Stalking Ground (11 page)

“He got killed at the prison by another inmate. Never made it out.”

He appeared to be mulling it over. “I hate to say it, but it sounds like he got what he deserved.”

Mattie shrugged. “Who’s to say? Inmates should be safe in prison. It’s hard to justify violence no matter where it is.”

“I suppose you’re right about that.”

“My brother and I were messed-up little kids. He was hard to place—he burned down a haystack at one of our foster homes, so he got taken out of that one. Finally got sent to Colorado Springs to live in a foster home there. I turned into a hellion until the track coach found out I could run, and he funneled all that anger and excess energy into cross-country training. Then I was placed in my last foster home with Teresa Lovato—do you know her?”

“No, can’t say as I do. Does she have pets?”

Mattie let out a puff of amusement. “No, no pets per se. Maybe the kids feed a stray now and then, but Mama T has no extra money for pet food. She takes in stray kids mostly.”

“Did you have a good experience in her home?”

“The best. Thank goodness for that. She straightened me out.” She gave him a pointed look. “But I’m thinking of your kids and how they must feel. Abandonment issues can really mess with your head. You’d be smart to get the girls professional help early before real problems start.”

“Case made, Counselor.” He gave her a pointed look. “Are you sure you don’t have a law degree? You remind me of my sister. She can jump on a subject, shake it around, and shape it any way she wants to make her point.”

Mattie laughed, the tightness in her chest loosening. The mountain lion screamed, the sound echoing from a distance. Robo alerted, standing to sniff the air.

“Sounds like it’s moved off a ways,” she said.

“Just wants us to know we’re in its territory.”

“I suppose so.”

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“Do you think Adrienne was killed up here?” Cole asked.

“No.” Mattie knew very little, but of that she was sure. “It wasn’t right here.”

“I can’t imagine her hiking up here on her own.”

“Me either.”

He sighed. “My kids will be traumatized by this, too. They’d grown fond of her. She was teaching Angie massage techniques for horses.”

“Um-hmm.”

Cole looked at her, chagrinned. “You don’t have to say it. I know what you’re thinking.”

A gust of wind battered them, and with it came the snow in earnest.

“Let’s set up that tent I brought,” Cole said.

“All right. No reason you can’t stretch out and get some sleep.”

“We’ll take turns,” he said. “You first. Robo needs to get in out of the snow and warm up.”

Sunday

Evidently deciding that two humans and a dog were too much to contend with, the mountain lion stayed away, and the rest of the night passed quickly. The intimacy of the campsite made it easier to tell secrets, and Cole shared his feelings about his wife leaving and about his hopes to pick up the pieces and establish a stable home for his kids. Mattie felt reassured that they knew each other better than ever before, and he didn’t judge her for her difficult past.

The snow stopped falling sometime during the wee hours of the night, leaving about four inches. By midmorning, the sun shone bright and the retrieval party arrived. Mattie scanned the riders, looking for Stella LoSasso, a detective she liked and respected after they’d teamed up during their last homicide investigation.

Stella sat atop a brown and white paint toward the middle of the string, holding onto the saddle horn with gloved hands. Wearing white down pants and a parka, she looked more like the Pillsbury Doughboy than the sharply dressed woman Mattie knew her to be. Stella appeared to be looking for her, too, and when their eyes met, her face lit up in greeting.

Brody rode the first horse in the string of six, and he stopped well away from Mattie and Cole’s campsite. Mattie recognized the two crime scene technicians she’d worked with
last summer and Garrett Hartman as the other riders. Hartman led the sixth horse, which wore a packsaddle to carry out Adrienne’s body when they were done with the scene.

Cole and Mattie joined the group. Mattie exchanged nods with Brody, taking a moment to determine how he was holding up. Clean-shaven and not quite so strung out, it looked as if he may have gotten some sleep. Perhaps there’d been some closure in finding Adrienne and knowing that she was not stranded someplace, suffering from injury and nature’s elements.

“Hello, Mattie . . . Dr. Walker,” Stella said when they approached. “Could one of you help me down from this beast?”

“Sure,” Cole said, reaching up to her while Mattie took hold of the reins.

Stella slid off the horse, staggering as she straightened her legs. “My God, I’m not used to that. And the worst thing is, I have to ride back down.”

“You can walk out with me,” Mattie told her. “It’s good to see you again, Stella.”

The two women clasped hands while Cole went on to help the others and to greet Hartman.

“I’ll stick with the horse, thank you,” Stella said, bending down to pet Robo, avoiding the staples on his shoulder. “What happened to your partner? He looks like the son of Frankenstein.”

“He tangled with a mountain lion last night.”

Astonishment crossed Stella’s face. “Good grief! You’re kidding me.”

“No, I’m not. He was very brave.”

“I’m sure he was,” Stella said, stroking the fur on Robo’s head. “When is he not?”

Robo waved his tail, trotted over to sniff the newcomers, and came back to Mattie’s side.

