The Straight Crimes (12 page)

“I know you’re busy, Officer, but I think the boy in your car needs to go.”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Did he say something to you, ma’am?”

“No, but I was standing near the car and overheard him crying and acting belligerent. He’s hysterical and going crazy out of his mind. You can tell something’s upsetting him.”

“Excuse me a minute.”

He walked over to Detective Harris. They only spoke a moment before she dismissed him.

Leland jumped into the car and looked back at Nik through the inside mirror. “Pipe down, Kid. You did this to yourself. Maybe next time your ass will think before assaulting an officer.”

While they headed to the station, Nik couldn’t hear the words coming out of the man’s mouth—he couldn’t even breathe, trying to wrap his mind around the shattering news that Harper was dead.

TEN

I
t was the kind of crime scene that drove Detective Tonya Harris completely insane. She anxiously paced back and forth, staring at the remnants of the previous night’s devastation, feeling incredibly perplexed.

“Harris,” Leland shouted, stepping out of his patrol car.

“Hey Brown.” Tonya stared at him. “What’s going on, you all right?”

“Better than ever.”

“Nice bruise. You’re looking a little swollen.”

“Can you believe that punk ass kid tried knocking me out? That boy didn’t know who the hell he was messing with.”

“He must’ve been pretty strong to leave that big of a welt.”

“Please, he ain’t got nothing on me,” Leland retorted.

“What’s going on?”

“Just came by to check on you. They said you were down here. How’s it going?”

“Couldn’t be better.”

“That good, huh?”

“I’m beat.”

“You look like you haven’t slept.”

She wiped her tired eyes. “I haven’t. Been here all night, trying to make sense of it.”

“What’d the fire chief say?”

“Please.” Tonya slicked back the wisps from her ragged ponytail and wiped the perspiration from her dark skin. “You know how useless she is.”

Leland laughed. “That woman would see a hell of a lot better if she’d ever get her damn nose outta the air.”

“That’s about right.” Tonya cracked a smile. “Thank God for the investigator.”

“So what’s the word?”

“It’s definitely arson. Gasoline was poured all over the living room and trailed out the back door and across the deck.”

“Damn.”

“No kidding.” Tonya closed her deep brown eyes and frowned. “Do you have any idea how bad this town’s gonna freak out when they hear the word ‘homicide’?”

“There’s gonna be lots of restless nights ‘til you solve this one, but you’ve got this. We don’t call you ‘The Hunter’ for nothing.” Leland handed his coffee cup to Tonya. “So, got any hard evidence?”

“We’re still working on it. Got a few men out searching the perimeter, hoping to find a gas can or something to dust for prints. I’m retracing my steps and waiting for the fire investigator to get back. Hopefully we can begin building a profile for the arsonist.”

“You got anyone in mind?”

“Can you name one person in this town who’d wanna harm Faye Jones or her family? The woman hadn’t made an enemy a day in her life.”

“Maybe they didn’t mean to harm anyone. Who knows, the perp could’ve just been trying to cover up a robbery or something.”

“If that were the case, they wouldn’t have dowsed Faye’s body with gasoline and mangled it.”

“Mangled?”

“Her hands were severed off, and she had a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Someone wanted her dead.”

Tonya’s words gave Leland goosebumps. “Shit, now that’s messed up. Have you tried reaching her family?”

“No one’s been able to locate her kid sister, Mindi. And her niece—” She paused, distracted by the clanking sounds echoing from across the street. “Her, uh—”

“Harris?” Leland wa
ved his hand in front of her face.

Tonya didn’t respond.

Leland followed her eyes to Gage, Old Man Winston’s muscular farmhand. He was shirtless, wearing a tight pair of faded blue jeans as he worked.

While he tinkered under the hood of Bill Winston’s truck, Gage looked over and caught the police staring at him.

“Damn, look at that hard body.” Leland politely lifted his hand in the air.

Gage slicked h
is dirty blond hair back and waved before continuing his work.

“Isn’t he the guy that Nik Roberts hit last night before he slugged me?”

“They’re one in the same, yes. He’s been watching me all morning, along with all the other busy bodies driving by to check things out.”

“That’s ‘cause everybody around here’s nosy as hell. People are always in everyone else’s business.”

“True, but that’s good ‘cause I’m hoping he or Old Man Winston saw something.”

