Atonement (12 page)

Kate pulled away.  “Walk fast,”  she said.  “I’ll be staying in your motel room tonight.”

“You think that’s a good idea?”  Logan said.

“I think it’s a great idea.  Don’t you?”

He smiled, and Kate saw warmth invade his eyes that she had not known he possessed.  Her mind whirled.  Part of the reason that she wanted Logan was because she was attracted to him, and part was at the relief she felt to still be alive and unharmed.  Hiding out in the boonies and living like a nun was no longer appealing.  She had run away from Chicago, but now appreciated that good or bad experiences were not always governed by the location you happened to be in.

“What will the other guests think?”  Logan said, breaking her line of thought.

“I don’t care.  It’s a motel.  Nobody staying at the Pinetop knows me.  And even if they did, I still don’t care.”

Logan grinned.  They continued on, and as they rounded the last bend before reaching the driveway to the motel, three deer bounded across the road just twenty feet in front of them.

“Awesome,”  Kate said.

“Yes, you are,”  Logan came back.

Within seconds of closing the door they were undressing each other with fumbling hands, to then climb onto the top of the bed and make love with an almost frenzied urgency.

“God, I needed that,”  Kate said as Logan slowly withdrew from her and they laid up close to each other on their backs, keeping physical contact.

Logan turned his head and kissed her on the cheek.  “I need a shower and a cup of coffee,”  he said.

“I’ll run the shower and you fix the coffee,”  Kate said.

“Deal.”

They showered together, soaped and caressed each other, and made love again before drying each other and returning to the bedroom, to sit on the edge of the bed naked and sip black coffee.

A couple of miles away, after a sleepless night on guard and with Bama curled up on the floor next to his chair, Larry mulled over what to do.  The hitters from Denver had not contacted him, and Logan had not shown up.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Bunny
demanded a phone call, after being provisionally charged with breaking and entering Kate’s house and being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.

He called Wade on a pay-as-you-go cell number.  Said that he needed a lawyer, and that Logan had whacked Henry.  Wade told him to sit tight and say nothing until an attorney arrived from Denver.

Wade used the throwaway to call Larry.

“Yeah,”  Larry said.

“No names.  Just listen,”  Wade said.  “The two guys I sent didn’t make the sale.  You’re on your own, buddy.  Good luck.”

“But―”

The click and dial tone replaced Wade’s voice.

Larry took a few deep breaths and gathered his thoughts.  No need to panic.  Knowing your enemy was half the battle.  Logan had somehow intercepted Wade’s men.  How didn’t matter.  And the ex-cop obviously still had nothing to go to Lyle with, or he would have done so by now.  Logan was on a one-man crusade for some reason.  It didn’t figure.  Why would he be so concerned over a girl that been a total stranger to him?  Or give a shit if Ray Marshall took the fall?

He looked out of each window to check for any movement, and then unlocked and opened the back door to let Bama do his business.  The dog was extremely territorial and would sniff out anything on four
or
two legs that was trespassing.

“Find!”  Larry shouted, and Bama trotted off to look for anything that didn’t belong, eager to please his master.

Deciding not to return to duty that morning, Larry fried up some bacon and eggs as he considered his immediate future.  If he did a vanishing act it would put the spotlight on him.  He needed to cast doubt out of his mind and stay put.  His only problem in life was a drifter that he would now have to personally eliminate.

He watched the news and waited till eight o’clock before phoning the department.  Denny answered.

“Hi, Denny, it’s Larry,”  he said.  “What do you know?”

“I know that Carson Creek is turning into a freakin’ shooting gallery, Larry.  Two guys broke into Kate Donner’s house last night, and one got himself shot dead.”

“By Kate?”

“No.  Logan happened by and took one of them out.  The other is hurting but in custody.”

“Has Logan been charged?”

“No.  He saved Kate’s life.  His actions are being viewed as justifiable.”

“Who were the guys?”

“The one in a cell is Benjamin Dawson.  The dead one is…was Henry Shaw.  We already know that they were muscle for a gangster in Denver; some guy by the name of Wade McCall.”

“Heavy shit,”  Larry said.

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense why they would be targeting Kate.”

Larry talked the talk for a while.  Intimated that he may return to duty the following day, and then rang off.  What Denny had told him was unsettling.  If the cops in Denver looked hard enough they would find an old link between him and Wade.  That in itself wouldn’t mean a lot, but would instigate a thorough check into his background.  Maybe fleeing town and starting over
would
be necessary.  He had a place to go where no one would find him.

“Where do you want to go?”  Logan said after he and Kate had got up and dressed.  “I’ve got the keys to Clifton’s pickup.”

“I don’t know,”  Kate said, “I’ve got nothing pressing to work on at the office, and couldn’t concentrate on it even if I had.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“Just chill, Logan.  After what happened last night I’ve found myself revaluating the life I’m leading”

“In what way?”

