Dog Gone Lies (Pacheco & Chino Mysteries Book 1) (4 page)

Ray decided to head to the Lone Post Café in downtown T or C. He’d eaten there many times when he was sheriff in the neighboring county, and had heard from almost everyone that it served the best food in all of southern New Mexico—and he didn’t disagree.

After he’d moved into the cabin, Ray had purchased a lockable upright freezer that he managed to install in one of the outbuildings on the property. It was stocked up with all kinds of food. For the last few months he’d been fixing his own meals, and thought he was a pretty good cook—but today he was in the mood for someone else to fix him a meal.

It took about fifteen minutes to get into T or C and park across the street from the Café. He didn’t bother locking his old Jeep. The poor thing was a great vehicle, but it was so dog ugly that he just couldn’t imagine anyone going to a lot of effort to steal it. Ray thought he and the Jeep might be a perfect match.

At about six-feet-one and just slightly on the heavy side, Ray was generally described as burly. The mustache he’d grown when he first arrived in New Mexico gave him an old west cowboy appearance. Most days he dressed in comfortable jeans, an old work shirt, and a cowboy hat. Some days he wore cowboy boots.

Ray was originally from Macon, Georgia. It’s where he’d met and married his wife, Loraine, and his first years in law enforcement were spent there. He’d spent a short time with the police force in Jacksonville, Florida, before he answered an ad in a law enforcement magazine looking for a chief deputy sheriff in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Ray and his wife had debated the craziness of moving to New Mexico—the distance, the difference in cultures-- just the overall risk involved for Ray and his family. They were both excited about the change and the opportunity for Ray to advance in his career, but still concerned about moving so far from their roots.

When the Dona Ana sheriff’s office responded to Ray’s resume and offered him a job, Ray and Loraine had mixed feelings. But they moved anyway, and they fell in love with Las Cruces and Dona Ana County. Loraine became active in civic matters almost at once and began to feel at home.

Ray had lost Loraine to cancer more than six years ago now, and his only son, Michael, had moved to Boston to take a job with a top notch law firm. Ray was proud of Michael, but harbored a deep resentment that he would move so far away from his home. After Ray’s wife died, he didn’t hear from his son very often—a phone call on major holidays was about it, and even then they didn’t have much to talk about. He hadn’t seen him since his wife’s funeral.

Now that Ray was retired, he toyed with the idea that Michael might make a trip out to the boonies and see how he was doing—but he didn’t really think it was going to happen, just like he wasn’t going to Boston to visit. He wasn’t exactly bitter—he understood getting involved in your work and not being able to find the time for other things, so it was okay—sort of.

Entering the Lone Post Café, Ray was overwhelmed by inviting aromas. He’d forgotten how wonderful this place always smelled. It was mostly the wonderful fragrance of green chilies—the famous Hatch, New Mexico, green chilies.

The hostess recognized Ray and seated him in one of the Café’s old wooden booths, rubbed smooth by many a rear end.

“You retired didn’t you, sheriff?”

“Yep, been almost six months. Moved up here to an old cabin. Just relaxing and enjoying myself.” Ray could be real folksy when it suited him. The hostess said his waitress would be right with him.

A very attractive waitress in her mid-forties came over with water and a menu. “Good afternoon, my name is Sue and I’ll be your waitress today; would you like iced tea or coffee?”

Obviously said hundreds of times a day. Still it seemed to Ray that there was a very special smile that went with the spiel. He liked it.

“Well hello, Sue, my name is Ray. I think I’d like some sweet iced tea.”

“Good choice, Ray. I’ll be right back.”

Okay, he was old, not dead. He watched her walk away and enjoyed the view.

Ray ordered the Mexican lunch plate special—somewhere close to twice the amount of food he needed. He ate it all. He’d always heard that the red chili sauce was addictive and believed that was true—every so often you just needed your red chili fix. He leaned back to relax just as Sue appeared with more tea.

“Anything else today, Ray?”

“I think that has pretty well done me in for today, Sue. Guess I need the check and someplace to take a nap.”

She smiled. Ray liked the smile. You never can be sure with waitresses if they’re flirting or not; but Ray sure thought so.

“I don’t remember seeing you in here before, Sue. Are you new?”

“Boy, I wish I was new—but mostly I’m old and tired. As far as the Lone Post, I guess I’m new. Started about two months ago. Moved out here from Florida and before that I was in New York City. Just can’t seem to find where I belong. I was driving through on the highway thinking I might stop in Albuquerque or maybe drive on to Denver when I got off at T or C looking for lunch. Decided this local place looked like it would have good food. There was a sign in the window that they were looking for a waitresses, and presto here I am.” With that she gave a little curtsy.

Sue was very attractive and no doubt had some interesting history. Ray thought he should be careful. She had the look of someone who had seen some troubling times.

“Well, nice to meet you, Sue. I used to be the sheriff of Dona Ana County which is the county next door where Las Cruces is located. Retired a few months ago and moved into one of the lake cabins up here—still not all settled in, but getting closer.”

“You moved up here with your family?”

“No. My wife died about six years ago and our son is an attorney in Boston—so it’s just me.” Ray knew she was fishing, but he didn’t mind.

“Well Ray, you’ll have to come back in and let me wait on you again. I’m here Tuesday through Saturday from six a.m. to four p.m. I wish you luck with your retirement.”

“Thanks, Sue. I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

Ray left and went to his Jeep. He sat in the car a minute pondering what had just happened. He knew she had invited him to come back, but was that just for good tips or was there something going on here? Ray thought:
you crazy old man, you need to go home and take a nap
. Not prone to ignore advice from his inner voice, he went home and took a long nap—he was actually very tired.

