Chapter Sixteen

Monday, July 15 th .

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Mister and Mrs. Arnott were sitting in the parking lot behind the station waiting for us to arrive at eight o’clock in the morning.

Billy jumped out of his truck and unlocked the door into the sally port. He and Ted went inside while Travis talked to the Arnotts, and they introduced the attorney they’d hired.

Travis shook his hand. “Nice to see you again, Mister Van Cedar. I can let you have twenty minutes with Graham Arnott, but his parents will have to see him at the courthouse. They can wait in the car or in the squad room.”

“We need to see our son,” said Mister Arnott. “We have rights.”

Tired of explaining it, Travis shook his head. “Not until he gets to the courthouse. Sorry.”

“Harlan, show Mister Van Cedar where Graham is in the run.”

“Copy that.”

When the Arnott’s left for the courthouse, it was time to get the prisoners ready to go too. We secured Graham Arnott and Trevor Carpenter in the back of the squad and neither one of them said a word.

The silence was new for Trevor, but now that his father was dead and he was on his own to face what he’d done, the gravity of his situation was taking hold.

Both boys were pasty white and looked scared shitless. They should be. They were both going down for murder and they’d spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Watson Cabin. Great Smokies. North Carolina.

Tammy woke up on a narrow bed with her leg propped up on a cushion. Her hair was pulled back, and she felt a bandage on the left side of her head. Her left arm was taped in place tight to her body and she couldn’t move it.

“How are we doing this morning, Tammy?”

“Better. Thank you for helping me, Willy-John. You are a kind person.”

“I’m making some breakfast. Do you feel like eating anything? Your stomach could be off after all the trauma you’ve been through.”

“I could eat a piece of toast.”

“Sure. That’s an easy one. I’m cooking on my hotplate because the weather is too warm to light the woodstove.”

“I’m not hot.”

“No, you wouldn’t be. You haven’t got enough blood left inside you to even keep you lukewarm. Your body has to work for a while to top you up.” He smiled and Tammy smiled back at him.

“I can imagine what a mess I must be.”

“You look fine to me, Tammy. I’ll get your toast. How about coffee?”

“I’d like coffee. I drink a lot of it.”

“You smoke too?”

“My smokes and everything else I own is in my truck. I missed a turn and rolled my Freightliner down the mountain.”

“You’re lucky to be alive.”

“You are my only luck, Willy. I don’t deserve a person as nice as you. I’m not worth saving.”

“Being kind of hard on yourself, aren’t you?”

“No. I had a great life and then things happened to me and I’m pretty sure I lost my mind for a while. This is the clearest thought I’ve had in weeks.”

“Glad I could help.”

Willy brought her a mug of coffee and a piece of toast and helped her sit up against the headboard so she wouldn’t spill the coffee.

The dogs barked and raised a big ruckus on the porch and Willy-John said, “Huh, sounds like we have company, Tammy. I’ll go see who it is.”

“Cops for me,” she mumbled.

“We’ll see.”

Willy-John went out and closed the door behind him.

The house was small and the walls thin. Tammy could hear the men talking outside and for sure it was all about her.

“Morning, Willy.”

“Nice to see you, Sheriff. Something I can help y’all with?”

“Probably not, but we’re checking every house on this road. A big Freightliner cab went through the guardrails way up at the lookout point. Helluva drop from way up there. Don’t know when we’ll ever get the truck out.”

“Huh,” said Willy. “No sign of the driver?”

“Not a trace of him, but for sure he’s hurt bad. The truck is covered in blood. A regular bloodbath.”

“Sounds like the driver couldn’t get far hurt that bad,” said Willy. “Maybe he crawled into the bush and bled out. Wolves will make a meal of him or more likely a cougar dragged him off. The mountain cats like to hide their food and save it for later.”

“Could happen just that way,” said the sheriff. “The driver had a girl with him and her belongings were in the truck. Her name is Tammy Bristol. Deputy Sheriff, Tammy Bristol. She’s a wanted fugitive and she’s written up as armed and dangerous.”

Willy smiled. “I ain’t seen anybody but if I see either one of them, I’ll call the office.”

“Thanks, Doc. Appreciate it.”

