Deadly Connections

by Renee Pawlish

  “How long have you and Audra been friends?”

  “We met in college, then both moved around the country, and then we both happened to settle here.”

  “You’ve seen Audra with Logan?”

  “A lot. We try to get our kids together to play. It can be tough with our schedules, so I’d say it’s not as often lately.”

  “Audra’s a good mother?”

  “The best. Gary, on the other hand …” I widened my eyes and waited. “You must have heard stuff about him.”

  “Some,” I said nonchalantly.

  “He’s an ass. Audra’s a smart woman, but I have no idea what she saw in him. I told her he was bad news. She was head over heels in love, though. Or lust.” She laughed at her own joke. “That’s what it was. Sex. Once that grew old, they had nothing left. And Gary became abusive. I was glad when she left him.”

  “Abusive how?”

  She hesitated. “I’m not sure if he ever hit her, but he was verbally abusive, yelling at Audra, picking fights. He was demeaning to her. It really took a toll on her self-esteem.”

  “How was he toward Logan?”

  “He ordered that little boy around. It was awful to see. And get this.” She leaned in. “Gary thought he’d be a better parent than Audra. Can you believe that?”

  I didn’t answer. “He’s made a lot of accusations about Audra, that she isn’t a good parent, that if there were problems in the marriage, they were her fault.”

  She dismissed that with a flick of her hand. “None of that’s true. Like I said, Gary was abusive to her, and he hurt Logan on at least one occasion.” I tipped my head to the side, and she went on. “He broke Logan’s arm when Audra and Gary had a fight.”

  “I heard that.” I got to the crux of the issue. “I don’t think Gary could’ve kidnapped Logan Saturday night. He was around, looking for Logan. But he could’ve orchestrated it. Was he capable of that?”

  “Sure. If he wanted Logan for himself, he’d do whatever it took.”

  “Have you heard of John Merrick or Ivan Eklund?”

  She thought about that, then shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She drew in a breath. “Audra recently gave me a picture of Logan in his baseball uniform. Oh,” she said with an ache, “his brown hair was sticking out from under his cap.” She laughed, then tears appeared in her eyes. “That cap was too big. He wasn’t very good, but he could pull off the uniform.” She tried to smile.

  “Yes, I saw that picture.”

  Her face clouded. “If you find out who did this, let me get my hands on them first, okay?”

  She checked her phone. “I need to leave for another appointment. Again, I’m sorry I took so long to get back to you.” She stood up and grabbed her coffee. “I need this for the road.” She tucked the computer bag under her arm. “I’m not sure if I helped or not, but if you need anything from me, call me. I’ll do what I can. You’ve got to find whoever did that to poor Logan.”

  I thanked her, and she headed out the door, heels clicking a purposeful beat.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  After Heather Neville left, I pulled out my phone and called Ernie. I expected him to answer, but it went to voice mail.

  “Hey, why aren’t you answering?” I said, letting my impatience show. “Call me back. I want to talk to Merrick now.”

  I disconnected and took a sip of my coffee. Cold. I gulped it down anyway, tapped my foot and stared at my phone. I was wasting time. I could talk to Merrick on my own. I waited one more minute, then stood up and marched out the door.

  It didn’t take me long to drive from Caribou Coffee to Gold Creek Gun Range. I parked down the road from the shop, not wanting Merrick to know I was around. I watched the shop for a minute. One car, a beat-up Toyota 4x4, was parked at the far end of the lot, and Merrick’s big black Ram truck sat near the shop entrance. I rolled down my window and listened. No sounds of guns from the outdoor range. I watched for another minute, and then a familiar white SUV drove into the lot, and the stocky man with the handlebar mustache, the guy I’d seen at the Thai restaurant, got out. He went inside the shop, came back out, and drove to the wood fence at the end of the lot. Someone on the other side opened the gate, and the SUV drove through. The gate closed. I pulled out my phone and called the detective who was on surveillance.

