Chapter Twelve

Thursday, July 11 th .

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Annie, Rowdy and the kids put their luggage by the door before we sat down for our last breakfast together. Nobody was saying much because we were all kind of sad our vacay time was ending.

“We’re sorry to see y’all leave us,” said Travis. “Been a fun time for me and the boys having y’all here with us.”

“Been fun for us too,” said Annie. “We’ve got several rodeos to participate in on the way back to Texas and then a lot more of them in Texas and Arizona after that.”

“Hope y’all do as well as y’all did yesterday,” said Travis. He turned and grinned at Lucy. “I don’t think this young lady will have too many racers who will touch her.”

“There are some world class barrel racers in Texas,” said Rowdy. “Lucy and Buckshot will have to be at their best to beat some of those girls.”

Travis laughed. “I remember when Tyler was dating Lightning Lizzy Rideout way back when. That was a time. That girl was married with three kids, and she was a wild one. When Tyler found out she was married to a rodeo rider, he broke up with her and she came to the Quantrall ranch and shot out the dining room window. I believe she shot Jesse in the bargain.” Travis chuckled. “You boys watch out for those wild barrel racers.”

We helped load the horses and everybody hugged everybody else as we said goodbye out by the corral.

Virge thanked Annie, our step-mom, again for bringing his horse to Montana for him.

I was so sad to see Lucy get into the back of Annie’s truck, I thought I might lose it. I waved to her and figured she would cry enough for both of us.

“Goodbyes are sad,” said Dad. “Let’s get to work and forget about the people we’re missing.”

“Copy that, Dad.”

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.

We hadn’t been in the office ten minutes when Molly got a call on the landline. “Where are you now, sir? Can you describe your location to me?”

Molly scribbled on her yellow pad, and I could see her drawing a little map as she listened to what the caller was saying.

I waited and when Molly ended the call, she looked kind of pale like she was upset. “Who’s dead, Molly? You don’t usually look like that when you take a call. I figure you know the victim.”

“I do, Harlan. Old Carny Burkholder says he was standing on the riverbank and Kody Kollard just floated by his bait shop. He tried to snag Kody’s body into shore but couldn’t get him.”

“Jesus in a handcart,” hollered Travis. “Nobody is safe in this fuckin county and I’m the one supposed to be protecting them. Where in hell’s half acre is the bait shop, Molly?”

“On the Milk, south of the Ethridge turnoff. I drew you a picture.” She ripped the page off her yellow pad and handed it to Travis.

“Call Fish and Wildlife, Molly. Find out where Kody’s last call was. Who did he talk to last? Find out if Kody had a wife. Billy, you take the wife or next.”

“Copy that.”

“I’ll call you from the river, Billy.”

Billy nodded and stayed behind waiting for Molly to find the next of kin and the other information Travis wanted. Kody’s last call as a game warden would be a good place to start the investigation.

Medical Center. Beaumont. Texas.

Tammy had swerved off the road a couple of times on the trip from Midway down to the I-10 and then east to Beaumont.

Dizzy spells started coming over her in a wave and for a few seconds she couldn’t see the road and was close to passing out.

“Lost too much blood,” she mumbled to herself.

When she saw the sign for the medical center in Beaumont, she turned into the parking lot and found a spot for the big Freightliner.

She limped into the waiting room, her torn jeans soaked in blood and sticking to her leg like a second skin. She couldn’t sit down on the chairs without soaking them with her blood.

“Can I see a doctor?” she asked the nurse at the front desk. “I got bit by a dog and my leg is bleeding…really a lot.”

“What’s your name?”

“Tammy… James.”

“Take a seat and I’ll call you when it’s your turn,” said the nurse

“I can’t sit down. I’m covered in blood.”

The nurse hopped up and came around the desk to verify the blood situation. She made a face when she caught a glimpse of the exposed part of Tammy’s ripped leg. “Follow me, Tammy. You can wait in an exam room.”

