Page 10 of Bait and Switch (Subtle Deceptions #2)
EIGHT
Gabriel
Tuesday morning
Gabe was dragged from a deep sleep into an irritated wakefulness by an impatient buzzing and raindrops thrumming insistently against the Ticket ’s deck and the wooden pier.
Sleep-addled, he blinked uncertainly up at the ceiling, forcing his brain to break through the crust of slumber.
Overnights on the sailboat had been hit-and-miss so far, sleepwise, but he was going to have to get used to it. There wasn’t an alternative.
Last night, or possibly this morning, he’d had a series of uncomfortable, murky dreams involving Peter. But now that his eyes were open, the images were quickly fading, and Gabe wasn’t awake enough yet to know if he was glad that he wouldn’t remember them.
Dammit, Peter, what the hell happened?
Yesterday’s unfortunate discovery forced itself to the front of his mind. Peter was dead and Gabe had been the one to discover his body on the sailboat kitty-corner from The Golden Ticket . There wasn’t even a frying pan to jump out of; he was in a whole potful of boiling water with no way out.
His phone started to buzz again.
“Fucking hell,” Gabe rasped.
Rolling over but managing to keep himself mostly under the covers to avoid the chilly fingers of the morning, Gabe patted around on the window ledge for his phone.
“’Lo?” He cleared his voice and tried again. “Hello?”
“Mr. Karne, when you didn’t answer, I thought you might have skipped town.”
Unfortunately, he was now awake enough to recognize the smug voice that belonged to the fuck weasel, Chief Deputy Spurring. Gabriel wasn’t sure who he disliked more, Deputy Spurring or Chief Rizzi. They seemed to have been cut from the same mold, just at different times.
“Nope, I told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”
“That’s good. We need you to come in and go over your statement. This morning.”
“Again?”
Gabe wanted to argue that he’d told them everything—and he had, mostly.
Instead, he reluctantly agreed to show up at the station in an hour.
After all, he had expected them to call him in again, but it didn’t mean that he’d been looking forward to it.
And the fact that he’d been there less than twenty-four hours ago didn’t bode well.
Ending the call, he immediately rang Elton.
“Since I promised I’d call you, I’m calling. They want to talk to me some more. I’m supposed to get down there as soon as I’m dressed. Might as well get this over with.”
A black, spindly legged spider with a body the size of a dime emerged from wherever it and its hordes of relatives had been secreting themselves.
Gabe looked around for something to smash it with.
The only thing they seemed to understand was violence.
He grabbed the paperback he’d set aside a couple of nights ago, but when he turned back, the damn thing had disappeared. Dammit.
“Did they say anything specific? And are you ready for me to call a lawyer?”
Not yet. He scanned the floor looking for the creature; however, he might need the services of a courageous spider killer.
“Sounds like they just want to go over my statement for the third time. Which, since I’ve told them the truth, won’t be difficult.” A flexible truth, but it had been the truth.
“I’ll drive you over.”
“Elton,” Gabe said, “I appreciate the support, I really do, but you had a root canal yesterday, and they just want to ask me questions. I can drive myself. No lawyer yet.” He was also tempted to add that he was forty-four, not five.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” the stubborn old man said, his words followed by the definitive click of the call ending.
“The fuck.” Gabe groaned again as he sat up and pushed himself to standing.
He’d never had someone so determined to look after him.
Not even his mother. It unsettled him. He wasn’t sure if he could allow himself to get used to it.
What the hell did Elton see in him that no one else did?
Ranger Man certainly didn’t seem to find anything worthy about Gabe.
It’s time to stop feeling sorry for yourself, Chance.
Fine. He didn’t like Lundin anyway.
A full eleven minutes later, Gabe shivered as he huddled into his parka and tromped down the pier toward the lot.
He hadn’t had time to shower but didn’t want to make Elton wait.
The new shower system in the boat was better than nothing, but the tank took a bit too long to warm up.
The last thing he wanted that morning was a cold shower before spending time with his new friend Spurring and the rest of the gang.
Besides, he couldn’t possibly smell worse than the interrogation room.
Tugging on the lock and chain, Gabe ensured the gate was secured behind him before crossing to where Elton’s truck idled.
It was only then that he registered that Casey’s Wagoneer was not there.
Where was Ranger Man? Maybe he’d heard him leave very early, but if so, he’d slid right back into a deep slumber.
