Page 16 of Lawman’s Witness

“No one has come forward,” Russ said.

“Because no one knows about the murder accusation against him, do they? The person has no reason to come forward with information.”

Clearly, she’d given this a lot of thought. “That’s true, and unfortunately, I don’t have probable cause so I can’t get a warrant from a judge to check the private flights and passengers to see how he could have committed murder before returning to Great Falls.”

“No body, no evidence other than that pesky eyewitness,” she said with a shake of her head. “You’re no longer saying alleged murder,” she said, smiling.

Russ shook his head but couldn’t help smiling. He’d said more than he knew he should have, but he wanted to be as honest as he could with her. She was right about one thing. She had no business investigating Jack Marshall. Neither did he. “I believe you saw a murder but what we need is—”

“A body.”

“That would definitely move things along,” he said. “But just a missing person matching the description you provided might be enough to get the department to investigate. Right now, there is no case, no body, no evidence, no investigation.”

“Except ours,” she said, and took a bite of her meal.

“That’s what worries me. If we’re right, you’re rattling the cage of a killer.”

She chewed for a moment, swallowed and asked, “Could you lose your job if anyone finds out what you’re doing?”

“I’m not worried about that as much as I’m worried Marshall will get wind of what we’re doing and come after you. After all, you’re the eyewitness. Without you…”

Russ saw her shudder at his words. From the beginning she’d known how dangerous it was. “I’d feel so much better if you went back to the ranch and—”

“I’m not safe there anymore either,” she said. “I’m not safe anywhere. That’s why I’m here in Billings. I won’t be safe until Jack Marshall is behind bars.”

“What if that doesn’t happen?” he had to ask.

“Knowing the lengths Jack Marshall went to to cover up his crime? From the moment I saw him coming out of the ranch road, I’ve felt it was just a matter of time before he gets rid of me. I’m a loose end and from what I can tell, he doesn’t like loose ends. So my life was in jeopardy the moment I saw him stab that woman to death. There is no going back from that.”

Russ understood, that’s why he was worried about her. Marshall had too much power as a prominent figure in this city, this state, and a far reach in politics. Even behind bars, the man would be dangerous.

He feared she was right. She wasn’t safe anywhere. Even if she stopped investigating the murder right now, she would still be a risk for Marshall. “We need someone to report this woman missing and soon.”

But even with that, he wasn’t sure it would be easy to tie her to Marshall. The man was too careful. Yet he had to believe there was a way to bring Marshall to justice, because he could see how much Amy Sue needed to believe it.

Smiling, he reached over and took her hand. “We’re going to get him. I’m not giving up, and I can see that you aren’t either.”

She shook her head. “I know you don’t like me rattling his cage—.”

“No, I don’t. He might decide to take care of you sooner than later.”

“Well, if he does, I know you’ll catch him.”

He squeezed her hand. “I don’t even want to think about anything happening to you.” Color rose in her cheeks. He quickly let go of her hand, reminding himself that he was the detective, and she was the eyewitness. “Please, Amy Sue, be careful. You’re still staying at the hotel, right?” She nodded. “Don’t ever let him get you alone.”

CHAPTER NINE

Jack had desperately wanted to leave the office after the detective’s surprise visit earlier, but after closing his blinds, he’d made himself stay. Taking off right away would make him look guilty, and the last thing he wanted to do was be followed. The gall of that detective coming to his business to question him. He couldn’t believe that this hadn’t blown over by now.

More concerning was Amy Sue Brand. He’d really thought that after his visit to the Brand ranch, his so-called eyewitness would have been scared off. She knew who she was dealing with and what he was capable of, so why wasn’t she backing off? The woman definitely had to be deranged. She was certainly irrational to go to the police with that ridiculous story.

He’d silently cursed himself for going out to the ranch. But he couldn’t help being curious. Also, he needed to know who and what he was dealing with. He’d thought he could scare her into changing her accusation.

Instead, that had been yet another mistake and now he had a police detective questioning him yet again. Foolish, foolish, he admonished. He’d tried to calm down and think. He’d been so sure nothing would come of this. It never should have gotten this out of control.

Amy Sue Brand had changed everything. The moment he saw her standing in that halo of light behind that adjacent building that night, he knew that she’d seen everything. He’d thought he was still safe, that he just needed to not overreact. He’d told himself he could fix this, he would fix this. And he thought he had, but that one detective wasn’t letting it go.

He picked up his phone and called his good friend, Milt. “Chief,” he said. “Hope your day is going better than mine.”