Tammy limped along behind the nurse at snail speed. When they got to the room, the nurse closed the door and helped Tammy onto the examination table.

“We have to get those jeans off and they’re stuck in the blood. It’s going to hurt.”

“Yeah, it will,” said Tammy, “but they have to come off.” The nurse helped her, and it was slow going getting the sticky denim over the gaping wound, but they removed the jeans.

A huge hole had been savagely ripped in the right thigh area of Tammy’s leg. Cleo had sunk her fangs in with purpose when Tammy threatened to touch Eldon.

“Oh, my, this is a terrible bite. You must have lost an inordinate amount of blood. Let me get the doctor for you.”

“Thanks.” Tammy laid back on the table and closed her eyes.

When she woke up, the doctor was working on her leg, and she hadn’t even seen him come into the room.

He smiled down at her. “You’re awake. What’s your name?”

“Tammy.”

“Well, Miss Tammy, that’s about the worst dog bite I have ever seen. What kind of dog was it?”

“Huge black one. Don’t know what kind but I heard Eldon call her Cleo.”

“A female dog. Did it belong to a neighbor?”

“No. My boyfriend.”

“Huh. You should get a new boyfriend.”

“You may be right.”

The doctor finished sewing Tammy up and then the nurse bandaged up her leg. The bandage was large and thick with gauze. Felt good against her sore leg.

“You won’t be able to get your jeans on over the bandage, Tammy,” said the nurse. “Do you have anything else you can wear?”

“No.” She thought about it for a minute. “Maybe. My dirty uniform pants are in the bottom of the bag in my truck. They aren’t tight. I can wear them.”

“If you give me the truck keys, I can get them for you.” The nurse smiled. “The waiting room is full of patients, and you can’t walk out there half-naked.”

Tammy dug in her purse and handed the keys to the nurse. It’s the big rig cab out there. You’ll have to climb up on the sidestep.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Tammy was a bit surprised when the nurse came back so quickly with the uniform pants and helped her get them on. “They’re dirty, but they’ll do until I get to my hotel.”

“You’re a police officer?”

“Yes, deputy sheriff.”

The nurse gave Tammy a little vial of pain pills and made her take two with a glass of water before helping her to the front desk.

Tammy leaned on the desk and paid the bill with one of Darryl’s credit cards. “Thank you so much for helping me.”

“Take care of that leg, Tammy. You’re going to need more gauze and tape and antiseptic cream to keep it clean while you heal.”

Tammy nodded. “I’ll go to a drugstore right away.”

She limped out of the clinic, struggled with the climb into the truck and cried behind the wheel when she finally made it.

“Those pills are making me sleepy. I need a motel room and a bed.”

Burkholder Bait Shop. Milk River. Montana.

The bait shop on the bank of the Milk smelled of fish and cigar smoke. A twelve-by-twelve wooden shack with a heater in the corner for cold mornings, a double refrigerator for the bait and a short counter stained with mystery splotches.

“Mister Burkholder, you called for the sheriff?”

“Did so, Sheriff Frost. Scariest thing I ever saw, especially first thing in the dang morning. Kody Kollard floated by when I went out back to check the minnow traps.”

“How long ago was that sir?”

“I called your office right away—not five minutes later—so whatever time that was, Sheriff.”

“Molly took the call at eight twenty,” said Virge.

“Okay, then,” said Carny. “The game warden passed by here at eight fifteen. I know it was him because he’s here lots checking on fishing licenses and like that.”

“Was he wearing his uniform?” asked Travis.

“You bet he was. Had his uniform on. No hat. Musta lost his hat further upstream. Bit puffed up from taking on all that water n’all.”

“When he passed your place he was going in the direction of the current?”

“Course he was, Sheriff.” Carny gave Travis a look. “What other way could he go? No dead bodies ever go against the current. You testing me?”

“No, sir. Just a confirmation. I guess it sounded like a stupid question.”

Carny Burkholder smiled and pulled a half-smoked cigar out of his shirt pocket. He shoved it into his mouth and didn’t light it.

