Fate and Destiny (25 page)

Matt spent the next hour
acting out the part of DeMont for Doug’s benefit, rehearsing a
series of possible conversations. When Doug had his questions
memorized, Matt prepared to make the call using Lenny’s cell phone,
taken from the plow truck before they left the mountain. Opening
the door to the modern section of the jail, Matt showed Doug into
an interview room, locking the door so no one could interrupt the
conversation. Matt kept a pen and paper nearby so he could give
Doug assistance if he needed it during the call.

After the equipment was
hooked up so Matt could hear the conversation, he began the
recording device. DeMont answered on the first ring.

“
Hello! So nice to finally
hear from you.”

Irritation dripped from
each syllable before the sound became muffled as DeMont talked to
someone else, placing his hand over the phone.

“
How is the job
going?”Doug looked to Matt for reassurance, temporarily losing his
newly found self-confidence. Matt nodded encouragingly, making a
circular motion with his hand, urging Doug to talk.

“
Charles, it’s Doug.
Lenny’s in jail.”

Enough silence floated
through the open line to worry Matt they lost the call. Finally,
DeMont spoke again, his voice controlled and calm although he
over-enunciated each word.

“
Did he finish the job
first or did you take care of it?”

“
We didn’t find her. We
were coming back when Lenny got arrested.”

“
For what?”

“
The gun he keeps in his
shoulder holster. Something about a permit to have it I
guess.”

Matt nodded at Doug again,
scribbling on a piece of paper to make DeMont say anything
incriminating.

“
Finish the job or you
will be terminated. Do you understand me?”

Doug’s eyes grew wide. He
was smart enough to figure out that in DeMont’s carefully chosen
words, terminated didn’t mean fired.

“
What do you want me to
do? We went looking for her. She wasn’t there. There’s been a lot
of snow and the body may have been dragged away by animals or
buried under the snow.”

Smiling, Matt gave Doug a
thumbs up. Mentioning a body was part of the plan. Both men leaned
forward for DeMont’s reply. Instead, more muffled speaking came
through the line as DeMont covered the phone again.

“
I have to go now. I’m in
the middle of something important. I want you to call me back in
three hours. Understand me?”

Unsure how to keep DeMont
on the phone, Doug looked around wild-eyed. Matt could do no more
than shrug, giving Doug his silent permission to end the
call.

“
Yeah I understand. I’ll
call you back.” The cell phone window notified Doug the call had
already been disconnected.

24.

“
I’m sorry Matt. None of
that was any good. He didn’t say anything.”

Doug hung his head, the
sense of failure flowing from him.

“
It’s okay, buddy. He
wouldn’t say anything with other people around. I’m sure that’s why
he’s making you call back in three hours. He will be able to talk
about it then. We’ll just try again. And don’t let him frighten
you. I think he’ll be a lot meaner next time, but we’ll make sure
you are ready.”

Doug nodded, sitting up a
bit straighter, preparing himself to speak with Charles DeMont
again. Leaving the room, they returned to the central office area.
Doreen talked on the phone at her desk, discussing which of the
McGowan boys was currently dating the mayor’s daughter. Seeing Matt
and Doug enter the room, she tipped her head enough to pull her
mouth away from the phone.

“
Sammy called you back
while you were in there. How did it go?”

“
Bad. DeMont wouldn’t say
anything. There were other people around him. We’re gonna try again
later.”

Placing her lips near the
phone again, she resumed the conversation where it left off
although her eyes showed concern as she watched the men at the
corner desk. Matt casually picked up the phone on his desk and
called Sammy. Hopefully that lead went better than Doug’s
call.

“
Speak”

“
Would you please learn to
say ‘hello’? Do you answer the phone like that when your mother
calls?”

“
I sure do. She barks at
me like a dog.”

Sammy’s laughter relaxed
Matt. Sitting back in the chair, feet up on the desk, Matt tried
not to notice the stressful expression on Doug’s face.

“
So what did you come up
with?”

