EIGHT
Game On
“All right, Mayor, what can I do for you?”
Mayor Hall was standing at my window, looking at the street when I came back to my office. He didn’t turn around to face me, though. He just kept facing the window, looking outside.
“She’s a very attractive woman, isn’t she?” he observed.
Crossing my arms over my chest, not surprised by his comment, I knew when we spoke on the phone this afternoon he was interested in Jenn. I didn’t bother answering his stupid question. Jenn was beautiful and soft in all the right places. A face that made you think of an innocent girl with those big brown eyes, so yeah, she was attractive, but what really stood out was the light that lit her face when she smiled. That smile could make you do just about anything.
“You’re not here to talk about Ms. Stewart, Mayor, so let’s cut to the chase.”
“Indeed, Jack, I’m here to find out how the investigation is going.” I moved to my desk and sat down, then laid it out for him.
“Still waiting for Drew at the morgue to get back to us. Shannon Davis was caught off guard; we’re hoping to find something on her body. There were tracks in the mud near the river, but we have no way of knowing if the killer made them. Plaster casts of the prints were collected, and we have them in evidence. Grady is searching phone records; Phil is looking through files of shoe treads, trying to find a match, and Barry is out canvassing the area looking for any witnesses. The FBI has been notified, and all of our evidence and notes have been copied and transferred to them for a profile, and last-known whereabouts are being worked up.”
“Impressive. You seem to be on top of the matter.”
“As I said on the phone, John, we’re all putting in overtime.” The asshole was still standing at the window with his back to me. So I waited for his next move. I didn’t have to wait long.
“Jack, I’m counting on you to bring this guy in, but if your priorities are elsewhere, I’ll know, and I will bring it up with the City Council. Next year is an election year for both of us; I’d hate to see your chances of re-election hindered by an untimely “sowing of your oats,” as they say. My advice to you is to move on from the reporter and keep your head in the game.”
And there it was: the threat to lose my job if I didn’t back off Jenn. Stupid sonofabitch thought he could control me with that threat? I’d been Sheriff for seven years and had run this office with a firm but fair hand. My arrest rate was one of the best in Colorado, and my office had a great reputation with the people, the same people who voted. How this asshole thought he could threaten me with my job when it was the people who voted me in or not, was beyond me. Short of a complete breakdown of the office or some sort of scandal, the City Council had no authority to fire me. Only the people could by casting a ballot.
With his back still turned to me, as if I were insignificant, I answered that sonofabitch.
“John, appreciate the heads up, but if you’ll excuse me? I have work to do before I head out.”
“I see you’re going to ignore my advice.”
“Yup, my record speaks for itself, but if the good people of this county want to vote me out, that’s their prerogative.” The mayor finally turned and stared at me for a long moment, then he finally moved away from the window and put out his hand to shake mine, so I grasped it in a firm grip.
“Give my regards to Jennifer when you see her, and remind her of our lunch date on Thursday.” I felt my hand tighten on those words; even though I staked a claim with the “my woman” comment, his grin told me he wasn’t going to back down. So I smiled at him and tightened my grip even more.
“I’ll be sure to pass on your message.”
“You do that, Jack,” John answered then turned and walked out of my office.
“Christ.” I did not need this complication with everything that was happening. I picked up Jenn’s folder but quickly slammed it back down. Looking out the window, I saw the mayor walk to his truck. He looked up and saw me staring. Then the asshole put his finger to his forehead and saluted me with a grin before he climbed into his truck and drove away.
“All right, asshole, game on,” I mumbled as I grabbed Jenn’s file and headed down the hall to find Grady.
