Page 38 of A Touch of Murder (Touched #1)

Barret set the box of donuts on his desk. "Becky sent us treats," he called to the other officers in the station. He pulled a chocolate one from the box and took a seat behind his desk as other officers rushed to get their favorites.

"If I wasn't already married I'd marry your sister just for her baking skills." Vance pulled out a cherry filled donut from the box.

"Does your wife know you feel that way?" Captain Russel asked as he found a glazed one.

"She'd probably compete with me for Becky's attention if she had the chance." Vance laughed.

Barret sighed. "No wonder my sister's still single. You guys only want her for her baking skills."

"Oh, trust me, if I was twenty years younger…" Vance winked at Barret.

"Yeah, if we were all twenty years younger, we'd all be a lot happier, and not just because of Becky and her baking." Captain Russel leaned against Barret's desk. "Anything new today?"

"Jefferson's cows got out again last night," Officer Rodgers told the captain.

"I said anything new." Captain Russel laughed.

"I'll head out and talk to Jefferson later today.

He hasn't paid any of the tickets we've issued.

We're at the point where we have no choice but to impound the cattle next time.

We'll see how he feels with impound fees and another ticket.

We've given him too many breaks. Those damn cows are probably trying to escape to a better place anyway.

" He turned his attention back to Barret. "What about our murder case?"

Barret just stared at him.

"That good, huh?" Captain Russel sighed. "Okay then. Let's verify the truck stop employees are all aware who these two are. Other than that, we can't do much until we have a sighting."

"Officers are checking the last known addresses of the two several times a week, but according to the families, they haven't heard from either one of them in a few months.

" Barret was more than frustrated. He did not want to let this case go cold.

"I've alerted everyone I can alert to be on the lookout, and Vance has dug into every case across the country where a woman's body has been found off the highway going back two years to make sure there's not a D.N.A match to either of our suspects. We've got nothing so far."

"I'm headed home to get some sleep. Thanks for the donut." Officer Rodgers left them.

"Sleep? What's that?" Barret debated on a second donut but decided against it.

"I know this case is getting to everyone. Trust me, I've lost sleep over it as well. We've done everything we can to find these men. All we can do now is wait and hope they're picked up somewhere." Captain Russel straightened. "I've got calls to make. Yell if anyone needs me. Tell Becky thank you."

Barret nodded, wishing there was something more he could do, but he'd made every call and hunted down every source he could to find these two.

With a full day of work ahead, he finished off his coffee.

"I've got to go handle that vandalism report that came in at the trail head. You want to go with?" he asked Vance.

"Sure, I might as well. Got to work off the donuts somehow. What's the report?" Vance stood.

"Jules gave it to me when I came in. I guess someone sprayed graffiti over all the trailhead signs. We need to get pictures of it and then head over to the Fish and Game offices and see if those cameras they put up in the area last year caught anything." Barret led the way outside.

"Isn't that something Fish and Game can handle?" Vance asked.

"It is, but we don't have anything better to do.

They've got two men out with injuries. I told Jules when she gave me the report that we could handle it.

" He liked their night dispatcher. She was good about knowing what was an emergency and what could wait.

She'd gotten the call at five this morning and she'd held off calling anyone to deal with it until the day shift had arrived and the sun was up so they could see what they were dealing with.

"The caller said there was no one in the area and the paint appeared dry already. "

"Who's injured over there?" Vance asked as they got in Barret's car.

"Brock broke his leg during that motorcycle accident, and Garret had surgery to repair his knee." Barret pulled out of the lot.

Vance reached over and turned the radio up. An old country song played as they made their way to the trailhead. "Did Becky like that necklace you got her?"

"She said she loved it, but I think Adam outdid me. She put the necklace he gave her on as soon as she got it. My gift sat in the box." Barret really wasn't jealous. He was glad Adam had found something Becky loved.

"Adam? Like Adam Wrecker?"

"Yeah, we invited him to Beck's dinner party." Barret slowed when he saw a deer grazing off the side of the road.

"I thought you didn't like him much. Didn't believe in what he did. I mean, I know he's been helping out on the case, but I assumed you were just grasping at any lead you could get," Vance said.

"We've actually become good friends. I know I didn't believe in his ability at first, but he's proven himself.

I mean, it's because of him that Maggie was able to get us those sketches of our suspects.

We had drawings of our suspects even before the D.N.A.

came back. He's actually pretty amazing.

You heard about Mrs. Kendal's necklace, right? "

"Yeah, rumor is it's worth millions. Crazy. Still, I didn't think you'd ever believe. You were pretty hard on him when we went in to talk to him that first day." Vance pointed at the fence they were passing. "That's the third break in Jefferson's fence I've seen as we pass his place."

"I don't think Jefferson leaves the house anymore. He's so far gone with alcoholism that he's all but forgotten he owns a ranch."

"Sad. I feel for his wife."

"So do I, but she's the one who sticks around.

She'd get a nice settlement if she left him now.

I fear she'll hold on to him until he has them deep into bankruptcy and they lose everything.

Her son could step up, but he's almost as useless as his father.

Got himself arrested in Boise the other night for D.U.I.

when he caused an accident on the highway.

" Barret had caught the report the morning after it happened and knew then that any chance of Jefferson's son stepping up to help on the ranch was slim to none.

"So back to Adam, you don't think he's a nutcase now?" Vance asked. "I mean, you did freak out at his place that day."

Barret sighed. "Those handcuffs I gave him to hold were never used. I had them sitting on my dresser with a bear my grandmother had given me years ago. What Adam picked up was my grandmother. That's why I freaked out."

"Damn." Vance laughed. "I told you before we went in not to doubt him."

"Yeah, lesson learned. I'd just never believed in any of that shit before. You have to admit there are a lot of charlatans out there." Barret pulled up to the trailhead and parked.

"Yeah, most are fakes, but not Adam." Vance opened his car door. "Damn, they sure messed up the place."

"Yeah." Barret got out of the car and looked at the spray paint across the signs and covering the poled fences.

Orange and red paint covered everything.

There were even words painted on the pavement.

Words that weren't something you wanted tourists to have to read, especially if they had young kids.

"I'll get pictures. Why don't you see if we can get hold of that church group that volunteers to clean up stuff?

Maybe we can get them out here to take care of this.

Let them know it's a big job." Barret wasn't even sure a power sprayer would handle some of it.

Some of the stuff might have to be repainted or replaced.

He pulled out his camera and started taking pictures of everything for the report while also looking for any evidence left behind that might tell them who did this.

Despite the vandalism, Barret was glad he'd taken the call.

It felt good to be out in the sunlight, surrounded by the trees.

He longed to head up one of the trails and get lost for a while.

It had been too long since he'd had time to go on a run or hike, and his body and mind both yearned for the escape.

Vance walked over. "They can't get out until this evening, but they said they'd handle it."

"Guess that has to be good enough. I'm glad it's a weekday.

Maybe there won't be a ton of tourists witnessing this.

Let's head over to the Fish and Game offices and see if their cameras caught anything.

" Barret looked around. If one didn't know where to look for the cameras, they were almost invisible.

A few years back they had trail cameras that were motion activated, but when those kept being stolen, they'd spent the money on a better system.

While it was also motion activated, the cameras were strategically hidden among the trees and would record video instead of just capturing photos.

The drive to the Fish and Game offices didn't take long and as they walked into the air-conditioned area, Barret realized how warm it was becoming outside.

Being a mountain town, they usually had cooler temperatures linger well into June, but it seemed this year the heat was going to start early.

"Morning, Mary. We've come to look over your camera footage. "