The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (111 page)

She looked at him her brow furrowed but saw the sense of what he had said. She nodded again and he said, ‘keep still and stay very quiet, I’ll get rid of whoever it is.’

Just then the sound of a lock being rattled could be heard obviously the person knocking was trying the padlock’s strength. Lando pushed Adela further behind the boxes as a knock came to them again this time from the barn side of the building. Lando turned and walked to the door that led to the barn and Josie and her foal.

She heard him speak to Dante who was still growling loudly and ferociously. Then she heard a loud click as Lando cocked his rifle then the sound of the barn door being opened. Lando partly opened the door just enough to see out.

Adela heard someone say, ‘Mr. Jon…the voice broke off abruptly and then continued sounding half placating and half threatening. ‘Whoa, now let’s all stay calm shall we.’

Lando said, ‘I am calm. Raise your hands. Now.’

Adela’s heart almost stopped beating as the other man answered, ‘I’m detective Ellis Leyton and this is Detective Patrick Sullivan, we’re with the Mississippi P.D. Are you Jonas Lando?’

Lando didn’t answer that but said, ‘show me some I.D.’

There followed a silence in which they were obviously showing him their I.D.’s. She wondered why she could hear so well, since there were two doors between them. She looked up and saw that there was a loft in the roof space where he stored food, hay etcetera. So the space must stretch across the entire building making the place acoustically sound.

Lando looked first at Leyton then at Sullivan. Yeah, they were cops all right, he could tell by their eyes, cops eyes, eyes that had seen too much and too often. He had that look too, but his wasn’t only from his time as a cop. He lowered his rifle, ‘you’re a long
way from home, Detectives.’

‘Yes,’ Leyton said sounding relieved, ‘our enquiries have brought us to
Alabama. We’d like to ask you some questions if we may.’

‘I’m busy, ‘said Lando simply.

‘I know you must be a very busy man,’ Leyton said in a conciliatory tone, ‘but it won’t take long.’

‘You’ve come to the wrong place if you want information; I don’t know anything and don’t want to know anything.’

‘Don’t you even want to know what we want to ask you about?’ This from Sullivan.

‘No.’ Lando said bluntly. Any other time Adela would have laughed at his directness.

Sullivan said, ‘now look here, Lando…

But he was cut off by his partner saying, ‘it really won’t take long, Mr. Lando, only we’re looking for a woman, an English tourist who’s gone missing, feared kidnapped.’

She heard Sullivan make a sound like he was choking and then there was a small silence until Leyton said ‘as I was saying, she’s been missing since the night before last and we’re very concerned for her welfare.’

‘I’m mighty sorry for the woman,’ Lando said not sounding in the least sorry, ‘but you won’t find her here. You won’t find anyone here but me.’

Sullivan moved almost imperceptibly trying to see over Lando’s shoulder but Lando moved too blocking his view.

‘We think you might know the woman we’re looking for,’ Leyton said, ‘she stayed close by in a rented cabin in the woods.
Her name is Adela Faraday.’

Lando said, ‘I knew there was a woman staying there, but never knew her name
‘till a few days ago.’

‘Who told you her name and why?’ This from Sullivan.

‘Sheriff Lomax, he was talking about her.’

‘Why?’

Lando sounded deeply impatient now, ‘just in passing, said she was staying at Old Cartwright’s cabin for a while, but that she’d now left and gone some place else.’

‘
Mississippi.’ Leyton said.

Lando shrugged as if not at all bothered where she’d gone.

‘Would you mind if we came in and looked around?’ Sullivan asked.

‘Yeah, I would.’

‘As a cop yourself I’d think you’d want to be a bit more helpful, Mr. Lando, a little more concerned that a woman has gone missing. A woman you knew at that.’

There followed a silence but Adela knew it was a silence filled with tension, ‘well let’s see, one, I ain’t a cop no more, two, it ain’t no business of mine if a woman goes wandering off by herself and gets herself in all kindsa trouble, and three, I didn’t know her. So I was you I’d go ask the folks in the town, they probably knew her. Go see Sheriff Lomax and stop bothering me.’

