The Eagle and the Fox (A Snowy Range Mystery, #1) (26 page)

Becca tapped the pen on the table. Marcus asked, “What’re you thinking, Becs?” That made both Josh and Becca smile. No one had called her “Becs” for a very long time.

Looking up at Josh, Becca asked, “You remember that red-headed nerd I dated for a time junior year? Cal. Francis Calhoun.” She rested her chin on her hands. “He hated his first name.”

Josh said, “Can’t say that I do.” He grinned at Marcus. “Too damn many boyfriends to keep track of.”

“Up yours, bro. But, anyway... he ended up going to State. Last I heard he’d made detective over in Cheyenne, then transferred back to Laramie.”

Josh snickered. “For somebody you dated for a couple months back in high school, you sure know a lot about what the guy’s been doing the last... what... seventeen, eighteen years? Stalker much?”

Becca mumbled something under her breath. Josh missed it but apparently Marcus hadn’t. Shoulders shaking he turned around to tidy up the counter, leaving Becca to grumble, “I am not a stalker. I just thought it might be useful to have someone to ask for, is all. You know how cops are.”

Josh did indeed, although his perspective came from the military, not civilian, side. But cops were cops. The uniform might be different, but the mindset was the same. He circled the table and bent down to give his baby sister a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, Becs. That’ll help for sure.” He stood up and glanced out the window. “Okay, gang, sun’s coming up so let’s rock and roll. Marcus, you feed the cats. Me and the stalker here will head to the barn.”

Becca took a swat at Josh’s butt and connected. They squabbled good-naturedly all the way to the barn. When they’d finished their chores, Becca took Josh’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

“What’s that for?”

“For you. And Marcus. You done yourself proud, Josiah. He’s a good man.”

Blushing, Josh admitted, “Yeah, he is.”

Marcus was good, in every way a man could be. The one thing gnawing at Josh was Marcus worrying himself into a frazzle about Petilune. Not that he was alone in that. It was just that there was something very special going on between those two. Petilune looked up to Marcus like he was the father she never knew, and Marcus would give his right arm to see to her future. Trouble was, the system didn’t work that way, not for the likes of them.

Chewing his bottom lip, he contemplated what he could do to help solve the dilemma of Petilune. Tugging on Becca’s hand, he said, “Hold up a minute. I need to talk to you about something.” She gave him her concerned look, so he hastened to add, “It’s nothing serious. Um, not exactly. It’s to do with Petilune.”

“Yeah, I figured we’d need to powwow about that pretty soon. That child can’t be shuffled around like a sack of potatoes forever. She’s needs a place to call home.” Then she added what had been worrying Josh, “Pretty soon somebody’s gonna say something to social services. From what I hear, her mother’s MIA, the brothers are probably still at the hospital, and who the hell knows where they’ll go from there.”

“Jackie’s coming nineteen. What scares the shit out of me is the oldest boy taking charge of both Joey and Petilune. That’s not something I’m willing to live with.”

Becca asked, “But what can we do? I don’t mind helping out, but with the girls needing all my attention and me being divorced? Shit, right now I feel guilty asking Pet to look after them. I don’t want people to think I’m taking advantage.”

“They won’t, hon. But you’re right, we need to find a solution everyone involved can be comfortable with, especially that child. I know the best situation for her would be to stay with Marcus. But he doesn’t have a suitable living space, and...” He shrugged. “Well, you know.”

“Yeah, I do.” She paused to think, then added, “Why not talk to the new reverend? His wife was in social work. Maybe they could look into coming up with a plan we can all live with.”

Josh hugged his sister. “Becs, you are a genius. Are they still in Laramie?

“No, they’re renting a place over on Ditch Road, the old Jensen homestead.” She dug her cell phone out of her pocket and tapped in a number. When whoever she’d dialed picked up, she handed the phone to Josh and said, “Here, ask if they’re around to talk.” In a matter of minutes, Josh had an appointment to meet with the Allens in an hour.

He said, “Let’s keep this between you and me for the time being. I don’t want Marcus to get his hopes up until we know more. He’s got enough on his plate with the store.”