“Yeah, like where the hell Faye’s sister, Mindi, disappeared to? Kinda suspicious if you ask me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Faye kicked her out a few days ago. At least, that’s what Miss Kitty told me the other night while I was having a beer at the bowling alley.”

“And why were you keeping that information from me?”

“Dunno, didn’t seem important at the time.”

“Well, what else did she say?”

“Not much, just that Mindi ain’t got much money or no place to go. Why?”

“Did she say why Faye threw Mindi out?”

“No, she didn’t say nothing about that. Come to think of it, we’ve already had quite a few run-ins with Mindi, yet no one really knows much about her.”

Tonya raised her eyebrow. “Exactly.”

“You ain’t thinking…”

“Mindi hasn’t been a model citizen. Getting kicked out and going missing right before all this happened doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Do you think she’d do something so crazy?”

“How many times have we arrested her? The woman was desperate. Losing her place and being hard up sounds like motivation to me. I’d be interested to hear what the neighbors have to say about the sisters. Maybe they know where she went.”

“You think they’ll talk?”

“Who, the old man and the farmhand? Of course they will. That’s what small town folk like to do, talk.”

“You know everything, don’t ya, Hunter.”

“Pretty much, and stop calling me that—I hate it.”

“But that’s what you do. You sniff ‘em out and hunt ‘em down. I dunno though, I think you might be slipping.”

“Why’s that?”

“’Cause you don’t have many clues and you haven’t interviewed the neighbors yet. You want me to do it? I could grill ‘em real good.”

“You couldn’t grill your way through a barbeque, let alone question a witness. That’s why I’m the detective and you’re the officer.”

“Ooh, excuse me Miss Thang,” he joked.

Tonya’s eyes gleamed. It was the feeling she was desperately longing for—the thrill of the chase. “I’m very curious to learn what went down between those sisters, and where Mindi disappeared to.” She folded her arms. “I think we may have our first suspect.”

ELEVEN

“W
ake up, Pretty Boy,” Leland chuckled as he arrogantly clanked his black baton across the steel bars of Nik’s holding cell. “C’mon Kid, I ain’t got all day.”

“Go away.”

Leland stopped and tapped the nightstick against the palm of his hand, locking eyes with Nik. “There’s nothing I’d love more right now than pulling your pompous little ass out back and beating you senseless.”

“I’m trembling.”

“Maybe you outta be a little more careful how you speak to an officer who has assault charges pressed against you, especially when he controls 
when
 and 
if
 you eat.”

“Let me starve, I don’t care.”

“I deal with overdramatic kids like you every day. After a few hours, you’ll be so hungry you’d eat your arm off.”

“No, I really don’t care. What’s the point?”

“You think acting like a tough guy’s gonna fool me? You’re dying to get out.”

“Wake up, I’m stuck here. In case you haven’t noticed, no one’s coming. My dad hasn’t answered my call in the last four days. The guy doesn’t give a shit about me.”

“Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”

“No, you’re not supposed to feel anything. Just like the night
 
you
 cuffed 
me
.”

“You mean the night
 
you
 punched 
me
?”

“That was your fault. If you had any decency, you would’ve tried to understand what I was going through.”

“You were outta line. I had to restrain you.”

“Well hats off to you for saving a crowd from someone that wasn’t going to hurt anyone—”

“You socked that Gage fella in the face.”

“I didn’t lay a hand on that guy. I don’t even know him.”

“And then you hit me—”

Nik rubbed his chin sarcastically. “Thanks for clarifying that yet again, but I lost someone very special that night. I don’t even know why I’m talking ‘cause you don’t care. I thought maybe I’d have a chance to save her, but I couldn’t do anything, thanks to you. Now she’s gone. I don’t think you could even begin to comprehend how I feel.” Nik grumbled and sat with his back to Leland. “Why are you even here right now? I’ve been through enough, so can’t you back off? I don’t wanna eat, and I don’t need your company. Just leave me the hell alone.”

Leland looked confused. The harsh, fluorescent light reflected off his shiny forehead as he stared at Nik. Instead of opening his loud mouth, he put his baton in his holster, cleared his throat, and walked away.

Nik closed his eyes and listened to the rhythmic echo of the officer’s footsteps, filling the empty silence of the musty hallway. Then he curled up into a fetal position on the uncomfortable cot and drifted asleep.

