“There you are, Nan. Your murder weapon.” She sat back and braced her grimy hands on her thighs. “I don’t think we should touch it. We may destroy fingerprints.” She reached for her cell phone, which she’d clipped over the waistband of her jeans. “I’ll call the sheriff, and we’ll wait for someone who knows what he’s doing.”
“I don’t think so,” a deep voice said.
Chloe’s heart leaped. She knew that voice. The last couple of nights, it had been haunting her dreams.
“Put the phone down,” Bobby Lee said. “Try to dial out, and I’ll shoot you.”
Nan swung her light toward the voice. The beam played over Bobby Lee, who was standing about ten feet uphill from them. Legs braced apart for balance on the slope, he held a rifle angled across the front of his body.
“Shine that light in my face, you old bitch, and I’ll nail you right between the eyes. I’m a crack shot. Don’t think I can’t.”
Nan lowered the light so only a faint glow shone over Bobby Lee’s dark features. He was smiling. That frightened Chloe more than anything else; the relaxed, amused way he was smiling. She knew in that instant that Ben had been right. Bobby Lee had been shooting the animals. Jimmy Suitor must have made the fatal mistake of coming upon Bobby Lee in the woods.
“You really should have let it be, Chloe,” he said matter-of-factly. He glanced at Nan. “I knew you’d seen me that morning, old woman. You being nuts, I hoped no one would believe you, so I let you go. My mistake. Luckily, I got to thinking tonight that you might’ve seen me burying the club, so I came up to keep an eye on things, just in case. I figured right. Lo and behold, you show up with a shovel.” He gestured with the rifle barrel. “Nan, you and the kid, step back. Chloe, put the pack back where it was and get to work. You’ve got a hole to fill.”
“And after? What’re you going to do with us, Bobby Lee?”
“I guess there’ll be another shooting incident, only this time I’ll make the shots fatal. It’ll raise a few eyebrows when the casualties are human, of course. No matter. The gun isn’t registered. It can’t be traced back to me.”
Chloe knew Bobby Lee would kill Jeremy without hesitation. She’d seen the madness in his eyes the other night, and she saw it again now.
The rogue deputy looked at Nan and smirked. “You’re not half as pretty as my mother was. I never could figure out why my father chose to stay with you when he could have had a beautiful woman like Honey Schuck warming his bed. The booze, I guess. He was so drunk most of the time, he didn’t care about much of anything, including me. He gave my mother five hundred dollars to get an abortion. Did you know about that?”
Nan’s quickly indrawn breath was the only sign she gave of her shock.
“That’s right. I’m Hap Longtree’s son,” Bobby Lee went on. “Almost a year older than your precious Ben. By Shoshone law, my mother was Hap’s number one wife, and I was the firstborn son. By white men’s law, I should have gotten everything. This should be my land, not Ben’s. Instead, what did I get? Jack shit, that’s what, while Ben got everything, including our father’s name.”
“So that’s why you’ve always hated him.” Chloe moved to put Jeremy behind her. “Not because of anything Ben ever did, but because of what his father did.”
“My father, goddamn you. My father! And you bet your sweet ass that’s why I hate him. I spent my whole life trying to make Hap see that I was the better son. I was the one who excelled at sports, the one who got the girls, the one elected student body president. Ben was nothing but an animal-loving weirdo. The only thing he ever outdid me in was grades, and that was only because I was working so hard to shine at other things.
“And what did I get for my trouble? Nothing. My father never acknowledged me. I ran into him on a sidewalk once. He looked dead at me and kept walking like I was so much dirt. Ben was the only one he gave a shit about. Never me.”
“And that’s Ben’s fault?” Chloe saw a flash of silver in the darkness behind Bobby Lee. Diablo, she thought. She’d forgotten about the wolf. “It seems to me your anger is directed at the wrong person. Ben had no control over what his father did.”
“Ben Longtree took everything from me. Everything! Now it’s my turn to take everything from him. This is perfect. Every damned thing he holds dear, gone with a few pops of a rifle. Even his goddamned cougar. Seeing his face when he finds out—that’ll be the best moment of my life.”
