Chapter Thirteen

Friday, October 25 th .

Wild Stallion Ranch.

The house was cold when me and Virge got up. We slept upstairs and there was more heat downstairs. We had lots of quilts, but when we were forced to get out of bed, it was tough going.

"I can see my breath up here," said Virge. "Listen to the fuckin wind. It's gonna be a bitch out there today."

"The horses will be cold. I wonder if their water froze overnight again."

"Dad put a trouble light over the line and that might've helped," said Virge. "Let's go see how they're doing."

New snow was blowing around as we ran from the house to the barn. Once we were inside the barn and out of the wind, it was better, but not warm at all.

"Let's put two blankets on them for today," said Virge.

"Yeah, we could. What if we can't get to Shelby tonight for the movies?"

"Shit." Virge made a scary face. "Don't even say that, Harlan. We have to take the girls out. We fuckin promised them. If we don't come through, we'll never get a second fuckin date."

"Yeah, but if the roads are closed, there won't be much we can do."

Virge put his hands over his ears so he couldn't hear me. "I'm not listening to that shit, Harlan. It has to work out after all the effort we put into getting these fuckin dates."

The horses were okay when we left them, but I planned to drive home in the middle of the day to check on them. The temperature was dropping fast. Colder now than when we went to the barn according to the outside thermometer.

Fuck.

Things were icy cold in the kitchen too. Sunday wasn't talking to Billy and Dad shrugged when I cast him a glance. He didn't know what was going on and he wasn't asking. He was leaving it alone.

I figured she was still pissed about the bear thing. Billy making her come in and saving her life n'all.

"Dress warm today, boys. Parkas, hats and gloves. Don't worry about how y'all look. I don't want anybody with frozen fingers or toes. We might get accident calls. That kind of day."

We drank hot coffee after breakfast, and it went down good. "How bad is the storm gonna be?" asked Virge. "Hope it's over before me and Harlan go on our date."

Travis chuckled. "Y'all might have to give those girls a raincheck."

"No, Dad," said Virge. "Tell me that's not gonna happen. It took me so fuckin long to ask Vicki out. I bet she won't go out with me again if I have to raincheck her."

"Sure, she will," said Billy. "If the roads are closed, what are you gonna do about it, son?"

"Something," said Virge. "I'm doing something."

"You gonna take her out on the tractor with the snowplow on the front?" asked Billy.

Dad and Billy both chuckled at that one.

Sheriff's Office. Coyote Creek.

Travis perched his butt on the corner of Billy's desk and told him about his conversation with Mark Garson up at the customs office. "They never heard of Dan Darkers, so he's all ours if we want him."

"We need to put surveillance time in on Darkers," said Billy. "We can't arrest him until we have a clear idea of what we're arresting him for . Breaching his private property on the say-so of Molly's quilting group is pretty flimsy."

Travis laughed. "Yeah, it is. I'd planned to do it tonight when the boys are on their dates but with the storm coming, I'm not sure any of that is going to work out. We have Mrs. Ellington's funeral today. I want to be there to see who turns up feeling bad about her murder and who just turns up to test the waters."

"Ted will be on Van Cedar," said Billy, "and the boys are at the clothing store in Shelby with eyes on the driver of the Jag."

"I think we've got it covered off," said Travis.

Van Cedar Residence. Conrad.

Ted started his day of surveillance at the Van Cedar residence, and when Graham Van Cedar left for the day dressed in a suit and wearing an overcoat and hat, Ted put his truck into gear and followed.

Going in the opposite direction of his office, Graham took the ramp for the interstate and headed north.

When he took a left onto route two, Ted figured Van Cedar was going to Sandra Ellington's funeral in Coyote Creek.

All the better. While he was at the funeral, Travis and Billy could keep an eye on him and Ted could catch up on work at the station.

Hoover's Men's Wear. Shelby.

Parked across the road from the suit store, me and Virge watched for the Jag driving out of the parking lot behind the store.

"Here he comes," said Virge. "It's ten o'clock. Is he on a coffee break?"

"No clue." I put the Jeep in gear and got ready to go. "Let's see where the liar is going."

"Looks like he's heading for Coyote Creek," said Virge after we'd been driving for about ten minutes. "Maybe he's coming to our station to turn himself in."

