. “That’s true. We are all the same. It is how we treat one another that makes us special.”

  Dog wandered in the kitchen, sniffing. He by-passed the piece of cookie Hawke held out for him and walked up to Annie. He placed his head on her lap and she smiled, petting his head.

  “Where did the dog come from?” the girl asked.

  “He lives with me. His name is Dog.” Hawke unhooked the leash dragging from the animal’s collar.

  Annie scrunched up her face. “He’s too pretty and nice to be called Dog. His name is Prince.” She slid off the chair and headed to the back door. “Can Prince play with us?”

  Hawke shrugged. “If he wants to, but his name is Dog.”

  “Come on, Prince, let’s play.” Annie opened the back door.

  Dog glanced at Hawke, then walked to the door and went out with the child.

  Mimi laughed. “I think you need to change his name to Prince.”

  Hawke sighed and picked up the plate of cookies. “I’ll take these in the living room for Tonya and Mathews.”

  His mom giggled. “They are becoming very close friends.”

  He was wondering the same thing from their body language when he arrived.

  In the living room, he placed the plate of cookies on the coffee table and picked up the paper where Tonya had scribbled the notes from her talk with the woman and the phone number for the brother.

  “Did Mrs. Childress say anything that gave you a clue she knew what her husband had done?” Hawke asked, catching Tonya’s attention.

  “No. She was excited to talk about her father. Said her brother knew more about the actual work, so that played well with asking for his phone number.” Tonya pulled another piece of paper out from the pile on the table. “We did dig up the names of all the families living in the subdivision when the Goodwins made their accusations about the water.” She smiled at Mathews. “I’m going to start calling them and asking about their children’s health at that time and if the Goodwins or Felix contacted them.”

  “Good work,” Hawke said, taking the paper out to the front porch where it would be quieter to talk on the phone. He dialed the number Tonya had scribbled on the paper. He wondered at the hard to read notes the woman had taken, that she could decipher it enough to write a story.

  Three rings and the voice of a man who’d been drinking answered. “Hellloo?”

  “Mr. Trask?” Hawke asked, wondering what the man was doing being drunk at 2:30 in the afternoon.

  “Yeah, who’s askin’?” The man’s tone was belligerent. Not a good sign for a conversation of this nature.

  “State Trooper Hawke. Is there a better time to call you?”

  “State Trooper? I ain’t been drivin’ around. I’m sittin’ at home gettin’ drunk where I can’t hurt anyone. So stop harassin’ me.” The man slurred his way through the denial and slammed the phone down. Which meant he had a landline. No cell phone.

  Hawke walked back into the house. “Mr. Trask have a wife he’s living with?” He didn’t like the idea of the angry drunk taking his call out on his wife.

  Mathews shook his head. “Nope. Divorced. Two children, but they don’t live in Arizona. Why?”

  “He was drunk already.” Hawke glanced at his watch. “A phone call isn’t going to get anything out of him.” He scanned his mom’s living room. Sending someone else to do something he would rather do himself wasn’t setting well with him. He gave in to McCord looking for the evidence at the homestead because he’d met her. He didn’t know anyone in Arizona. But he did know someone who could pick him up in Pendleton and fly him to Mesa, Arizona and back. He just needed to get to a radio to contact her.

  “If I can get a ride to Mesa this afternoon, can you keep an eye on Tonya until I get back?” He glanced toward the hallway where he heard the woman’s muffled voice.

  “When will you be back?” Mathews looked up from the computer.

  “Tonight.”

  The deputy whistled. “You can get to Mesa and back in the same day?”

  “Yeah, but don’t tell Tonya where I’m going.” He studied the man on the couch. He hadn’t shaved and his eyes looked bloodshot. “Why don’t you take a break from looking up stuff and sit outside in the sunshine for a while.”

  “Why don’t you want me to tell Tonya where you’re going?” Mathews shoved the laptop from his lap to the coffee table and stretched.

  “Gut feeling. She doesn’t need to get so wrapped up in the investigation.”

  “It’s what she does as a reporter.” Mathews defended the woman.

  “Well, she’s involved enough that we have to hide her here. Best to just keep this between you and me. Okay?” He needed Mathews to see she was a civilian and while she’d been a help, she didn’t need to know everything.

  “Yeah. I’ll make up something.”

  “Thanks.” Now to radio Dani, and then tell his mom he was leaving two strangers with her for another night, only without him.

  Without his work vehicle he had to drum up a radio to call the hunting lodge. Growing up there had been a man down the block who had a HAM radio. He found his mom at her usual place, in the kitchen.

