“Who are your new friends?”
Cherelle glanced up, eyes wide with panic, and she shrank into the booth.
It appeared her paramour had arrived.
I stood. “Hey, there. I’m Mercy Gunderson, running for sheriff.”
He glowered at Cherelle. His body vibrated with menace.
“Anyway, hope you don’t mind I bent Chantal’s ear. Whenever I come across a voter who’s undecided, I get a little carried away.” I forced a laugh. “So poor Chantal has been a captive audience.” Was intentionally bungling her name too over the top?
Victor said, “Do I look like I care who you are? Get your ass to our table, Cherelle. Now. I need a beer.”
I moved aside so Cherelle could escape.
She scooted past me without a word, Victor hot on her heels.
Naturally, I followed.
As did Anna.
Victor shoved Cherelle in a chair and sat next to her. When he realized we’d followed him, his reptilian eyes slitted further. “Did you hear me invite you over?”
I smiled. “I warned you I was relentless in my pursuit of potential votes.” I faced the Japanese/Indian man, the infamous Barry Sarohutu, who looked bored with the scene. “I’m Mercy Gunderson. I’m running for sheriff.”
Saro crossed his arms over his chest. “So?”
“So I wondered who you were voting for?”
His eyes bored into me. I allowed myself to stare back, if only briefly. Up close, Saro wasn’t bad looking. I guessed his age to be between thirty-five and forty-five. He’d slicked his jet-black hair into a ponytail. His dark eyes held the slant of his Japanese ancestry; however, his prominent nose was all Sioux. He radiated real danger, not the false cockiness I frequently ran into. This guy was ruthless and probably a total psychopath.
I hated him on sight. I hated that I had to continue this charade and couldn’t put my.380 between his eyes and blow his brains out across his brother’s smug face. But I especially hated I had to drop my eyes first and look away.
But my cowed behavior loosened his tongue. “You related to the former Sheriff Gunderson?”
“He was my father.”
Laughter from the other five guys at the table echoed around us.
“Weren’t you just bartending in here last week?”
I lifted my chin. “Yep. I know firsthand how hard it is to make a living in this county.”
“No, you just gotta be on the top of the food chain.”
More laughter.
Cherelle sat with her head bowed.
I couldn’t hold my composure much longer. “So can I count on your vote?”
Saro cocked his head, studying me like a piece of meat. Or a piece of ass. “I’ll vote for you. But you gotta do something for me.”
Don’t ask. Just walk away.
“What’s that?” I managed.
“Get on your knees.” Saro’s gaze whipped between Anna and me. “But maybe you don’t know what that phrase means?”
Seething, I blinked, acting confused.
“Yeah, bro, you might be right. Maybe Cherelle should demonstrate. Since you’re friends and all. She could give you a few pointers.” Victor grabbed Cherelle by the hair, bringing them acne-pocked cheek to scarred cheek. “Get on your knees. Show them how you make a living.”
I couldn’t stand by and watch forced humiliation. “That’s not necessary,” I said, backing away. “Nice talking to you but I, ah, see some other people I need to touch base with.” I purposely staggered back and raced into the back room.
Self-satisfied male laughter burned my ears.
I braced my hand on the wall and sucked in several deep breaths. Once I’d calmed down, I glanced at Anna.
“Well, that was fun. Not. Can we go now?”
“No. As soon as they’re gone, we’ll go.”
Meeting Sarohutu and Victor convinced me they’d been involved in J-Hawk’s murder. I just couldn’t fit all the pieces together. Not yet. But I would.
If my performance tonight was believable, Saro and his hyenas wouldn’t see me as a threat. They’d see me as a girl trying on daddy’s shoes for size. Which is exactly what I wanted them to see.
We stuck around ten minutes after Saro’s group took off. With my tendency to shoot first, I didn’t want to run into them in the parking area.
Anna grilled me the instant we entered the cabin. “What the fuck was that about? What aren’t you telling me about Jason?”
“Calm down.”
“The hell I will. I want to know what’s going on, and I want to know right fucking now.”
“Fine.” I snagged two beers from the fridge. No need to beat around the bush. “What do you know about the prescription drug OxyContin?”
“What does that have to do-?”
“Just answer the question.”
Anna snatched the beer from my hand. “OxyContin is as addicting as meth or cocaine. Some people call it hillbilly heroin.” She looked at me. “Are you saying that Jason was taking it?”
I nodded. “I got a peek at the coroner’s blood-test results, and J-Hawk had extremely high levels of OxyContin in his system.”
“So? That isn’t what killed him.”
“There was also a large amount of OxyContin in his motel room and in his vehicle.”
“How much?”
“A hundred and forty bottles.”
She drank as she paced. “Maybe he’d been stockpiling prescriptions. During your discharge, didn’t the army shrinks try to load you up on medicine to help you ‘adjust’ to civilian life? I remember I had my choice of Ambien or Lunesta to help me sleep. Abilify to fight long-term anxiety. Xanax to fight situational anxiety. If I’d mentioned suffering from chronic pain, they would’ve prescribed the all-purpose OxyContin like candy.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I’ve been out of the service longer than you. At this one VA I visited in California? Looked like the damn stock exchange when the nurses turned their backs. Guys were trading OxyContin for Vicodin. Or Xanax for Adderal. High-dosage pain pills of any kind were big-ticket items. That’s how some vets made their living. They’d go to the doc, get the prescriptions, and sell them for cash. I can name at least a dozen straight-arrow soldiers, like Jason, who craved that combat high. They couldn’t handle normal. The only way to achieve the high was through artificial means. So they made up aches and pains to get that rush.”
I studied her. “Do you miss it? That rush of adrenaline?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Is that why you hired on as a merc? To feed that need?”
“Yes.” Anna gave me the unflinching stare that’d made several Iraqi interpreters start praying.
“Do you think Jason needed that rush?”
“Meaning, do I think he needed a way to escape his shitty life in North Dakota? Yes. So it’s no wonder he loaded up on as many bottles as the doctors would prescribe for him.”
“That’s the thing. There were no pharmacy prescriptions on the bottles. Just the manufacturer’s labels.”
Anna froze. “He stole them?”
“It appears so.”
She began pacing again. “Why would he take that risk? His income as a retired army officer is a helluva lot more than mine as enlisted. I’m sure his job with Titan Oil came with a pile of cash. Did stealing give him that high? Or did he have a death wish?”
I was beginning to wonder that myself. “That’s what I’m asking you, Anna. You said you knew him down to the bone.”
“I do.”
“You mean you did.”
Lightning fast, Anna was in my face. “What about you, Sergeant Major? Do you miss that rush? Knowing you’re at the top of your game? Confident few women in the world can best you at what you do best?”
“I was an excellent sniper. But I never aspired to be an excellent killer.”
She backed off as quickly as she’d invaded my space, but I didn’t relax. Couldn’t. Unhinged Anna scared me.