I laughed. "That would be handy, wouldn't it? Case closed and we wouldn't have to do no more work on it."

"I've heard of guilt getting the best of people," said Virge. "Sometimes they even off themselves after they've killed a whole rack of people."

"Suit guy didn't strike me as one of those. He's too high on himself to do himself any serious damage. I figure he looks in the mirror a lot. One of those guys."

Following him through Coyote Creek, Hoover drove down Main right past our shop, turned the corner and parked behind the funeral home.

"He's going to Sandra Ellington's funeral," said Virge. "Guess we'll go too."

"Copy that."

Coyote Creek Funeral Home.

At eleven a.m. Travis and Billy sat down in the back row of the funeral chapel and waited for the service to begin. Looking across the sea of faces for anyone they recognized from the case, Billy noticed Mister and Mrs. Blake, Graham Van Cedar and a couple of the other neighbors from Kings Court.

"The boys just came in," Billy whispered. "Their guy must be here and they're watching him."

"Huh. Lots of suspects all gathered here," said Travis. "Be interesting to see who's talking to whom at the reception afterwards."

"Is the reception here?" asked Billy.

"Nope. Susan told me we were hosting it at the Inn."

"Oh, a little fancier," said Billy. "That might produce some results."

"If we have eyes on all the suspects, the boys can go on home. They don't have to hang around waiting for their guy to take off."

"We'll talk to them in the parking lot afterwards," said Billy.

After the service, Travis told the boys they didn't have to come to the reception at the Inn. They could go on home and do the chores, warm up the horses and then get showered for their big dates.

"I'm still not sure how good the roads will be by eight o'clock tonight," said Travis. "Wait and see."

"Thanks for the time off, Dad," I said. "I wanted to go home mid-day anyway to spend some time in the barn. It's too fuckin cold in there for the horses with only two of them."

"Take the dogs out there to make extra body heat and lay down a double layer of straw in the stalls."

"Copy that. Double straw will help."

"Make sure the heater is on max while y'all are in the barn, then turn it down to medium when y'all leave. I don't like it on high when nobody is out there."

"Got it, Dad," I said.

"Yep. Safety first," said Virge. "Don't want to burn our barn down."

Coyote Creek Inn.

Travis spoke to Susan, the manager, as soon as he arrived and made sure everything was exactly the way Bob Ellington had arranged for his wife's reception.

Susan assured him the food and the bar were perfect and Bob had requested a dark roast coffee and Earl Grey tea for those who weren't coffee drinkers.

"We're ready, Travis. A couple of extra girls on to serve behind the buffet table, and Joey behind the bar. All set." She smiled. "Mister Ellington should be pleased."

"I'm sure he will be. Thanks, Susan."

Cassie and Ray Blake came through the front door and hung their coats in the cloak room. Ray seemed every bit as upset as Cassie and Travis wondered if he was a visitor to the Ellington house when his wife wasn't looking, or if he was just missing his neighbor a lot.

Billy pointed out Graham Van Cedar when he arrived. Travis had never met the lawyer from Conrad who was a frequent visitor to Sandra's house and claimed to be in love with her.

"Point out the tailor who drives the Jag," whispered Travis. "I've never seen him either."

Billy pulled up a picture on his phone that Harlan had sent him, and he showed Travis. "This is the suit guy the boys are sure is lying about why he was seen at the Ellington's place."

Travis glanced around at the crowd near the coffee station and nodded. "Yep, I see him over there. He's talking to Bob Ellington."

"Made custom suits for him, so the story goes."

Almost all the neighbors from Kings Court were in attendance. One dark-complexioned muscular guy crammed into a black suit didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the group. He was alone. Shoulder-length hair and a scar at the corner of his mouth.

Travis recognized him from his DL photo.

Dan Darkers.

He leaned close to Billy. "See that guy in the black suit?"

"Yeah, I see him. Who is that?"

"Dan Darkers."

"Aw, fuck. What's he doing here?"

"No idea. Not one."

"I'm watching Van Cedar and he's got eyes on everybody. That guy is a danger to himself and to us."

"You think he's trying to catch Sandra's killer by himself?"

"Sure do. What if he picks the wrong person and offs him?"

"Aw, fuck that," said Travis. "Keep him in your sights."

