An End to a Silence: A mystery novel (The Montana Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

Laurie
didn’t look at her mother when she opened the door but just squirted past her
and went straight to her room. The bruising on Cherry’s face had changed color
and Ward regarded her with pity but she wouldn’t be pitied.

“You
okay?” Ward said.

“I’m
alive,” Cherry said, and she held his hand but he flinched as she did so. She
turned the hand over in hers and a blue tinge stained the swollen knuckles.

“I told
you to leave it alone,” she said. “Didn’t I tell you?”

Ward’s
face was empty and he didn’t say anything.

“I said
to leave it alone. Fuck, why did you get involved? I told you. Why? Answer me,
why?”

Ward took
a half step back as Cherry got in his face.

“You want
a gratitude fuck, that it? Here. Take it. It’s what men do, isn’t it? Take what
you want. Don’t mind me.” She started to lift her dress and Ward’s hand stopped
her. She started to sob.

“He’s
lucky,” Ward said after a few moments and then he said, “I gotta go.”

It was
Newton who met Ward in the station parking lot and he said, “Go talk to
Larsson.”

Ward
said, “I didn’t think you two got on.”

Newton
said, “We don’t but that don’t make him a bad reporter.”

Ward
considered that for a moment and then Newton said, “It was me who tipped him
off. I leaked the O’Donnell story.”

“Why
would you do that?”

“Why
would I do that? I wanted to get some interest back in the Ryan case. I knew
Larsson would help me do that.”

“So, that
fainting fit. That was a ruse?”

Newton
didn’t say anything.

“You been
checked over recently?”

Newton
waved the question away and said, “There’s something else.”

“What’s
going on?” Ward asked.

“There’s
been a complaint against you. The captain and lieutenant are waiting inside.
Look, speak to Larsson. He knows this case as well as anybody, better than me
maybe.”

“I
thought you saw the boy?”

“I don’t
know what I saw. I just don’t know anymore. Just… none of it adds up. It don’t
make sense. Just speak to Larsson. Don’t go causing any big ripples that are
going to come back to Gammond. I don’t know where we are with any of it is the
truth.” Newton put his hand on Ward’s shoulder but Ward thought he’d done it to
steady himself. Ward took a deep breath and prepared himself for the bullshit.

Troy’s
injuries were worse than Ward thought. The hospital report, read out to him by
Captain Mumford, detailed four broken ribs, a fractured cheekbone, a broken
nose, three shattered teeth which had to be removed and a perforated eardrum.

“Obviously,
there will be an inquiry,” Gammond said. “And obviously, you are suspended
until that inquiry is done with. Dang it, son, you can’t go assaulting people
willy-nilly like. This ain’t Texas.”

Captain
Mumford, a likeable old man despite his fearsome appearance – something about
him reminded Ward of his grandfather – never let his eyes wander from Ward.

“What
happened?” the captain asked.

Ward
said, “Sir, if it sits okay with you, I would rather wait for Internal
Affairs.”

Captain
Mumford tapped his forefinger on the desk slowly. “I want to help you, son, as
much as I can, but if you don’t talk to me there’s not a great deal I can do.”

Ward
said, “I appreciate that, sir. Very much.”

“The boy was
a dang mess, Ward. Like a butcher’s leftovers,” Lieutenant Gammond said, but
Ward just looked at Mumford.

Captain
Mumford said, “Lieutenant Gammond will take your badge and weapon and explain
the disciplinary procedure in more detail.”

“Thank
you, sir,” Ward said.

Newton
sat in his SUV for a half hour outside his home and tried to empty his mind. He
knew she had seen him, had heard the engine ticking over, but she’d left him
there and only checked through the blinds once to see who it was.

He opened
the door and his wife, Maggie, was cooking dinner. He could smell it. But the
smell made his stomach tumble. He tossed his keys into a porcelain bowl by the
door and he took his coat off and hung it up. He thought he felt thin.

“Smells
nice,” he tried, and she played along.

“Aww,
it’s only beef casserole,” Maggie said, and she giggled ticklishly as he swept
her red hair to one side and kissed her on her neck.

