Terry Odell - Mapleton 03 - Deadly Puzzles (28 page)

The light dimmed and a siren sound reverberated throughout the garage. Dispatch’s ringtone. Gordon stayed where he was, waiting for some reaction from Metcalf. Would he think the cops were on their way? Or was it too obvious the sound came from his cell phone?

Or was he unconscious? Gordon waited for the ringing to stop. His own voice played out its
Leave a message
recording. Still nothing from Metcalf.

Now or never. On his butt, Gordon inched himself to the other side of the staircase until he backed into the wall. Using it for support, he began rising to a standing position, his Glock in one hand, the other groping upward for the main light switch. He positioned himself so he faced the direction he
’d last seen Metcalf. Trained his weapon there. Then flipped on the lights.

Metcalf lay on his belly, one arm extended outward, the other under his head. The shotgun stock protruded from beneath his midsection.

Gordon approached. “Nick. Are you hurt?”

No response.

Gordon crept closer. If Metcalf was bluffing, the man could never get the shotgun out from under himself in time. But Gordon kept his Glock trained on the man. A pool of blood had gathered below Metcalf’s head. Gordon approached, pulled the shotgun out from under. Shoved it across the garage floor. Felt for a pulse at Nick’s neck. Strong. Steady.

“
You’re alive, Nick. Talk to me.”

“
You shot me. You actually shot me.” Nick’s words were muffled but understandable. “Why the fuck did you shoot me? You could have killed me.”

Carefully, Gordon checked for the source of the blood. A furrow ran along Metcalf
’s head. “Grazed your scalp is all. You know how those suckers bleed. I think you’ll be fine.”

“
You shot me,” Nick repeated.

“
Nick, take it easy. You were pointing a shotgun at me. You were in my garage. I’m not going to list all the things I could charge you with. Consider yourself lucky.” Gordon kept an eye on Metcalf and stepped backward to the cabinet where he kept a box of flex cuffs. Metcalf still wasn’t moving. Gordon returned to his prisoner and manipulated his hands behind his back, securing them with the cuffs.

“
I’m also not stupid,” Gordon said. “This is for everyone’s safety.” He helped Metcalf roll over, hoisted him to a seated position, then fastened a second pair of cuffs around Metcalf’s ankles. “I’m going to call an ambulance for you.”

“
You could have killed me.” Those seemed to be the only words Metcalf was capable of forming. Gordon attributed it to pain and confusion.

“
I didn’t kill you, Nick. I barely grazed you. You’re hardly bleeding anymore.” Of course, the fact that he
could
have killed him when he’d shot at a target he couldn’t see wasn’t lost on Gordon. But no way did he feel a need to apologize. He called Connie, told her to roll the medics and a patrol car. “Tell them to use the side garage door.”

“
Will do. A car’s on its way. Two of your neighbors reported hearing gunfire, and they thought it came from your house. I would have dispatched more, but everyone’s out looking for Orrin Wardell.”

“
Good job,” Gordon said. “I’m fine, and the other guy’s injuries are minor. You might want to relay that to the troops—in case anyone cares. And no sirens. Lights only.”

That would let the neighborhood know the cops were here, but no need to alarm anyone who wasn
’t aware they’d been called.

He let Connie get back to her job and sat on the steps, facing Metcalf.
“Now, while we wait for the ambulance, why don’t you tell me why you’re here, and what you know about Orrin Wardell.”

Metcalf hiked his knees upward and lowered his head.
“I met Orrin, oh, six, eight years ago. Business was slow one summer, and I was doing some construction work for a theater group. Building sets, some electrical. Orrin was in the cast, we hit it off, sort of. You know, go out for a beer now and then, take in a game. He seemed interested in what I did. Said it could help him get inside his character’s head. Kept going on about how he had this bank of emotions. What did it feel like to wait in a blind for hours, what if a bear charged, things like that. Half of what I told him was pure B.S., but he didn’t seem to notice. Or care if he did. Sometimes I think Orrin is never Orrin. You know, he’s always pretending to be someone else.”

Did Metcalf know that Wardell had spent time in a mental facility? Was this the right time to bring it up? Gordon decided to take the long way around in his questioning for the time being.

“Where was this?” Gordon asked.

“
Idaho,” Metcalf said. “We were all over the state for six weeks. Then business picked up, and I left the theater group.”

