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“She there?”
I shook my head and rinsed the carafe for coffee.
“Damn it.” Billy headed to the barn for the morning chores. “Hope she’s in the barn,” he called as he went out the back door.
“I do too. At least the little heater in the barn would keep her from freezing to death.”
Billy came back a half hour later shaking his head. “There’s no sign of her anywhere.” He refilled my mug of coffee and started a pan of bacon. “What could she be thinking?”
“No idea,” I said. “I don’t think she’s thinking at all. She’s running scared and doesn’t know yet that there is nothing to run from. She’s safe now. They are both locked up and I don’t think Garrison will make bail this time.”
“I agree. She’s scared out of her mind and not thinking logical thoughts,” said Billy. “Can you make sure Garrison doesn’t make bail?”
“Yep, I can talk to the DA who will talk to the judge, and we can give it a good shot.”
Billy nodded. “He’ll just come after her again if they let him walk. The guy is definitely deranged and he has a one-track mind.”
Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.
The first thing Molly asked when we got to the station was about Tammy. “Did Tammy stay at the ranch today? I saw we had Garrison and Reading back with us so she’d be safe now.”
“Yep, they’re back. They came to the ranch last night and broke in, but they didn’t get Tammy.”
“Broke in,” repeated Molly, “That Tibor is a crazy one, but now that they did that, new charges will get their bail revoked and Tammy will be safe from now until you take her to Texas.”
“Uh huh. That’s the positive part of it.”
Molly cast me a look. “What aren’t you telling me, Travis? Tammy’s safe at the ranch, right?”
“She ran off, Molly. She shot Reading in the leg and then she ran off. Me and Billy can’t find her.”
“Oh, no. She’s terrified of him and it’s so cold out.” Molly wiped a tear away.
“She’ll come back,” I tried to sound positive but I wasn’t a bit sure she’d come back to me.
“I hope she’s in the house when you get home.”
You and me both.
“Billy, you go ahead and book Garrison and Reading on the new charges, then give everything to Molly so she can get the bookings entered into the system. We need their bail officially revoked before they start calling lawyers.”
“Sure, boss. I think I’ve got the booking process down cold.”
“Yeah, you’ve got it. While he’s doing that, Molly, I need you to do something else.”
“What can I do, Travis?”
“The story Mrs. Concordian told me about her husband doesn’t make sense to me. I need more information. Check into an insurance policy on her husband, anything you can dig up for a motive for the wife.”
Molly raised an eyebrow. “The Concordian family is one of the wealthiest in Montana. We’d better take a close look at the wife.” Molly typed a few keystrokes.
“Let’s see how big the policy is on Chris Concordian.” Molly flipped through screens talking to herself, “How much do you stand to inherit, Miss Suzie?”
“That her name? Suzie?” I leaned on Molly’s desk craving a smoke.
“I’ve got it. Montana Great Life Company. Three million goes to Suzie when Chris dies.”
“Three million,” I said. “There’s a motive.”