“You say
‘only’ as though it isn’t going to be the most spectacular culinary experience
on this very planet, as it always is.”

“You’re
just too kind. I don’t deserve you,” Maggie said, and she turned and looked him
in the eyes and tried not to cry but a tear betrayed her. But Newton played
along with the game and he ignored the tear.

“My
mother said all along that I was too good for you,” Newton said.

“And my
father said exactly the same thing, that I was too good for you,” Maggie said,
and the other eye sprang a leak. She wiped her eyes with the bottom of her
apron and Newton grabbed her and held her close.

“Oh, what
have I done to deserve this?” Maggie asked, and she cried and Newton’s body
jerked as he wept silently.

“Just
hold me, please,” Newton said, and they both sobbed twenty-five years of tears.

“I know
it’s happening again. The case of the little boy. All I ask,” Maggie said, “all
I’ve ever asked is that you leave something for me. Leave some years for me.
For us.” And they sobbed and they hugged and the beef casserole smelled like a
fabulous last meal.

Newton
had pushed the food around on his plate but had managed to eat some and Maggie
didn’t say anything about his appetite. They ate in silence mostly but Newton
asked if his son, Phil, had been over today and Maggie said he had and he’d
brought some flowers and she’d asked him what the occasion was. Phil had said
there didn’t have to be an occasion to buy his mother flowers and Newton nodded
agreement at that. Newton asked if Phil was okay, like asking about an old
acquaintance, and Maggie said that he was and was looking at a promotion soon.

His cell
phone rang and he looked at the clock as he answered. It was McNeely.

“Sir,
I’ve got something,” she said.

“What is
it? Did you lift some prints from the light pole?”

“I did
and… well, it’s interesting,” McNeely said.

“Go on.”

“I ran
them through the database and there were no hits.”

Newton
sank into his chair.

“But then
I checked them against the latents from the old man’s windowsill. And we got a
match. This is our guy,” she said.

“Are you
sure?”

“Hell,
yeah. One hundred percent.”

Newton hung
up the phone. He ate a large forkful of food. The man he thought was Ryan Novak
was the person who had left numerous prints on the windowsill of Bill
O’Donnell’s room. He had visited the old man, his grandfather, on more than one
occasion judging by the number of prints. And he’d come in through the window.
But Newton doubted that he had killed him. And anyway, how could a dead boy
kill anyone? None of it made any sense to Newton. None of anything made any
sense at the moment. He heard the knock on the door but he was swimming in his
own thoughts until Mallory broke the trance.

“I let
myself in.”

“Percy,
you don’t need to say that every time you come over,” Maggie said. “You are too
polite sometimes.”

Mallory
smiled. “I forgot to stamp my feet and take off my boots,” he said.

“Ain’t
too late,” Maggie said. Mallory turned to leave the room and Maggie called him
back. “You’re in now. Just wipe them on that rug there.”

“Hey,
Dad,” Mallory called over to Newton with a passing glance. Newton nodded. “Say,
something smells nice.”

“We just
ate. There’s a little left in the pot but I’m not sure Jen will appreciate me
filling you up.”

“Aww, I
don’t want to cause a fight.”

“I’ll get
you a small plate,” Maggie said, and she stood. Mallory sat at the table and
shrugged his coat off over the back of the chair. He blew on his hands.

“
Winter’s
a cold one,” Mallory said.

“Ain’t it
just,” Maggie said.

“What
brings you over?” Newton said.

“I was
passing.”

Maggie
brought the small plate of food and cutlery to the table. She took away the
other plates. Mallory put his arm around his plate and shoveled a forkful of
food into his mouth.

Newton
watched him closely as he had watched him when he knew him as Percy, the little
boy who had been a constant reminder of Ryan Novak. Jen had been in his thrall
like their other school friends. The young Percy had become a school celebrity,
a macabre link to the missing boy, and for a while that celebrity gave him head
table status when the kids picked their play friends. When Jen had first brought
him home to play, Newton had voiced concern to Maggie. There was something odd
about the boy, Newton had said, and Maggie had said he was being unkind.