Chloe saw the flash of silver again. She tensed, praying Bobby Lee wouldn’t hear anything behind him. To distract him, she asked, “How does Jimmy Suitor fit into the picture?”
Bobby Lee’s feet shifted on the slope. He dug in with a heel to keep from sliding. “Jimmy was a lazy slacker. He got it into his head that he could make a cool ten grand if he came up with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person shooting the animals. What the hell, right? He liked to camp out, and it beat working. He knew most of the shooting incidents occurred near here, so he stayed in the area, hoping to see something. Unfortunately for him, he was successful in that endeavor.”
“So you killed him?”
“I wasn’t about to have him destroy my career for ten grand so he could lay around for six months, living off the proceeds. I took care of the problem.”
“By bashing his head in with a billy club.”
“I should have used a tree limb, but I always kept the club under the driver’s seat when I wasn’t in uniform, and it was handy. Burying him here was the perfect setup. There were already rumors that Ben had killed two hunters. I knew they’d arrest him on the spot if Jimmy’s body was found on his land, and I could make sure the charges stuck by planting evidence to rack him.”
Chloe saw Diablo closing in. The wolf slunk low to the ground, his eyes gleaming with feral intent.
“Why the club, though? It could implicate you.”
“Trust me. I covered my ass. And I think our little game of twenty questions is over. You’re stalling. Put the backpack in the hole, and start filling it in. As enjoyable as this has been, I can’t stand around talking all night.”
“That billy club can be traced back to you,” Chloe pointed out. “You might be smarter to hide it elsewhere.”
“They’ll never search for it,” he said cockily. “They’ve got their body, and they’ve got their killer. Besides me, you three are the only ones who’ll ever know they’ve arrested the wrong man, and you won’t be doing much talking.”
Chloe hated to step away from Jeremy, but she had no choice. She tossed the pack back into the hole. Then, positioning herself to watch Bobby Lee and the wolf creeping up behind him, she began shoveling dirt. When she saw Diablo tense to spring, she tensed as well.
Without so much as a growl of warning, the wolf came up off the ground in a powerful leap. Chloe flung herself sideways, tackling Jeremy to shield him with her body.
“Down, Nan!” she shrieked.
“Arghh!” Bobby Lee cried.
Knocked off balance by the wolf’s attack, he fell face-first in the dirt and skidded several feet down the slope with the wolf riding his shoulders. His silence broken, Diablo emitted vicious snarls as he savaged the back of the deputy’s neck. The rifle, still gripped loosely in Bobby Lee’s hand, struck a rock and went flying.
The instant Chloe saw the gun slide out of Bobby Lee’s reach, she was on her feet. Running, running. The rifle. She had to get to the rifle. She felt as if she were pushing against a headwind. It was like one of those awful nightmares where she tried frantically to hurry and moved like a slug.
When she finally reached the gun, she grabbed it, threw the butt to her shoulder, and flipped off the safety. “Diablo, stop!” she cried. “Diablo, stop!”
To her horror, she saw that the wolf was now at Bobby Lee’s throat. Bobby Lee screamed—a horrible, terrified scream—as he pushed frantically at the dog. Chloe didn’t care if the deputy died, but she did care about what might happen to Ben’s wolf if it killed a man.
“Dia
blo!” Chloe cried. She remembered the Shoshone words she’d heard Ben use. “Kiss, stop! Suvate, it’s finished.”
The words worked like magic. With a low whine, Diablo aborted the attack and backed away. Bobby Lee just lay on his back, head pointed downhill, incredulous gaze fixed on Chloe. She could see blood at his throat, but she didn’t believe he was seriously injured.
“Arms above your head,” she yelled. “One false move, Bobby Lee, just one, and you’re a dead man.”
He stretched his arms up. Chloe kept the weapon trained on his face, where she knew she could take a fatal shot. It was her only option. A .22-caliber bullet might not do enough damage to stop him, otherwise.
“Diablo, help me watch him,” Chloe added, not entirely sure the wolf would understand, but praying he did. Never taking her eyes from Bobby Lee, she said, “Nan?”
“I’m here.”