***
Running on empty and needing a boost, I stopped at The Bean on Main Street to grab a coffee to go before hitting the interstate to drive back home. Mandy, one of the baristas I’d met when I first moved here and had instantly hit it off with, was younger than me by nine years, single, and cute as a button. With short, dark hair, brown eyes, and a pixie face, I had no doubt she was beating off men with a stick. We’d hung out a few times - gone to see a movie, get dinner, and once we went to a crafts fair in Ouray. I was hoping she was on duty and had time for a break, but when I pulled open the door, I saw Barry at the counter. My immediate reaction was to turn tail and run. I’d never been good with confrontation, and today’s incident at lunch made me uncomfortable. But needing to get some of the headaches out of my life so I could concentrate on my story and what to do about a certain bossy sheriff, I figured there was no time like the present and headed to the counter.
“Hey, Mandy, Barry. You two doing ok this evening?” Barry turned his head to me but didn’t offer up a smile. Mandy being Mandy jumped right in.
“Hey, Jennifer, you finished for the day?”
“Yeah, just getting coffee to go, then heading home.”
“What’s your poison?”
“I’m not picky, but something with chocolate in it.” Mandy moved to make the coffee, so I turned to Barry and smiled. Barry took a drink of his coffee, studying me, so I searched for something to say.
“I heard there was another murder.”
“Not at liberty to talk about the case, Jennifer.” I nodded in return, understanding more than what was spoken. Damn.
“Sorry. Of course. Are you working tonight?”
“Yup, just getting coffee for the road,” he replied while picking up his cup and keys and then moved to leave.
“Well, stay safe,” I mumbled as he walked away from me.
Barry stopped, looked back at me, saluted, and then kept moving toward the door. When he reached it, he turned back and warned me once again about Jack.
“Jennifer, remember what I said… Jack isn’t the type to settle down. Just be careful.” I had no response to that. He was probably right, and I probably did need to keep my distance. Someone just needed to inform Jack of that.
I watched Barry walk out the door and then turned around to find Mandy with a cup of coffee in her hand, a smile on her face.
“You’re like the shiny new toy.”
“What’s like a shiny new toy?”
“You are… All the men want you; all the women want to be friends with you and all the old men want to protect you.”
“Great, so what you’re saying is once the shine has worn off I’m screwed.”
“Ha, yeah, probably. Just like the rest of us. You’ll be a mere mortal once again and totally screwed over by men.”
“Bitter much, Mandy?”
“Hell yeah, men have been nothing but trouble for me.”
“I’m so out of my league with these men asking me out. My only experience with dating was my husband twenty years ago.”
“Heard the sheriff curled your toes today outside of Mike’s,” she laughed and then wiggled her eyebrows.
“Pfft, he curled my toes, my hair, and left me in a puddle.”
“That good, huh?”
“Unfortunately, yes. That man throws me off balance. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, and he just keeps moving forward no matter how hard I dig in. The minute he touches me I lose control. I only met him yesterday, and he’s kissed me three times. Off the chart hot kisses mind you, but still, who moves that fast?”
“I don’t know, Jennifer, there’re a lot of women in this town who would like to have your problem. If Jack Gunnison were pursuing me, I’d walk slowly.”
“Mandy, if I can’t think straight around him, then he holds all the cards. I don’t remember it being like this with my husband; this can’t be normal behavior. The attraction is off the charts incredible, sure, but it would be with someone like Jack, wouldn’t it? It’s just…he’s so damn bossy; he orders me around like he expects me to obey.”
“Jack’s used to being in charge, he’s an alpha male or more like the alpha male. You’ll just have to put your foot down,” she advised as if the answer to my problem was that simple. But somehow I didn’t think putting my foot down would even register on his alpha index. Deciding I needed to focus on something other than that bullheaded man, or I’d be stewing over him all night, I moved to the other topic I wanted to discuss.
“Hey Mandy, you’ve heard about these killings, right?”
“Yeah, heard he got a local woman today. I didn’t know her, but I’m starting to freak out over this. I’ve even got my brother coming to pick me up after work.”
“Well, I’m working on the story with the help of Ben and Gerry and we made up a list today of possible suspects. You seem to know everyone around here. Could you take a look at the list and see if anything springs to mind?”
“Sure, I know every creep in this county. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve dated them all. I’m due a break, so grab your coffee and I’ll meet you out front on the deck.”