At the end of the afternoon when the guests left, Bob Ellington thanked Travis for the wonderful food and service. "I had no idea you owned the Inn, Sheriff, but you have a marvelous business here. Impeccable service and lovely taste."

"Thank you. I try to keep everything exactly the way Olivia liked it."

"Everyone in Coyote Creek is aware of her tragic accident on Main Street. I had no idea you had a personal relationship with the lady. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you. I had to get away for a few days, and I'm not sure I'll ever be over it."

"I understand how you feel, Sheriff."

Wild Stallion Ranch.

The roads were already getting slippery on our way home and I asked Virge, "Do you think we can make it to Shelby by nine o'clock?"

Virge tossed a bale of straw down from the loft and hollered, "Hell ya, we can. We're driving the mighty Jeepster, bro. We can plow through anything in four-wheel drive."

"I hope you're right. We're picking the girls up at eight in Coyote Creek and that gives us an hour to make the nine-o'clock show in Shelby."

"Easy peasy," said Virge. "No need to worry your head over it."

"Can't see it being easy. If there's even one accident on route two, we'll never make it in time."

"Stop talking like that. We'll make it."

As soon as the boys left to pick up their dates in Coyote Creek, Billy and Travis headed north to Sweetgrass to watch the activity at the Darkers' place.

"Can't believe he came to Sandra Ellington's funeral," said Billy. "I don't see the connection there, Travis."

"Maybe he knew her from a long time ago—like maybe high school or something like that. There's any number of ways he might have known her."

"Yeah, I guess. Just seemed so odd when we're interested in him— bingo —there he is dressed up in a suit and standing right in front of us."

"Kind of strange, but there has to be an explanation."

"Wish I knew what it was. It's kind of freaking me out. I don't believe in coincidence or fate or any of that spooky shit."

"Me neither," said Travis. "We'll find out the connection and it will all make sense."

Cinema Complex. Shelby.

Virge had Vicki's address written down and he punched it into the GPS. She and her mother didn't live above the laundromat, but there were apartments in that building on Main Street. She lived a couple of blocks over in a blue bungalow with white shutters.

"Cute house. I'll wait here while you run in and get her."

Vicki was waiting inside with her coat on, and she ran out holding Virge's hand. They jumped into the back seat, and I felt like their chauffeur.

I drove around to the address I had for Penny and pulled up close to the garage she lived above. "Be right back."

The outside set of stairs was pretty shaky in the high wind, and I wondered if the steps would be safe if they got weighed down with snow and ice.

A quick knock on the door and the roommate opened it. "You must be Harlan."

"Yep. Is Penny ready?"

"Almost. She was late getting off work because of the storm. People were slow checking out and getting to their cars."

"Yep. Can see that happening."

Penny grabbed her coat and wound a red scarf around her neck.

"You got a hat? It's windy out there."

"I won't need a hat."

"Okay, if you're sure. I was just thinking—you know if we get stuck and have to walk to a garage or some shit like that."

Her brown eyes opened wider. "Is that going to happen, Harlan?"

"Hope not, but it's a bitch out there."

The roommate shoved a toque at her. "Shove this in your purse in case the worst happens."

Penny laughed. "Okay. I'm all set."

The fuckin stairs outside were a goddamned nightmare. Penny had leather boots on, and she could barely stand up on the icy stairs.

"Bad boots."

I held onto her until we got to the bottom, then I opened the passenger door, and she jumped inside.

"Hi, everybody. I'm Penny."

"Hi, Penny. I'm Vicki, and this is Virgil, my hot date."

Virge laughed. "Hi, Penny. Your steps look dangerous."

"For sure they are," I said. "If that ice freezes solid, she'll never get up to her fuckin apartment."

Route two had been plowed and we made it to Shelby without passing any accidents. The movie was fun, and we bought the girls Cokes and popcorn and had us a fun time.

Afterwards, we stopped off for pizza and Virge clowned around and made us all laugh. Pretty fun date and I hoped the girls thought so.

We got them home just after midnight and made sure they got inside safe. Kissed them goodnight and that was the end of it.

The hard part was driving north to the ranch. The road was filling in with drifts and the Jeep had to buck through the deep snow.

"We'd better check the horses before we go to bed, Virge. Make sure they're warm enough."

"Yeah. We might have to turn the heater on high and stay out there an hour until the barn is warm enough."

"Copy that."