  “Mom, does Russell Temsee still have a radio?” he asked, walking over and standing next to his mother as she peeled potatoes.

  “He’s gone. But I think his daughter who still lives there has the radio. Why?” She peered up at him.

  “I need to contact someone by radio.” He picked up a carrot
coin, popped it in his mouth, and chewed. “And I won’t be home for dinner. I’ll be coming in late.”

  “You aren’t going over to that tramp Linda’s are you?” her eyes narrowed, and she pointed the paring knife at him.

  “I told you, she is a friend. I don’t buy sex from her. And no. I’m having a friend pick me up. I’ll be back late.” He headed to the back door and stopped. “What’s Russell’s daughter’s name?”

  “Hazel. She was only a year behind you in school.” His mom studied him. “Who is picking you up?”

  “Someone you would like.” He swung the screen door open and ducked down the side of the house, heading for the road. At the end of the block, he didn’t have any problem spotting the Temsee house. It looked the same as it had the last thirty years. Needing paint, the same pickup up on blocks as it had been since Russell had his driver’s license taken away and his kids put the vehicle up so he couldn’t go anywhere.

  Hawke walked up to the door and knocked.

  The sound of a television being turned down and then heavy footsteps, followed by the door opening and he was face to face with Hazel Temsee. He would have recognized her. She had the same round face, saggy jowls, and sad eyes as her father.

  “Hazel, I’m Gabriel Hawke, Mimi’s son.”

  She nodded. “Heard you were staying with her for a while.”

  He wondered how many other people knew. He should have remembered the reservation had a faster gossip wire than Wallowa County. “I was hoping I could use your radio to contact a friend.”

  Hazel looked him up and down. “Is this official?”

  “Not really. I want to get a hold of a friend who owns Charlie’s Hunting Lodge in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.” He hoped she would allow him access.

  “I guess it won’t hurt any.” She opened the door wider, allowing him access to the house. “It’s in the back room.”

  He followed her wide backside down the hall to a room near the back door.

  “You know how to use one?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be in the living room watching my show.” She motioned for him to step into the room and she disappeared.

  It was apparent by the small bed and boxes that smelled like an old person, this had been her father’s room until he’d passed.

  Hawke sat down at the radio and dialed in the frequency for the hunting lodge.

  “Charlie’s Hunting Lodge, this is Hawke,” he said into the mic and listened to the crackle of static. He repeated himself three times and was getting ready to give up when Dani’s out of breath reply came.

  “This is Dani. What’s up Hawke?”

  “I wondered if you’d be interested in flying me from Pendleton to Mesa, Arizona today.”

  “There’s not much of today left,” she responded.

  “I thought you were a good enough pilot you didn’t need to see the landmarks under you,” he teased.

  “Why you!” He heard the click of her releasing the mic button and figured she was cussing up a storm at his poking fun at her flying. The static cleared and she said. “I can be to Pendleton by five.”

  “I’ll be waiting for you.” He grinned and replaced the mic, turning off the radio.

  He had a ride to Mesa with a feisty ex-air force pilot. Even if he came up empty with information from Trask, he’ll have spent time with Dani in her element.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Hawke flashed his badge and walked out onto the tarmac as Dani taxied the Cessna 206H over to where a landing crew were waving orange wands. It was 5:15. He wondered if she’d run into trouble.

  The propeller stopped and the cockpit door opened. Dani stepped out, wearing what looked like a flight suit. She talked to the crew as they put wedges behind the wheels.

  Hawke walked up to her. “Need a pitstop before we take off?”

  She shook her head. “I just have to file my flight plans.”

  That’s when he noticed the papers in hand. “Mind if I get settled in the plane and wait for you?”

  “Knock yourself out.” She bumped him in the shoulder with her fisted hand and continued into the building.

  He walked over to the plane, climbed into the passenger seat alongside the pilot’s seat, and stared at all the gauges, knobs, toggle switches, and buttons. It would take him a lifetime to figure out what all they did.

  Ten minutes later, Dani returned, settled in the seat, put the headset on, and motioned for him to put his on.

  Hawke took his hat off and put the headphones on, listening to her talk to the tower and get access to leave.

  Once they were in the air, she flipped a switch and her voice came through loud and clear. “Why are we headed to Mesa?”

  “Working on a case.” He wanted to tell her more but didn’t want to get her mixed up in this anymore than he had.

  She glanced over at him. “The one with the escaped convict? I thought he was dead. Why are you still looking into it?”