Relief made Chloe’s legs feel weak. With Nan, one never knew. Stress, Chloe had noticed, seemed to worsen the older woman’s dementia. “Get my cell phone. Call the sheriff’s department.” Chloe gave Nan the number. “Tell the dispatcher to get two cars out here, on the double. They have a murderer to come fetch.”
Chapter Twenty-five
It seemed like forever before the first sheriff’s vehicle arrived. Chloe had sent Nan off into the trees with her son and Methuselah, just in case anything went wrong, and she stood guard over Bobby Lee alone, with only Diablo to lend assistance if the supine man tried something. The wolf positioned himself beside her, his eerie golden eyes fixed on the man, his shoulder pressed against her hip. The contact, Chloe knew, was Diablo’s way of reassuring her.
Remembering her terror of the wolf the first time she’d seen him, Chloe could only wonder at herself now. The creature’s absolute love for Ben and anyone connected to him had saved their lives tonight.
When the county vehicles turned onto the rutted road leading to the log deck, Diablo moved to stand on the uphill side of Bobby Lee again. Chloe understood. The wolf was positioning himself to defend her, just in case another enemy had arrived. He wanted the advantages of height and gravity.
The police lights sent out spiraling flashes of red, yellow, and blue over the clearing, lending everything a surreal brightness that made Chloe feel dizzy. Diablo snarled when the deputy climbed from the car and started up the slope. Afraid that the wolf might attack, Chloe searched her numb brain for the word Ben used to tell him all was well.
“Toquet,” she said softly.
The wolf sat and stopped growling.
“He going to jump me?” Frank Bower asked.
“No, it’s safe.”
Frank came up the incline. “For God’s sake, Chloe, don’t accidentally pull that trigger. You’re shaking like a leaf.” He reached for the gun. “Come on, honey. I’ll take it from here.”
Chloe tightened her grip on the weapon and kept it aimed at Bobby Lee’s face. She’d had quite enough of trusting the law to take care of her. “No, Frank. You cuff him first.”
“I’m not even sure what he’s done yet. The dispatcher said something about him being the one who killed Jimmy. That’s just plain crazy, Chloe. I know you have reason to dislike Bobby Lee, but he’s no killer.”
“I’ll tell you what’s crazy, and that’s letting a snake like him be free to spread his poison while you’ve got a man like Ben locked up. In that hole there, you’ll find the weapon used to bash in Suitor’s brains. It’s Bobby Lee’s billy club.”
“Don’t listen to her, Frank,” Bobby Lee whined. “She’s crazy about Ben Longtree. She’ll say or do anything to save his neck. I didn’t kill Jimmy. Use your head, man. Remember that day I came up here with the ODF and W boys? I left the club here accidentally. Forgot all about it until tonight. She planted it, trying to cast the blame on me. You’ll find Longtree’s prints on it.”
“Liar!” Chloe cried. “He tried to kill us! All that stopped him was Ben’s wolf.”
“Us, who?” Frank asked, scanning the clearing for other people.
“My son and Nan are off in the trees. I sent them away for fear Bobby Lee might try something. Would you please get the cuffs on him? He’s dangerous.”
“Well, hell.” Frank stomped over to the hole and shone his light inside. “All I see is a pack.”
“It’s in there, Frank. Just take my word for it. I’m so tired of holding this gun, I’m about to drop it. Or accidentally pull the trigger.” She smiled sweetly at Bobby Lee. “That’d be fun. Poor, hysterical, terrified woman puts a .22 slug dead center between a man’s eyes. I’d never spend a night in jail.”
That got Frank moving. He rolled Bobby Lee over and cuffed him as he read him his rights. “If you’re wrong about this, Chloe, my ass is grass. You don’t arrest another deputy without damned good reason.” He swung away from the prisoner. “Now, would you lower that darned gun before someone gets hurt?”
All the starch left Chloe’s body. She not only lowered the gun but almost dropped it as well. It wasn’t a heavy rifle, but aiming it steadily for so long had made her muscles quiver and ache. “The club is there in the hole, just as I said,” she assured Frank. “Be careful as you lift the pack not to damage the evidence.”
