Chapter Nine

Friday, September 27th.

Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange. Texas.

Tammy picked at her breakfast after the cowboys had eaten and gone back to the barn. Annie sat down at the harvest table with a second mug of coffee and sized up her step-daughter.

"I can't go back to Montana until Eldon wakes up, Mama. You're looking at me like you want me out of your kitchen."

"Stress is not my friend, Tammy, and you have been giving me a lot of it."

"Not on purpose, Mama. I didn't mean to."

"You don't mean to do a lot of things, Tammy, but you don't think them through before you act."

"I'm trying to do better, Mama. Honest, I am."

"You can stay with me, but only if you stop crying and help out with chores. I'm not putting up with you moping around and crying all day long over the mess you've made of other people's lives. Your father is half out of his mind worrying about you."

"I should have called and told him I was okay."

"You're impulsive and thoughtless, Tammy, and you hurt other people whether you mean to or not. You have to grow up and take responsibility for your actions."

"I'll help with the work, and I won't cry no more, Mama, I promise."

"Once you finish chores at the barn," said Annie, "Lucy will drive you to Huntsville to see Eldon."

"Thanks, Mama. I love you so much."

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Travis was in a much better mood today and he cooked breakfast for all of us. Over coffee, we talked about the triple murder and what everybody's thoughts were on the case.

"Archie Twig pointed a finger at Dave Turcotte," said Travis, "and after Billy and I talked to him, I don't see him as much of a suspect at all." Travis shrugged. "Course, he could be one of the best liars I ever met."

"Turcotte came across as pretty down to earth and truthful," said Billy. "I believed the story he told us about Harry's aunt and the will n'all, but Molly will verify that story. If that take is true, the rest of what he told us might be true too."

"The best liars always give you part of the truth," said Virge. "I saw that on TV."

"Listening to Dave say all that stuff about Paula," said Travis, "I started liking her more than him for the murders."

"If it was Paula without Dave," said Virge, "then somebody else helped her move the trucks down to the Quarry Cutoff."

"Yep. If it was Paula, then she had a partner, and we need to find out who the mystery guy is."

"Dave told Paula she didn't need to stay with Harry until his aunt died and he got his inheritance," said Billy, "but she stayed with Harry. Why? There are questions Paula needs to answer."

"We'll bring her in on suspicion of murder and push her hard," said Travis. "The boys had a feeling about Paula from the first day she reported Harry missing."

"Yeah, there was something underneath," said Virge. "Harlan thought so too."

"This is the plan," said Travis. "We'll bring her in and put pressure on her. If we get nothing, then we let her go home and put surveillance on her and see who comes running to help her. Agreed?"

Billy nodded. "Yep. Solid plan."

"Billy and I will go to the station. Virge and Harlan go get Paula and bring her in."

Virge grinned. "Copy that, Dad."

Huntsville Trauma Unit. Texas.

Lucy stayed in the waiting room while I went in to see Eldon. The nurse at the front desk told us he'd been awake a couple of times, and the doctor said it was a small miracle that he woke up at all.

After what I did to Eldon, we needed a miracle and not a small one—a big one.

I sat down next to his bed and held his hand. He opened his eyes and it kind of startled me because I wasn't ready for it.

"Where am I?"

"Huntsville Hospital."

"Am I under arrest?"

"Yes. But that's okay," said Tammy in a whisper. "As soon as you're better, I'll get the truck and we'll go to Mexico."

"I'm not leaving this bed until I'm healed, Tammy. No more of your stupid ideas. Hear me?"

"I hear you, Eldon. You can make all the decisions from here on. I'm not allowed to make anymore mistakes. Mama said so."

Fleming Residence. Valier. Montana.

This was the third time me and Virge had driven down to Paula's house in Valier.

Virge knocked and Paula came to the door looking extra pretty today with her hair down long and makeup on. She was dressed up like she was going somewhere.

"You going out, Mrs. Fleming?" I asked.

"No. Why are you boys here again?"

"We're here to bring you to the station. The sheriff has some questions he'd like to ask you."

She laughed and tossed her long hair. "I'm not going anywhere with you boys, so you can forget that."

Like lightning was up his ass, Virgie grabbed Paula Fleming, pulled her arms behind her back like he'd been doing it since he was four years old, and he snapped cuffs on her like a pro.

Paula screamed like we'd scalded her with boiling oil as we marched her out the front door and secured her in the back of the Jeep.

"No point screaming, ma'am," said Virge. "The sheriff wants you, and that's where you're going. Might as well sit back and enjoy the ride to the station."

"Shut up, you little prick."

Virgil laughed.

"What about my dogs?"

"You can give us a number of someone who will feed the dogs if you aren't back in time."

I was backing out the driveway when a pickup slowed down like it might be turning in, then it sped up and drove away.

"I got the tag," Virge whispered to me.

Sheriff's Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.

We parked at the back of the building and brought Paula in through the sally port. Virge ran ahead and asked Dad where he wanted her.

Travis stepped into the hall and pointed. "In the office, boys. Secure Mrs. Fleming to the bar on the desk. We'll talk in the office."

"You can't arrest me and haul me into your dirty little jail, Sheriff Frost. I've heard about you."

Travis smiled.

"I have rights," hollered Paula. "I want to call my lawyer and have him present during questioning."

"Shut up," said Travis. "I got low tolerance for screaming women on…" he turned his head. "What day is it, Harlan?"