It was getting dark when he woke. He was a little embarrassed that he’d slept that long. Being out on the lake in the sun had really taken it out of him. Something had made a noise to wake him, but he couldn’t remember what it was and couldn’t hear anything now. Maybe just part of a dream.

Even after that huge lunch, he was giving thought to dinner—something a little lighter would be in order. Pan-fried fish would be good with brown rice. The fish was frozen but he could thaw it some in cold water and then fry it in a little olive oil. He headed out to the barn-like outbuilding.

The cabin and the outbuildings had been abandoned for almost thirty years before the relatives of the owner had discovered the cabin. The owner’s son hadn’t known that his father owned the cabin and, for his own reasons, the father had ignored it for many years. Ray had purchased it from the son and learned that during part of that time an illegal drug running operation that involved the local Sierra County sheriff had used the outbuildings for storage.

The drug dealers had made significant improvements to the outbuildings, with new floors and new power lines. It made some impressive storage for Ray. He located the fish he was looking for and headed back to the cabin. As he approached, Ray caught sight of movement on the wraparound porch. He couldn’t make out what it was, but was sure that it was some kind of animal. He hadn’t taken his old service revolver with him to go to the outbuilding, so he was hoping that whatever it was would be more afraid of him than he was of it. Maybe it could just be scared off.

Ray approached the porch cautiously. As he got close, he heard a
thump-thump
sound, like something being hit against the wall or floor in a rhythmic beat. Even though it wasn’t completely dark yet, he couldn’t make out what was on the porch or if it was the source of the sound. Ray was a cautious man after spending many years in law enforcement and never invited unnecessary risk, but he didn’t sense danger. Maybe this was like Tyee’s magic, but Ray trusted his gut when it came to danger. He thought all people had this instinct—it was just that most lost it because they didn’t use it. So with an inner signal that it was safe, he climbed the steps to the porch.

As Ray stepped onto the porch, he could hear the
thump-thump
sound very clearly. He looked down and there was a beautiful all-white dog. Could be part Labrador or some kind of sheepdog—he wasn’t sure—but he could tell it was a very expensive dog and didn’t belong out in the woods alone. The dog looked up at Ray and wagged its tail, beating the floor:
thump-thump, thump-thump
. Ray could have sworn the dog was smiling at him. He reached down and petted the dog and got a double time
thump-thump
in response.

Ray knew there was a problem with people letting dogs go in the countryside when they didn’t want them any longer, but this dog was obviously a purebred and very valuable. Made no sense that someone would just dump him off in the woods. He got the dog some water, which was noisily appreciated. He had no dog food, but managed to find some cans of Vienna sausages that were well received. If Ray had thought the dog was smiling before, now the animal was almost laughing. He petted the dog and found him to be very friendly. When told to sit, he did. Ray walked away and told the dog to stay—he did. So the dog looked expensive, was well groomed, and had been trained. That’s not an animal that shows up loose in the wilds. He would have to visit the sheriff’s office tomorrow to see if anyone was looking for it.

Ray debated, but eventually decided to let the dog into the cabin. Not being an outdoor dog could mean he was at risk, being on his own in this remote setting. The dog sniffed everything for some time and finally found a comfortable place in front of the large fire and went to sleep.

Ray wasn’t sure what to think about a dog just showing up. As he sat there watching, he realized that having the dog sleeping in front of the fire made him feel happy.

Sunday

Ray’s schedule with Tyee was three times a week and no Sunday, so he wasn’t fishing today. First thing he did was let the dog out. The beast ran off in something of a hurry, and Ray thought maybe he was gone for good, but about five minutes later he was back at the door, giving a small bark of request. Ray opened the door and he came in and returned to his spot in front of the fireplace and went to sleep.

After making his coffee, Ray found some more Vienna sausages—although he wasn’t sure if it was really an appropriate food for dogs. He decided that there had to be some kind of resolution this morning—if the dog was staying, Ray needed to get some dog food. He went about getting ready to leave for the day.

When he headed out the door, the dog followed. He opened the back of the Jeep and the dog jumped in like he’d done it a thousand times. The old blanket in the back was perfect, and the dog nuzzled around on it and finally lay down.

Ray headed to the Sierra County sheriff’s office. The county was currently without a sheriff since the last one had been arrested for drug smuggling. Ray had been involved in that matter, and no doubt the old sheriff, Hector, wasn’t a fan of Ray’s. He understood that they were holding a special election in a few months to find someone to take Hector’s place.

Ray pulled up in front of the sheriff’s office. He opened the car door and the dog jumped out and went with him. He didn’t run off or appear to be dangerous, so Ray let him tag along.

“Good morning, my name is Ray Pacheco. I had a stray dog come to my cabin yesterday and I was wondering if you’ve had anyone looking for a dog.”

“Well good morning to you, sheriff. I’d heard you were living up here now—welcome.”

“Hey thanks.”

“My name’s Cindy. I was an intern in your office a couple of years ago when I was going to college.”

“Oh, Cindy, of course. Sorry, my old brain sometimes doesn’t remember much of anything. Hey, that’s great. Looks like you graduated and got a job in law enforcement.”

“Yes, sir. Just been here a few months and with the old sheriff having his problems things have been a little hectic.”

“Yeah. I bet. Well, it’s good to see you. I wish you lots of luck.”

“Thanks, sheriff. About the dog—is it the one that’s with you?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“He’s beautiful. That can’t be a stray. My goodness, his hair’s in better shape than mine.” Cindy was a very cute girl, probably in her early twenties. She knew she was cute and gave Ray a perky smile.

“Well, don’t know about that—but he doesn’t look stray to me either, so I figured someone would be looking for him.”

“Nobody’s been by here. We don’t have animal control officers in the county anymore. Everything’s run out of the sheriff’s office—oh my goodness, look who I’m talking to. You already knew all of that.”