Points West (A Butterscotch Jones Mystery Book 5) (11 page)

It didn’t come as a complete surprise when Chuck again
mentioned his desire to move in with me. This time I didn’t argue. Our being
together had begun to feel inevitable.

“But how would we manage it?” I asked, pouring out more
coffee and pulling on Max’s ears.

“We still have roving officers,” Chuck said. “And the
outback isn’t popular with most of the men, especially the married ones. I’m
thinking of putting my name in for this area. Hopefully a post will open soon.
I would still have to travel when a Mountie is needed in the outback, but
hopefully it wouldn’t be often and it would get me away from Winnipeg.”

“That sounds wonderful!” I exclaimed.

“It would mean a cut in pay,” he warned.

I shrugged. Money wasn’t much of an issue in the Gulch. We
used it only with outsiders. In town, we mostly used barter. Our goal was
sufficiency. There was also a small fund left over from the mafia cache that
went to paying for the town’s one phone and a radio license.

“What about your father?” I asked. “Do you think he would
want to move too?”

“Maybe.
At least
for the summer months.”
Chuck frowned. “I think he’ll have to. I can’t
trust him on his own.”

“We’ll have to see about fixing up one of the old cabins then.
It might also be a good idea to get him a snowmobile.”

“Butterscotch,” Chuck cleared his throat. “I have something
else to tell you before you decide.”

Chuck spoke slowly. He sounded as if he were walking a
tightrope and there was no safety net if he fell off. He looked so serious that
I braced myself.

“Before we make any more plans I think you should know
that.…”

“Yes?”

“I play the trombone. Not particularly well either.”

I punched Chuck in the arm for alarming me. He rubbed it,
pretending it actually hurt.

“You’ll get better,” I encouraged, starting to smile. “And
you’ll have the whole of the great outdoors to practice in once the snow has
melted.”

Chuck looked up from his computer and picked up his phone.
He was shocked to hear Agent Desoto’s voice greeting him.

“You were lucky to catch me,” Chuck said. He couldn’t help
but pitch his voice low as a colleague walked by. The affair with Brian was
weighing on his conscience. “This is my last week in the office. I’ve accepted
another posting to the outback.”

“Tired of urban living? I don’t blame you. I’d get away more
if I could. So, since you’re busy, I’ll keep this short,” the agent said. “I
just wanted to assure you that I got back safely, no trouble bringing my catch
across the border. Those are some wicked bears you’ve got up there. If the
fishing wasn’t so good I’d probably never go up there again.”

“You can see why they don’t have a lot of cross-country
skiers out that way,” Chuck agreed warily.

“Hey, I’ve sent a thank you gift up to your girl. It was
really great of her to host me on such short notice. It was an unforgettable
vacation. I always come away with the best stories.”

In spite of his worry about speaking on the phone, Chuck had
to grin.

“City slicker.”

“You know it.” Desoto chuckled. He sounded natural though
Chuck suspected Desoto wasn’t any more comfortable than he was. “If you’ve got
a minute, I have a funny story to tell you back.”

“Sure, I can always use a laugh.”

“So, I have this friend who starts dating a woman who works
for this pharmaceutical company. He’s kind of a player and this girl is worried
her job isn’t interesting enough, so she started telling my friend about how
she’s doing work on a new HGH youth serum that will keep people young and
virile until they’re ninety. It’s all bullshit, but my friend buys it.”

Chuck clucked his tongue.

“Being kind of a jerk, he
wrangles
a tour of her workplace and while he’s there he swipes these vials he sees in
the fridge. They have an H on the label and he doesn’t look real close to see
what it is.”

“Oh no—I can guess what happens.”

“You got it. The idiot starts using it on himself. Only it
turns out it isn’t really the new Viagra he thought it was.
Seems
it was some kind of heartworm thing for dogs.”

Chuck couldn’t help it. He started laughing. It was more
hysteria than humor and he brought it under control at once.

“That’s rich.”

“Yeah, poor sap thinking he’s got plague or leprosy or
something, but it was just this dog thing. Insult to injury, the girl dumps him
when she finds out he took the stuff because she’s catching it at work for
letting samples go astray. She even breaks into his place trying to get it
back.
Totally trashed the house.
I tell you, he’s
lucky he didn’t end up on the evening news.”

“Lucky.” Chuck knew his voice was a little flat.

“The dumb bastard starts thinking he’s dying and begins
making final arrangements, putting his affairs in order. Everyone is
panicking.”

“But everything’s okay now?”

Desoto paused.

“I think it’s safe to say that he’ll never do that again.”

No, nor anything else.

“And it never hurts to have your affairs in order. Makes it
easier for your family when you go,” Desoto added.

“True enough. It’s hard for the ones left behind trying to
tie up loose ends.”

“Well, these ends are all tied up.”

“Good to know. Thanks for calling—and for the present. I’m
sure she’ll love it.”

“No problem. One good turn deserves another.”

Desoto hung up and after a moment Chuck did too.

He could guess what the present was.
Probably
a list of names of corrupt police in the RCMP along with some kind of proof of
their wrongdoing.
It wasn’t really something that Chuck wanted.

Didn’t want it, but maybe it was good to have. Just in case.

Chuck turned back to the screen and began finishing his report
on the freak explosion outside McIntyre’s Gulch. It was the last bit of work he
needed to do. The lab already had the hair sample, but it would take them
another couple weeks to finish testing it. By then he would be gone and
hopefully that would be the end of Brian’s interference in their lives.

Horace had agreed to move to the Gulch, much to Chuck’s
relief. It would be a while before he got up there since he had a house to
close up and probably sell, but he was excited about coming and had given me
some money to fix up one of the old cabins for him. It was small but it looked
nice with the fireplace rebuilt and some rugs on the floor, and it was
weathertight
. Big John helped me set up a small shed that
would hold firewood and also be a place for Horace’s new snowmobile. His
vintage Buick couldn’t make the trip to the Gulch and wouldn’t be practical
even if he somehow managed to drive it through the forest and into town.

I had also spoken to Wendell and he agreed that Horace
should have a wolf puppy as a housewarming gift. Dogs are good company
especially during the long, dark days of winter. They can also save your life
when you go out into the world. If you lived outside of town, you had at least
one dog.

About a week after Chuck left, we had a spell of warm
weather, so one day when Wendell was at loose ends I asked him to come with me
and Max for a hike to explore points west. I wanted to go out again before the
Mountie arrived because I had the feeling that we would be busy for a while after,
and I wanted to see if I could find the rune stone again while the way was
clear in my mind. Probably it was still buried in snow, but I wanted to
remember the location so I could come back in the summer for a better look at
the thing. That meant memorizing landmarks because the scenery looks very
different in other seasons.

Not that I would do anything with the rune stone if I found
it, or even tell anyone it was there. I trust my neighbors, but secrets really
only remain secrets if they aren’t floating around in places where they can be
accidently revealed. Everyone would understand my reasoning if I explained
it—we don’t tell each other everything in the Gulch. Sometimes we don’t tell
each other anything at all.

About the Author

Melanie Jackson is the author of over 50 novels. If you
enjoyed this story, please visit Melanie’s author web site at
www.melaniejackson.com
.

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by Melanie Jackson:

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