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“You didn’t find his truck?”
“Not yet.”
“Sometimes Chris would sleep in his truck if the weather got too brutal. He always took extra gas with him in case he had to leave the truck running with the heater on.”
“What kind of truck was it, ma’am?”
“Umm… it was big and black with roll bars and big tires. Chris loved it.”
“Make or model? Tag number?”
“I don’t know. Can’t you look that up?”
“I can and I will. What was Chris hunting for on this last trip?”
“Elk, bears, deer, you name it. Our freezer in the basement is full of meat. I can show you if you want to see it.”
“I don’t need to see the meat, ma’am. I believe you. Any buddies Chris hunted with regularly?”
“Sometimes he went with a couple of guys he knew, Charlie Pinsent and Jud Winedot.”
“Do they live here in Conrad?” I asked.
“Nope. Both of them live in Oilmont. That’s why they usually hunted up that way. Chris would drive up and they’d all go out together.”
I closed my notebook and put it in my pocket. “Thank you for your time, ma’am. You’ve been helpful.” I handed her a card. “Call if you think of anything else. So sorry about your husband.”
She glanced up with tears in her eyes. “I knew this would happen someday, Sheriff, but I still wasn’t ready.”
“I’m so sorry.”
She was ready for me. Totally prepared. Huh. Two people ready for me on the same day.
Dry Run Roadhouse. Coyote Creek.
Billy and I sat in a booth with Tammy on the inside against the wall and I recounted the weird stuff that Chris Concordian’s wife told me when I did the notification.
“She didn’t bother reporting him missing because he sometimes went hunting for a week at a time?” Billy sounded incredulous. “Alone in the bush in this weather, that’s just nuts. I’m calling crazy on Chris Concordian.”
“His wife provided the names of a couple of guys he often hunted with,” I said. “We’ll check them out tomorrow.”
“Huh,” said Billy. “Did the guy have a tent or food with him? What about survival gear?”
“Army rations. His wife said he loved them.”
Billy made a face. “Okay, the guy was tuned into the crazy channel. I’m convinced.”
“I’m convinced the wife knew I’d be coming to tell her about her husband and she was prepared for it.”
“Huh,” Billy said again.
We’d barely started their first beer when Glenda came in and squeezed into the booth beside Billy.
She’s following me.
She locked onto my face and said, “I saw the squad outside and thought I’d pop in and see when you were taking me out for dinner, Travis.”
I can’t back out now.