Willy took George and Gracie into the cabin and locked the door.

“I should leave, Willy-John. I’m only going to cause trouble for you. You’re a good, sweet person, and I’m poison to everyone around me.”

Tammy held out her good arm and the dogs ran over to her. “My dad has nice dogs.”

“Where’s your father, Tammy?”

“In Montana. He’s the sheriff up near the Canadian border. That’s where I came from. Way up north, but I can’t go back. Too many bad things have happened and I’m responsible for most of them.”

“All that can wait, Tammy. Today and for at least the next week, you have to stay here and heal. You are not ready to go anywhere. I mean that. You physically can’t be moved right now. You have some extremely serious wounds that are trying to heal.”

“I’m in your bed and you only have one.”

“I have a spare in the barn out back and I plan on bringing it in and setting it up for you today. Not a problem.” He stood up and examined the leg propped on the pillow. “This is an animal bite and a vicious one. Was it a dog?”

“Yes, a huge black dog named, Cleo.”

“You knew the owner?”

“I know him, but I’m never going to see him again. I realize now that all my problems came from loving the wrong person. He’s a serial killer and I wouldn’t believe it when my step-mama told me that. Everything I did, was because of him. When the police find me, I’ll be going to jail for the rest of my life.”

Willy-John listened to the story Tammy told and felt bad for her. Another ruined life. Her story had a familiar ring to it.

Harrison County Courthouse. Coyote Creek.

Travis was happy to see lawyers from the DA’s office in Cut Bank sitting at the prosecutor’s table for the arraignment of Graham Arnott and Trevor Carpenter.

They would have stiff competition from Van Cedar, counsel for the Arnott boy. He was a competent attorney and would present a solid argument for bail.

Cases were called one by one, and Graham Arnott was called before Trevor Carpenter.

Mister and Mrs. Arnott sat across the aisle anxious to see their son and they were probably paying big bucks to Mister Van Cedar.

Graham stood in front of the judge and entered his plea of not guilty. Standard practice. Rare that anyone pleaded guilty anymore.

The judge spoke a few words to Graham and then Van Cedar argued for bail. First offense, two loving parents, about to go to college in September—all the usual stuff.

Bail was granted and the amount was high for murder of a state employee. A million dollars. The Arnotts would have to come up with a tenth of that. Cash or collateral of some sort.

They followed the bailiff, Mister Van Cedar and their son out of the courtroom and onto the next phase of freeing young Graham.

Trevor Carpenter was next. The bailiff brought him into the courtroom, and he had no lawyer to speak for him. His father was dead and wasn’t watching over him like before. Trevor was on his own.

The bailiff placed him in front of the judge, and he stood there staring. He answered the judge’s questions, then waited while the DA’s representative spoke with the judge about the dangers of granting bail to Trevor Carpenter, who’d previously been charged with two other murders.

Travis held his breath while the judge made his decision and this time he sided with the DA’s office and refused to grant Trevor bail.

“No bail. The prisoner will be held in the county jail until his court date. Case dismissed.”

“We’re getting Trevor back, Dad,” said Virgil. “He’s the asshole of the two. I’d rather have Graham.”

“I don’t want him out on bail,” said Travis. “With his father dead, who knows what the hell he’d be doing?”

“Yeah, that’s true,” I said. “That kid is a loose cannon.”

As we exited the courtroom, we ran into the big boss again, Oscar Fillmore. He stopped to talk to Travis about the arraignment.

“No bail for the Carpenter boy, Sheriff.”

“I’m happy about that, Warden Fillmore. The other boy isn’t a threat, and his parents won’t let him out of their sight.”

“My wardens have been doing badly in your area, Sheriff. Makes me wonder if…”

“If I’m doing my job? Is that what you were going to say, sir?” Travis had his back up in a split second and took a stance in front of the boss of the game wardens.

“Let’s go, Dad,” said Virge. “We’ve got shit to do at the station.”

Travis blew out a breath. “Yeah, I have to get going.”

On the drive back to the station, Dad said, “I need some thinking time, boys. Billy can handle what’s going on at the station and we’ll go up to the cabin for a couple of days. I’ve got some big decisions to make.”

