by Kieran York
“Just not the end of this day?”
Gwen gave a blasting huff. “So it seems.”
***
Royce entered the animal clinic. She went directly back to the surgery. Hertha looked up. “Just finishing my last neutering of the night,” she said with a sigh. “What a day. Sometimes being the only vet in town has its disadvantages.” She made a final suture and then clipped. “There. Where did you go?”
“This afternoon I worked in the office. Had some loose ends. I waited for the phone calls and to see if I’d get a fax on the lead Laramie gave me. Nothing in any of the major 'Sans’ that relates to Rick Brown. When I saw your surgery light still on, I went over to visit Gwen and Nadine.”
Hertha bandaged the puppy’s incision. With final snaps she twisted off each disposable glove. She tossed them into a receptacle. She untied her surgical mask and then removed her smock. 'Whew, am I ever glad this day is done. I was so happy about not having to put down the horse this morning. Then I got back here and a family brought in a basset hound that needed to be put to sleep. That always hurts. They look like sick old dogs in pain until they die. Then they seem like sleeping puppies. Strange. Anyway, Carrie showed up. She was so happy about the kitten that it boosted my spirits again.” Hertha moved to the chair where Royce had sat. She bent down and kissed Royce’s temple. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s been a bad day.”
Hertha straddled Royce’s long legs. Then slowly eased on her lap. Royce felt the full heat from Hertha’s body. She hugged Hertha tightly. Her face pressed against Hertha’s breasts. Hertha kissed the crown of her lover’s head. “Tell me, Royce. I know when something’s bothering you.”
“If I tell you what’s bothering me, it won’t improve your day.”
“It’s to do with Gwen and Nadine?”
“They were bickering. It now appears to be a war.”
“Do you think Nadine will leave Gwen?”
'They’re in separate bedrooms. I’ve known about the problem for a while. I’ve felt like a traitor to Gwen, but I promised Nadine I wouldn’t say anything about her feelings.”
“What did Gwen say?”
“She doesn’t understand. And she seemed steamed at me for not warning her about how serious Nadine is about their problem.”
“Gwen’s just hurt. She’ll get over it. You know how she is. She blusters and then wants to make peace. Like with the family get-together. Gwen can’t stand to have disharmony. Yes, she’ll stir, and she’ll scream, but she comes around.”
“I don’t think so.” Royce cringed. “She looked at me as though it were unconscionable of me to keep a secret from her. She’s already ticked at me for arresting Jorie.”
“You didn’t have a choice. And you will solve the murder.”
“You believe that?”
Hertha’s lips met Royce’s. “You will. You’ve got so much on your mind, I’m amazed you can function at all. Well, this is one problem that is at least out in the open now. You don’t need to carry Nadine’s secret.” Hertha’s warm fingers caressed Royce’s cheeks. Royce picked up the faint scent of her surgical gloves, a hint of powder. “Royce, I know what a difficult decision it must have been to respect Nadine’s privacy and balance that against your devotion to Gwen.”
“At least Nadine’s cards are on the table. I wanted to tell you.” Royce’s eyes misted. “I don’t care if I lose the damned election. I just want the people I love to be happy and safe.”
Hertha’s arms surrounded Royce and cosseted her with warmth. She whispered, “If you ever keep another secret from me, some night when you’re sleeping, I’ll surgically remove your gizzard.”
Royce’s smile converted into the first laugh she’d had in a very long time. “That gives me pause for concern, Doctor "White.”
“I’m glad threats work so well on you, Sheriff Madison. I’ve got a million of them in my little black bag.” Her eyebrow lifted and she teased, “In addition to that, I’ve got a scalpel. And I know how to use it.”
Chapter 19
Royce’s troubles were often dwarfed by the loveliness of the mountains. But as she entered Crystal, she realized that even the extraordinary beauty of the scenery had not wiped away the problems of the day. She had called Gwen and had been curtly informed that Nadine had slept in the guest room.