“We’re gonna need a boat, Mister Burkholder.”

“Best you and your boys get along the road to Buddy’s place. Milk Marina. Buddy will fix you up with a boat. Maybe he even saw Warden Kollard go by. Never know.”

“Thanks for your help, Mister Burkholder,” said Travis. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Jesus, Dad,” said Virge as we hustled out to the truck. “Let’s hurry up and get ourselves a boat. We’re never gonna catch up to Kody on foot.”

“True dat, Virgil. Drive us along this road to Buddy Leeson’s place. It ain’t far.”

While Virge zoomed along the winding river road, Travis called Billy at the station. He always put the station calls on speaker so we could all hear.

“Hey, boss. Was it Kody for sure?”

“Not for sure yet, Billy. Better hold off on the notification for now. The body is floating downstream and we’re on our way to rent a boat. I’m hoping we can catch up.”

“But it might not be Kody?”

“Carny Burkholder says it was Kody wearing his uniform n’all, but we can’t make a notification without a positive ID. As of now, we don’t have the body.”

“Copy that. Call me when I’m good to go.”

“Will do. Shouldn’t be too much longer.”

Milk Marina. Milk River. Montana.

Wasn’t far at all to the boat rental. Virge rammed the truck into park, and we all ran inside to get the ball rolling. Travis told Buddy Leeson, the boat guy, the story and Buddy frowned.

Late thirties, dark brown hair, outdoor tan. Buddy was only around in the summer to run his boat rental business. Where he went in the winter when Montana was covered in snow and ice, nobody knew.

Buddy Leeson was a bit of a local legend, especially with the ladies.

“Happy to help you, Sheriff. We’ll take my boat. She’s all ready to go. I know Kody pretty well. He’s always here working the river, checking licenses and whatnot when it ain’t time for hunting season.”

Travis nodded. “He keeps busy with fishing season in the summertime.”

“Kody’s a friendly guy. Who the fuck would kill him?”

“Let’s find out, Buddy,” said Travis. “These are my boys, Harlan and Virgil.”

Buddy grinned at us. “Heard you got yourself a couple of good-looking boys, Sheriff. Lots of gossip along the river.”

“Oh yeah? You hear anything about the murders?”

“The two poachers Jed Carpenter shot?”

“Any talk about that?”

“Just that Jed’s gonna get away with it. You ain’t got no proof for the DA and Carpenter is laughing his ass off at you. That’s all I heard.”

“Fuck that,” said Travis.

“You think he turned around and killed Kody just to piss in your potatoes, Sheriff?”

“Jesus, I hope not.”

Dad was getting a little red in the face.

“Heard Carpenter was a genuine prick, Sheriff.”

“You heard right, Buddy. He ain’t anybody I would drink with.”

“Heard he was having trouble keeping his boy under control,” said Buddy. “Might be just a rumor.”

We walked along the dock and were almost to the boat when Buddy turned and hollered, “Watch the store, Cherry. Don’t you get fuckin high and miss any customers or I’ll boot your bare ass all the way back to Krystal’s.”

“She’s a stripper?” asked Virgil.

Buddy laughed as he started the big Evinrude engine. “She thinks she is, Virgil, but I’ll tell you a secret, Cherry don’t know the right side of the pole from the left. She ain’t first tier.”

I chucked as I climbed into the boat after Virge. Buddy was a funny guy.

“The Milk has a pretty strong current, Sheriff.” Buddy hollered to Travis over the noise of the motor. “How far behind are we?”

Travis checked his watch. “Carny Burkholder saw the body pass the bait shop at eight fifteen.”

“Five after fuckin nine,” hollered Buddy. “He’s gonna be close to the bridge over the interstate by now.”

Buddy gave the engine more gas, the boat sped up, spray shooting into our faces as we swerved all over the river. A few minutes later, the interstate bridge loomed dead ahead.

“Look for Kody,” hollered Buddy. “He can’t be far from here.”

