Jude Devine Mystery Series (22 page)

“That’s wonderful.”

“I think it’s a boy,” Summer volunteered.

Jude detected an ambivalence in her tone and contemplated its source. Any first-time mother would be anxious about the birth, she supposed. And Summer was just a kid. She would also be giving birth without a doctor, not that she would know this nineteenth-century approach was anything unusual.

Carefully, Jude said, “You know, if Deputy Tulley and I found your sister, we would have to take her away from here.”

A flicker of interest registered in Summer’s face.

“Yep. That’s state law,” Tulley added with conviction.

“We live by God’s law, not the law of man,” Summer pointed out.

“Your sister ran away,” Jude said. “So she has to obey man’s law now. Of course, if the folks from your church find her, she’ll be brought back here no matter what.”

“Any idea where she went?” Tulley asked. “’Cos if we knew, maybe we could get to her first. That way, she’d be safe but you wouldn’t have to deal with her coming back here.”

Summer took her time thinking on this. The idea clearly appealed, but the risk of her role being discovered weighed.

“No one will know you told us,” Jude said.

Finally Summer pointed mutely east to a distinctive mesa-like red cliff stratified in black. “They talked about a hiding place up there.”

“Have you told anyone else?”

Summer shook her head.

“Okay, so we’ll do our best to find her. Now will you do something for us?” Jude took the teeth from her pocket and displayed them on the palm of her hand. “Have you ever seen anyone with teeth that look like these.”

Summer lifted a hand to her mouth, muffling a telltale gasp. Agitated, she said, “You must leave now.”

“Summer, wait,” Tulley began, but she was already walking away, signaling for them not to follow.

He called her again and she turned around. Rooted to the spot, she took her full measure of him, then it was as if a terrible realization dawned. Her face crumpled, and frantically wiping tears, she blurted, “Thank you for being nice to me,” and fled toward the house.

Jude placed a detaining hand on Tulley’s arm. “Leave her be.”

“She knows more than she’s saying,” he protested. “She recognized the teeth.”

“Yes. But, if we push her any harder, she’ll fall apart. I don’t want her telling Epperson where her sister is.”

“Do you think he’s really asleep in there?”

“Let’s find out.”

They headed back to the car and waited a few minutes to give her some time to get indoors.

“Did you hear her talking about him like he’s some kind of saint?” Tulley marveled.

“What’s she going to say—that he’s an asshole? No. She has to believe in him or the whole house of cards comes down.” On an impulse, Jude removed her belt and switched her Glock for the Model 19.

Watching her, Tulley said, “I think she likes me.”

“Let’s hope this Sister Naoma individual is equally undone by your charms.” She tucked the Glock into the back of her belt when she was done, then checked the tactical holster on her right leg.

“You expecting trouble?” Tulley released the safety catch on his own sidearm.

Jude shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”

*

A hand-painted sign hanging above the Epperson’s front door declared:
And No Unclean Thing Can Enter Into His Kingdom.

“You sure about me doing the talking?” Tulley asked.

“You’re the man, and these people are programmed to see males as authority figures.” Jude had nothing to prove. Everything was about outcome, and she’d learned a long time ago that ego had no useful role to play in strategic thinking.

Tulley gave an awkward nod and Jude was suddenly conscious of her hands sweating.
I am the law
, she reminded herself. Sliding her identification into her palm, she signaled Tulley to ring the doorbell, which was quite literally a bell with a string attached. Jude could hear voices inside the house and figured that she and her companion had been inspected, identified as outsiders, and the women of the house were now trying to decide whether the gentiles would leave if ignored.

Eventually the door swung open and to Jude’s dismay a tall, white-haired man in a somber black suit stepped onto the threshold. He was carrying a pump-action Remington and was the spitting image of the patriarch from the montage at the front gate.

“Drop your weapon, sir.” Tulley showed his badge and identified them.

Grandad Moses looked him up and down. “Speak your business, then leave.”

“I said drop it, or I’m going to arrest you for obstruction of justice.”

Jude was impressed with the gritty resolve in Tulley’s voice. Who knew he could channel John Wayne?

“I don’t answer to the laws of the beast.” All the same, the older guy handed the Remington back to someone behind the door.

“Nathaniel Epperson?” Tulley asked.

“What’s it to you?”

“So, you are Nathaniel Epperson?”

“Yes, and I’m ordering you off my land.”

“We’ll be happy to oblige just as soon as you look at this.” Tulley held up Darlene’s photograph. “We’re investigating the murder of this young woman. Do you know her, sir?”

Epperson ignored the picture, instead staring at Jude, eyes glued to her pants. Saliva collected in one corner of his mouth and, muttering something, he spat on her shoes.

“I’d be obliged if you’d look at the photo, Mr. Epperson,” Tulley said. “Have you ever seen this girl?”

