Page 71 of Skin Game
He pulled to a stop about fifty yards from Denny’s house and turned off the engine. Shay parked as well.
“No lights on,” said Elton.
“Nope. I need you to wait here or in the Navigator with Claribel.”
Elton opened his mouth to argue, but Casey shut him down. “Nope. I’m not having it. This is as close to the action as you get.”
The last thing, the VERY last thing he needed by the time they all arrived at Denny Pritchard’s property, was Elton or Claribel getting caught in any possible crossfire. Or Shay, Casey supposed. Shay’s strengths were presumably in the courtroom, not at the crime scene.
He led the way to the Navigator, where Shay had his window open and was looking at him expectantly.
“Elton is waiting here with you and Claribel. I’m going aroundback where Paul and Etienne are.” He did not have time to explain his theory about the couple being ex-secret spy types.
With that, Casey pulled up his hood and jogged toward Denny Pritchard’s storage building, and less than five minutes later, Gabe was making jokes about being tied up.
Maybe someday he’d look back and think that maybe this wasn’t the most romantic scenario, place, or situation to tell Gabe he’d fallen in love with him. But Casey wasn’t able to stop the words from spilling out.
“God, I love you, Gabriel Karne,” he said, kneeling down to cut through the zip ties.
“Randy has the key to the cuffs in his pocket,” Gabe informed him. “Unlock me, dammit, because I love you right back.”
As Ranger Casey Lundin,he represented the acting law enforcement agency on the scene until the Sheriff’s Office arrived. William and Althea had already been restrained by the Allard-Clarks, so he settled both of them near the door.
An ambulance arrived before TCSO, having taken the long, bumpy trip up Crystal Creek Road, and was about to drive away again with Randy Witherspoon in the back. He was going to live thanks to Paul’s quick work with his first aid kit. Gabe refused to go.
“I just need a good rubdown,” he insisted, pairing his statement with a suggestive grin and eyebrow waggle.
Casey stared at him, noting the red welts on his wrists. He probably had them on his ankles too. “At least let the EMT check you over.”
“The only person I want checking me over is you. I’m fine. Just cold and stiff.”
At that moment, Paul and Etienne reappeared, forestalling Casey’s retort.
“We found Denny in his kitchen, zip-tied and spitting mad,”Paul told them. “Etienne talked him out of coming out here with his shotgun.”
“Denny claims no knowledge of stolen art or any such thing. Althea paid him to use the storage unit, and that was the extent of their relationship. He’s an old man, the cash was handy, and Denny’s not the type to ask questions. She’s a cousin, maybe an in-law, he wasn’t even sure about how they were related. Denny’s a prepper, which explains the supplies,” Paul said. “The storage unit is stuffed with everything he’d need to survive the end times. I’m pretty sure that’s what he was using the extra cash for, more prep.”
“We believe he’s telling the truth. Not that Denny’s blameless, but he didn’t give a shit what his cousin Althea was up to. He just wanted the money she offered,” Etienne added.
The deputies arrived a few minutes later, squeezing past the rest of the vehicles already there, the tires bearing witness to at least one battle with mud during the drive up. A stone-silent Althea Mortine was read her rights as official handcuffs replaced the zip ties, and a deputy helped her into the back of Eagan’s cruiser.
But they weren’t transporting her to her former place of employment. The Westfort police would be taking custody and were likely going to need to run the entire case against her. Considering her involvement with Rizzi, Casey wouldn’t be surprised if state investigator Lane Boyd showed up again.
Casey didn’t fail to notice that Elton, Claribel, and Shay had found their way to the sidelines of the action. At least they’d stayed away until all perpetrators were taken into custody.
“She has her fingers in too many pies at the station,” Eagan told them grimly. “I think she panicked because we brought in an outside auditor to go through pretty much everything. I won’t be surprised if, in addition to Rizzi’s and Stevens’s crimes, we find that Althea was influencing the outcomes of investigations too.”
“What about Mia Witherspoon?” Gabe asked.
“Believe me, Althea will be questioned further. Just not by me. But we will need a statement from you, Gabriel, and sooner rather than later.”
Deputy Eagan moved away from them, toward the cruiser where Althea was pointedly not looking in their direction. Minutes later, she drove away, Deputy Wycoff following in her wake.
“So? Where’s this damn missing art?” asked Elton, his eyes on the sheriff’s car disappearing around a bend in Denny’s driveway.
Casey wondered how he felt about Althea playing him. As far as Casey could tell though, he was angry, not hurt.
Gabe spoke before Casey could broach the sensitive subject. “Can we have this confab elsewhere? Someplace warm? I need to take a shower and change clothes. And bathe in coffee, a fucking vat of it. That sounds glorious.”