“
But you and Orrin stayed in touch?”

“
Yeah, off and on. He even came on one of my hunting trips—first hand emotion research, he said. The guy was a disaster when it came to the reality of life in the wilderness, though. No skills, and no instincts. An accident magnet. But he tried. If he was in a play near where I was, I’d go see it, we’d catch up.”

“
How did you both end up at the Yardumians’? Was that pre-arranged, or did you just happen to run into each other?”

“
A little of both.” Metcalf winced. “Damn, my head hurts. You have any aspirin?”

“
The medics will be here soon. They’ll need to evaluate you before you can have any medication.” Metcalf seemed to be skirting Gordon’s questions again. “Back up. You and Orrin. At the Yardumians’.”

“
Yeah. He told me he was going to be in Telluride. Visiting family. Wondered if I’d be anywhere in the vicinity. I told him I wanted to hit Curecanti, if the dates worked, maybe we could meet up, he should call. Nothing set in stone.”

A knock on the side door interrupted Metcalf
’s narrative. Gordon rose to see who it was. With his Glock handy. Because the cops and medics were on their way didn’t mean whoever was knocking was a cop or a medic. Visions of a crazed Orrin Wardell flashed through Gordon’s head. But would he knock?

“
Chief, it’s Solomon. You all right?”

Gordon opened the door for Ed.
“I’m fine. Shouldn’t you be out looking for Wardell?”

“
I am,” Solomon said. “Thought I’d drop by and see if he was here. You know, get partial credit for finding him.”

“
He’s not. But I’d like you to meet Nick Metcalf.”

“
Mountain man?” Solomon whispered.

“
The same.” Gordon turned to Metcalf. “Nick, this is one of my best officers, except he’s not as patient as I am when it comes to getting his questions answered. Would you like me to leave you with him for a while?”

Metcalf
’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t play good cop, bad cop with me. I know all I have to do is ask for a lawyer and you can’t ask me any more questions. I’ve been cooperative. Even if you could have killed me.”

“
Enough of that
could have killed me
nonsense. When the medics get here, you can tell them how close you came to death, and then they’ll tell you how you’re going to be fine.” He switched his attention to Solomon. “Get out on the street.” Gordon glanced at Metcalf, “Look at it this way. I’m stuck here with Metcalf, so you can get full credit if you find Wardell. If I get any leads, I’ll let Dispatch know.”

Solomon gazed over his shoulder, giving Metcalf a look that said he
’d gotten off easy, then left. Seconds later, Gilman called out.

“
Hey, Chief? You in there?” The medic strode into the room.

“
It’s about time,” Metcalf shouted. “This guy could have killed me. Then he wanted to sic his bad cop partner on me.”

Gilman threw a questioning look at Gordon, then approached his new patient. Tom Reynolds was right behind him, carrying their kit.

“Don’t worry,” Gilman said to Metcalf. “If the chief wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.”

Gordon tamped back his impatience as Gilman and Reynolds performed their routine exams.
“Looks like a nice goose egg,” Gilman said, more to Gordon than to Metcalf. “We’re going to have to transport him, make sure there’s no concussion.”

“
Must have hit his head on the floor when he fell,” Gordon said. He glowered at Metcalf. “Turnabout is fair play, I believe, is the expression.”

Gilman and Reynolds exchanged a look that said
We’ll get the story later
and kept working. When Reynolds left to get the gurney, Gilman asked if they could cut Metcalf’s cuffs.

Gordon retrieved Metcalf
’s shotgun. “Go ahead.”

“
Hey, give that to me,” Metcalf said. “It’s mine.”

“
I don’t take things that don’t belong to me, either,” Gordon said. “I’ll make sure it’s kept in a safe place until the docs look you over. And you answer all my questions. Unless I have to arrest you, of course.”

“
Hey, I’ll answer. Orrin Wardell’s not worth screwing up my life for. He went to Castle Rock. Home to Mommy. My money says she’ll have him locked up again.”

Gordon had to be content with that much, at least until after they transported Metcalf and the doctors examined him. Gilman and Reynolds had a job to do, and hanging around while Gordon questioned a suspect wasn
’t part of it. He didn’t need some complication exacerbated by not getting Metcalf medical attention in time.

“
We’re taking him to the clinic,” Reynolds said. “The doc says it doesn’t sound serious enough to warrant a trip all the way to the county hospital.”