"Friday."

"Yeah, Fridays."

Me and Virge stood against the wall and watched Dad handle Paula.

"You haven't been charged with anything, Mrs. Fleming," said Travis. "You can have your phone call right after I book you for conspiring to commit a triple murder. Until then, I'm going to ask you a couple of friendly questions."

"Friendly? There's nothing friendly about you, Sheriff. You look like a biker—long hair and tats. The stories about you are probably all true."

"Three people are dead, Paula," Travis barked at her, "and one of them was your husband, Harry. I want you to tell me how that happened because I'm pretty sure you know."

"I don't know. Harry went hunting and never came back. That's all I know."

Travis pounded the desk and me and Virge both jumped. "Who helped you move the trucks down to the Quarry Cutoff?"

"I don't know how Harry's truck got there. He told me he was going hunting."

"Lie." Travis leaned over the desk and shouted in Paula's face. "Harry was already dead before you ever called this office and reported him missing."

Virge raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

"No. Harry went hunting and never came home."

"Stick to your story, Paula. Attagirl. Hang on tight because things are going to get a lot rougher." Dad turned to us and said, "Go get coffee, boys. I've got this."

Me and Virge hurried down the hall to the break room and Virgie's hand was shaking when he poured coffee into his mug. "Wonder what Dad is saying to her."

I shrugged. "Just sending us out of the room would scare her a little. Worked for me."

"Yeah, me too. Made me think something bad was about to come down."

"Maybe it did," I said. "Maybe we got ourselves a confession."

Billy stuck his head in the break room. "Boys, get those four drug slingers to the courthouse for their arraignment. Hopefully they'll make bail, and we won't get them back. Take note of who picks them up if the judge releases them."

"Copy that."

Me and Virge drank one gulp of coffee down fast, left the rest, and went to get the druggies cuffed and into the back of the squads. Two apiece. Archie Twig wasn't ready to go yet. He couldn't even walk.

Molly had the nurse from the clinic in town come over and change the bandage on his leg. We had no infirmary, so the county paid the clinic staff extra when we needed medical.

Harrison County Courthouse. Coyote Creek.

Me and Virge dropped two druggies apiece at the back door of the courthouse and handed them over to the bailiff. We went inside, found the right courtroom and waited to see if we were getting them back.

They all made bail and had the cash for the bond. We waited like Billy said to see who picked them up and it was a dark red pickup with Alberta plates.

Virge wrote down the tag and we went back to the station. Job done.

"Our coffee is gonna be cold."

Sheriff's Office. Coyote Creek.

We came back and Ted was gone – taking Paula back home. Dad had released her, and I figured we were going with the surveillance plan.

Molly ran the tag on the pickup that was slowing down this morning when we picked Paula up in Valier and it belonged to Stacey Croft.

"Stacey Croft, boys. She's thirty years old and lives in Cut Bank. I've seen her before." Molly stared for a minute and said, "I'm pretty sure she works at the Inn in Cut Bank."

"Okay. That's interesting," I said. "Can you run this one next?"

"What does this have to do with the case?"

"Don't know. This is the truck that picked up our drug guys at the courthouse. It will have something to do with Archie Twig if the truck owner came to pick up Archie's little army."

"Right," said Molly. "Let's see who it belongs to." Molly tapped the keyboard on her computer. "Jeff Goodman. Address in Warner, Alberta."

"Yep. Probably lives in that first trailer park we went to in Warner looking for Tammy. We know right where that is. Thanks, Molly."

"No problem, dear."

Wild Stallion Ranch.

We did our chores without seeing any bears sneaking around the barn, but it was getting dark earlier every day, and with so much early snow, the bears would be out there searching for food.

At dinner Travis talked about letting Paula go and the surveillance we would put on her house in shifts.

"Didn't she break down at all?" asked Billy.

"Nope. She's solid on her story, but I don't believe her for a minute. Got to hand it to her, she didn't waver or shed a tear under pressure. She's good. Real good. Been coached by somebody or practiced beforehand, with her partner in crime."

"Maybe she practiced with her friend Stacey Croft," said Virge. "When we were grabbing her this morning, Stacey was coming to visit Paula. We got the tag from her truck."

Travis smiled. "Nice one, boys. We'll look into

Stacey Croft tomorrow and find out her dark secrets."

Billy chuckled.

"Molly said she thought she knew her from the Inn in Cut Bank."

"Even better," said Travis. "I'll take a drive over there tomorrow and call on her. She might know all about the triple murder. Girls like to talk."

Dry Run Roadhouse. Coyote Creek.

Friday and Saturday nights Jack had a country band playing at the roadhouse and he packed in a lot of customers from all over the county and beyond.

We were lucky to get a booth, and we got one not too far from the dance floor. Virge and I watched to see if there were any cute girls that weren't there with boyfriends. If they were at a table sitting with other girls, we'd go and ask them to dance.

A couple of illegal beers and we had ourselves a time. After a slow song ended, I took a pretty girl named Krissy back to her table. I sat down a little out of breath and took a sip of my beer. A woman I never saw before—long blonde hair, blue eyes and a couple of tats—sauntered over and asked Travis to dance.

Interesting.

Virge came back and plopped down. "Where's Dad?"

"Dancing with that blonde. She came and asked him to dance."

"Wowzer. Look at that. She's a looker."

"Ain't she?"