Stone of Vengeance (12 page)

‘You’ve been searching for a long while. Did you find anything, Kate?’

She avoided his question by reforming his, ‘Did you?’

‘At first I thought I’d found something,’ Ty said, looking disappointed. ‘But it turned out to be only a chunk of wood. I’ve scoured the entire area. Apparently they left no clues behind.’

As much as she wanted to trust him, Kate could not risk telling him about the bullet and cartridge she had hidden in her pocket. Anxious now to return to Rock Creek, to start the ballistics check, she said, ‘I’m ready to go back.’

‘I know a short cut,’ Ty said, taking her arm and leading
her in the direction of Swen’s land where they had left their horses. As the way narrowed, she went first, ahead of him. He walked slowly, stopping here and there to look back the way they had come. His delaying seemed almost deliberate, or was it just her nerves?

Kate recalled the sound she had heard on the trail, like footsteps crunching down on dry underbrush. She wondered if Ty had heard, too. He might have sensed someone was following them.

When they reached the creek, he stopped walking, gripped her shoulders, and looked deeply into her eyes. ‘These people we’re dealing with might be very dangerous. Be careful, Kate.’

Did he know about the evidence she was concealing from him? In the stillness she thought of Ty standing over her that night with a revolver in his hand. She slipped out of his grasp. Nothing, not even her own reactions, made sense to her anymore.

O
n the drive back to town Kate’s apprehension grew. Periodically she glanced into the rear-view mirror and surveyed the vast stretch of emptiness behind her. The sight, which should have been reassuring, only caused a replaying of Sam Swen’s warning, ‘Trouble is, you don’t see people like that. But they see you.’

Even though Kate had driven this same remote road many times since Kingsley’s murder, today it looked ominously deserted. She pressed harder on the accelerator. The grazing cattle, the trails that cut off from the blacktop and wound through tree-lined gulches, appeared to her in a sort of unreal blur of speed.

Soon she must face Jeff, but even that didn’t dull her sense of urgency, her anxiousness to turn the evidence she had found over to him. She already knew he would be angry. Why wouldn’t he? She had flagrantly disobeyed his direct orders, but she hoped Jeff would weigh that against the fact that she had succeeded. What she would hand over to him would surely supply the proof needed not only to identify the man
who had shot at her, but also the cattle rustler and likely the same man who had killed Charles Kingsley.

Furthermore, she had kept her find a secret. She had acted professionally, hadn’t taken into her confidence Ty, even though she was tempted to do so. Jeff would have to give her some credit for that. Still the knowledge that Kate had played the role of a good sheriff didn’t keep her from wishing that Ty was here beside her. She slowed for a curve, and as the vehicle straightened again, her tense grip on the wheel relaxed a little.

Kate had driven several miles before she spotted a car that had run off the road. An old, faded brown Chevy set immobile, smashed against a tree. She could see even from this distance that the bonnet had crumpled from the great impact.

Kate’s heart sank. She had joined the department because she loved the challenge of investigating, of bringing justice and order to a community, but she detested this part of her job. She approached the wreck with dread. The car, spotted with rust and corrosion, looked as if it belonged in some junkyard. It had been driven hard under bad conditions. Mud spattered across the back, across the licence plate. The driver though, must be a local, for travellers rarely – if ever – ventured from the main highway onto the criss-cross of rough country trails.

As she pulled to a stop, Kate glimpsed the driver slumped behind the wheel. A person in danger – even without badge, gun, or ability to call the station – Kate must act quickly in the victim’s best interests. She leapt out.

She hoped he wasn’t badly hurt. She could see no reason why he had run off the road, unless he was drunk or had suffered a heart attack. Either way, his plight took priority over her own mission, which just moments ago had loomed as all-important.

Kate hastened towards the window, which was rolled down on the driver’s side. He must be a ranch hand, for he wore a battered bulky black jacket and a cowboy hat. Her words rang out hollowly as she called, ‘Sir, are you all right?’

No movement. She stepped closer, reaching out to touch his shoulder. Just as she did, his head jerked up.

The features beneath the cowboy hat were obscured by a dark ski mask. He stared at her, his eyes through the gaping holes, narrow, colourless slits. The grotesque combination of ski mask and cowboy hat caused her to recoil with a startled cry.

With a rapid movement he lifted a revolver from the seat beside him. The small gun looked lost in his large hand. Despite the clumsy glove, he handled it like an expert, training it on her in a steady, menacing way. Kate, horrified, stumbled backwards.

‘Stop, right there.’

His low, raspy words had a muffled quality, as if he intended to avoid the possibility of Kate’s recognizing his voice. That could only mean one thing: at some point during her investigation, they had met.