Mattie and Stella watched him. “He’s not limping very much,” Stella said.

“Cole said it didn’t get into the muscle. He’s got a four-inch gash in his skin, but he’s going to be okay.”

“Thank God.”

“Yeah.”

“How have you been, Mattie Cobb?”

“I’ve been better. It’s hard to believe we need you again so soon.” Mattie gestured toward the gravesite. “Before the lion attack, we did a grid search and found some evidence. Robo found a cigarette butt that looks fresh, and I found some tracks that I covered before the storm. The gravesite is covered and protected from the snow, too.”

“Good job, you two,” Stella said, bending down to pat Robo again. “Well, let’s get to it.”

Mattie led Stella and the crime scene techs to the grave, pointing out her evidence markers. One of the techs began snapping photos. Brody carried over supplies while Cole and Garrett stayed by the fire.

“We’ll open the grave first,” Stella said. “Deputy Brody, would you care to join the boys over there?”

“I’ll stay.”

“Suit yourself, but this might not be the best way to remember your friend, and there isn’t anything you can do for her now. Let us take care of her.” Stella gave Mattie a pointed look.

“Come on, Brody,” Mattie said, touching his arm.

Without protest, he turned away and followed her back to the fire. From that distance, Mattie watched Stella and the techs kneel at the gravesite and slowly strip away the layers of snow, plastic tarp, stones, and pine boughs that covered Brody’s sweetheart. In the back of her mind, she wondered if
the fact that he truly did seem devastated was enough to give Timber Creek’s chief deputy a pass on being a suspect.

*

While exhausted from the relatively sleepless night, Mattie still kept up with the horseback riders on the way down. Robo stayed close, and Cole rode behind her. They’d debated trying to lift Robo up to ride in front of Cole, but an uneasy attempt showed them he wanted nothing to do with it. Mattie decided to let him go down on his own and try again if his limp became worse.

Garrett Hartman rode at the front of the line, leading the packhorse that carried the body. Footing was treacherous in some places with snow and ice on the trail, but about midway down the snowfall had ended, leaving the trail wet but clear. The forecast for snow at only higher elevations above nine thousand feet had been accurate; by the time they reached the trailhead, the ground at the lower elevation was bare. Timber Creek would be, too.

At the parking area, Mattie went with Cole to his pickup and trailer to get the antibiotics. “Thanks for coming up to help last night,” she said. “When do you want me to bring him in to get the staples out?”

He popped open the latch at the back of the trailer and swung the door wide. “In about ten days.”

“Should I restrict his movement or take him off work?”

“He’s moving around fine. He shouldn’t have any trouble with it. You can go about your business as usual.” Cole clicked his tongue, and Mountaineer stepped into the trailer. He followed him in to exchange his bridle for a halter and to tie him to the trailer’s side.

“I’ll make an appointment for ten days from now, then.” Mattie loaded Robo into her own vehicle, noticing that he was moving freely.

When they entered their home, it felt like she’d been gone for ages instead of one night. Even though she’d fed him that morning up on the mountain, Robo trotted into the kitchen to check out his food bowl. She could hear him slurping water while she stretched her sore calf and thigh muscles. She decided to give him an extra ration, and he gobbled it before joining her in her bedroom, circling on his dog bed, and plopping down with a sigh.

“I bet you’re exhausted.” Even prior to the lion attack, he’d covered twice the miles she had as he ran ahead and then back on the trail yesterday, and he’d been awake through most of the night. “Get some sleep while I clean up.”

Feeling refreshed from her shower, Mattie toweled her hair as she padded into the kitchen in sweats and stocking feet. Robo slept while she made and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and scoured her pantry for anything that might give her some energy. Settling on an apple and a bag of trail mix to take with her, she drank some orange juice and then went to her bedroom to get dressed in her uniform. Although his brow and ears twitched, Robo didn’t open his eyes. She decided to leave him at home while she went to her meeting. She could pick him up later after she’d established her plan for the day.

At the station, the first person Mattie met was Rainbow, something she’d been dreading. Noticing the dispatcher’s swollen, reddened eyes, she felt somehow responsible. “Rainbow, I thought you had a day off today.”

“I had to know, so I traded a day with Sam,” she said, referring to Sam Corns, the other dispatcher.

In a gesture of sympathy, Mattie touched the back of her wrist, and Rainbow turned her hand up to grasp Mattie’s.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow.”

Tears welled, and one spilled over to roll down Rainbow’s cheek. “Me too. I really can’t believe it. She was such a great person, you know? She loved her new life here and everything about it.”

“Do you know anything about her from before she came to Timber Creek? We’re going to need to know everything.”

“Some. Nothing sinister. I can’t think of anything that will help.”

“Most of the time, it’s hard to know what might help or not. I’m going to mention to Stella that you knew her. She’s probably going to want to interview you.”

“Okay.” Rainbow sniffed and used a tissue to blot her eyes. “But I don’t think she likes me.”