  “King,” he barked into the phone.

  “It’s Spillman,” I said. “You’re on surveillance at the gun range, correct?”

  “Since this morning. Nothing’s happened so far. I took over for the detective at his house. Merrick was at his house overnight, left at nine, went to a Burger King drive-through, and then he showed up at the shop a little before ten. That’s his Ram truck parked down in front, and he hasn’t left since. Not much happening now.”

  “Okay. I’m parked down the road now.”

  “I thought I saw you.”

  “Uh-huh.” I made a quick decision “I’m headed into the shop.” Screw Ernie, I thought. I wasn’t waiting for him. “I need to ask Merrick a few questions.”

  “It’s been quiet in there for a while, no customers until that white SUV showed up. I’ll be out here. If you need anything, give me a call.”

  “If I do, come running.”

  I ended the call and got out. Gray clouds hung low in the western sky, threatening an afternoon spring storm. However, at the moment it was warm, a little humidity in the air. I walked down the road and into the parking lot. When I walked into the shop, the employee who had been there the other day was again behind the counter. Merrick and the big man weren’t around. The employee glanced up and gave me a funny look, not happy to see me.

  “Where’s Merrick?” I asked.

  “He’s not here right now.”

  I shook my head, letting him know I wasn’t satisfied with that answer. I jerked a thumb toward the entrance. “His truck is parked out front.”

  He eyed the gun on my hip. “Um, he’s … not, uh, here.” Apparently, he was having trouble speaking.

  My phone rang. I ignored it. “Where is he?”

  “Um,” he repeated. His eyes went to the door that led to the back. Then Merrick appeared. The employee let out a breath, visibly relieved.

  Merrick looked directly at me. “I told you all that I’m going to” He walked up to the counter and pointed toward the door. “You might as well head on out.”

  Where was the other guy? I gave him a friendly smile. “I just have a few questions, not a big deal.”

  Merrick tugged at his beard and glared at me. I recognized a Nirvana song playing from the stereo behind the counter. He hadn’t insisted I leave, so I took that as a sign to continue.

  “I’d like to clarify a few things, if you don’t mind. First,” before he could protest, I said, “You told me that you don’t know Gary Pickett, just that he’s a customer in here.”

  “I need a smoke,” the employee said. He didn’t wait for an okay, but came around the counter and quickly walked out the entrance.

  Merrick was cautious and slow to answer. “Gary’s a customer.”

  I nodded thoughtfully. “What’s puzzling to me is that after you left here, you met with Gary and another man at a Thai restaurant on Broadway. The three of you had an animated conversation.”

  His lips twitched in a slight show of surprise, but he held himself well. Rather than asking if he’d been followed, he said, “There’s no law against me talking to anybody. As I said, Gary is a customer.” His words were measured.

  “Are you in the habit of meeting customers at restaurants around town?”

  “My habits are none of your business.”

  “Unless you’ve broken the law.”

  My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it. Merrick stared at me and didn’t answer. I went on.

  “The next thing I’m trying to figure out is why there are so many phone calls between you and Gary. Not from this shop, but from your cell phone to his. That would seem unusual, don’t you think? If you’re conducting s
hop business, wouldn’t you call a customer from your shop phone?”

  “I can call customers from my cell phone.”

  “I’m sure that’s true, but there are an awful lot of phone calls. What was Gary buying that you would need to have so many phone calls from him?”

  “He has questions about the guns he’s interested in. Again, no crime in that.”

  “Yes, but what about phone calls after hours? Are you in the habit of calling your customers in the evenings, even late at night?”

  “How I conduct my business is my business.”

  “Fair enough,” I said, still trying for friendly to keep him from shutting down completely. “Let’s talk about last Saturday night.”

  “What about it?”

  I leaned a hand on the counter. “Gary and you both said you hadn’t talked to each other that night. But that’s not the case. The phone records show that you did talk.”