“
I’ll follow you guys,” Gordon said to the medics. “We can finish our discussion at the clinic,” he said to Metcalf. He had a potential location for Wardell, so he could follow up on that.

Reynolds and Gillman loaded Metcalf into the ambulance and rolled. Gordon checked his cell for a call from Angie. Nothing. He called her again. Voicemail. He let her know he
’d be making a stop at the clinic, then going to his office, that everything was fine on his end. Then he called Connie and brought her up to speed—not that Solomon wouldn’t have already done so.

“
What happened at Angie Mead’s apartment?” he asked. “Who did you send?”

“
McDermott,” Connie replied. “Apartment was dark, no response at the door. McDermott proceeded to Daily Bread. Ozzie reported that Angie had a catering engagement and had left to spend the night in Denver.”

Gordon knew of the catering gig, but he couldn
’t recall whether Angie had told him she’d be out of town. Seems he’d remember that.

Could Wardell have shown up? Taken her with him? Coerced her into telling Ozzie she was leaving? Gordon
’s insides jumped, his skin crawled, as he tried to put everything into a semblance of order.

Slow down. Keep calm.
Make a list. Prioritize.

Metcalf. The man wasn
’t going anywhere—at least not until the doctors had looked at him. Gordon had told Gilman and Reynolds he’d be following. They’d drop Metcalf off and leave. Okay, either he or an officer had to make sure if Metcalf was released, that he’d be taken into custody for questioning. Or, Gordon could zip over there, see if he could get Metcalf to talk some more while he was waiting to be treated. He called Connie back, asked her to send an officer to the clinic, covering all the bases, then went over his mental checklist.

Find Wardell. How? Alert Castle Rock. Send someone to Wardell
’s address—which, according to Metcalf, was likely to be that of his parents. Castle Rock was Douglas County, which added yet another jurisdiction to this puzzle that seemed to be growing like a virus.

Confirm Angie
’s whereabouts. Megan should know. That could be a quick phone call while Gordon drove to the clinic. Likewise, the Castle Rock connection. Nothing Gordon could do beyond that.

Feeling better now that he
’d compressed the swirling
where to start
into an actual to-do list, he called Connie again, told her to get with the Castle Rock PD and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. “Solomon should have Wardell’s address. And alert them that Wardell’s half a bubble off center—in your professional terminology, of course.”

“
Roger that. Anything else?”

“
Keep patrols rolling with eyes out for Wardell. My source on his whereabouts isn’t a hundred per cent reliable. Wardell could be in Mapleton. And add Angie Mead to the eyes-on list. Even though Ozzie said she was going to Denver, I don’t have confirmation yet.”

“
Roger.”

“
Oh, and tell Gilman that I’m going to the clinic, that he should make sure the doctors don’t release Metcalf before I get there.”

“
Roger again, Chief. Titch is rolling to the clinic. Should be there in five.”

“
Good job.”

“
You know, Chief, Laurie isn’t the only one who likes chocolate,” Connie said.

“
I can take a hint.” Gordon disconnected and took a moment to lock Metcalf’s shotgun in his gun safe. Should things end up going sideways, chain of custody would be intact. He headed out of the garage for his vehicle. As usual, the Bark Brothers heralded his departure.

Shit
. He ran back, rearmed his alarm system, and made sure he locked the side garage door behind him.

Take it easy. You know what you
’re doing.

Which he did, but knowing there was a potential killer out there, and
not
knowing where Angie was threw roadblocks into his mental processes.

You
’ve been behind a desk too long.

No. He was a good cop. He sucked in a deep breath, put the SUV in gear, and headed toward the clinic.

Damn. He didn’t have Megan’s number in his work phone. Was it on the contact list above the desk in the diner’s office? He checked the time. Daily Bread would be closed. He radioed the station. Got the duty officer to look up Megan’s number. Punched it into his cell. Forced himself to remain calm. Didn’t want to alarm Megan.

“
Hey, Gordon. Understand there was some excitement up in Mapleton.”

Even though Megan lived in Centennial, not in Mapleton, between Angie and her former guardians, Rose and Sam Kretzer, she was always in the loop.

“Quick question. I couldn’t reach Angie, and Ozzie said she was going to Denver—had an early event tomorrow? Is that right?”

“
Denver? No, he must have meant my place. She’s spending the night here.”