Epperson lifted his eyes to the heavens. “Verily, I say unto you, the names of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people.”

Tulley consulted his notepad. “Last count your people would be sixty or so women and children collecting welfare and food stamps, right?”

“I don’t know her,” Epperson snapped. He still hadn’t looked at the photograph.

“Darlene Huntsberger. Colorado girl. Last seen getting into a white minivan just like that one.” Tulley pointed toward the cluster of vehicles parked around the yard.

“I do not know of any woman who goes by that name,” Epperson grated.

“Do you know her by another name?”

“No.”

“We have a witness that says she was your wife, sir.”

“What witness? Name the son of perdition.”

“I’m not obliged to do so at this time.”

“You got any young males here?” Jude interrupted.

As she’d expected, Epperson reacted to her temerity with a nonplussed stare.

She cast a pointed look toward a couple of barns. “Maybe working on the ranch?”

“No.”

“I find that hard to believe. Are you telling me you manage this spread by yourself, a man of your age?”

“I guess he has his womenfolk doing men’s work,” Tulley suggested with amused contempt.

Jude smiled inwardly. They had rehearsed their approach during the flight from Durango to Las Vegas, and the subsequent two-hour drive to Colorado City. Tulley had worried that he would not be able to say the right things when the time came, and he’d been so quiet in the meeting with Sergeant Gossett, she’d more or less expected to find herself alone in the hot seat. But she could sense his growing confidence and guessed he had probably surprised himself.

Epperson’s face took on the same tomato-tinted hue as the landscape. “Be silent! On this ranch we are governed by the laws of God, not the laws of men.”

“Well, that’s good news. We’ll go ahead and take a look around, then.” Jude gave Tulley a nod and he set off toward the outbuildings.

“Wait up, boy.” Epperson descended the verandah steps, eyes wrathfully ablaze. “You have no right. Where’s your search warrant?”

Tulley halted. “But you just said the laws of men don’t apply here.”

Epperson looked like he was ready to explode. “Beware. The Lord is not mocked.”

“We’ll leave when Deputy Tulley has spoken to every male thirteen or older on this ranch,” Jude said. “If you fail to cooperate, I guess I’ll just have to file that welfare fraud report we’re working on, and you can explain your situation to the state and federal government.” Cheerfully, she informed Tulley, “While Mr. Epperson shows you around, I’ll wait here in the shade.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Epperson treated her to a poisonous stare, but could not resist hurrying after Tulley. As soon as the two men vanished beyond one of the outbuildings, Jude knocked loudly on the front door. She heard footsteps and mumbling from inside the house, but no one answered.

“Mrs. Epperson?” she called. “May I trouble you for a glass of water? It’s mighty hot out here.”

The door opened a crack and Summer peeped out, her face tight with apprehension. “You should not have come here,” she whispered.

“I have no choice, ma’am,” Jude said formally. “This is an investigation. The sooner our questions are answered, the sooner we’ll leave your family in peace.”

The door opened a little wider and an older woman wearing a super-sized version of Summer’s pastel frock said, “We’re entitled to everything we receive.”

Had she not overheard her husband being asked about Darlene, or was she so preoccupied with keeping those welfare checks coming, it was all she could think about?

Jude fanned herself for effect. “We can discuss your entitlements once I’ve had something to drink.”

Suspicious blue eyes glinted from a sagging face. There was not a sign of generosity or happiness in the bitter line of the woman’s mouth. She shoved the pregnant teenager next to her. “Get some water, Summer.”

Jude moved slightly closer. “According to our information, a number of single women and their children live at this address. Are you one of them?”

“I’m legally married.” With malicious satisfaction, the woman added, “The rest of them are not.”

“So, you’re Naoma Epperson?”

“If you say so.”

“Do you deny it?”

Naoma shrugged. “I do not answer to you. Only to my husband and the Lord.”

“Neither of whom appear to be providing adequate financial support to the members of this household,” Jude said, briskly bureaucratic. “However, if that’s your position, I can report back to my superiors that you have declined to cooperate with representatives of the taxpayers who put food on your table. I’m sure this ranch will fetch a decent price in the asset sale.”

“What are you talking about?”

Jude smiled. “Defrauding the government and the IRS…Trust me, Mrs. Epperson, they’ll want their money back.” As Summer appeared with the water, she waved it away and backed up like she was about to leave. “Thanks, but I’ll be going. I have a mess of paperwork to complete and since I can’t speak to Mrs. Naoma Epperson to verify her status, I—”

“You are speaking to her and don’t pretend you don’t know it!” Naoma stuck her hands on her hips and declared, “I am the legal wife of Nathaniel Epperson.”

“Tell me something,” Jude said softly enough that Naoma instinctively stepped closer to hear her. “Do you obey your husband in all matters?”