Mattie knew that to be true, although she believed the detective had judged Rainbow for her flower child–like, ditzy appearance and not for any reason of substance. “That shouldn’t make a difference.”

She squeezed Rainbow’s hand and released it, making a mental note to sit in on that interview. “Are the others here yet?”

“In the briefing room.”

“I’d better get in there. We’ll talk more later.”

When Mattie entered the room, she found Stella, McCoy, and Brody at the front table engaged in discussion. All but Brody turned to see who’d entered. Sheriff McCoy gestured for her to come in and take a seat.

“I was just addressing the elephant in the room,” Stella said after Mattie sat.

Mattie swept her eyes across the faces of the others and then settled on Brody. Familiar with his rage, she could tell it was full blown: neck and cheeks crimson, face stony, lips tight.

“I’ve proposed that Deputy Brody excuse himself from this investigation,” Stella said.

I wondered about that myself
. Grateful that Stella was the one who’d brought it up, she nodded. Brody locked eyes with Mattie.

Sheriff McCoy asked Brody what he thought about the suggestion. Without taking his eyes off Mattie he said, “I think it’s bullshit.” His voice was almost a growl.

“I can see how you would. But you know how this investigation will go. We’ll look at everyone who knew her. You included.”

“Then look.”

“You need to go home, Chief Deputy,” McCoy said. “Take the rest of the day. Put everything you know into a report, including a detailed list of your time and activities since noon on Wednesday until yesterday morning. I’ll take a look at it, verify what I can, and consider your role in the investigation. Get that report to me as quickly as you can. I’ll take it under advisement and give you an answer ASAP.”

Brody’s chair screeched on the linoleum as he shoved back from the table and stood. “You won’t shut me out,” he said to Stella and turned to leave.

“I’ll keep you apprised of what I can,” she said to his back.

“Excuse me a moment,” Mattie said, hurrying after Brody on a whim. Something begged to be said between them. Perhaps their time together on the mountain required it.

He charged out of the station with her close behind. “Brody,” she called to him as he strode toward his cruiser. He stopped and turned, grim-faced and silent.

“I’m sorry for your loss. But you have to think about it. This is standard operating procedure, and you’ll be far more help to Adrienne if you keep a level head. Cool off and then
put everything you can think of in writing to help us develop some leads.”

He shrugged, looking down at the pavement. “I don’t know much about her past.”

That confession must hurt
. “Put some thought into it. And get some rest. Are you back on duty tomorrow?”

“Day off, but I’ll be here.”

“I’ll see you then.” She started to turn away, but stayed to say one more thing. “I know you loved her.”

His eyes filled, and he turned his back to get into his car. Mattie stayed in place to watch him drive away; she lifted a hand in farewell, though he didn’t look her way. She’d once suspected Brody of involvement with Grace Hartman’s murder. This time, her gut insisted that he was an innocent man.

When Mattie reentered the briefing room, Stella was cleaning the dry-erase board. She finished and laid the eraser on the metal shelf below it.

“Somebody had to say it, Mattie,” Stella said.

Mattie nodded, taking a seat back at the table.

“I’ll assume the responsibility for checking Deputy Brody’s schedule and clearing his alibi,” McCoy said. “He’s a fine officer, Detective. I stand behind him.”

Stella gave McCoy an unwavering gaze. “I’m sure he is, Sheriff, and I’m willing to bet he had nothing to do with his girlfriend’s death. It’s not about how fine an officer he is. He’s too close to this one. He needs to take a step back and become an officer instead of a boyfriend. If he’s able to do that, he might be of assistance. If not, he needs to be at the perimeter of this investigation instead of at the center.”

Mattie agreed with Stella and thought she’d expressed the underlying concern well. McCoy nodded and appeared to agree, too.

“Where’s your partner?” Stella asked.

“Home asleep.”

“Looks like you could use some of that yourself.” Stella brushed her hands together. “Let’s lay out this case, brainstorm on it, and decide where we’re going next.”

Stella turned back to the board and wrote
Victim—Adrienne Howard
at the top. “Let’s lay out the grid. We’ll start with the information you’ve gleaned over the past few days.”

She looked down at her notebook lying open on the table. Evidently she’d copied the board before erasing it. “First—History,” she said, writing as she spoke. “Raised in Hightower. Mother—Velda Howard/Hightower/estranged. What else do we know?”

“Not much,” Mattie said. “But we should interview our dispatcher, Rainbow, and the massage therapist at Valley Vista, Anya Yamamoto. Both were close friends.”

Stella nodded, pursing her lips. Skipping over to the far side of the board, she started a new list titled
Interview
and wrote
Rainbow
beneath it. “What’s her last name?”

“Sanderson.”

After writing it down, Stella added the name and then recorded Anya Yamamoto. “What about my old buddy Dean Hornsby?”

“I doubt if he knows any personal information, but we now have a warrant, so we can take a look at Adrienne’s employment records. A résumé would give us information to fill in the gaps between Hightower and Timber Creek,” McCoy said.