“I guess I know how to do my job, Ms. Evans.”
“I’m sorry. From where I’ve been standing, that hasn’t always been glaringly apparent to me.”
“That isn’t nice.”
“I’m not feeling strongly inclined to be nice right now.”
Frank pulled his flashlight again and went to kneel next to the fresh mound of dirt. He carefully lifted the pack. Then he swore. “Well, hell, Bobby Lee. That’s your billy club, sure as rain. I recognize that gouge on the handle. Why’d you have it in for Jimmy?”
“He didn’t,” Chloe explained. “Jimmy just got in his way.”
The sheriff’s vehicle arrived just then in a flurry of dust that rose in the multihued play of lights. Lang strode wearily up the hill, looked in the hole, and asked Bobby Lee the same question Frank had just asked him. Bobby Lee wasn’t talking, and Chloe was saving her breath for a more important exchange.
The sheriff bagged the murder weapon and tagged it. Then he handed it off to Frank and approached Chloe. “You and yours all right?”
Fury—pure, unadulterated fury—restored Chloe’s flagging energy. She slapped the rifle at the sheriff’s chest, almost knocking him back a step. He caught the weapon in his left hand, shoved up the brim of his hat, and gave her a wondering look.
“All right?” she echoed, her voice trembling. “I very seldom get my Irish up, Sheriff Lang, but it’s definitely up now.”
“I see,” he said warily. “Well, I guess I can understand that. You’ve been through a difficult ordeal.”
“A difficult ordeal? That doesn’t quite say it. Let’s get this conversation off to a good start, shall we? I’ve got your dick in a crimping iron, and I’m about to turn on the heat.”
He blinked. “What?”
“You heard me. You’re not dealing with a local girl. I’m big city, and I’m big city pissed off.”
He rubbed his jaw. “I think you’re beside yourself.”
“You’ve got that right. And all I can say to you is, watch out.”
“I don’t see what you’re mad at me about. I’m not responsible.”
“Oh, yes, you are. And you have the nerve to ask me if I’m all right and if those I love are all right? Ben Longtree is in jail for a murder he didn’t commit! And why? Not because you found one thread of evidence to pin the crime on him, but because he dares to be different, and you, along with most of the people in this town, distrust anyone who’s different. News bulletin: Different isn’t necessarily bad.”
“I’ve taken care of that mistake, Chloe.”
“Not fast enough to suit me. And you’d better see to it he gets chauffeured home the same way he left, only in the front seat this time.”
“I don’t usually make people hoof it when they’re released from j
ail. Trust me on that.”
“I don’t trust you on much of anything.”
The sheriff passed a hand over his eyes. “Calm down, Chloe.”
“Not likely. In answer to your question, I’m fine, Nan’s fine, and so is my son, but it is in no way your doing.”
“That’s not quite fair.”
“Oh, yes, it is. If you’d done your job when you should have done your job, Bobby Lee Schuck would have been behind bars, and this might never have happened. He threatened to kill my little boy the other night. Tonight he almost made good on the promise. The only reason—the one and only reason—I’m standing here telling you about it instead of being stuffed into a body bag is because that wonderful wolf over there came to our rescue and saved our lives. Hell of a note, isn’t it? Here you are, an elected official, being paid handsomely to do a job, and a dog has to do it for you.”
“I’m really sorry about that, Chloe.”
“About what? That a dog did your job?”
“No, about Bobby Lee being loose. I have to do things by the book.”
“Really?” Chloe darted a burning glance at Bobby Lee. “Your book almost got my baby killed.” She crossed her arms against the chill of the night breeze that swept down the slope. “You know how I see this, Sheriff Lang? I think you owe me a couple of big ones.”
“How’s that?”
“Let’s start with the fact that I was forced to quit a very good job with excellent benefits and a chance for advancement because one of your deputies tried to rape me.”
“Well, now, Chloe. That wasn’t really my fault.”
“He was on your payroll. He threatened me with my job and tried to force himself on me. When I told you what had happened, you chose to ignore me. In the big city where I hail from, women call that sexual harassment. It leaves a real bad taste in our mouths. And you know what else it does? It really, really pisses us off.”