Centennial was close enough to Denver that people often considered it a suburb of the larger city. Or had Angie said Denver to Ozzie to leave a clue that she wasn
’t leaving under her own volition?

“
Do you know where she is now?” Gordon asked, forcing himself to remain calm. Just because Ozzie had said Denver, not Megan’s, didn’t mean Angie had been abducted.

“
I assume she’s on her way,” Megan said. “You want me to have her call you when she gets here?”

“
Yeah. Please. Thanks.”

He checked his phone for any messages from Angie. None. Then he realized she
’d have used his personal cell, which was sitting on his kitchen table, waiting for him to find the time to reenter the rest of his contacts. He called Megan back. “Tell Angie to use my work phone.” He gave her the number.

“
Sure. Is everything all right?”

I hope so
. “Yeah. I’m out on a case. Don’t have my personal phone. When you hear from her, make sure she calls.”

Gordon disconnected. Megan had confirmed Ozzie
’s statement. But it didn’t confirm that Angie was actually on her way to Megan’s.

One more call. Get a BOLO out for Angie
’s car. Gordon added another note to his mental list. Find out where Metcalf took Wardell. And did Wardell have another set of wheels? A rental? Borrowed one from his parents? Find out, and get a BOLO on those as well.

He pulled into the clinic
’s parking lot. No sign of the ambulance.

Visions of Metcalf hijacking the vehicle spun through his head.

You are losing it. They got another call.

Gordon parked and jogged to the emergency entrance. He stepped to the receptionist
’s desk, flashing his badge as he interrupted her dealing with a distraught couple. “Sorry. I need to find the patient the medics just brought in.”

“
There’s an officer in with him. Look back in curtains,” the receptionist said, giving the couple an apologetic smile. “Police business.”

Gordon slammed through the double doors, looked right, then left. Curtained cubicles defined the treatment areas. Two were open, revealing empty beds. Three were closed. Before he started yanking curtains aside, Gordon searched for someone who could tell him where Metcalf was. A plump woman in scrubs approached. Gordon badged her and asked for Metcalf.

“Gunshot wound? Victim of an attempted murder? He’s in three. Your officer has been waiting.” She gestured to a cubicle. “You catch the murderer? Anyone we should be looking for? So far, this is the only guy we’ve seen.”

Gordon grunted a thanks and told her not to worry. He also decided not to mention that he was the so-called
murderer
on the loose.

He jerked the curtain aside, then stepped into the cubicle. Metcalf lay propped up on an examining table, a thick bandage around his head. Lloyd Titchener rose from the chair at the edge of the cubicle, snapping to attention.

“Anything to report?” Gordon asked. “He been giving you any trouble.”

“
No, sir. One of the nurses was giving him a hard time about using his cell phone when I got here.” Titch nodded toward the small sink in the corner, a cell phone lying on the counter. “Docs have said he’s not going anywhere until they run some tests.”

“
And they’d damn well better be quick about it. They said no painkillers until they did some stupid head X-rays. I can tell you they’re not going to find anything.”

As if he realized the joke, Metcalf laughed, then grimaced and put his hand to his bandaged head. He glowered at Gordon.
“You know you could have killed me. Don’t they teach you gun safety in cop school?”

“
Put a sock in it, Metcalf. That’s not going to work. Small town. People know each other. And they know I’m a cop. Top cop, even.”

Metcalf shrugged.
“You bring my shotgun?”

Gordon wondered again if the bullet crease and subsequent fall might have unhinged Metcalf
’s brain. “No, I didn’t bring your shotgun. It’s locked up where nobody can get it.” He turned to Titch. “Thanks, officer. You’re dismissed. You can resume your duties.”

“
Yes, sir.” Titch didn’t salute—Gordon had been trying to break him of some of his formal attitude—although the way Titch straightened even taller, pivoted, and marched from the cubicle wasn’t much different.

Gordon looked around, found a small stool and wheeled it to Metcalf
’s bedside. “I know you’ve heard this before, but nobody’s leaving until I get my answers.”

“
I know
you’ve
heard this before, but you either have to arrest me, or I can walk out of here.”

Gordon smiled. Put on his cop face.
“Not until the doctors say you can go. And, if you recall, I said they know who I am. One word from me, and you’ll be here in this little room, no windows, away from all the trees and deer and bears for days. Why are you trying to protect Orrin Wardell?”