  “I’ve discovered he didn’t kill anyone and was put in jail unjustly.” Hawke peered into her eyes.

  “He was innocent? How can that happen?” Anger darkened her cheeks. He couldn’t see her eyes because of the aviation sunglasses.

  “Corrupt police.” It was hard to get those words out. Over the years he’d run into a few corrupt police and it made his gut hurt every time he thought about it.

  “That’s why you’re doing this, to get to the bottom of it?” Dani held out a hand.

  Hawke placed his hand in hers and squeezed. She understood his need to right something that he hadn’t caused but someone of his occupation had.

  “Yeah. The convict had information that the people of Boise should have heard, but he was incarcerated and his voice stopped. I hope to get his findings released and his name exonerated.”

  “This trip will do all of that?” she asked, leaving her hand in his.

  “Not all. But it will help me get information against the man I believe caused the whole thing. The one who had the most to lose if the environmentalist had been able to publish his findings.” Hawke gave her hand another squeeze and released it. While he enjoyed holding hands with her, he felt better with her having two hands on the plane’s steering apparatus.

  “Do you want me to go with you to see the person?”

  He was on the fence there. It would be good to have an impartial person along in case Trask did something stupid, but at the same time he didn’t want Trask to tell Childress about Dani.

  “I’m not sure.”

  She glanced over at him, again. “For my safety?”

  “Yeah. These people have killed seven people to keep this information from coming out.”

  She shook her head. “That’s a lot of bodies to cover up an environmental injustice.”

  “I agree. And that’s why I’m hesitant to have you go along. But I also don’t want to contact the man alone. It would be his word against mine.” Hawke sighed. It was nice being able to talk about this with Dani, but he didn’t want to drag her into the middle of it.

  “I can go along and secretly tape the conversation with my phone.” She smiled at him. “It’s been a while since I did anything that got my adrenaline pumping.”

  He wasn’t sure whether that was a come on or the woman was an adrenaline junkie. Hawke raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  Her cheeks darkened again and she flipped a switch. He heard her talking with the ground control at Mesa.

  «»«»«»

  Hawke rented a car at the airport. He and Dani drove to Trask’s apartment and knocked on the door of apartment 217.

  And waited.

  “Maybe he isn’t here? Maybe he went out to dinner?” Dani suggested.

  “I doubt dinner is a high priority for this man.” Hawke remembered the days when his stepfather would come home from an odd job already drunk, sit down in his chair, and ask Hawke or Miriam to get him a beer. After their mother had told him dinner was ready. A drunk didn’t have a need for food. He got all his
calories from the alcohol.

  He pounded harder on the door and called, “Mr. Trask, I talked to you earlier today.”

  The door to 219 opened. A woman with dyed black hair and a pale white face stuck her head out. “He’s down at Tony’s Bar this time of night.”

  “Where’s that?” Hawke asked.

  “At the sidewalk, go right three blocks and you can’t miss it.” She started to pull her head back in and stopped. “You a relative?”

  “No. Why?” Hawke studied the girl. She couldn’t have been much over twenty.

  “He was saying something about a relative coming to get him was all when he left. I passed him in the hall.” She closed the door.

  Hawke cursed.

  “Is that bad?” Dani asked, running to keep up with his long strides to the elevator.

  “It is if it’s his brother-in-law. It means Trask thinks he’s next to die.” At the entrance, Hawke turned right and strode down the sidewalk, holding Dani’s hand to keep her up with him. At the bar, he released her hand and walked into the establishment. He didn’t have a clue what Trask looked like. All he knew is the man would be shit-faced and belligerent.

  He walked up to the bar. “What do you want to drink?” he asked Dani. She stared at him a moment and said a light beer.

  Hawke waved the bartender over. “We’ll have two light beers on tap.”

  The man nodded, wandered off to the tap, filled two glasses and returned.

  Hawke paid him and asked, “Is William Trask in here tonight?”

  The man stared at him. “Why are you asking?” His gaze darted toward the man at the opposite end of the bar.

  “I wanted to see if he’s okay. The young girl who lives next to him said he wasn’t feeling well earlier.” Hawke picked up the beers, handing one to Dani.

  “Why do you care?” the bartender asked.

  “I’m a family friend.”

  “He’s been mumbling his brother is coming to get him. But if you don’t know who he is, you can’t be the brother.” The bartender glanced past him to Dani. “You aren’t his brother either.”

  “We’re concerned friends that’s all,” Dani said, sipping her beer.