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TWENTY

GAbrIEL

Thursday

Gabriel was slumped against the couch cushions, a slowly cooling cup of coffee gripped in both hands, while Elton talked to the TCSO from the landline in his kitchen. The conversation was fairly short.

Between them, Gabe and Elton decided Elton would call the Sheriff’s Office and report the murder. Gabe listened in as he informed the dispatcher that it had been him, and not Gabriel, who’d found Perkins’s body. The dispatcher asked a few more questions which Elton answered with yes, yes, no, and an “I’ll be here in the morning,” before ending the call.

“Some folks who live up The Valley know my truck and maybe saw it wasn’t me behind the wheel,” Elton warned him. “But they likely won’t want to get involved with Rizzi anyway, so I think we’re safe with me calling it in.”

Gabriel had raced back to Elton’s, speeding most of the way with one eye out for the cops. He felt unhinged and wild-eyed. His hands shook on the steering wheel, adrenaline coursing through his system like that river in The Lord of the Rings . Elton had taken one look at him and steered him to the couch, forcing him to sit down. Then he’d offered Gabe a beer, which, somehow, Gabe had found the strength to refuse. It wasn’t often he truly craved a drink, yet it had been twice this week. But sure as fuck, this was not the time to test out social drinking.

Gabriel watched as the old man eased down onto the recliner with his own cup of coffee. “Thanks for making the call.”

“Althea wanted to know why I didn’t stop at the office on my way home. I told her my old bones were tired and if they want to talk to me, they know where I live.” Elton sniffed and sipped at his coffee. “Well, I hope they do anyway. They’re busy on some other call right now. Supposedly, they’re sending deputies up to Gordon’s property as soon as they can and tomorrow someone will stop by to confirm what I”—he waggled his eyebrows—“saw up there. You’re positive it was Dwayne Perkins?” His expression told Gabriel he believed him, that he was just making absolutely certain. Gabe didn’t blame him.

“Silent, creepy, long hair?”

Of course, he was silent. He was dead, Chance.

“That sounds like Dwayne. But dammit now I’m even more concerned about Gordon.”

Gabriel asked the question that he didn’t want to, but it sort of tumbled out on its own accord. He’d been rolling the thought around in his mind ever since Dwayne’s corpse scared the living shit out of him, and he hadn’t been able to shake the thought the entire drive back to Elton’s place. “Do you think Gordon could have been responsible? He and the Perkins brothers seem to have a history.”

Elton’s lips turned down and he shook his head firmly. “No, I can’t see it. Gordon is easily misled, but I can’t see him killing anyone. He’s not a violent person. ”

“Not that I have personal experience, but I think it’s possible to be driven to murder. And jail changes people.”

“Sure,” Elton confirmed, “but would Gordon use a gun? Or just lash out with his fists or something? What you describe sounds like an execution to me. I suppose that Gordon might kill someone in self-defense, but even then, it would probably be by accident. Not to speak ill of him, but like I’ve said before, Gordon isn’t the smartest tool in the shed.”

“Agreed. I’ve only met him the one time and that was my impression.”

“What was Dwayne doing dead on Gordon’s property though?” Elton asked, sounding a bit pissed off. “And how come Gordon is nowhere to be found? The damn Sheriff’s Office will be looking at him first for this. If he’s not at his home or up The Valley, where the hell is he?”

Gabriel gulped the no longer scalding coffee down. He needed the boost since the adrenaline was fading fast. “I got nothing. His neighbor at the RV park hadn’t seen him around recently.”

Elton rocked back and forth in the recliner, his lips pursed and frizzy eyebrows drawn together. It was a long few minutes of thought. “I don’t know either. But I do know that I don’t want that asshole sheriff getting his hands on Gordon again. Last time, Gordon ended up in jail for twelve weeks and came out looking like he’d fought in a war. If he goes down for this, he could end up in a federal joint. Walla Walla is no place for someone like him.”

Gabriel’s concern was growing too, dammit. What was it with these irritating feelings?

Feelings just get in the way of business, Chance. Next thing you know, you’ll be settling down.

“I don’t like to think I might have brought trouble to your door, but I swear, I didn’t know any of these players before I arrived.”

“Whatever’s happened with Gordon, I doubt you’re the cause, Gabriel. Although one of these days I’d like to hear the real reason why you’re hiding out here.”

Why wasn’t he surprised by Elton’s question? Because Elton was smart, that’s why. And because he’d known Heidi Karne, had managed not to be taken by her, and still—it seemed—had a good attitude toward her.

“Yeah, well, as long as it doesn’t follow me, I’d rather be the only one who knows the answer to that for now, and that especially goes for the Sheriff’s Office.”

From Elton’s expression, Gabriel didn’t think he’d get away with not telling him about the Colavitos much longer. But the older man didn’t press the issue, so they sat in silence again. The TV was powered on, but Elton had turned the sound off while he called the sheriff. Gabriel watched two useless sports-boy announcers dissect some sporting event with great passion. Whatever it was, the game was long over and had no importance to Gabriel.