Royce knew the day wasn’t going to get easier. She gripped the Blazer’s steering wheel tightly as she drove into the driveway of the McDermott home. She frowned when she spotted Nick’s squad car. She greeted him with surprise in her voice. “Adonis. You acting as my escort now?”
“Naw. Disturbance call from Mrs. McDermott asking that we give an assist.”
Royce chuckled. “I’m only going over her statement again. So what’s the disturbance?”
“She’s tossing out an employee.”
“That takes a deputy?”
“Claims the woman is unruly.” Nick shook his head. “She’s the housekeeper. Woman about thirty-five. Not bad looking. Name is Clara Davis,” he reported, glancing down at his notes. “She didn’t look dangerous. But she does wear tight clothing.” He smiled. “Bet the judge liked her. Great figure, long fiery red hair, and huge green eyes.”
Royce recalled seeing her when she was in the McDermott home for the debate. “I remember her. I thought she was part of the catering crew. I had no idea she was the housekeeper. She didn’t look as though she’d cause major trouble. Speaking of trouble, how are things in Crystal?”
“Trying to keep Granger out of my hair. And all the terrific women up here in my hair. As soon as we’ve finished this, I’ll tell you the other developments.”
By the time the reached the door, Royce heard loud voices inside. The door swung open and the housekeeper exited. She stormed past Royce. Elizabeth McDermott was behind her, screaming. “You slut,” she attacked. “A common, ill-bred whore with delusional problems!”
“You didn’t need to call the authorities,” the woman seethed. “I’m leaving.”
“I don’t know why I allowed you to stay two years,” Elizabeth blasted.
“You wouldn’t have, but Jake . . . Judge McDermott, insisted I stay,” the woman countered.
“All people like you can think of is the depraved world of the carnal,” Elizabeth’s shout echoed.
As soon as the woman had scurried down the path away from the house, Elizabeth led Royce and Nick into the living room. “She was trash. The judge felt sorry for Clara and allowed her to continue working here. Even though she was infatuated with him, he never felt anything for her but pity.” Elizabeth pulled herself together quickly. She became cloyingly cordial. “Might I get you anything? Tea or coffee?”
“Nothing. We’re fine.” Royce was seated. With flourish and decorum, Elizabeth lifted her right hand to glance at her diamond- studded gold watch. The multitude of jewels blinked when Elizabeth moved her arm. “We’ll try not to take too much of your time, Mrs. McDermott. I just had a few questions about the day Judge McDermott was murdered.”
“I’ve already told you everything I know.”
Royce heard the key being turned in the door. Tyler walked in; his eyes were stormy. “Why are you bothering my mother?“ he raged. “Can’t you see she’s suffering?”
“We just had a few questions.”
Tyler sat on the arm of the chair and his hand rested on his mother’s shoulder. “Are you up to this, Mother?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” She took a deep breath. “We miscalculated. The judge knew that Marjorie was guilty. But we thought it was just the circumstances. That Holt woman had forced Marjorie’s hand. It was an accident. Cousin Marjorie has always had a temper. The woman had triggered that temper. We could understand how it might happen. But how could we know that she would commit this cruel act of premeditated murder?”
“Why do you believe that she would have murdered the judge?”
“I told you. He knew she was guilty of the Holt murder.”
“When he appro
ached her, she denied it.”
“In front of everyone, yes. But in private she had asked him about the charges. She wanted to know if it were an accident, what the expected sentencing arrangement might be.” Elizabeth’s eyes batted before she closed them. Her hand shaded her eyes. “The judge wanted to let her know she would be treated fairly by the courts.”
“The stein he brought with him, did it have a full drink in it?”
“I believe he’d finished about half of it. I told him not to have another, that Cousin Marjorie would fix him her favorite drink.”
“Who fixed his drink before he left?”
“Not I.” Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “I never fixed them strong enough for him. It would have been the judge or perhaps it was that woman.”
“Clara Davis, the housekeeper?”
“Yes. She often brought him drinks. But there couldn’t have been anything in the drink that was poured here. The poison had an immediate reaction, I was told.”
