Three-Inch Teeth, page 24
She quickly closed the window before a roll of dust washed over her. Then she watched the red taillights recede in her rearview mirror until they blinked out when the truck took a turn in the road and entered a grove of aspen. She thought she saw a glimpse of red light through the tinted back topper hatch window, but she thought it may have been a reflection of her own taillights.
Wyoming folks weren’t usually so rude, she thought, especially on an isolated road. If they didn’t stop to say hello and state their business, they’d at least wave or nod as they passed by. County 6 was Carbon County in the south-central part of the state. What were they doing up in Twelve Sleep County? Maybe hunting?
Nevertheless, Sheridan eased back onto the road to the compound. After feeding the Air Force, she knew she had a decision to make. Both Liv and her mom had invited her for dinner. She wasn’t sure which invitation to accept, or to punt on both and pick up something on the way to her apartment. As always, she wished DoorDash existed in her little town so she could order in.
If she accepted Liv’s invitation, they’d inevitably discuss business and her first remote assignment. That was fine, but Sheridan was still sorting the experience in her mind and especially how it had ended. She wasn’t sure how much to reveal and how she felt about it. Discovering that she had a second grandmother was hard to wrap her mind around. One nasty grandmother was enough, she thought.
Dinner with her parents was even more fraught. Sheridan wasn’t sure what her dad’s reaction would be to the discovery of his mother at the Never Summer Ranch in Colorado, and what she’d said. Sheridan didn’t want to upset her father, who had more than enough on his plate at the moment.
She took the turn into the compound and drove past the outbuildings toward the mews. As she did, she glanced over at the house and slammed on her brakes.
The front door was wide open, and a human form was crumpled at the base of the threshold. Dark splashes were flecked against the light-colored exterior of the house as if someone had flung a mop through the air. A stream of what looked like blood flowed down the concrete steps of the porch.
Then she saw the flowing black hair, the pale reflection of an outstretched hand, and Liv’s unique tooled cowboy boot flung aside and sitting upright on the top step of the porch stairs.
Sheridan screamed as she hurled herself out of the SUV and ran to the lifeless body in the open door. Beyond Liv, she could see Kestrel inside the kitchen near the table in her high chair. The two-year-old was struggling to get out and crying, “Mom, Mom, Mom …”
*
“WELL,” SOLEDAD SAID to Cates through gritted teeth over his shoulder as he sped onto the county road, “you really fucked that up.” Soledad had to shout over the rat-a-tat cadence from the compressor, which was in the process of refilling the tanks. They’d pulled over to the side of the road to allow for the recharging of the tanks, and the wait time was excruciating.
“What?” Cates yelled back. He leaned closer to the slider.
“You heard me the first time. I said you really fucked that one up,” Soledad repeated. Then he mumbled something to himself that Cates genuinely couldn’t discern.
Cates turned in his seat at the controls and nearly shoved his entire face through the opening so he could see and hear inside the cab.
Bobbi Johnson was curled up in the passenger seat, holding her bent knees to her face. She was crying and rocking from side to side. “That woman had a little girl in there,” she wailed.
“Tell her to shut up,” Soledad said to Cates. “I can’t hear you over this compressor.”
“You heard the man,” Cates said to Johnson. “Keep it down.”
“We didn’t have to shake her like that,” Johnson said. “And LOR didn’t have to hit her with that bat.”
“Shut up,” Soledad commanded. “I mean it.” He reached over and gripped the back of her neck and squeezed it until she squealed. Cates did nothing to stop him and she continued to weep, but more quietly.
Soledad looked up and saw Cates’s face filling his rearview mirror. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I’d hit whoever opened the door first.”
“What if Romanowski was inside?”
“Then I would have shot him when he ran up to check on her,” Cates said. “I was ready for that. We could have messed his body up so bad with the bat afterward that it looked like a double bear attack.”
“And you’re just telling me this now?” Soledad said.
“That was his lady,” Cates said from the back. “She was on my list, too. And in some ways, this is even better. This will tear him up when he finds out. He’ll know what it’s like to lose a member of his family, just like I did.”
“That’s not what I’m concerned about,” Soledad said. “I’m afraid it’ll make him go nuclear.”
“Nuclear and sloppy,” Cates said with a short laugh. “That’s okay with me. He’ll be more vulnerable if he’s reckless.”
Cates caught Soledad rolling his eyes. It was disconcerting. Was Soledad really questioning his judgment now? Was the man losing his grip and threatening to break their pact?
Instead of acknowledging the gesture, Cates said, “You know how to get to that game warden’s house, right? This is his new one I’m talking about. I burned down his old one.”
“I know where it is.”
“Then go-go-go,” Cates said. “Fucking floor it, man. The tanks will be charged by the time we get there. We can do this quickly now that we’ve got the timing and distance down.”
Soledad said, “What about that SUV we saw on the way from the compound? I didn’t view the driver clearly, but I know the silhouettes of hooded raptors in the back when I see them.”
“Let’s just get out of here,” Johnson wailed. “Let’s get the hell out of this place.”
“Bobbi, be quiet,” Cates said. “Please. We’ve got a job to finish.”