  His eyes darted away as he tried to come up with an answer. “Last Saturday? Maybe I missed what day you meant. I guess we did talk. It would’ve been about a new gun that he was interested in.”

  Slick. A vague answer, could be a lie, possibly not. I didn’t buy that. I changed subjects. “I noticed, too, that you rented a large SUV on Saturday morning, and you returned it Sunday morning. Then you rented another SUV on Tuesday morning. Again keeping it for twenty-four hours.”

  “So?”

  “I’m curious why you would’ve rented SUVs if you have a truck of your own. What would you need the other vehicle for?”

  He wiped his hands on his jeans. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

  Right at that moment, I wanted to slap the smug expression off his face. I resisted and found some level of politeness. “That’s true, but you might want to. I’m puzzling over these odd series of coincidences around the time that Logan Pickett disappeared and then was found in a dumpster.”

  “You think I had something to do with that?”

  I shrugged. “I have to look at all angles. One of those angles is you not telling me the truth about conversations with Gary.” I ticked other things off on my fingers. “And you renting vehicles that you only need for a short amount of time. On top of that, I looked into your whereabouts Saturday evening, and then again on Tuesday. In both instances, you weren’t where you said you were.”

  “I told you I was at the bowling alley on Saturday.”

  “Yes, and your pal, Bill, covered for you. However, I doubt Bill or you were counting on another worker at the bowling alley speaking up.” He stared at me. “That person was certain that you weren’t there last Saturday evening.” His Adam’s apple bobbed under his beard. “And as for Tuesday night, you don’t have an alibi. You were here, and people can account for your whereabouts then, but when you left, you went home. Remember?”

  He gazed at me, his expression neutral. Then his eyes flickered. “Will you excuse me for a second?”

  Before I could say anything, he whirled around and went through the door to the back. The door swung slowly closed. I looked toward the entrance, then moved quickly to where I could glimpse down the hallway. I didn’t see anyone. My nerves tingled, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I waited and listened, but couldn’t hear anything except the music on the stereo. I edged toward the entrance and looked out a window. Merrick’s truck and the SUV were still in the lot, along with the 4x4. The employee was loitering nearby. He clearly wasn’t coming back in the shop until I left.

  I moved around the counter and to the door where Merrick had gone. I cracked it open, listened, heard nothing. “Hello?” I finally said.

  No reply.

  I called out again. When there was still no answer, I stepped through the doorway. I put my hand on my holster and walked quietly down the hall. The hair on my neck stood up. I took in a slow deep breath as I carefully entered the indoor target-practice area. It was dark. I let my eyes adjust and didn’t see anyone. I had a fleeting thought I should’ve waited for Ernie, then dismissed it. I had to stay focused.

  I slipped past the stalls, eyes wary, ears listening. It was quiet. When I reached the end of the target-practice area, I noticed a door I hadn’t seen before. I put my hand on the knob and slowly turned it, my breath coming faster. I eased the door open and sunlight streamed in, illuminating the indoor target-practice range. I turned and peered into the shadows behind me and didn’t see Merrick anywhere. I opened the door wider. I still didn’t see him, so I exited the building.

  Behind the shop, nestled into the hillside, was an outdoor skeet shooting area. Two houses with traps machines were off to the left and right, with shooting stations spaced around an arc path. I squinted against the sunlight and wished for sunglasses. The air smelled fresh, with a hint of pine. I took a few steps away from the building and a voice stopped me in my tracks.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  I turned around and saw Merrick near a shed by the main building. Then the big man with the mustache appeared from around the shed. Both had guns in their hands, pointed down, but ready.

  “Let’s all take it easy,” I said. My heart beat fast, and I took slow steadying breaths.

  “I’ll take it easy when you leave Merrick’s shop,” the big man said. His voice boomed in the open area.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “None of your business.”

  Clouds moved overhead and obscured the sun. “It’d be a lot easier if you help me out,” I said. “I’m looking for some information.”