Sullivan sounding really angry now growled, ‘some cop you musta been, Lando. And how about I go get a warrant and search this place, maybe find something that ain’t oughta be here, maybe something an ex -cop turned con could make a living from,’ he looked around, ‘if living is what you can call this shit hole. And while I’m at it, maybe we’ll see if you have a permit for that, ‘he nodded down at the rifle in Lando’s hand, ‘so why don’t you quit stonewalling and tell us what you know about this English piece.’

‘S
hut up, Pat.' Leyton snapped.

Lando never moved just held Sullivan’s stare with those steady, unflinching eyes but Adela could imagine what impression he was making. He said, ‘why don’t y’all go and get your search warrant and when you come back I’ll be here. But you know as well as I do, Sullivan, no judge will grant you a warrant because I wouldn’t grant you access to my property.’

‘Then how about I take you in and charge you with obstructing an investigation.’

‘And just how am I doing that exactly?’

‘By refusing to answer our questions, by refusing to allow us access to your premises to search for a missing woman, who just happened to stay very close by here and who we have reason to believe might be back in the state.’

‘I answered your questions, and I told you I’m busy, got a mare with a new foal to see to.’

Sullivan said, ‘so your animals are more important than a woman’s life?’

‘Yep.’ Lando said bluntly.

Sullivan said, ‘well maybe your wife might know something, oh no, sorry, she won’t no nothing, her being dead and all.’

Adela gasped then covered her mouth with her hand.

Leyton barked, ‘Pat!

Lando curled his lip and said calmly, ‘can’t you Mississippi boys come up with something a little different, or do you just swap old insults and lame jokes with your counterparts here in Alabama?’

Sullivan stepped forward but Leyton got between them and said sternly, ‘enough now. This is getting us nowhere.’ He turned to his partner, ‘and that was uncalled for, Pat, he turned to Lando, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Lando.’

Lando stared at him thinking, I’ve done this a thousand times, good cop, bad cop. But somehow Leyton seemed genuinely shocked by his partner’s outburst and his apology sounded sincere.

‘Mr. Lando.’ Leyton said quietly, ‘Sheriff Taylor of Eden town  in Mississippi tells us that a cop, a detective from Montgomery, called him enquiring about a man wanted for conning people out of money, who might be in the Eden area. This cop gave his name as Dan Rivers, but Detective Rivers is on vacation and cannot be contacted at the moment.'

Lando felt his stomach drop but let none of his apprehension show in his face as he said, 'what does that have to do with me?'

It was Sullivan who answered, 'you knew Dan Rivers didn't you, he was your partner, ' he sneered, 'when you were a cop of course.' Lando merely shrugged. 'It seems odd to us that a cop on vacation should be asking a town sheriff to watch out for felons.'

Lando said, 'I can't answer for Dan Rivers. But he was a dedicated cop, sometimes he went above and beyond in his quest for justice.'

Sullivan smirked, 'that might make sense if he hadn't told Taylor that he was on stake out for a while so couldn't be contacted. But he's been phoning Taylor every day in case the conman turns up in Eden. Every day that is except yesterday and today.'

For the first time Lando was glad of his time in prison, it had enabled him to keep his feelings well hidden.
He said, 'I don't know what to tell ya, 'cept speak to Rivers when he gets back. Now, as I said I got work to do.'

He made to close the door but hesitated as Leyton said, 'if there is anything you can think of that might help us locate Miss. Faraday, Mr Lando, we’d be mighty grateful.’

Lando studied him and thought this is the guy who, from what she had said, seemed to want to help her, even going as far as telling her about Hennessey’s fake identities, probably believing that it would help her in some way. From what she had said, albeit inadvertently, he had the feeling that Leyton had a thing for her. But he also remembered what she’d said about there being a spy in Eden, and although Leyton wasn’t an Eden cop he could very well be in Glissando’s pay, either he or his asshole partner. Fuck, now he was getting as paranoid as she was.