“Yes. According to the coroner’s report, it would have been ingested at the party,” Royce concurred.
“I only wish we hadn’t allowed Gwen to talk us into a family party.” Elizabeth took Tyler’s hand. “For Tyler’s sake, so that he wouldn’t be totally estranged from his family, I decided we should attend. Now, I think it was probably Marjorie who insisted on the reunion, and Gwen just set it up. Marjorie undoubtedly had it all planned out.”
“Tyler,” Royce inquired, “can you add anything else to your statement?”
“There’s nothing to add.” He stood abruptly. “I hope you’ll just get on with this investigation. You’ve indicted Jorie. And Mother’s right, if you’d done that after Sandra Holt was killed, my father might alive now.”
Royce stood and closed her report book. She slipped it into her breast pocket and made her way to the door. Tyler followed. “Tyler, I regret that your father’s dead. But I don’t believe Jorie killed him. Nor do I believe she murdered Sandra Holt.”
Royce detected a flash of concern when her words registered with Tyler. She walked in silence to the Blazer, with Nick at her side. When they reached the vehicle, she sighed. “I’ll never be a diplomat.”
“But Elizabeth McDermott will always be a fundamentalist,” he joked. “She’s been telling everyone that people of superior breeding don’t engage in acts of abomination.” Nick leaned against the Blazer. “In some states oral sex is a crime.”
Royce shook her head. “So?”
“If we’ve got prison overload now, just consider the crowding if we arrested everyone guilty of oral sex.” His grin was churning.
“No doubt about that.” Royce switched on the ignition. “So?”
“Just a commentary.”
“What is it you had to tell me? Or are we going to keep up with your tawdry commentary?”
“News about Godiva.”
“Yes?”
“The deputy tailing her bodyguard reported that he made a phone call from a phone booth. Same time exactly as a threat came in on the lodge switchboard. Pretty conclusive, huh?”
“Conclusive enough for me to pay a call on Godiva. Are you coming?”
“Naw, that ought to be a one-enforcer job.”
“Want to keep on Godiva’s good side?“ Royce accused. “Letting me take the dirty jobs?“ she chided and then issued a slight laugh. “And you tell me you aren’t interested.”
“I’m not. What is this, Nick’s turn in the barrel? I’m not that starved for affection.”
“There are times when talking with you is an exercise in futility.”
“There is one bit of good news for you.”
“Hit me with it.”
“Rick Brown has packed up and left. Quit his job, left no forwarding address. Gone.”
“Maybe.” Royce put the Blazer in gear. “See you later. I’ll tell Godiva you’ll miss working with her.”
Nick waved. “And I’ll tell her you’ll miss questioning her.”
“I won’t be missing that. I have plenty of questions for her.” Royce drove to the lodge. She had the desk clerk announce that she was on her way up to talk with Godiva.
Godiva looked weary from a long night. “What is it now?“ she barked.
“We have reason to believe that your bodyguard has been making the threatening calls. Let’s fast-forward to you. Are you implicated?”
“No.” Godiva rumpled her hair and sat. “Shit, no.”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“It won’t happen again.”
“Right. It won’t happen again because I’m pulling my deputies. I have a stalker loose, and my department is chasing you around. If you are involved, I’ll find out and bring charges. Your bodyguard has falsified a statement. He can be charged too. I should cite you now. You’ve wasted our time. All for publicity.”
“If he did it, he did it for his own reasons. I promise it won’t happen again. I had nothing at all to do with it.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise. If any more calls come in, I’ll reopen the investigation. We have voice prints, and your bodyguard will be subjected to a comparison test. We’ll convict him. And you could be charged with aiding and abetting. If you see that the calls are discontinued, we can drop it right now. We’ve wasted enough police time on you. No sense wasting the court’s time too. But in trade, I’m requiring another promise. I want you to finish your film and leave this area. I don’t want you back here as long as I’m sheriff of Timber County.”