“Sure, Dad,” said Virgil. “I want to see that fuckin bear that Sunday trained on a leash.”

“I’m not sure I want to see it,” I said.

“Nobody goes hiking up that mountain alone,” said Travis. “And not without a rifle.”

Shadow Mountain. West Virginia.

Bobby slept late and after he made himself a fried egg sandwich for breakfast, he took a mug of coffee outside and sat on his porch.

His cabin was the only one on this fire road. Isolated with no neighbors. Just the way he wanted it.

Cleo laid down on the porch floor next to Bobby’s chair and he patted her big head. “What did you think of Bev, Cleo? You growled at her. You didn’t like her much, did you?”

Cleo didn’t wag her tail.

“Me neither. I think she’s trouble. We’ll pass on her. Somebody else will come along that we like better.”

Coyote Creek Inn. Montana.

Travis was on time for his Monday morning meeting with Susan Westfall, the Inn manager and the new hire, Cassidy Sherrin.

They talked in Olivia’s old office and Cassidy seemed to be well on her way to learning everything she needed to know about how the Inn ran.

Friendly and polite, she was one of the prettiest girls he’d seen in a while, but a new relationship would be stressful and might be a bit much for the way he was feeling at the moment.

“I’m going to take a look in the private apartment, Susan. I’ll have to tackle it soon and clear things out.”

“Would you like me to go with you, Sheriff?”

“No. I’ll tackle it on my own. See how many boxes I’m going to need. Things like that.”

Dreading it, he unlocked the door to Olivia’s private space and stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and locked it.

The scent of her still lingered in the air and Travis realized it was too soon for him to be in there on his own. Maybe I’ll be able to do it when I get back from the cabin.

He turned around and left.

Watson Cabin. Great Smokies. North Carolina.

Willy-John left Tammy sleeping after breakfast and trudged out to the barn behind the house that he rarely set foot in.

He’d often thought of getting a horse and riding some of the beautiful mountain trails but had had nobody to ride with and he’d never followed through.

New thoughts were popping into his head since Tammy’s arrival and not all of them were welcome.

He sneezed twice as he moved through the pile of dusty old furniture searching for the single bed he’d taken out of the cabin when he first arrived.

“There it is.”

The dogs sniffed around the barn floor and would no doubt scare up a mouse or two.

He moved several things to get to the bed and found all the pieces. Headboard, footboard, side rails, slats and the mattress wrapped in plastic.

As he hauled the bed to the house a few pieces at a time Willy came to the conclusion that this was a better bed than the one he’d been sleeping on.

He leaned the pieces up against the wall in the main room of the cabin, not wanting to wake Tammy. He’d set up the bed later when she woke up.

He loved having her there in the cabin and taking care of her. She didn’t seem like a wanted fugitive to him, but he barely knew her. She was no longer armed, and she was too badly hurt to be a danger to anyone.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

After dinner Travis said, “We’ll go down to the roadhouse for a pitcher and in the morning we’ll feed the horses and then drive over to Black Wolf Mountain for a couple of days.”

“Yeah, you need some down time, Travis. I’ll take care of the horses, and Ted and I can run the station while you’re gone. We’ve got no open cases now.”

“Should we pack tonight?” asked Virge. “How early are we going to leave?”

“Not too early,” said Travis. “Don’t take long to get there.”

“What about food?” I asked.

“We’ll get that at the store in town before we go up the mountain. They have a decent grocery store in Black Wolf Pass.”

“Sounds like an adventure, Dad,” said Virge.

Dry Run Roadhouse. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Me and Harlan were worried about Travis. He had some of the signs that his PTSD was going to kick up again and we didn’t want that to happen.

Billy was afraid it was true and was encouraging Travis to take time off work.

We sat in our booth and drank beer while Dad talked to Jack at the bar. “What the fuck are we gonna do up there, Harlan?”

“We’re only going for a couple of days. We could play poker or something.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m gonna look for Sunday’s tame bear while I’m up there and I might hike all the way up to the cabin where she lived. Dad said he never went up that high after the wolves tore his leg up.”

“Yeah, we could hike up and see her place as long as we had our rifles with us. I’m not keen on meeting Sunday’s bear or any of its kin.”