“Every way.  I lost the plot and ran away from my work and home in Chicago after what happened to me.  I couldn’t carry on living amongst so many strangers.  I felt at risk all the time.  I looked at the violent crime statistics and knew that I didn’t want to face being potential prey any longer.”

“That isn’t losing the plot, Kate. A city is a place with a high population density; and with that comes more of everything, including crime.  Most folk these days don’t even know their neighbors, and have to be subconsciously on guard all the time, and be aware that they could be at risk. Who needs that kind of stress?  Small communities are safer.  Everybody knows each other.”

“That didn’t help me last night, Logan.”

“That was my fault.  Like I said, the attack on you happened because of your association with me.”

“Am I still at risk?”

“I don’t know.  Probably.”

“So what do you suggest I do?”

“You can’t go to work and you can’t go home.  We need to move out of the Pinetop and get a room somewhere away from the Creek.  We’ll be John and Jane Smith from Idaho.”

“We?”

“Yeah.  Until this is over we stay together.  Okay?”

“How long will that be for?”

“Not long.”

Kate made coffee, and Logan used the room phone to call a Denver number he had memorized.

“That you, Wade?”  Logan said when the call was answered.

“Who’s askin’?”

“Logan.  How’s your hand?”

“What do you want, asshole?”

“To tell you that sending those two retards was a big mistake.  You don’t know when to back off, McCall, so keep looking over your shoulder, because one time you do I’ll be there, and mine will be the last face you ever see.”

“You don’t frighten me, Logan.”

“I should, and I will.”

Logan disconnected.

“Did you mean what you said to that man?”  Kate said.

“I did.”

“Doesn’t that put you on a level with him?”

“No.  I don’t start things, I just finish them. And he isn’t the type to let sleeping dogs lie.  Some sociopaths haven’t got an off button.  They have to win.  He deals in death, and so he will consider me, and perhaps you, as unfinished business.”

“I find this horrific, Logan.  It’s outside the law that I practice.”

“Maybe it’s just a learning curve for you, Kate.  The law that you practice is of no concern to scumbags that break it every day.  A guy like Wade McCall has clout; is almost untouchable.  He will have cops on his payroll at all levels, and crooked lawyers and perhaps an assistant District Attorney or two.  He’s not a street thug; he runs an organized tax-free business that sells sex, drugs and protection.”

“It demeans what I do,”  Kate said.

“I used to think that when I was a cop.  You have to deal with what cases hit your desk and ignore the big picture.  Do what you can with what you’ve got.  Crime is a part of the human condition.  Goes back to when Caine slugged Abel with an ass’s jaw bone.  There’s nothing original about sin.”

“You don’t strike me as being the religious type.”

“I’m not.  I believe in what I can see, smell, taste, touch and hear.”

“A cynic.”

Logan smiled.  “No, Kate, a realist.”

* * *

Clifton pulled up in front of the house in his old Impala as Kate and Logan left the room.  They walked across to greet him as he climbed out of the car.

“How is Ray?”  Kate said, noting how pale and tired Clifton looked.  He seemed to have aged ten years.

“He’s stable.  No permanent damage, thank God.”

“What has he said to you?”  Logan asked.

“That he’s sorry for what he tried to do.  Told me that everything just built up to a point that he couldn’t bear.  Said that something just seemed to snap in his mind.”

“Do you think that he may try it again?”

“No, Logan.  He seems more in control.  It’s like a fever broke.”

“Good.  I need to take the pickup.  And I can’t promise you’ll get it back.”

Clifton shrugged, asked them both in for coffee. Between them, Logan and Kate filled him in on what had happened the previous evening.

“If anyone stops by looking for me, say that I’m in the wind, Clifton.  You came back from the hospital and I’d gone.  Okay?”

“What about Kate?”

“She’ll be with me till the threat is negated.”

“I’m sorry to have put you in this position, Logan,”  Clifton said.  “If I hadn’t asked you to help―”

“Then Ray would most likely have been charged with a murder that he didn’t commit. Don’t beat yourself up over it, Clifton.  It’ll all work out.”

Twenty minutes later, Logan drove away from the Pinetop.  He had changed the pickup’s plates for those on the Impala.

“Where are we going?”  Kate asked as they headed south.

“I need to make a stop at the Wagon Wheel and talk to Ned Williams.  After that we’ll head west and find a little hideaway to hole up in.”

“When are you going to tell me who the killer is, and everything else you know, Logan?”

“Not now, Kate.”

“When?”

“After I’ve done what I need to.”

“You can trust me, Logan.”

“Good.”

Pulling in to a shaded far corner of the lot, Logan left Kate in the pickup and walked across to the main entrance of the bar/restaurant.  The door was locked, so he went around the side of the building to the rear, where he found an SUV parked outside a door that he assumed led into the kitchen.