Moving outside as Mandy asked, I grabbed a table off to the side and away from other customers. Mandy joined me a few minutes later, and I handed her the list when she sat down. As she started reading the list, she laughed.
“Ha, you have the sheriff and his deputies on it?” She continued reading and then stopped. “Jesus, you have put my brother down, too. What the hell, Jennifer, is there any man who isn’t on here?”
“That’s the problem. The list is too long, and we need to narrow it down. The age ranger for serial killers is so wide; we had to list practically every man who wasn’t in diapers or using a walker.”
“Well, I can tell you, based on today’s murder, these two are innocent. They work with me and were on duty. Father Jenson is off the hook, too. He was busy at the church with the women’s auxiliary, and my mother was there. Give me a pen, I’ll circle the ones I saw today; I was out running errands and went to several businesses.”
Mandy made my long list shorter by twelve men, but the list was still lengthy. Since the bodies kept showing up in Gunnison or Crested Butte, something told me the killer was local, so I asked her to circle the men who lived the closest to Gunnison. Mandy was still looking over the list when she tapped the paper with her pen.
“Hey, this guy, he’s always given me the chills when he comes in because he stares at my boobs constantly.” Thinking her boobs were one of her best features and probably the first thing men noticed about her, I didn’t think that was proof but I’d never met this Chad Brown, so what did I know?
“He also lives in a cabin off route 135, maybe two miles from where they found the last woman.” That got my attention. I put a star next to his name and wondered if I should call Jack and tell him when Mandy’s boss stepped outside.
“Mandy, it’s slow tonight, why don’t you head home?”
“Killer,” Mandy replied and then turned to me. “Give me one second, Jennifer, I’m gonna call my brother to come get me.”
“I can give you a ride. It’s not out of my way,”
“That would be great, thanks. Are you ready to leave now? I can call my brother from the road if you are.”
“Whenever you are is fine by me.”
Mandy stood, so I followed suit and after she retrieved her jacket and purse, we jumped in my jeep and headed out 135 toward her home. We’d been shooting the breeze, making plans to see the new movie that was coming out, when she shouted and pointed.
“Hey, that’s Chad’s place up ahead. You wanna drive past and look around, see if he has any dead bodies buried in his backyard?” Thinking that sounded like a terrible idea and also thinking that it sounded like an awesome idea, I battled with myself for an answer.
“Shit, I don’t know. What if he catches us?”
“There are two of us, he can’t get us both.” I glanced at her and wondered if she might just be a little crazy. For someone who was scared of this killer, she didn’t seem to mind jumping into a possibly dangerous situation. Didn’t she realize that if he had a gun, he could shoot both of us and then bury us in his backyard, and no one would be the wiser? Then again, I was a little crazy too, so why not?
“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this, but ok, let’s do it.”
“It will be fine; he’ll never know we were there.”
The phrase “Famous Last Words” ran through my head as I pulled off the road and turned off my lights. There were no lights on in his small A-frame. No cars or trucks in the drive, either. It appeared he was out, and I didn’t know if that made me feel better or not. Pulling past his cabin and parking up the hill, we got out of my jeep and crept down the road, heading to the side of the cabin. There were two windows and the lights were off. I didn’t know what we thought we could see, but I cupped my hands around my eyes and tried to look inside. Light shined in the room, and thinking the light inside came on, I jumped back and looked at Mandy. She had a flashlight in her hand.
“Do you always carry a flashlight?”
“A girl can never be too prepared. I’ve got everything in this bag: flashlight, tools, extra batteries, even some rope.” Rope?
“You scare me a little, just so you know.”
“I get that a lot.”
“You look like a pixie, but you’re really more like a gremlin.”
Mandy smiled and winked at me, then pointed the flashlight in the room as we tried to look around. It was a bedroom; the bed was unmade, there were clothes all over the floor and dishes stacked on the nightstand and dresser.