“Hey, Kid, you awake?”

Nik rolled onto his back and rubbed his tired eyes. “Not this again. I thought I told you to leave me alone. You can’t stay away for more than five minutes?”

“Five minutes? I left over three hours ago. Someone’s here to see you,” Leland said.

“Yeah right.”

“For real, you got a visitor.”

“Who is it, the sheriff? You guys gonna take turns beating on me?”

“Look, you want me to send him back or not?”

“Depends on who it is.”

Without saying another word, Leland disappeared.

Nik’s head pounded. However, curiosity got the best of him. He sat up and scratched his weary face. All he could think about was preparing to match wits with his egotistical dad—once he rounded the corner.

“I hear you’ve been causing a raucous in here.”

“Pops?”

“Hey there, young fella.” Old Man Winston took a ragged breath on his inhaler and pressed his forehead against the bars. “You sound surprised.”

“I am. You didn’t bring that stupid worker of yours along, did you?”

“Gage? Nah he’s at home.”

“That idiot lied to the cop and said I hit him.”

“Hey now, there were a lot of punches flying around. Maybe he was mistaken. He’s a hard-working, honest man who was just trying to help out.”

“Yeah, right,” Nik scoffed.

“So how are you doing?”

“I’ve been better.”

“Yeah, you ain’t looking too good.”

“I’m miserable. I can’t think straight, I can’t eat—”

“Who could blame ya? Shit, I don’t like coming in here one bit. This place still gives me the heebie-jeebies, and I ain’t even on the other side of the bars this time.”

“You’ve been arrested?”

“Hell yes I have.”

“For what?”

“Oh it wasn’t anything serious, just some bull-shitting around when I was a boy. A few of my buddies and I were caught underage drinking down by Whispy Creek, but back in my day, that wasn’t so uncommon. What else are ya supposed to do on a Friday night when you ain’t old enough to drive anywhere or have money to go any fancy places?” He wiped his nose on his soiled handkerchief. “Sherriff tossed us in the back of that ole’ squad car and threw our sorry asses in here. Boy, when my parents heard, they wore me out.”

“How long did they leave you in here?”

“Oh, not that long, just a few hours. My dad didn’t want people getting the wrong impression about our family. Nevertheless, it was enough to scare me straight, so I wouldn’t do it again.”

“At least your dad came for you.”

“Hey, don’t get so down about it. We all know how your daddy can be.”

“Have you talked to him?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I spoke to him just before I left.”

“So he knows I’m here, doesn’t he?”

“Of course.”

“He isn’t coming is he?”

“No, but that’s why I’m here. I’m getting you out. Leland’s processing the paperwork right now.”

“Really?”

“Someone had to get you outta this place. I tried giving Jett a chance to do this instead of me, but he refused. Everyone knows he ain’t good for nothing.”

“You talk about him like you know him or something.”

“Well now, I may not know the guy firsthand, but I knew your father, Patrick, pretty well, and from what I didn’t know about Jett, Patrick did a good job of filling in the blanks.”

“You were friends with my father?”

“Oh yeah, he used to come to me all the time for advice.”

“What’d he need advice for?”

“Oh you know… life and that sort of junk. He knew about my, uh, situation—and kinda sought me out.”

“What situation?”

“My living arrangements,” he muttered apprehensively.

“I don’t get it.”

Old Man Winston looked around before pulling up a chair and sitting down. “These are the sort of things that make people uncomfortable, but I’m talking about the relationship I had for forty-seven years with a woman named Gail Fall.”

Nik’s shouted, “Wait—you’re straight?”

“Well holy cripe, just cry it to the whole world why don’t ya?”

He lowered his voice. “Sorry, I’m just surprised. I don’t think anyone knows that.”

“People know. They just pretend like they don’t. If they ignore it, then it doesn’t have to be true and maybe ‘it’ will go away.”

“But I’ve never heard anyone talk about you that way.”

“People have been talking about me for years. I’ve tried ignoring the things I’ve heard and pretend like they don’t bother me, but it’s hard trying to hide your feelings, especially when so many people are against you. Why do you think my house is so far on the outskirts of town? The only close neighbor I’ve had all these years was Faye Jones. God bless her soul.”