“I agree. And the same with Petilune. Once we have our facts straight, we can sit down and work out a plan.”

At the kitchen door, they paused to watch Marcus cuddling two of their barn cats. Josh whispered to his sister, “I love you, kiddo. Never forget that.”

Becca smiled and whispered back, “What about Marcus? Have you told him yet?”

Josh swatted her rump, grousing, “A stalker
and
a busybody.”

“Tell him, bro. You aren’t getting any younger, you know.”

No, he wasn’t...

****

T
he man who approached with a grin on his face and hand extended was a far cry from the skinny kid with thick glasses who had courted Becca back in the day. He’d fibbed to his sister about not remembering. Det. Francis ‘Cal’ Calhoun had grown into a burly six-foot plus, no nonsense presence, sporting the rumpled suit and weary demeanor that seemed as much a part of the job description as was the badge. The ginger hair had thinned some, but not the freckles. Josh could see what Becca had liked.

“Josiah, nice to see you. Been a while.”

“Just Josh. And, yeah, good to see you again. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.”

Det. Calhoun led him into an interrogation room so they could have some privacy. Unlike in city precincts, the department wasn’t exactly a beehive of activity, but it was still too open for the conversation Josh needed to have.

After settling in the chair, Josh explained why he was there, taking his time to lay out every detail, then ending with, “There’s no way Ted Sorenson has any right to interrogate a witness in a case that belongs to
your
department. I don’t like butting in, but it gave me a really bad feeling.”

Det. Calhoun sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, his chin tucked tight. He hadn’t taken any notes, but Josh was one hundred percent sure that the man had registered, and committed to memory, anything that was relevant to the case. When he finally made eye contact with Josh, the deep-set green eyes had gone flat and calculating.

Finally the man asked, “Where do you intend to go with this, Josh?”

That was a good question. Whenever he and Marcus had tried to unearth an explanation, they’d run into more questions than answers. Instead of responding to the detective’s question, Josh said, “I was wondering if you’ve had a chance to talk with Will Barnes about what happened after the church service.”

“No, and yes. I’m still getting oriented here. My new partner did the honors, but he said he got nothing. Just that the kid was being a hero to impress the girl, and it didn’t work out so good until you came along.”

Josh objected, “That’s not how it went down. Will’s got a steady girl, been going out since seventh grade. She’s damn near part of that family. I’ll buy the hero part, but something else was going on before that. And I think Will might have seen or heard something that got him riled up enough to take on three guys.” Josh splayed his palms on the table. “We were close enough to the picnic area, all Will had to do was shout and all of us would’ve come running. The fact he didn’t tells me it might have been personal, that he knew those guys.”

“Knew them how?”

Josh shrugged. “Not a clue, though it’s got to have something to do with how those so-called designer drugs have been moving into our area, mostly through the schools apparently. I can’t be sure what the supply line looks like, but I’d bet those four and the Goggles kids are the major players.”

“You think the Barnes boy is dealing. Or using?”

Josh cringed. He didn’t want to believe it, but nice kids from good families too often got suckered into drugs because they wanted to fit in. He’d seen it on the military bases, more often than he cared to think about, but he doubted Will’s involvement went in that direction.

Josh suggested, “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to talk with Will and find out what he might have seen to set him off. He’s like all the kids, if he doesn’t know you, he’ll clam up.”

“You think you can do better than a trained detective?” Josh could have taken it the wrong way, but the flat cop eyes had taken on a devilish twinkle. “Don’t worry, First Lieutenant, I’m well aware of your qualifications.”

Josh’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “I see my sister isn’t the only one who keeps track of... old friends.” The man turned scarlet and shifted in his seat. Teasing, he asked, “Should I give her your regards?”

Josh made a mental note to do a little investigating of his own, not that he needed another task, but when it came to Becca he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

The detective shoved his card across the table. “You have my blessing. But I’m going to want a full report, however trivial. Are we on the same page?”

Nodding, Josh turned the business card over and jotted down Becca’s phone number, then slid the card back across the table. Calhoun’s face turned an even deeper scarlet but he pocketed the card, handed Josh a fresh one and stood, hand out, mumbling something about staying in touch.