“The guy is a pig, no wonder he isn’t married,” Mandy mumbled. I moved to the next window and tugged her arm as I passed so she’d bring the flashlight. It was the living room, and it was just as messy as the bedroom. I was just about to tell her we were wasting our time when an SUV pulled down the road from the highway and then pulled into the driveway. Shit. We moved back down the side of the cabin and plastered ourselves to the side. My heart was racing as we heard the door to the SUV slam shut, and then heard stomping on the steps heading to the front door. Holding my breath, afraid he would hear me panting, we heard the door open, and I was just about to let out my breath when my cell phone rang out loud with my stupid, stupid ring tone. John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” set on loud broke the quiet of the night, and I scrambled to pull it from my pocket…. Shit, shit, shit. Please God, let him be deaf. I hit reject on my phone and looked at Mandy, whose eyes were huge. I was so busy messing with my phone, I never heard if the front door closed. Using my eyes to indicate we should get the hell out of there, Mandy nodded in agreement, so I held up my hand and counted down: one…two…three, and we took off running…only to be stopped by the sound of a shotgun firing.
“Stay right where you are, put your hands up, and walk back towards me,” said a very pissed off man. We both put our hands in the air as my phone started ringing. John’s golden voice mocked me in the night again.
“Keep moving, get your asses up here, and sit down while I call the sheriff.”
“I’d rather you shoot me now than deal with the sheriff,” came from my mouth for some reason. I might not know Jack well, but I was pretty sure the lecture I was going to get, on top of being arrested, would be worse than when I told my parents I was pregnant at eighteen. Mandy chuckled, so I shoved my shoulder into hers as we walked toward the cabin.
“What the fuck?” said the man when we made our way up the steps.
“Hey, Chad,” Mandy replied, and he narrowed his eyes at her.
My phone started ringing for the third time, so without thinking or looking to see who was calling, I answered it.
“Hello.”
“Jenn, where the hell are you? You were supposed to call when you made it home,” yelled a pissed off Jack. Oh, dear lord.
“Get your hands in the air,” barked Chad. Of course I listened to the man with a gun and threw my hands up. Without. Hanging. Up. I could hear shouting from the phone when Mandy stepped up and said:
“Chad, we can explain…. where were you today around three?”
“I was in Denver on business. My grandmother died, and I met with her attorney, why?” he replied sarcastically. Mandy’s hands were on her hips, giving him attitude as if he weren’t standing there with a loaded gun.
“There was a murder today and if you were there, then there's no harm, no foul.”
I looked back and forth between them, wondering, not for the first time, why me? Arms raised, I could still hear Jack shouting comments. Pretty sure there was a “Christ.” “Fuck.” “Sonofabitch.” And my personal favorite… “Pain in my fucking ass.” Needless to say, even if Mandy talked us out of this, I was screwed.
“Whoa, wait, you’re here ‘cause you think I killed someone?”
“Well, you're on our list, and we have a lot of people to check out.” That comment got a “Jesus fucking Christ” response from the phone, and Chad turned to me.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Jennifer. Nice to meet you, and sorry for thinking you could be a killer. We don’t really think you did it; we're just checking out everyone in the age 20-55.”
“I don’t give a fuck, so sit your ass down while I call the sheriff.” I heard a barked laugh on the phone and decided I might as well end this torture. I handed over my phone to Chad and said.
“Here, you talk to him. Tell him I’m not a pain in the ass, I’m stubborn, and not to bother coming by tonight ‘cause I’ll be busy packing for Breckenridge.” Chad took the phone from me with a confused look, put it to his ear, said “Hello,” and then winced.
“Sheriff…yes, sir…yes, sir…no, sir…uh, yeah, I’ll tell her.” Then Chad hung up.
“Well, what’d he say?” I asked. Not that I really wanted to know. I was pretty sure I could guess, but curiosity killed the cat and all.
“He said to get Mandy’s ass home, get your ass home, and if you went anywhere near Breckenridge he’d have you hauled in for whatever charges he could think of.”
I looked at Mandy, grabbed my phone from Chad, and without another word headed to my Jeep. I swear Kansas looks better and better every day!!!