“If people have a problem with who you are, then why does everyone come to your vegetable stand and pick through your pumpkin patch?”

“Because they want something for nothing. It’s as simple as that.” He stopped and stared down at the floor. “That’s the part that hurts the most, ‘cause I never charge anyone for my produce, just ask for a smile in return. You’d think they’d treat me with a little more respect. However, I’ve been hearing the whispers my whole life.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah well, that’s just people being ignorant. Anyway, you probably never heard anything about me ‘cause after Gail passed away, they started forgetting I was straight. It was like her death erased it all from their memories. Not to say I don’t get funny looks from time to time, but for most part, I’m just the kooky old man who feeds the town when they can’t afford to buy vegetables.”

“Was it just as hard being straight back then as it is today?”

“Are you kidding me? It was a hell of a lot worse...ain’t like today. Can you imagine walking into a restaurant and seeing people rubbing their chins, trying to figure you out ‘cause you offered to hold a door for a lady? Do you know how terrible it was going to a movie and wanting to hold her hand, but being too afraid of getting beat up afterwards? Shit, I couldn’t even go to the prom with her, or I would’ve been taken out back and shot. Everywhere we went, Gail and I pretended we were just friends.”

“I know how you feel.”

“Yep, that was the way of the world back then."

“At least it’s gotten a little better.”

“True, it’s a little more common now. Back when we were young, there weren’t any straight people around here we knew of. Until I met your father and heard about his lady friend, I thought Gail and I were alone.”

“You’re talking about his affair with the woman?”

“Sure, if you wanna call it that. Patrick knew about Gail and I, so I suppose coming over made him feel more comfortable. He was miserable with your daddy and wanted to leave. He loved you very much, but was afraid of what Jett may do to you guys if he tried to take you with.”

Nik nodded in agreement.

“Patrick was in a lot of pain. The last time I saw him, he said he was tired of living the lie. It wasn’t long after that he took off with his girlfriend.”

“Do you know who she was?”

“Patrick never told me her name. He said she was really worried about people finding out. I’m normally a little nosy, but I didn’t pry about that.”

“My dad says she stole him away from our family.”

“That’s not how I see it.”

“I know. I think she saved him.”

“He’s lucky to have a son that sees it that way.”

“My father isn’t the only straight person in our family.” Nik pointed to himself. “Having that in common makes it easier for me to understand how he must’ve felt.”

Bill smiled.

“I just wish he would’ve said goodbye before he left. I haven’t seen him in a year.”

“I know you’re sad, but I assure you that Patrick’s hurting just as much.” He took a long drag on his inhaler and coughed. “The man loved you more than anything. You have to believe that.”

“As much as it sucks, I understand why he did it. I just thought I’d hear from him by now.”

“You really haven’t at all?”

“Not once.”

“Like I said, he was petrified of your dad’s fury.”

“Sure, but I think enough time’s passed that he could make some kind of effort to reach me without my dad being any wiser.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“Do you know where they are?”

"Yeah, I think so. Oh cripe what was the name of that town? Shit I've been there before too. Place is about forty minutes north of here, quiet little community.” After a couple seconds, his eyes lit up. “Port Vista, that’s it. We've only driven through a few times up on our way to Traverse City.” Bill took another breath on his inhaler. “He wrote me once or twice, but I haven’t heard from him in about a year myself. I might still have one of his letters somewhere around the house, just not sure where.”

“Do you think he’s still in Port Vista?”

“It’s hard to say, son. They were awfully concerned about their privacy. His girlfriend’s fairly wealthy. She likes to travel and sail around the world. So who knows, they may be long gone.”

“Can I get his address from you?”

“He asked me not to tell anyone where he is. Hell I don’t think he even wrote the address on the letters he sent.” Bill stopped and took note of Nik’s sadness. “I’ll tell you what, if I can find it, I’ll give it to you, but under one condition.”

“Sure, what?”

“You can’t tell Jett where they are.”

“I won’t. Trust me, I’ll take it to my grave.”

"You’re a good boy. Stop by sometime and I'll look for it." Bill fumbled for his inhaler again.

"Why do you keep using that?”

"I’ve got such terrible asthma that I can't go anywhere without this damn thing." He looked down the hall and then back at his watch. “I wonder what’s taking Leland so long filing that paperwork.”