Anxious, Matt wanted to get
down to business. Sammy could drag on suspense forever.

“
It was crazy man. I
tapped into the client directory; I tapped into the employee
directory. I tapped into their security line. All of that was easy,
but that damn accounting system was locked up tight.”

Hiding his disappointment,
Matt could not believe Sammy failed. This would be a
first.

“
So are you saying you
couldn’t get in? What about the laptop? Could you figure out where
it was or anything?”

An annoyed huff came from
Sammy.

“
Who said I didn’t get in?
I got what you need. It’s already printed and sitting on my desk. I
found other neat stuff too.”

Matt’s relief was so great
he wasn’t sure he heard Sammy right.

“
You got in? You have the
files showing money skimmed from the bank and where it
went?”

“
Yep. I have this DeMont
character’s name signing off on all kinds of stuff. This girl
Andrew’s with is one smart cookie. She pulled together everything
including signatures of the son on the documents and put them all
in one nice neat little package on her computer.”

“
Sammy, that’s the best
news I’ve had all year. Meet me up at Andrew’s place in about an
hour. The road is clear now so I don’t want to hear any excuses,
and don’t bring anyone with you. Destiny is still
skittish.”

Agreeing, Sammy hung up.
Matt could not contain his grin as he looked back and forth
triumphantly from Doug to Doreen. Doug’s mind seemed to still be
sorting out what he just heard, but Doreen hung up her phone when
her keen ears picked up that Sammy had gotten through to the
evidence.

“
He got it? We can clear
her of the charges?”

Hands clasped together,
Doreen bubbled with excitement.

“
We can’t clear her yet.
DeMont is still out there. I would still have to arrest Destiny and
let her have her day in court. I need to send copies of the
information and a statement from Doug to the authorities in Vegas
so they can direct the attention to DeMont and off Destiny. Then
she will be able to come out. With substantial proof, the courts up
there will be able to clear the warrant for her. I need to see what
Sammy came up with first, and I need Destiny to look at it and make
sure it’s all there and it’s enough.”

“
Okay, I’m ready whenever
you are.”

Doreen grabbed a bag from
the bottom desk drawer, stood, and went to retrieve her coat from a
hook in the lobby.

“
What do you mean we? Who
said you were going anywhere?” He didn’t have time to play games
with her. “You just heard me say this girl is skittish. Hell, she
leveled a rifle at me when I showed up!” Mentally slowing, he
counted to ten. How did one little sister continuously and
successfully get him angered when an entire bar full of drunk and
angry bikers couldn’t even ruffle his feathers?

“
You heard me. I’m going
with you. You can’t stop me from visiting my own cousin. Besides,
if this poor girl has only dealt with you men, she will certainly
welcome me in.”

Coat and purse in place,
Doreen tapped her foot, impatiently waiting at the door.

“
Not only that, Sawyer
just pulled into the parking lot, so I’m off duty
anyway.”

James Sawyer manned the
front desk for the second shift. He also performed essential duties
for the cells and prisoners. An excellent officer, Sawyer had a
knack for dealing with the prisoners and running the station
efficiently. If a bullet had not torn into the side of his neck
when he responded to a domestic disturbance call, Sawyer would
still be patrolling.

Deciding it was easier to
give in to Doreen than to spend the next hour arguing with her,
Matt conceded, showing his displeasure by gruffly standing,
muttering under his breath about damn little sisters.

Doug followed as Matt
strode down the aisle, flinging open the counter door and marching
past Doreen. As they prepared to go out, Sawyer stepped in, shaking
off the snow flurries accumulated in his hat. He smiled at Doreen,
a dimple in his right cheek deepening as his blue eyes
twinkled.

“
Hello Doreen.”
Acknowledging Matt, Sawyer tipped his head to his boss. “Sheriff
Parker.”

“
Good evening, Sawyer.
Things are pretty quiet. I think you can let Lenny make his phone
call now if he wants to.”

“
Will do.”