He exhaled sharply,
‘look, Detective, I live here because I don’t want to get involved with the troubles and problems of others, I left all that behind a long time ago. I don’t bother anyone and all I ask in return is that they don’t bother me. I didn’t know the woman. I saw her occasionally in the woods, she seemed friendly enough, but I never spoke to her but once when she was lost and I showed her the way back to her cabin, after that I never saw her again. As I said, I didn’t even know her name until she’d gone.’

Sullivan mumbled something that sounded very much like bullshit but Leyton and Lando ignored him.

Adela’s heart hammered against her ribcage as Leyton asked, ‘Mr. Lando, do you know a man by the name of Sterling Hennessey?’

Lando answered without hesitation, ‘no.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yep.’

Leyton sighed, ‘well, thanks, we appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Lando.’ Leyton was either very good at masking his sarcasm or he meant what he said. But Sullivan made no secret of his feelings as he made a disparaging sound in his throat which the other two men ignored.

Leyton said, ‘here’s my card, please call if you think of something that might help or if you see Miss. Faraday again.’

Lando hesitated then took the card and Leyton said, ‘well, we’ll let you get back to your mare and foal, Mr. Lando.’ He put out his hand. Lando hesitated then thrust his hand into Leyton’s for a split second only then retracted it. He turned to go back into the barn but turned back as Sullivan said, ‘if I find out you’ve seen her or spoken to her or even smelled her I’ll arrest your ass for harbouring a fugitive.’

Pat!’ Leyton snapped again this time even more forcefully.

Lando said, ‘I thought you said she was a kidnap victim.’

Leyton looked at his partner infuriated. Sullivan said, ‘she’s a kidnap victim until we find out otherwise.’ He tried to sound oblique but it came out merely defensive.

Lando said, ‘well when you make up your mind, don’t let me know.’ Then he walked into the barn and closed the door on the two men.

                                                       *********

As they walked through the woods to their cars Sullivan was the first to break the silence. ‘All right, Ellis, get it over with.’

Leyton didn’t look at his partner ‘get what over with?’

‘Tell me I shouldn’t have done that.’

‘Done what exactly, made a really crass and offensive remark about his wife? Threatened to get a warrant? Acted like a spoilt kid who can’t get his own way and not like a cop, or even a grown man? Or told him we suspect Adela Faraday of being on the run from the law?’ Which of those should you not have done, Pat?’

Sullivan sounded petulant, ‘well, he got to me, murdering sonofabitch. Pulling that rifle on us. Telling us that his damn horse is more important than a woman’s life. Wonder they didn’t send him down for twenty five plus if that was his attitude in court. Anyway you no need to talk about being indiscreet, and Lando isn’t even a suspect in a crime, not like your lady friend.’

Leyton was silent and Sullivan said more mildly, ‘look, Ellis, I know I acted like an asshole, but I heard about that guy, about how he showed no emotion when he was a charged with his wife’s murder, not then and not at the trial, and apparently not now either.’

‘A
ll the more reason to believe he had nothing to do with Miss. Faraday. He didn’t strike me as the kind to take care of a woman, whether kidnapped or on the run. And anyway, what you said about her being a fugitive might turn out to be a good thing. No matter what you or anyone else might think, he
was
a cop, he would do the right thing I think, and turn her in.’

‘Maybe.’

‘But you still shouldn’t have said that about his wife.’

Sullivan looked at his partner, ‘sometimes, Ellis, I think you’re too damn soft for this job.’

‘Why, 'cos I don’t think insulting and threatening people is the way to get them to cooperate with us?’

Sullivan’s tone was serious now, ‘no,
‘cos your soft heart will get you killed one day, buddy.’

Leyton looked askance at his partner then smiled, ‘you worried about me, partner.’

Sullivan gave him a derisive smirk. Leyton laughed, ‘when this is over, Pat, you should get together with Lando, you can sit and whine and moan over the trials and tribulations of living with disloyal and adulterous women.’