"We're down to two suspects. Who do we start with first? Gene or Edgar?"
"Good question." Molly put her feet back on the dashboard and wiggled her toes.
"Do you think Louise has been milking money out of Gene over the years as a payment for her silence?" Jim asked.
"It's possible. She didn't act like a woman who had moved on with her life and made her own way.
And that house she lives in certainly isn't a low-end little retirement cottage."
Jim gave her an agreeing look.
"We need to find Kerney and fill him in."
"There's a lot of horses under the hood," Molly replied.
"We'll get back to Reserve a hell of a lot faster if you goose it a little. Besides, creeping along at the speed limit is boring."
Omar turned east on the paved state road that led to the picnic grounds at the Catwalk National Recreation Trail and stopped at the side of the road when he reached the old mine that jutted out of the hill on the far bank of Whitewater Creek. Cars traveling in both directions slowed as they passed his patrol unit.
He waited a good fifteen minutes before a truck pulled in behind him.
Omar unlocked the passenger door and Phil Cox got in, his long legs bumping up against the dash.
Omar moved the bench seat back.
"What took you so long?" Phil demanded.
"I thought you were going to talk to Amador right away."
"I had to find him first," Gatewood answered.
"Which wasn't easy. He was in Silver City helping the family make funeral arrangements for Steve."
"What did he say?"
Gatewood grimaced and looked out the side window at an RV that slowed as it passed by.
"He ratted me off to Kerney, the little fucker. Told him everything.
I almost kicked his ass in the parking lot at the funeral home."
"Did you get him to agree to stay out of town?"
"That's not a good idea," Omar answered, turning back to Phil.
"The funeral service for Steve is tomorrow. Wouldn't look right if Amador wasn't there. I've got a deputy covering him."
"That's not what you were told to do," Phil snapped, his gray eyes narrowing.
"Save the orders for somebody else, Phil," Gatewood said wearily.
"It's your daddy we elected commanding officer of the militia, not you.
I'm still the goddamn sheriff and I made the call on this one.
Amador stays put. I don't want any more attention drawn to him."
"Okay, Omar, relax."
"I put a tail on your sweet little cousin after she left my office. She got Kerney released, dropped the murder charges against him, and took him home with her."
Phil slapped the dashboard with his hand.
"Shit."
"You said you would bring a plan with you, Phil. I hope it's better than your last fuckup that got us into this mess."
"Don't lay that on me," Phil retorted.
"Every ranking officer in the militia voted on the plan."
"But Kerney's still out there walking around. You shot the wrong man and blew up Doyle Fletcher."
"Fletcher was an accident, and I didn't shoot the wrong man."
Gatewood snorted.
"Kerney was the target, not Stiles. It was your idea in the first place to whack somebody who worked for the Forest Service that nobody gave a rat's ass about."
Phil laughed sharply.
"You need to listen more carefully to what people say. Kerney was discussed as a target, but the decision we reached was to take decisive action."
Gatewood rubbed his chin.
"Jesus. And Gene took that to mean you should go after Jim Stiles?" he asked in disbelief.
"He told me to take out whoever jumped at the bait. Kerney. Stiles.
Charlie Perry. Whoever. It didn't matter. It was time to send a message."
Omar ran his tongue behind his teeth before reacting.
"I think your old man went over the edge on this one."
Phil lunged across the seat and grabbed Gatewood's throat.
"Don't ever say that again," he snarled.
Omar pried Phil's hand free and gasped for air.
"I'm not picking a fight with you, for chrissake." He waited until Phil stopped glaring at him.
"I'm only saying Kerney was the target. No one else."
"That's not the way my father saw it," Phil replied tightly.
Gatewood grunted, gave Phil a sharp look, and let it pass. It was too late to split hairs with Phil, and the way he was acting maybe both Eugene and his son had a screw loose.
"What does Gene want done now?"
"We have to clean up the mess."
"That's what I thought," Gatewood replied, pulling a paper from his shirt pocket.
"So I did us a favor."
Phil took the paper and read it.
"You got the assault-and-battery warrant signed."
Gatewood smiled and nodded.
"You bet. I know a very obliging judge. Everything is legal again. All we have to do is go get them. After that, we can improvise."
"Them?"
"That's right. I talked to your daddy after I called you. He wants both Kerney and Karen taken care of, and I agree. That's the only way we can handle it. We can't let Karen off the hook. She could fry our asses.
We're looking at first-degree felony murder charges if we don't contain the problem now."
"Kill them both?" Phil asked.
Gatewood nodded.
"Are you all right with that?"
Phil's eyes were empty of emotion.
"Why not?"
"Good," Gatewood said, exhaling slowly.
"But it ain't gonna be me who does it. You get my meaning?"
Phil gazed at Gatewood unemotionally.
"I'll make them disappear, Omar. But we leave Karen's children alone, understood? We're patriots, not terrorists."
"Shit, Phil, I know that." He cranked the engine.
"Edgar took his grandkids to Silver City. If we get our butts in gear, we can pick up Kerney and Karen and be gone before he gets home."
"Where do we take them?"
"The Slash Z." Gatewood reached across Phil and opened the passenger door.
"I'm taking out an insurance policy on this one. I want your daddy to help you make them disappear, Phil."
Phil got out of the patrol car, stuck his head back inside, and gave Omar a wicked smile.
"He'll like that. This will all work out, Omar."
"It better. Otherwise, we'll have to declare open season on every fucking federal and state cop the government sends after us."
After treating his grandchildren to an early lunch and a matinee movie in Silver City, Edgar met briefly with Margaret's doctor, while Elizabeth and Cody waited in the hospital lobby. The doctor reported the cancer had not spread and Margaret would be discharged in the morning. The good news put a smile on Edgar's face. He took the elevator to the third floor and hurried to Margaret's room.
He found his wife sitting in the bedside chair with her hair done up in a bun, her makeup on, and wearing a pretty summer dress. She smiled and stroked his cheek when he bent down to kiss her.
"Karen couldn't come?" Margaret asked.
"She's working, and I'm looking after Cody and Elizabeth. They're in the lobby waiting to see you.
The doctor said I could take you down for a short visit."
"I can't wait to see them." She studied Edgar's face.
"You look tired."
"I feel fine," he replied.
"You look beautiful."
Margaret beamed.
"I hoped you'd notice. I had quite a bit of help from the nurses to get gussied up for your visit. Have you kept your promise?"
Edgar's smile faded and his gaze shifted away.
"Not yet. I've decided I want to talk to Eugene before I tell Karen."
"What on earth for?"
Edgar grimaced.
"I want him to know that the truth is something neither of us can avoid any longer."
Margaret stood up and took Edgar's arm.
"I don't think talking to Eugene will make one bit of difference."