Sawyer nodded, suddenly
ready to get to work. Hand on the door, ready to leave the
building, Matt was stopped by Doreen.

“
Oh, before we head up
there, I want to stop by the diner. We can take dinner up with
us.”

At the mention of the
diner, Doug perked up, his confidence returning in his stance. As
Matt opened the door, Doug nearly shoved him out in his enthusiasm
to be on their way.

At the diner, Matt and
Doreen ordered dinners to go and left Doug in Nancy’s capable
hands. Before they left, Doreen asked one more time if Doug wanted
to go with them but he shook his head.

“
I don’t need to go. I
know everything will be fine up there.”

Matt decided this might not
be such a bad idea anyway.

“
Okay Doug. Stay here and
enjoy your dinner. I will come back and get you when we are
finished so you can make that phone call. After that, we will see
about getting a hotel room for you.”

Overhearing enough of the
conversation between refills on coffee and calling waitresses to
pick up orders, Nancy stepped to the counter near Doug.

“
He can stay in my spare
bedroom. There’s no reason to put him in a hotel.”

Nancy was always friendly,
but Matt never heard her offer a room in her house to anyone
before. Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. She also lived
in a house next door to the diner, both within walking distance of
the police station.

Another box of Styrofoam
containers in hand, along with large slices of pie, apple this
time, and Matt and Doreen were on their way. One last goodbye
around the diner before scurrying through the wind to the Bronco.
Being a bachelor, most of what Matt ate came from the diner. On
Sundays, he ate at Grandma’s house. She prepared Sunday dinner for
the family every week without fail since the day she got married.
The dinners started out small, and as the family grew, so did the
dinners. These days, Sunday dinners became a production, with the
daughters and granddaughters showing up in the morning after church
to begin preparing dinner. Aunts, uncles and cousins dropped by at
all hours of the day, sampling any food already prepared, playing
football in the yard, discussing all of the latest gossip. Grandma
loved Sundays, and so did Matt.

Over the years, he became
aware of family members bringing special people to the dinners,
eventually marrying, and having children. At times, watching the
family, seeing the children, learning who would be having a new
baby, who would be getting married, and who the new person coming
to dinner would be, Matt would feel a place inside him wishing he
could bring someone special to Sunday dinner.

25.

Smiling, feeling a slight
twinge of regret and jealousy, Matt drove up the winding road,
careful of the slick spots. Doreen chatted away in the passenger
seat, wondering aloud about Destiny and the awful mess the poor
girl was in. Matt only half listened, making the appropriate sounds
at the right times. This Sunday for dinner, Matt had a feeling
Andrew would be there and Destiny would be the special person of
the day.

 
Arriving at the
cabin, Matt parked next to the truck Andrew borrowed from Doug.
Sammy apparently had not arrived yet. The Jeep still sat cockeyed
around the bend in the road. The only tow trucks for miles were
busy pulling stranded motorists out of ditches and hauling off cars
that slid through intersections, as well as the cars they slid
into. The Jeep parked less than a mile from the cabin was not a
priority.

The snow and wind were mild
compared to the storms that recently swept through, however the
weather remained temperamental. Doreen and Matt quickly crossed the
distance from the warm truck to the cozy cabin. Smoke curled lazily
from the chimney and the soft flicker of firelight teased the
frosted windows. Shadow woofed a welcome.

Matt rapped briefly on the
door with his gloved knuckles. Thanks to Shadow’s early warning
system, Andrew was already waiting to open the door for them
without wasting any precious heat. Once inside, hats, jackets,
gloves and scarves hung over the fireplace and Doreen and Destiny
were introduced to each other. To Matt, the atmosphere in the cabin
felt comfortably different than the other times he spent with
Andrew and Destiny. His keen eye also quickly noticed both of them
recently came from the shower, and judging by the look of them, the
shower had only been turned on once. Maybe that was the difference.
Peace. No guns pointed at anyone, no questions of anyone being
deceived.