Page 23 of Long Pig

“Must you still use me?” she demanded angrily.

This was followed by a loud slap, her tearful cries, and his father’s grunts.

As a child, he hadn’t understood what was happening, but had been happy that his father struck his mother. Now, though, he did understand. He smiled in satisfaction. He wanted his mother to suffer. And although he wasn’t pleased by his father’s decisions regarding his legacy, he wanted that money. His parents needed to die sooner rather than later.

Chapter Thirteen

Law Enforcement Lies

Willow

Dale started his investigation by marking off locations on the ranch map, which he found online. Other than hers, the lots were mostly divided into forty-acre parcels.

“There are some old-timers out here who might talk to me,” Dale told Willow. “They might know names of some of the people who have come and gone. There are a lot of them. People don’t realize how tough it is to live off grid. Most don’t have running water and haul it from town. Your grandmother chose this place because of the well. She was a smart woman.”

Willow smiled. She still found small memories her grandmother left behind. She’d explored the boxes in the attic a few months ago. There were clothes, along with a few more pictures from Willow’s childhood.

“Can I come with you?” she asked.

Dale looked at her for a long moment before answering. “Don’t take this wrong, but these men don’t talk to many people and stay to themselves for the most part. I’ll have more luck if I go alone.”

Willow was disappointed, and it also made her nervous when she thought about Dale approaching these men alone.Then she remembered he’d been a deputy and this had been his job. She laughed silently at herself for worrying.

“Give me an idea of where you’re going and how long it will take you, and I’ll stay behind and sulk,” she teased.

“Ha,” he said. “I’d pay money to see you sulk.”

She curled her lower lip down and gave him the best pouty face she could muster. Now he laughed full out. “I’m lucky you came into my life, Willow. You give this old man something to live for.”

She walked over and gave him an awkward hug from the side of the couch. “I feel the same about you.”

His cheeks reddened.

“When are you going to start interviewing people?” she asked after she sat down beside him.

“No interviewing. I’ll simply be talking to people.”

“Okay, what will the sheriff’s department think about it?”

“I don’t give a flying rat’s ass what they think, but they’ll probably never know. If I find out something that could be a real lead, they would most likely ignore it anyway. We’ll play it by ear and see where my friendly conversations lead us.”

Dale took off mid-morning the next day. He said he’d call if he needed more than four hours. Willow had been working on a project in the barn for months and decided it was a good day to continue.

The dresser had been her grandmother’s, and it needed a lot of work. Willow was refinishing it by hand. Power tools drew down the solar. She could use the generator, but this was a long and involved process. She decided to forgo the electric sander and do it herself. She thanked the internet for instructions.

In prison, the internet was extremely limited. You could send email to your attorney, and that was it. The outgoing email was heavily monitored. Even her attorney told her not to put anything important.

Willow now made use of the resource daily, playing music from her cell phone and humming along as she worked. Max and Daisy’s sudden round of barking alerted her to a visitor. She looked outside the barn door and saw Deputy Wallard sitting in his vehicle. Her stomach tightened.

She had two choices. She could hide and let the dogs keep him in the patrol car, or she could go out and greet him. He began honking the horn, which made the decision for her. She didn’t bother removing her gloves, and approached the driver’s side window.

He rolled it down a bit. Max had stopped barking, but he continued to growl.

“I need to speak to Berger. Could you put the dogs in the house?”

“No, Dale,” she emphasized his first name, “is resting. We had a pack of coyotes last night, and he didn’t get much sleep.”

The deputy looked around. “Don’t see his truck,” he said when he glanced back at Willow.