“The sheriff is a question mark around here,” Elton finally said. “Is he crooked or are just a few deputies bad apples and he chooses to look the other way, like most cops? Folks keep voting him in, he’s popular. Tough on crime and all that. And he holds a lot of power, that’s certain. I’d say he’s more powerful than the county commissioner.”

Gabe wasn’t shocked to hear that. “Could he be into illegal shit?”

“Not anything that I know of personally. What I’ve heard is all hearsay, but when you pick up on a variation of theme enough times, there must be some truth to it, right?”

“I suppose.”

That was how cons worked anyway. There was a nugget of truth at the center of each one, and it was the focus on the truth that distracted the marks from the fact they were about to lose their investment. They’d seen the bean under the shell and kept their eye on it, they knew where it was. Until it wasn’t.

“If you had to guess at it, what would you say the sheriff is involved in?”

Elton looked up at the ceiling and then back at Gabriel. “The person you really need to talk to is Casey. He keeps a close eye on Rizzi and his deputies.”

Gabriel groaned. “Him, again? Mr. Trespassing-is-my-kink Ranger?”

Elton snorted a laugh but quickly turned serious again. “Casey has personal as well as professional reasons, and has had more than one run-in with the Sheriff’s Office over the years. Rizzi is an elected official, whereas Casey was hired by the state to enforce the law in the forest and the region’s parks, which means their jobs sometimes conflict. And there’s some other history between them too.”

“Oh, yeah?” Gabe knew he was unreasonably curious about Ranger Man.

“Rizzi was tapped to fill the spot after Sheriff Robles died unexpectedly. After being appointed to the position, Rizzi managed to get himself elected. That was about twenty or so years ago.” He cocked his head seeming to calculate the timing. “Around that anyway.”

Good to know, but not the information Gabriel was interested in.

“Back to Lundin. What’s his beef with the sheriff?” From where he was sitting, it sounded like there was more to the story, and Gabe wanted to know what it was. Information was worth its weight in gold.

“Like I said, some is personal and some professional. Their jurisdictions, I guess that’s what it’s called, overlap sometimes. Especially in the more rural areas where county and forest land boundaries meet. In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of forest around these parts.”

Gabriel managed a weak grin. “Yeah, my ass noticed every mile of it on the way to Gordon’s place.”

“And Casey has personal reasons for distrusting the sheriff. It’s not my story to tell.”

“Great. I’m sure Lundin will open right up to me.”

“You know, you could try not antagonizing him,” Elton said dryly.

“He started it,” Gabe muttered, knowing he sounded like a whiny preteen. Lundin managed to press all his buttons without hardly taking a breath. Hell, the man didn’t have to breathe at all to have Gabriel’s hackles up.

Fuck. Gabriel blew out a long breath of air. He was going to have to talk to Lundin like the adult he was. Dammit. “Where can I find Lundin when he’s not out helping Smokey the Bear protect the forest?”

“He lives aboard his sailboat,” Elton said. “The Barbara. It’s moored at Riddle Bay.”

A weird twitchy reaction shot through Gabriel’s chest. He’d hoped that Lundin was just a visitor. That he’d been checking in on his boat or something innocuous like that. But no, the man lived there, which proved Gabe’s perennial bad luck was still in full force.

Of course , Lundin lived at the marina. Why couldn’t he have said so yesterday when he’d been grilling Gabe about his ownership of the Ticket ? Which reminded Gabe that he still didn’t have a deed to show Lundin and hadn’t paid his fucking trespassing fine yet. Hadn’t bothered to look at it again.

A sharp click brought Gabe back to the present. Elton had set his now empty coffee mug on the table at his elbow and was beginning the slow process of rising to his feet .

“This old man is hungry. I’m starting dinner. One of Rizzi’s useless deputies will be by in the morning to ask me a bunch of questions. Come with me into the kitchen, we should go over our story.”

Gabriel heaved himself to his feet as well. Picking up Elton’s cup along with the one he’d used, he took them into the kitchen and rinsed them out, then set them in the top rack of the tiny dishwasher.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked. “I’ll pick up some groceries tomorrow.”

“Can you cook?” Elton countered.

“I mean… yes?” His mother had not believed cooking was something only women did. Gabe had been cooking since he’d achieved double digits.

“You can cook dinner, then. I don’t like mushrooms.”

Gabriel laughed. “Okay, no fungi.”

“On another note, in all seriousness, you haven’t been clear with me about what brought you running here from the big city, but I kind of like you for some reason. Don’t mess with Rizzi and his friends. You don’t want to land on their radar.”

Fuck, the security video from the gas station probably took care of that. Gabe had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach—his bad luck might be about to turn even worse.

Without bad luck, Chance, you wouldn’t have any luck at all.

Thanks, thanks a lot.

“Spaghetti okay? I saw pasta noodles and sauce in your cupboard.”

“If I’m not cooking it, it sounds great.”