Wonderful, the next person to be murdered would be him because he slept like the dead.
Bad choice of words, Chance.
Last night, after Elton had dropped him off, Gabe had considered knocking on Lundin’s door, but The Barbara had been locked up for the night—and had a don’t bug me feel to it.
Instead, he’d climbed aboard the Ticket and spent the rest of the evening obsessively going over every memory he had of Peter, wondering what he’d missed that might point to why he’d shown up on Heartstone.
By the time he’d fallen asleep, he hadn’t come up with a thing.
“I brought you some coffee, figured you might not have had the time to make any,” Elton said as Gabe opened the passenger door and climbed inside.
“Bless the caffeine. I take back all the mean things I was thinking about you making me hurry,” Gabe muttered. He clipped his seat belt and then accepted the twenty-ounce thermal mug like the sacred offering it was.
“You’re the one who said they wanted you ASAP. Did they say anything specific when they called?” Elton checked the rearview mirror and began to back onto the roadway.
“It was that asshole Spurring who called and nope, nothing specific. He opened with the fact that he was surprised I hadn’t skipped town. Which, I suppose, doesn’t bode well.”
“I’ll wait for you again. It never hurts to have extra eyes and ears.”
Since Gabe needed a ride back home, he chose not to argue. And besides, he suspected Elton had an ulterior motive.
When they arrived at the station, the same older woman— Althea , Gabe recalled—sat behind the desk again. She shot a quick glance at Elton, and Gabe thought he spotted the ghost of a smile. Elton’s motive wasn’t even ulterior.
“Gabriel Karne? I’ll let the deputies know you’re here.”
Again, it was Deputy Eagan who came out from the back of the station and guided him to the same interview room they’d used the day before.
It still smelled like old socks. Gabe noted that the deputy looked like she hadn’t slept well.
And possibly worse than a bad night of sleep, her lips were pressed into a thin line. Something was up.
“Chief Deputy Spurring will be with you as soon as he can, and possibly Chief Rizzi,” she said. “Make yourself comfortable.”
“Ah, I get the top brass two days in a row. Must be special.”
Eagan didn’t respond, but conflicting expressions on the deputy’s face told him that she had something she wanted to say but either felt she shouldn’t or had been specifically told not to.
“Don’t worry about me,” Gabe said with an eyebrow waggle and grin. “I’ll be fine. And if not, Elton will call in the cavalry.”
The deputy didn’t return his smile; she just shook her head and stepped out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her. The shaking of a head wasn’t new to him, but usually he could get people to toss him a smile. Maybe he should have been more worried than he was.
Chief Deputy Spurring made Gabe wait. Gabe wasn’t shocked, and he was sure the delay was on purpose. It was obvious that the officer liked to think he was a big fish around Heartstone, second only to his boss.
Gabe had been sipping at his coffee and cooling his heels for about half an hour when Spurring decided to make his appearance.
Unlike the sheriff, the chief deputy was on the heavy side, his potbelly listing over the belt that worked overtime to hold up his slacks.
He was also fighting a receding hairline and losing.
Genetics sucked, but that didn’t stop Gabe from being secretly pleased that, regardless of the silver sparks, he had most of his hair.
You’re welcome for that, Chance.
“Unfortunately, Sheriff Rizzi has other business. He won’t be joining us this morning.”
That at least seemed like good news. If they had something on him, surely the sheriff would make the effort to be there.
Like he had the day before, Spurring sat down at the opposite side of the table from Gabriel.
The flimsy plastic chair creaked worryingly under his weight.
Gabriel remained still in his seat, his hands in his lap, refusing to squirm or shift his position.
He had nothing to be nervous about. He hadn’t killed Peter.
“This interview will be recorded.” Spurring tapped the voice recorder set into the table. “This is Chief Deputy Emmett Spurring interviewing Gabriel Karne. Mr. Karne, please acknowledge you are aware that you are being recorded.”
“Yes, I am aware.” He wanted to say something more, but on the way over, Elton had made him promise not to antagonize the deputy, as if the man were a bear at a zoo. Also, Gabriel hadn’t had enough coffee to be a real pain in the ass.
He’s not worth the effort, Chance.
Noted.
“Let’s get right down to business,” Spurring said, leaning forward and tapping a pen against the spiral notebook he’d set on the surface of the table. With a flourish, he opened the book and began to thumb through the pages until he reached a page only half filled with cramped notes.