Ned was checking stock.  None of the staff were due in for an hour.  He didn’t do breakfasts or lunches, just evening meals.

“Hi, Williams,”  Logan said, just appearing at Ned’s side with less noise than a hunting owl would make as it soundlessly swooped down on an unsuspecting mouse.

“Jesus!  You tryin’ to give me a fuckin’ heart attack?”  Ned said, stepping sideways and coming to a sudden stop as his shoulder slammed up against a walk-in freezer’s closed door.

“Not yet,”  Logan said.  “All I want for now are a couple of answers.”

“Try Google.  Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

The heel of Logan’s right hand crashed into Ned’s forehead, whipping his head back to strike the metal door.  Rebounding off it, his throat was gripped by the same hand, which squeezed hard enough to prevent any air from being allowed passage to his lungs.

“You’re getting me pissed,”  Logan said.  “I overlooked the fact that you set me up with your dickhead nephew and his buddies.  But if you don’t want to spend the next two months in a hospital bed, wise up.  I’m going to let go, ask you a question, and if I think you’re lying to me, then I’ll hurt you worse than you can imagine possible.”

Ned fell to his knees gasping for air and coughing as Logan released his grip.  He made to haul himself up to his feet, but Logan kicked him in the chest, folding him backwards with his legs beneath him.

“Was Larry Horton in here the night of Tanya Foster’s murder?”  Logan asked in a quiet voice.

“I…I’m not sure,”  Ned gasped.

Logan tutted.  “You need to be, Ned.  I require a definite yes or no.  And if you say no, then it better be the truth, or you can count on me being in your face again.”

Ned gave it some thought.  He didn’t owe Horton the time of day.  It was time to come clean.  Logan was the real deal; meant any threat that he issued, and would make good on it.  “Yeah,”  he said.  “Now that I think on it, he was in here for a few beers that evenin’.”

“By himself?”

“Yeah.”

“And when the sheriff asked you for a list, did you put his name on it?”

Ned shook his head.  “Didn’t see the need.  Larry’s a deputy for Christ’s sake.  I didn’t think that he could be a suspect.”

“Sure you did, Ned.  But with him being tight with Carl and the others, you decided that honesty was the worst policy.”

Ned said nothing.

“Where’s the equipment for the CCTV?”  Logan said.

“In my office at the back of the bar.  But I don’t turn it on durin’ the day.  And like I told Lyle, I don’t save anythin’.”

“You know I’m going to check for myself.”

“I’m tellin’ the truth, Logan.  If Larry killed that girl, then he deserves all he gets.”

“When does the help arrive.”

“Thirty or forty minutes.  Why?”

“Get up and go in the freezer,”

“You’re kiddin’ me.”

“Just do it, Williams.  I’ll set the temperature to make sure you don’t freeze to death,”  Logan said.  “And when you get out, just forget that we had this conversation.  At a later date I may need for you to tell the sheriff about Horton being here that night, but not yet.”

Kate was standing next to the pickup on her second cigarette when Logan came back.

“What did you do?”  Kate said.

“Asked the owner a couple of questions. He confirmed that the killer was in here the night Tanya was killed.”

“Tell me that you’re going to give his name to Lyle.”

“No.  His being in here doesn’t prove that he did it.”

“You said you
knew
who did it.”

“I do.  Larry Horton murdered Tanya.”

“Deputy Sheriff Horton?”

Logan nodded as he started up the pickup and drove out of the lot.

“How do you know it’s him for certain?”  Kate said.

“Because he’s thick with a hoodlum in Denver that hired the guy that got burned-up in his car after trying to whack me.  And when that failed, he sent the two that came to your house.”

Kate let what he had said sink in, from a lawyer’s point of view.  If no connection could be established between Horton and the gangster in Denver, then he was home free.

“So you are going to deal with Horton outside the law?”  Kate said.

“I’m going to make sure that he pays for what he did, and for the grief he caused Clifton and Ray, and for planning on you and me to be taken out.  What would you do, let it ride?”

“I wouldn’t break the law to keep it.  That’s like old frontier justice.”

“Sometimes that’s the only way to go up against criminals that are known to have committed a crime, but are clever enough to evade prosecution.  If you had been armed when you were attacked and left for dead in Chicago, would you have used deadly force to protect yourself?”

Kate knew the answer to that.  She would have shot the three young men that had raped and beaten her if she had possessed a firearm and had had chance to.  And the memory of the incident still instilled her with fear and rage, in the knowledge that a minority of people had no respect for other people’s lives.  She was still an attorney at law, but probably shouldn’t be, because a part of her
could
identify with those that took the law into their own hands when the system failed them.  She knew of witnesses that had been threatened, or vanished before being able to give evidence, and watched guilty men and women walk free with smug smiles on their faces.