“That poor woman,” Johnson said. “That poor mama …”
“Jesus,” Soledad said with disgust to no one and to everyone.
“Okay,” LOR announced. “We’ve reached maximum capacity.”
Cates glanced at the air pressure gauge. It was at two thousand PSI.
“Okay, go,” he ordered Soledad.
Five minutes later, through the windshield, Cates could see as the headlights swept across a brown wooden sign that read GAME WARDEN STATION. Next to it was a turnoff that led into heavy timber and eventually to the Twelve Sleep River and the house next to it.
He was surprised when Soledad eased off the accelerator and let the pickup roll to a stop, but also grateful that the man hadn’t slammed on the brakes and thrown Cates and LOR around the back like rag dolls.
“What are you doing?” Cates asked through the slider.
“I’m getting out,” Soledad said while checking the loads on the shotgun he’d pilfered from the old Cates place. Cates knew Soledad also had a handgun tucked into his waistband, as well as the long blade concealed inside his crutches.
“Getting out?” Cates asked. “Why?”
“Nate Romanowski will be coming after us,” Soledad said. “That girl in the SUV will give him a description of our truck. I’m going to hide here in the trees and take him out when he gets here. I’ll find the best place to ambush him.”
Cates thought it over for a moment. Was Soledad bugging out on him or volunteering to take on Romanowski by himself? He wasn’t sure. But if nothing else, creating a confrontation with the falconer two miles from the target house would at least slow the man down. And if Romanowski got the best of Soledad, another problem was solved. It was to Cates’s advantage, however it went.
“Thanks for watching our back,” Cates said.
Soledad nodded and slipped out the door and slammed it shut. Cates watched the man clamp the shotgun under his right arm, mount his crutches, and glide away into the gloom.
Cates took a long breath, then said, “He’s gone now, Bobbi. You can relax.”
He observed her body language as she seemed to uncoil in the seat.
“Are you sure?”
“After we cut LOR loose, it’s just you and me. Just like you wanted,” he said. “I doubt we’ll ever see Axel Soledad again.”
“I hope not,” she said as she flopped her head back and sighed.
“But I need you to calm down and step up. Then it’ll all be over.”
She looked at him with a wary expression. But she was willing to listen. Cates didn’t dwell on his once-again-proven ability to persuade individuals to do his bidding, and he almost loved her for it.
“Slide over and drive,” he said gently. “All you’ll need to do is drive to the Pickett house and back up to the front door, just like Soledad did. I’ll tell you when to stop, baby. That’s all there is, and I know you can do it.”
Johnson started to raise her leg over the center console when she stopped and looked into his eyes. “Then it’ll all be over?”
“It’ll all be over,” he said.
“And we can go get my sister?”
“We can go get your sister.”
“And …” she said, tilting her head toward the back of the truck, meaning Lee Ogburn-Russell.
“That, too,” he said. “I promise.”
With that, Johnson wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and slid behind the steering wheel. The pickup lurched forward and Cates swung around into the tractor seat.
LOR looked back at him expectantly. “We good?” he asked.
“We’re good.”
“Is that prick Soledad gone?”
“Yes, sir,” Cates said. LOR nodded his pleasure.
“Get ready,” Cates said. “This is going to happen fast once we get there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Game Warden Station
A FEW MINUTES LATER, Joe paced the floor of their house with his cell phone in his hand. “It’s not unusual for Nate not to answer his phone, but still. He won’t pick up,” he said to Marybeth.
“Neither will Liv,” she said. “And she’s really good about picking up. I’m worried that something bad has happened. Do you think you should go over there?”
“Maybe,” Joe said. “But I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone in the house.”
“We should both go,” Marybeth said while kicking off her slippers and stepping into a pair of shoes in the mudroom. He followed her and gathered up his holster from where he looped it on a peg next to parkas and other heavy coats.
“Crap,” Marybeth said as she looked at her phone. “Sheridan tried to call twice in the last ten minutes and I missed her while I was calling Liv.”
Although it was better than it used to be, cell phone service was still notoriously unreliable in the Twelve Sleep Valley, especially away from town. Notices were often delayed, messages sometimes arrived days after they were sent, and individual calls simply didn’t go through. Which was another possible reason why Nate and Liv hadn’t responded, Joe thought.
He buckled on his holster, pulled on his jacket, and clamped his hat on his head. The familiar I am going out actions roused Daisy, who padded into the mudroom from where she’d been curled up in the kitchen. Tube and Bert’s Dog watched Daisy go but apparently had no interest in getting up and around so late in the evening.
That was when there was an insistent knock on their front door.
Joe and Marybeth exchanged looks. Neither had heard a car outside.
It wasn’t unusual for visitors to simply show up, even at night. Their house was a game warden station, after all, funded by taxpayers, and considered by many to be as public as a local police station. Hunters, fishers, hikers, landowners, and law enforcement personnel who happened to be in the area stopped by from time to time.
This seemed different, though.
“Is your pistol handy?” Joe asked Marybeth.
She patted her handbag, indicating that it was inside. Joe had purchased a five-shot Ladysmith revolver for Marybeth years before for self-protection. He was grateful that for once she had it handy.