Josh thought,
this will serve her right. What’s good for the goose...

Feeling pleased about his progress for the day, he headed toward the Fairgrounds to see if the rodeo team was setting up for any practice runs. By the time he got there, the heavens had opened up, and the coach confirmed they’d be skipping the runs until another day that week. That left him with the grocery store and a possible re-route to the high school on the off chance he could find Will before he left the grounds.

Adhering to the list made short work of his final chore. As he was dodging light hail and stuffing bags onto the back seat, he thought back to the conversation with the Reverend and Mrs. Allen. They’d listened carefully as Josh explained Petilune’s family history, adding in enough bits from recent events that the missus clearly understood Josh’s concerns about the girl. She apologized she had no clear-cut answers, but she promised to make some discreet calls to see what their next steps might be.

Even though he hadn’t gotten any guarantees, he at least felt he’d acquired some new allies. At that point, it was the best they could do with a bad situation. When the kind woman had offered to keep Petilune any time they needed a place for her to stay, Josh assured them that—between Marcus, his family, and Polly—they had it pretty much covered. At least until the mother showed up.

Josh prayed she wouldn’t. He never wanted to wish ill on anyone, but that woman had done nothing but harm—with her sons and with a child who deserved so much more than what life was throwing at her.

Just as he was backing out of his parking spot, his cell phone rang. It was Becca.

“Hey, it’s me. Marcus called, said Petilune hasn’t shown up for work yet. He’s thinking maybe she forgot she was supposed to take the bus and is waiting at the school for a ride. Can you swing by on your way home?”

“Yep, can do.”

He was tempted to tell her he gave Det. Francis Calhoun her phone number, then decided it would be way more fun if it was a surprise. He was almost certain the cop would be doing a drive-by if nothing else. Josh had opened the door for the man to have an excuse to visit. A cold call was usually out of everyone’s comfort zone, but a friendly, neighborly touching base visit wasn’t.

And the best part was he’d be there to see his sister’s face.

The rain stopped just as he turned into the school parking area. Since the buses had come and gone, he pulled under the canopy and waited, expecting Petilune to come running out. When she didn’t, he did his graceless flop to the ground, grunting with pain. It had been a long day, both driving and being on his feet. He’d forgotten to take his meds that morning, so if anyone flagged him down to ask, “Hey, dude, how’s it going,” he might have had the foul language police on his tail.

A quick sweep of the lot told him that Will’s truck wasn’t there. He shrugged. It had been a hit or miss proposition.

A few students lingered in the halls like they always did. There would be detention, after school tutoring, club meetings. Nothing much changed from one generation to another. Since he didn’t recognize any of them, he headed to the office. The secretary and the Vice-Principal were bent over a stack of folders. When they looked up, both smiled. The secretary, a tall woman who looked like she could hold her own in a fight, inquired how they could help.

Josh thought for a second, then asked, “Is there a chance I could make an appointment with the counselor to have Will Barnes come in to answer a few questions about that fight a couple weeks ago?”

The Vice-Principal, whose name he couldn’t recall, asked, “Is this official business, Mr. Foxglove?”

“No, not really. I was just talking with Det. Calhoun. He’s trying to figure out how to put a stop to drugs getting to the kids on campus. He said Will denied knowing anything, but we both have a feeling he does. It’s just... he might not realize he has information we could use.”

It was odd how easily the “we” slipped into the conversation. The reality was that there
was
no “we” and he was being both presumptuous and misleading to allow the school folks to believe that.

The secretary and Vice-Principal exchanged a glance. They agreed to set something up and call him to confirm a day and time. If that suited.

“Yes’m, that’s fine. I don’t want to be a bother. But I’ve known Will a long time, and I think he’ll be willing to talk with me without strangers and other folks hanging around.” He avoided saying “his father” but their expressions clearly indicated they understood his meaning. He recited his cell number and paused.

“Is there something else, Mr. Foxglove?”

Hating to put Petilune on anyone’s radar, he was going to search the building himself, convinced he’d find the girl loitering in the halls. But, though the school was small, it wasn’t
that
small, and he had cold food in the back of the truck that needed to get in Becca’s refrigerator.