“From what I hear, that may not be long.” Godiva lifted an eyebrow and with a haughty grin flicked Royce’s badge. “But you can always work as my bodyguard, if this sheriff thing falls through.”
“No thanks,” Royce mumbled.
“I’ll keep the position open. It has a very interesting job description. And after all, I owe you for not charging me. Are you sure you’re really encouraging me to leave?”
“I’m doing a great deal more than that. I’m requiring that you leave.”
Royce turned and walked away. She was glad the star had not given her usual good-bye. “Ciao" would have been too much, considering her mood of the day.
***
Before Royce checked out that evening, Gran called to ask if Royce minded dropping by Laird’s. Bonnie said a package had just arrived. Royce agreed, and offered to chop some wood while she was up at the cabin. After changing into her civvies, she began her walk to Laird’s General Store. She was agitated by events. Her head suddenly jerked to the side. Across the street from Laird’s was the pool hall, and behind that was the Lonesome Pines Motel. Rick Brown’s truck was parked in one of the spaces.
Whirling around, Royce rushed toward the motel. She entered the office. Rick Brown had checked in, telling the clerk that he was there to be closer to his girlfriend who lives in Timber but they would be leaving Timber City together soon.
Royce could hear the heaviness of her walk as she made her way to Rick Brown’s room. She pounded the door with force.
When he opened the door, she confronted him. “I told you to leave her alone. I mean it.”
“You leave me alone,” he challenged.
“Your calls have escalated. You’re trouble. You attempt to harm her and I’ll be after you like a lioness at a rat. No more, do you hear me?”
The sides of his mouth lifted into a smirk. Spittle gathered in the corners. His eyes shone with malevolence.
“My girlfriend don’t want you around her,” he said.
“Your girlfriend! You haven’t got a girlfriend. You have no friends around these parts. None, count them. None.”
“I told you that she wants to be with me.”
“You haven’t exactly been on first-date behavior. You’ve attempted to terrorize her. The shining visage of manhood! You’ve been stalking her. You’ve been telephoning her. I’ve had it with you. You clear out of town and soon.”
“You ain’t got the stuff to make me. And it ain’t legal to run somebody out of town.” His laugh was
menacing. Taunting. “So see how far you get tryin’ to run me off.”
Royce took two steps backward. She glared at him. “Don’t be too sure I won’t come for you. She’s a lovely, decent woman. She doesn’t deserve this. She wants no part of you.”
“But I want a part of her. Bet she’s something in the sack. I know she’ll be worth waiting for.”
Royce had never felt this kind of outrage. Her face burned with hatred. Her eyes stung from the heat of anger. “You’ll have to kill me first.” She turned, walking away, feeling that she was being dragged along within the constriction of the very law she had vowed to uphold.
Royce could not free an innocent woman of murder charges. She could not arrest the party she was becoming convinced actually committed both murders. She could not make the relationship between her dear friends better. She could not convince the people of Timber County that she should be elected. That they should not allow the facts that she is a woman and a lesbian to impact their decision when casting their vote.
She could not even protect her lover from a madman.
***
“You feelin’ poorly, honey?“ Bonnie Laird questioned when Royce entered the small general store. “You surely got a furrow in your brow.”
“Just a hectic day.”
“Well, here’s your gran’s package.” Bonnie pulled the box from under the counter. “Imagine you’ll be wantin’ some butterscotch.”
Royce muttered, “It might help.” She dug into her pocket for change. “How’s Orson doing?”
“Fit as a fiddle. That old back number is trimmin’ down a little. He used to eat whatever he came across that didn’t get out of the way fast enough. Since he’s gettin’ up there in years, he’s slowed his fork and spoon down a tad. Maybe it’s my cookin',” she joked.
“I doubt that. Gran says you’re her equal, and that’s plenty terrific.”
“Say, that was mighty nice of you and Doc White to get that kitten for Carrie Donovan. She was in seventh heaven. Her mama was just in for some milk and eggs. Says Carrie is naming the kitten Whitey. After Doc White.”