He aimed the gun at her heart.

Fear caused weakness to wash over her. She had been set up, waylaid. An absurd image sprang to mind of a gentleman
bandit holding up a train. But there was nothing
make-believe
about this man or his intentions. Deadly serious, dangerous: Kate was facing the rustler who had shot her once, and who would not hesitate to shoot again.

She remained staring at him, too fearful to move, frozen in place.

He hunched low in the seat with those terrible narrowed eyes fastened on her. ‘I’ll take that bullet and shell casing.’

Kate had no choice: either hand them over or die. With trembling fingers, she reached into her pocket and
reluctantly
placed the evidence into his outstretched hand.

She couldn’t see his face, yet she was aware that he was smiling, smiling like the victor in some game of wit. The gun, which had momentarily lowered, rose again. Kate drew in her breath. He had what he wanted, but he intended to kill her anyway.

An explosion cracked, resounding around her. A bullet zinged by her striking the left front tire of her Landcruiser. The sound of expelling air mingled with his short triumphant laugh.

The battered Chevy she had thought incapable of moving roared to life. Kate, sick and dizzy, watched the dirt toss out from the spinning wheels as it pulled back onto the road. With her vehicle out of commission, she had no way of following him. All she could do was watch him speed off in the direction of town.

She worked with great haste, gasping for breath as she changed the flat tyre. As she sped toward Rock Creek, she blotted out all thoughts of the clever ruse. She didn’t
remember the details of driving back to town, only of
skidding
to a stop in front of the sheriff’s department. With still-thudding heart, she rushed inside.

Lem in a startled way listened as she poured out the whole story. ‘He never left the car so I couldn’t judge his height. He wore a bulky jacket and a ski mask. Even though he had gloves on, I could tell he had big, strong hands.’

‘Can you identify the voice?’

Kate shook her head. ‘Disguised. It had a toneless quality.’

‘Could it have been a woman?’

All along Kate suspected that a woman had driven the truck that had wrecked her squad car, but the person who had waylaid her today was definitely a man. ‘No, not possible.’

Lem lapsed into silence, one soon filled with disbelief. ‘You mean you didn’t even get suspicious when you saw the licence plate covered with mud?’

‘I … I thought someone needed help. I didn’t think.…’

‘You sure didn’t.’ Lem reached for the phone and called for their patrol cars to be on the lookout for a fifteen to
twenty-year
-old brown Chevy covered with rust and mud. He gave directions where it was last seen and ended with a firm warning, ‘The driver is armed and dangerous.’ Lem replaced the receiver. ‘The way you describe the car, it probably came from some junkyard. Or else it had been left abandoned.’

‘If it is legally registered,’ Kate agreed, ‘it won’t be to the driver. I noticed a lot of old cars out at Hal Barkley’s place.’

‘We’ll check, but the perpetrator has to be one of those three men whose guns we’re holding.’ For a long time Lem
did not continue. ‘With no ballistics test, we’ve got nothing. Only a choice between Slim Barton, on one hand and Swen with Garrison working for him, on the other.’

‘All we really have,’ Kate said, ‘is this: whoever fired that shot knew that I’d be looking for the evidence that would incriminate him.’

‘That makes sense. Because of the darkness and the chase, he couldn’t locate the place where he had shot at you, but he figured you could … and would. That’s why he decided to keep an eye on you.’ Lem paused thoughtfully. ‘Or else he intentionally lured you to the site counting on the fact that you would lead him to the evidence.’

‘What I can’t understand,’ Kate said, ‘is how he got ahead of me and staged this accident so quickly.’

‘Garrison and Swen working as partners,’ Lem suggested. ‘You say you and Garrison weren’t together for a long period of time? He probably planned to leave you free to search so he could watch you. At some interval he called Swen on a cellphone, and Swen either went himself or sent one of his henchmen to set this trap for you.’

Kate sank into the chair opposite Lem’s desk
remembering
, although she tried not to, the feel of Ty’s arms around her, the look on his face when he thought she was seriously injured. She could no longer concentrate on Lem’s
monologue
, that slow drawl of his that continued even without her participation. The train of his thought appeared to be summed up, though, in one statement that jolted her back to the present.

‘You had the evidence, then you lost it!’ Lem groaned. ‘I
can’t believe this! You went out there all alone, after all your warnings not to!’

‘Ty called me. Then the rest … just happened.’

Lem’s narrow features changed: the lines in his lean face became grim and tight. ‘You’re in serious trouble, Kate. What you’ve done is put your job on the line. Ben is a stickler for rules, you know that. And Jeff, he’s even worse. Neither of them will budge an inch.’ Lem added sadly, ‘We both know what’s going to happen now. And it would have, even if you had succeeded in bringing in the evidence. What on earth possessed you to go out there?’

