Page 24 of Their Haunted Hearts (Detectives Kane and Alton #27)

Twenty-Three

Rio organized the volunteers who arrived to answer the hotline phones and walked out from behind the counter and went to Rowley’s desk. “Did you find any more information on Bryce Withers?”

“Yeah, he seems of good standing in the community.” Rowley leaned back in his office chair twirling a pen in his fingers. “I can’t imagine why he hangs out at the Triple Z Bar, unless he prefers the company of his ranch hands.”

Rio hung his forearms over the edge of Rowley’s booth. “I guess we’ll find out, but we’ll need to tread carefully with Withers. Without a criminal background we don’t have the leverage to push hard. We’ll head out to his ranch. I’ll take the lead as I know how to deal with someone like this.”

“Sure.” Rowley stood and grabbed his coat from behind his chair. “The BW Ranch isn’t far from the Triple Z Bar. Want me to drive?”

Rio nodded. “I’ll grab my coat.”

The weather was getting wild as they stepped through the doors of the sheriff’s office and down the steps to Rowley’s truck.

Leaves and candy wrappers smacked into his legs as he reached the door and the cold wind bit into his cheeks.

Rio glanced toward the mountains. A band of thick clouds was heading their way.

He climbed into the passenger seat and Rowley headed along Main and onto Stanton in the direction of the Triple Z Bar.

When they arrived at the BW Ranch a flatbed truck was in the process of unloading palletized feed bags.

Men were moving back and forth as two forklift drivers took the pallets and disappeared into a huge barn.

Rio frowned at the rifles the onlookers carried.

“That seems an unusual amount of security for horse pellets.”

“Maybe we need a closer look.” Rowley was scanning the photograph of Withers. “I figure that’s him there in the sheepskin jacket. The guy beside the one with the clipboard. It looks like they’re doing an inventory.”

It was about that time that Withers noticed them driving toward the barn. “He’s spotted us. Pull up here alongside the fence. It will give the truck room to get past us on the way out.”

They stepped out as Withers came walking toward them.

At about six-two with broad shoulders, he carried a Glock in a holster at his waist. His open jacket displayed a blue plaid shirt buttoned to the neck and tucked into blue jeans over a pair of dusty boots.

In his forties, he fit the description Jenna had added to the case file of the man seen in the roadhouse with Darlene Travis, victim number one.

Rio headed toward him. “Mr. Withers?” He indicated toward Rowley.

“I’m Chief Deputy Rio and this is Deputy Rowley.

We’re making a few routine inquiries regarding the murders of Darlene Travis and Bunny Watkins. ”

“Why come to speak to me? I don’t know them.

” Withers folded his arms across his chest and stood feet apart glaring at them.

“If that’s all, I have the winter feed to attend to.

” He glanced over one shoulder at the truck.

“We’ve had pallets of feed go missing and we’re looking at a loss of hundreds of dollars. ”

“If something has been stolen, you should report it.” Rowley leaned against his truck. “We will be able to get to the bottom of it and you can make an insurance claim if something’s missing.”

“I’ll take it up with the delivery driver before I do that.” Withers glared at them. “Is that all?”

Rio shook his head. “Right now, we’re just trying to piece together Bunny’s last hours.

We are aware that you spoke to her at the Triple Z Bar on Monday night.

Just to refresh your memory she was cleaning your table at the time.

Witnesses tell us that you spent some time talking to her.

Can you walk us through that conversation? ”

“Was she one of the women who died?” Withers didn’t meet his gaze. “She didn’t tell me her name. I noticed she was new and asked her how she managed to end up in a dive like the Triple Z Bar, is all.”

“What did she say?” Rowley was making notes.

“As far as I recall, she said that the place was paradise in comparison with where she was before.” Withers stared into the distance. “I didn’t question her and she moved on to the next table. The last thing I need in my life is a problem. She looked like she was trouble with a capital T.”

It seemed to Rio that Withers was consumed with what was going on behind him.

The conversation he described would have taken a few seconds and wouldn’t have come to the notice of the bartender.

There had to be more he wasn’t telling them.

He would need to sprinkle a few lies into the conversation and see how he reacted.

“We spoke to Bunny’s coworkers and some of them mentioned that she seemed distracted after you’d left. Was there something bothering her?”

“How do I know?” Withers stiffened and his mouth thinned to a fine line.

“I’d seen her in the bar once or twice. That was the first time she came over to talk to me.

It was a casual conversation, that’s all.

” He looked from one to the other his eyes narrowing.

“You figure I had something to do with her murder, don’t you?

That’s crazy. I didn’t even ask her her name. ”

“You’d be surprised how many murderers don’t know the names of their victims.” Rowley straightened, one hand resting on the butt of his weapon. “When she left your table did you see her speaking to anyone else?”

“I didn’t take any notice.” Withers laughed sarcastically.

“I can’t believe it. I make polite casual conversation with someone cleaning my table and you turn it into a federal case.

I need to get back to my men. I’ve spent enough time on this nonsense.

” He turned on his heel and headed back to the truck.

Rio turned to Rowley. “We’ll head back to the office, although I’d love to take a closer look at the feed he’s unloading. Horse pellets might be expensive but I’m sure he doesn’t need an armed guard for them. Something doesn’t smell right.”

“We’ll run it past Jenna.” Rowley slid behind the wheel. “Seems to me he didn’t want us anywhere near that flatbed.” He held up his tablet. “I took a few shots of the truck; we might be able to track its origin.”

Rio nodded. “It will keep for now. We need to concentrate on the murders. He’s a suspect for sure. He was way too fast to deny talking to her and then he became defensive.”

“He’s involved in something, and we just need to find out what that is.

” Rowley swung the truck back in the direction of town.

“I wish Kane had been here with Duke. If they had drugs hidden among those horse pellets, the dog would have gone ballistic.” He glanced at Rio.

“I figure we need to keep an open mind. What if Bunny discovered Wither’s drug-smuggling operation and he murdered her in a copycat killing to keep her quiet? ”

Running the idea through his mind, Rio shook his head. “That’s grasping at straws but anything is possible.”