Scanning the surface of the wide river, I saw the body knocking against the mud bank on the other side. I stood up trying to keep my balance and pointed. “Over there. I see him on the other side.”

“Good eye, Harlan.” Buddy turned the boat around so fuckin fast he knocked me back on my butt.

Virge laughed at me, and I gave him the finger.

Buddy pulled the boat up close to Kody’s body and cut the engine. “He’s gonna be harder than a muskie to get into the boat.”

Buddy was right about that. Kody was waterlogged and slippery and slimy and he gave us a lot of trouble while we were lifting him out of the water.

We struggled getting Kody’s dead weight into the boat. Buddy was skilled at leaning over the side and lifting fish or nets or whatever and he helped Travis a lot. With a lot of grunting and groaning, we finally got Kody up and over.

Severely waterlogged, Kody flopped onto the bottom of the boat and brought a lot of the Milk River with him. There was a good two inches of water covering the bottom of the boat and it all came from Kody’s body.

Buddy drove us back to his marina, tied up the boat and helped us get Kody onto the dock. That’s where we sat waiting for Doctor Olsen to come from the morgue in Cut Bank.

“Thanks for your help, Buddy,” said Travis. “You be sure to bill Harrison County for the boat rental and for your time too. You helped us out a lot today.”

“Feel bad about Kody, Sheriff. Who in hell would kill a nice guy like that?”

“I’m gonna find out,” said Travis. “We all liked Kody. Somebody is gonna pay for taking him out.”

“Must have been killed somewhere past Carny’s bait shop.” Buddy frowned. “I’m trying to think what’s up there and can’t recall much of anything.”

“I’ll drive up there and have a look tomorrow,” said Travis. “Tramp over every fuckin inch of it if I have to. I’ll find the crime scene.”

“Yeah, we’ll find out where the murder happened.”

Doctor Olsen arrived a few minutes later and examined Kody Kollard’s bloated body. “I can’t see an obvious cause of death, Travis. Sorry.”

“I can wait until you examine him at the morgue, Doc, but I don’t see gunshot wounds in his chest like the other two victims.”

“I agree. This is not the same MO, and I can’t rule out accidental drowning until the autopsy is complete. I’ll get at it as soon as I can.”

“We’ll help you with the body bag and get him in the van for you before we go back to the station,” said Travis.

On the way back to the shop, Travis called Billy and told him that Kody Kollard was definitely deceased and he should proceed with the notification.

“I was hoping it wasn’t him,” said Billy.

“I think we all were,” said Travis. “Damned shame, that’s what it is.”

Walgreens. Lafayette. Louisiana.

Tammy spotted a drug store and went in to buy the medical stuff to take care of her leg like the nurse told her to do.

She grabbed a cart and leaned on it heavily while she shopped. She roamed the aisles and picked up a couple more T-shirts and then spent a few minutes in the cosmetic section buying new makeup.

Tammy hadn’t spent much time on herself since they let her out of the hospital jail, and she needed to do better. Eldon used to say she was beautiful, but he hadn’t said that lately. He was still mad at her, but he’d get over it.

Passing the pain section, she bought extra-strength Advil—large size. The pain pills the nurse had given her worked the best, but they were going fast and she’d soon be out of them. Every time they wore off, the pain in her leg drove her insane. She cursed Eldon’s dog and wanted to kill it more with every passing day.

“I ever see you again, Cleo, you are a dead fucking dog.”

Tammy left the drugstore and concentrated on finding a place to stay. Even though finding Eldon was her first priority, she had to lie down and put her leg up if it was going to have any chance of healing. Driving the Freightliner made her leg ache, and she needed a long break to get the healing started.

“I need a motel where I can park the truck in front of my room and walk right in. No stairs or long hallways.”

Gulfview Motel. Breaux Bridge. Louisiana.

Tammy didn’t find the perfect motel until she drove out of Lafayette along the I-10 and came to Breaux Bridge. There it was at the side of the highway with a red neon vacancy sign in the window.