“It won’t do us much good in your bag,” he said.
She reluctantly drew the weapon out and held it loose at her side.
“Good,” he said while retrieving his own weapon. “I’ll see who’s at the door.”
*
WHEN JOE LEANED into the peephole all he could see was blond hair. Whoever was out there was so close to the lens that there was no broad perspective of the visitor.
Then he heard, “Mom! Dad! It’s me. Open up. I can’t find my key.”
“Sheridan,” he said to Marybeth over his shoulder as he threw the bolt and holstered his gun.
Their oldest daughter blew in as he swung the door back. She had Kestrel in her arms and there was blood on the sleeves of her shirt and on her pant legs. The baby appeared to be unhurt and she exclaimed, “Unka Joe!” as she was carried past him into the house.
Joe stepped out onto the porch and peered through the gloom. Sheridan’s SUV was parked sloppily to the right, but no one appeared to have followed her. He stepped back inside and closed the door and secured it once again.
When he turned around, Marybeth had taken Kestrel from her daughter’s arms and both were agitated and talking over each other so fast he could barely make out the conversation.
“My God,” Marybeth said. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?”
“I’m not hurt, but I’m not okay, either,” Sheridan said. “It’s Liv’s blood.”
“Liv’s blood!”
“That bear attacked her at their front door. It was horrible, Mom. I tried to give her mouth-to-mouth, but …”
“But what?”
“Her face was mutilated,” Sheridan cried. “Her mouth was hard to find.”
Marybeth winced and clamped her hands over Kestrel’s ears. The toddler responded with a belly laugh because she assumed it was a game.
Sheridan leaned into Marybeth and said with a fierce whisper, “Kestrel might have seen it happen. I don’t know. I found her inside in her high chair and I took her out of the house by the back door.”
“I don’t think she saw anything,” Marybeth whispered back. “If she had, I think she’d be a lot more upset right now.”
“It was so horrible,” Sheridan said, holding herself.
Joe stepped over and took her into his arms. “You did the right thing bringing Kestrel here and getting away from that house,” he said.
“Thanks, Dad,” Sheridan responded.
“Did you see anyone on the county road headed here?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I came the back way along the river. I didn’t take the county road because I wanted to get here quicker.”
“Good thinking,” Joe said.
“Was Nate there?” he asked her.
“No.”
“Did you see the bear?”
“No. It was gone by the time I got there.”
“You did everything right,” he said.
Then she let out a loud sob. Now that she was in their home, what she’d seen and gone through seemed to be overwhelming her, he thought.
*
JOE LOOKED UP. Marybeth had settled down with Kestrel in her lap in a lounge chair in their front room. They were going page by page through a recent copy of Wyoming Wildlife magazine and Kestrel was pointing at photos of bears and prairie dogs as Marybeth complimented the child on knowing what species was what.
Joe was grateful that Kestrel seemed to be oblivious to what had happened to her mother, but it broke his heart that she’d have to find out. What would they tell her and how would they do it? How much, he thought, had Kestrel’s life just changed in perpetuity?
Marybeth looked up from the magazine and met his eyes. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, but somehow she was able to hold herself together and remain cheery while Kestrel pointed out animals.
“Listen to me carefully,” Joe said to Sheridan. “Did you see any vehicles near Nate’s place?”
“No,” she said. Then: “I’m sorry. My mind is blown. Yes, I did see another car. There was a pickup coming out on the road and I pulled over to let it by.”
Joe felt his insides clutch. “Can you describe it?”
He felt her nod her head yes on his shoulder. “It was a pickup, like I said, with a shell over the back. I think it was white with Wyoming plates, but I can’t tell you the make or model. It was just a normal pickup like you see everywhere here. I couldn’t see the driver or the passenger, but I think there were two of them.”
“Was it local?” he asked.
She indicated it was. “It had County Six plates. I didn’t get the rest of the numbers, though. I remember thinking: Carbon County.”
Joe let go of Sheridan and stepped back. “Help me make sure all the doors are locked. Then we’ll shut off all the lights.”
“Dad,” Sheridan said, “you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“Dallas Cates was released,” he said. “It wasn’t a bear that attacked Liv. It was Dallas Cates.”
Sheridan’s eyes shot open and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“We’ll tell you everything we know,” he said. “But right now we’ve got to lock up and make this house completely dark.”
Marybeth stood up with Kestrel and nuzzled the girl. She’d obviously heard the exchange. She said to her, “Let’s get a blanket and a flashlight and we’ll make a tent in the bedroom and look at the animals. We’ll go camping.”
Kestrel squealed with delight and Joe’s heart broke even further.
*
FIVE MINUTES LATER, under the muted light of a headlamp he’d fitted over the crown of his hat, Joe left their dark bedroom with Marybeth and Kestrel in their “tent” and Sheridan sitting on the bed with a loaded lever-action .30-30 rifle on her lap. He’d placed his service Maglite flashlight on the bedspread next to her within her reach.
“Text me if you see or hear anything,” Joe said. “But don’t open the door or look out the window.”
“Where will you be?” she whispered back.
“Outside. That way I can see them if they approach the house. I’ll text you when they get here.”