‘I thought it was worth the risk.’

‘I don’t think you deserve what Jeff is going to hand out to you,’ Lem said. He remained silent for a while, then as if struck by a plan, spoke slowly and carefully, ‘Whatever evidence you found is lost, so what have we got to gain by telling them? Let’s just keep this between you and me. I’ll have the boys maintain a lookout for that car, and when it’s found, I’ll handle it.’ He leaned across the desk and his voice became louder, more adamant, ‘Jeff doesn’t need to know anything about what you did today.’

‘So Jeff doesn’t need to know?’ Jeff burst out. He stormed into the office just as he had during their last encounter, his face flushed and angry. Obviously he had heard the entire story before entering the room. He glared at Lem. ‘I’m going to tell Ben your exact words. We’ll see if he reacts to them the same way I do.’

‘She’s inexperienced,’ Lem muttered, gazing down sheepishly at the desk. ‘And, Jeff,’ he added hopefully, ‘she
almost pulled it off. I don’t see why we can’t cut her a little slack.’

‘You’re not in charge Lem, I am. I thought I knew you better. Here you are, willing to lie to me!’

‘He wasn’t going to lie.’

‘No he just wasn’t going to tell me the truth!’ Jeff swung toward Kate. ‘He was going to remain silent. The same
difference
, isn’t it?’

Kate rose from her chair. ‘Jeff, I.…’

‘No use going over it again. I heard everything. You were snooping around on Kingsley’s property. Against my orders, you headed right out to the crime scene. To top it all off, you took a major suspect with you!’ Jeff’s words continued hostile, unwavering. ‘It all comes down to this: you found crucial evidence and lost it. You bungled and now the proof we need so badly is in the criminal’s hands, not ours!’

‘That happens sometimes,’ Lem interceded, trying to defend her.

His statement, however mild and weakly spoken, unleashed Jeff’s full fury. ‘I suppose it didn’t matter to you at all that you were taken off the case.’

Jeff stepped closer to Kate, his big form appeared to her like some solid wall that would remain in place, blocking all options.

‘Well, this time, Deputy Jepp, you’ve gone way too far. You’ve left me no other choice.’ In a voice that would tolerate no argument, he said, ‘As of right now, I’m putting you on suspension. Turn in your badge and gun.’

Later that afternoon Kate returned to the sheriff’s
department
. Jeff, not speaking, gestured for her to follow him into Ben’s office. He accepted her gun and badge. He wasn’t angry, only weary and a little sad.

‘I want you to know, Kate, the only reason I’ve put you on suspension is because I’m worried sick about you. You’re just plain out of control.’

‘I know what I’m doing, Jeff.’

‘Do you, Kate? I’m sure you’ve never dealt with
treacherous
people before. I have. I’m especially concerned about you and Ty Garrison.’

‘You might be wrong about him.’

‘You think I’m wrong? Is that because you’re falling for Garrison? I’ve done a lot of checking on him. Garrison’s got a criminal record. He’s spent time in Belle County jail for fighting and disruptive behaviour. That proves what he is!’

Kate made no reply.

‘People like him never change. I’m asking you as a personal favour – just stay away from him, at least until all of this is settled.’ Jeff stared at her solemnly. ‘Even if Garrison is
innocent
, you’re never going to be happy with a man like him. A drifter, that’s what he is. He’ll stay in Rock Creek a while, then one day he’ll just hit the road, wandering off chasing clouds and butterflies. You don’t want that kind of a life, Kate. I know that because I know your goals are the same as mine.’

He quickly turned away from her, his habit when he didn’t want to hear any more on the subject.

With a choked feeling in her throat, Kate left. In all
fairness
she couldn’t blame Jeff, just herself for defying his orders.

Kate considered making an appeal to Ben, but he had enough to handle with his health problems. She thought now of how much she admired him, how he had supported her when no one else had. She already knew in her heart that this time Ben wouldn’t back her up. He would, if for no other reason than concern for her safety, put his stamp of approval on Jeff’s decision.

What if the suspension ended in termination? Knowing this was a real possibility, Kate cringed a little. Feeling sombre and defeated, she felt that her career that meant so much to her had fallen around her in ruins.

She would probably leave Rock Creek, but not until she found Charles Kingsley’s killer. She would continue working on her own until the murderer was behind bars.

Fast-falling shadows of evening were beginning to gather. Kate walked with slow steps back to her apartment, knowing the long evening would be filled with replays of that muffled voice, that horrible masked face. She was jolted to find Ty waiting for her.