  He watched me closely. “Information about what?”

  “All I’m trying to find out is why John,” I indicated Merrick with my head, “doesn’t want to tell me where he was last Saturday night. Why he doesn’t have an alibi for that time? I’ve got a little boy who’s dead, and I need to find a killer. You can help with that.”

  Merrick shifted from foot to foot, but he let the big man do his talking.

  “I’m sorry about Logan Pickett,” the big man said.

  “Did you have anything to do with his kidnapping and murder?”

  His eyes remained level on me. “Not in any way.” Very cool in his reply. I looked toward Merrick, and the big man answered for him. “John didn’t have anything to do with that either. He was here with me.”

  “That’s interesting.” I glanced at Merrick. He averted his eyes. “He said he was bowling all evening.”

  “I was with him at the bowling alley, and then we came here,” the big man said.

  “How late does this place stay open?”

  “We were having a meeting.”

  “Of the Colorado Citizens Militia?” I asked.

  He nodded his head appreciatively. “I see you’ve done your homework. I have nothing to hide. Yes, we’re part of a patriot group. The Constitution gives us the right to assemble, and that’s what we were doing. We weren’t breaking any laws, and unless you have a warrant, you can’t search this place.”

  “I can ask you questions.”

  “And we don’t have to answer them.” His eyes narrowed and his face took on a threatening look. “I’ve given you John’s alibi, and that’s all you need.”

  “Merrick,” I called to him. “Where were you Tuesday when Logan’s body was put in that dumpster?”

  The big man answered again. “He was with me the entire time.”

  “You know Gary Pickett?”

  He shook his head. “Never heard of him.”

  “Yes, you do,” I said carefully. “If you’re involved in Logan’s death, just come clean. It’ll go better for you.”

  “We’re done here,” he announced.

  “Ivan Eklund?” I asked. “Know him?”

  He shook his head. “We’ve told you all we’re going to, all we need to.”

  “What’s your name?” I tried for that again.

  He evaded the answer again. “You can look into me as well, and you’ll find out I’m telling the truth.”

  “I’ll do just that.”

&
nbsp; “Yes, you do.” He was daring me. He took a step forward.

  I braced myself and stared at Merrick. “What about the SUVs you rented? Why do you need those, if you have your own vehicles?”

  Merrick stayed silent, but I got the slightest hesitation from the big man. “There’s nothing illegal about renting a car. We don’t have to answer anything else.” The gun moved slightly up in his hand, still not aimed at me, but coming closer. He pointed with his other hand at the door. “Now, we’d like you to leave.”

  “I’ll be seeing you around,” I said. “And I’ll be checking you out, carefully.” I locked eyes with him, making sure he knew that I wasn’t frightened of him.

  They both stared at me as I walked carefully back to the door, my eyes still on them. I quickly went inside, strode back down the hall past the indoor practice range, and into the main area of the shop. Merrick’s employee stood behind the counter. His jaw dropped when he saw the gun in my hand. I didn’t say a word as I left. It wasn’t until I got outside that I holstered my weapon. I hurried back down the road to my car, angry. No one threatened me like that and got away with it. The big man had given Merrick his alibi, but the whole thing stank. And I was going to find out why.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  It wasn’t until I got back to my car that I relaxed. That was close, the situation much more tense than I would’ve preferred. I sat watching the gun range, waiting to see if Merrick or the big man would leave. If the latter did, I was going to follow him. My phone rang, and I yanked it out of my pocket, expecting Ernie.

  “You okay?” Detective King asked. “I saw you walking back to your car. You looked like you were ready to take on a prizefighter.”

  “I’m okay,” I said. I realized I was breathing hard, so I held the phone away and took a few deep breaths. “A big man with a handlebar mustache went inside the shop earlier.”

  “Yeah, I saw him.”

  “I’m going to wait a while. If he leaves, I’m going to tail him. You stay with Merrick whenever he leaves.”