“He’s a
child and Lord knows he’s gone through a lot with this whole tragic business,”
Maggie said. “Let them play. Innocence don’t last a whole long time, the speed
they grow up these days. It’ll do the boy good to have a friend like Jen.”

Newton
lost the argument and saw the boy and his daughter growing closer as they
passed into their teens and by the time he realized they were officially dating
he had a sit-down chat with young Percy to warn him he must be a gentleman at
all times. Percy was the most polite boy Newton had met. Always said “sir” and
“ma’am” and Maggie seemed to like that and she was fond of Percy, Newton could
see that. So he let it play out, expecting Jen to start seeing other boys one
day. As soon as Percy became Officer Mallory the engagement was announced and
Newton accepted the situation with grace. Mallory had, of course, asked Newton
for Jen’s hand in marriage and how could he say no? He’d let Mallory in and now
Mallory just let himself in.

“Say,
how’s the investigation?” Mallory asked Newton through a mouthful of food.

“Not my
investigation,” Newton said.

“Okay,”
Mallory said. “You think it’ll get wrapped up before you retire?”

Newton
didn’t say anything.

“Station
won’t be the same without you.”

“It’ll
survive.”

“Not sure
the new guy will. He’s a fancy so and so ain’t
he.
”

Newton
didn’t mention that Ward had a charge hanging over him. Mallory had run out of
food and run out of words and he just sat there at the table like a nervous
teenager waiting for his date to sweep down the stairs in her prom dress.

When Ward
walked into the Honey Pie with Jesús he caught Cherry’s eye but she turned
away. The place was only a quarter busy and he hovered at the counter for a few
minutes before Cherry acknowledged him.

“What can
I get you?” she said.

“You
okay?”

“What can
I get you?” Her battered face was fixed hard.

“Ma’am, I
will take a beer,” Ward said, and he removed his hat and placed it on the
counter.

“And a
bowl of water?”

“Yes,
ma’am.”

Cherry
went out back and returned with a bowl of water, which she placed in front of
Jesús and he started to slop at it with his tongue. She snatched the top off a
bottle of beer and
thunked
it on the counter so that
froth came spilling out of the top. Ward picked up the bottle and took a long
drink. Cherry hung around and watched him drink.

“Hand
looks hurtful,” she said.

“Hurts
plenty,” Ward said.

“I ain’t
thanking you.”

“Don’t
want no thanks.”

Cherry
looked like she wanted to swing at Ward and looked broken at the same time.

“Why’d
you come back here?” she said.

“Dog likes
the water,” Ward said, and he saw a softening in Cherry.

“It’s not
good for business,” Cherry said after a few moments.

Ward
said, “What isn’t?”

“This,”
Cherry said, gesturing at her face. “It’s scaring people off, putting them off
their food. Takings are down.” She winced and put her hand up to her busted
lip. “So what do you do now?”

“Well,
Troy made a complaint against me and there will be an investigation,” Ward
said.

“Will you
get into trouble?”

Ward
shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. It’s his word against mine.”

“Weren’t
there any witnesses?” Cherry asked.

“I guess
so, but would you take the word of an addict or a whore over the word of a cop?
I’ll be okay. Just a bit of inconvenience is all.”

“You
better hope you’re right.”

Ward touched
her arm and she pulled it away. “I would do it again.”

Cherry
said, “I know you would and that’s what worries me.”

“Don’t
fret about me,” Ward said. “I can just about take care of myself.”

“That why
you’re living in a motel?”

“That’s just
a temporary measure,” Ward said. “I’m thinking of taking a look at some real
estate. Might put me down some new roots.”

“So
you’re sticking around.”

Ward
said, “Yes, ma’am.”

A party
of four entered the diner. Ward picked up his hat and put it on.

One of
the new customers whispered, “Table for four,” and gawked at Cherry’s injuries
as she directed them to a table.

Ward
tipped his hat at Cherry and said, “Ma’am,” and he left and he felt her eyes on
his back all the way out of the Honey Pie.