She parked the big bruiser next to the office and limped inside to get a room. The clerk behind the desk noticed the size of the truck Tammy was driving and gave her the room at the end of the motel.

“You’ll have more room for your truck down at the far end, Miss,” said the clerk as he slid her key across the counter. “Enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you.”

Tammy parked in the last spot, took her bags with her and went into her room. Clean room with a bed and that’s all she cared about. Sleeping in the truck was an option, but with her leg the way it was, she needed a bathroom to change the dressing. Not the ladies’ room at a truck stop with nosy women watching her and asking questions.

She took off her uniform pants to check her leg for leakage and there wasn’t much. Only a couple of spots had soaked through. Tammy decided to leave the bandage changing until after she woke up. One pain pill and she was out cold.

Gold Mine Hotel. Lafayette. Louisiana.

Bobby did a lot of deep thinking about how to cash the bank draft and where he should do it that would leave little or no paper trail.

He finally came up with what he figured was a brilliant idea. He’d cash it in a casino at a teller’s cage letting on he needed it for a big game.

They’ll be into cashing paychecks for suckers. No fuckin doubt about it.

That’s the very reason he stopped at the Gold Mine in Lafayette. He was going to give it a shot.

Bobby walked into the lobby—so fuckin brightly lit, it was almost blinding. He blinked a couple of times, got his bearings and headed for the casino.

Rows of slot machines and then the table games. He looked up and read the signs. Washrooms. Restaurants. Players’ Club. Poker Room. Gift Shop. Cashier.

A short lineup at the long row of cashier cages. Bobby waited his turn, then presented his check to the girl in front of him. She looked twice at the amount and had to get approval from her supervisor to cash it.

“No problem, sir. It will just take a few minutes to get you that much cash.”

“I’m happy to wait,” said Bobby. He stood in front of the cage and watched the other patrons make their transactions. Some cashed in a lot of chips, and others needed another hundred bucks in cash from their credit card to keep on losing.

Bobby would never be that person. He wasn’t a gambler. No inclination in that direction.

The supervisor came with his money and counted it out in large denominations to him. “Envelope?”

“Yes, please.”

She provided him with an envelope, bulging with cash, which Bobby shoved into his pocket. As he left the cages, he glanced around to see if anyone had been watching him. If they had noticed the large amount of cash the teller gave him, he could be in trouble.

Never in trouble one on one, but if two or three guys jumped him, he’d be toast.

Always a danger.

Seeing no one in the immediate area, he strolled slowly through the casino towards the lobby. Bobby reached the revolving doors and glanced over his shoulder as he pushed through. Nobody watching him. Nobody behind.

By the time he got to the Wrangler, he had picked up two gangers and he was in trouble. Where did they come from? Had they seen him at the cashier’s cage?

First thing he did was open the door and let Cleo out. While she snarled and growled at the guys who were closing in, Bobby reached under the seat and grabbed his tire iron.

The gangers moved closer to Bobby and Cleo attacked them without hesitation. She tore into the lower legs of both of the thugs forcing them to the pavement.

On the ground and vulnerable, it was super easy for Bobby to crack them over the head with his tire iron. Two good cracks apiece and they were in la la land.

He whistled for Cleo, and she came running. Bobby patted her on her big head and told her what a good girl she was. They jumped into the Wrangler and got the hell out of Lafayette.

Silver Star Motel. Biloxi.

Adrenaline surging through his veins after the attack, Bobby stood on the gas and pushed the speed limit across the interstate.

On the lookout in the rearview for lights or sirens or both, he kept going. The farther away from the Gold Mine Casino, the better.

It was late when he found a motel that suited him outside of Biloxi. He checked into the one-story stucco facility and was given room one ten.

“Come on, Cleo. A short run around the property and then I’ll make your supper. You must be hungry, girl.”

Wagging her tail, Cleo ran around the perimeter fence, did her business and ran right back to Bobby.

He leaned down and gave her a hug. “You saved my life. What a good girl you are.”