Every Deadly Suspicion

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

A FTER UPDATING THE MAYOR, Hanna opened her e-mail. Amid the work-related senders, a note from Edda caught her eye. That was odd. Edda had Hanna’s personal address; she didn’t need to contact her at work.

Hanna, I have something important I need to discuss with you. Well, more of a legal question. I don’t want to throw out unsubstantiated accusations, but something has come to my attention, and I want to bring it to yours. When would be a good time for me to come by?

Hanna looked at her calendar and was about to respond when there was a knock at her door. “Yes?”

The door opened and in stepped Tom Nelson, followed by another man Hanna didn’t know. Nelson had been a bad boy whose life was turned around when he became a Christian. He now ran a nonprofit prison ministry she supported.

“Hello, Chief. Sorry to drop in unannounced. I know the last couple of weeks have been busy for you.”

“That’s okay, Tom. I try to have an open-door policy. What’s up?”

Nelson jabbed his thumb toward the second man. “This is Gordon Giles.”

Hanna stood and shook their hands. “What can I do for you?” The two men sat in front of her desk, and she took her chair.

“You know I spend most of my time in prison,” Nelson said.

Hanna nodded, suddenly feeling uneasy but not knowing why. She had no problem with Tom Nelson.

“Gordon here works for the state Department of Corrections.”

Giles smiled. “I’ve come to talk to you about your father, Joe Keyes.”

Hanna blinked. “What about him? Did he die?”

“No, not yet. But he is near death. He has lung cancer and he’s in hospice.” Giles reached across her desk and handed Hanna a manila envelope.

“Paperwork in here details a program the department instituted a few years ago. It’s a compassionate-release program that allows terminally ill inmates to be released into a home environment to die with dignity—”

“You want to release Joe Keyes?” Hanna held the envelope in two hands that went numb.

“For the remainder of his life, which could be less than a month.”

Nelson spoke up. “He’s a sick old man, Hanna. He’s been a model prisoner. Corrections is trying to do the compassionate, human, even Christian thing here.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Hanna forced the words out, feeling as if she were paralyzed.

“It’s happening more and more,” Giles said. “With prison overcrowding a statewide issue, some dying inmates deserve a compassionate release. We’re asking if you’d be able to take your dad home for his last days.”

“I’ve never met the man, and I certainly don’t consider him my father.” A burning sensation ran up her neck to her face as anger percolated.

“Of course, I understand,” Giles said in a way that told Hanna he did not understand. How could he understand the black cloud hanging over her whole life that had been Joe Keyes?

“Hanna, I grew up here, too,” Nelson said. “I know the legacy Joe left and that this is not an easy request. But I submitted Joe’s name. Maybe I was out of line to do so, but I think it would be a good thing for him. Think about it before you say no.” His calm and conciliatory tone did nothing to ease the shock or growing anger the request generated. What was there to think about?

Giles and Nelson stood to leave.

Hanna had no words. Before she could find the right sentence, another knock sounded at the door. Nathan’s knock. She remembered they were going to have lunch before he went to court.

He poked his head in. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were busy.”

“We were just leaving,” Giles said to Nathan. Turning back to Hanna, he said, “I know this is a shock, and I know it’s a lot to think about. I could have simply sent you a form letter, but I felt the request was important enough to deliver in person. Review the paperwork. It will explain more. Then call me at your earliest convenience. There really isn’t a lot of time.”

Giles and Nelson left.

“What on earth? You look as if someone died.” Nathan shut the door behind the two men. “Was that about the lawsuit...?” He held her gaze for a moment.

She shook her head. Hanna and the PD had been notified a few days ago that Jude Carver, a police officer she’d terminated for cause a few months ago, had filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination. That had upset Hanna yesterday, but Nelson and Giles’s visit made the aggravation of the lawsuit pale by comparison.

Finding her voice, Hanna told him what Giles had suggested.

“Wow,” Nathan said when she finished.

“I’d probably pick a different word.” She picked up the phone.

“What are you going to do?” Nathan asked.

“What do you think? I’m going to call Giles right now before he gets out of Dry Oaks, tell him no way . This would never work.”

Nathan reached over and punched the button to disconnect her call.

“What are you doing? You don’t think I should do this, do you?”

He held a hand up. “Maybe you should think about it a little longer than twenty seconds before you make a decision.”

“What is there to think about?” Hanna crossed her arms and glared at Nathan, even as sharp pain pinched through her, telling her he was right.

“That request is huge. I’m sure they went through a lot of deliberations before they made it. It deserves some consideration.”

She blew out a breath, tossed the packet of papers Giles had given her on the desk, then sat in her chair. “I can’t believe this is happening. There’s a huge fire threatening the town to worry about, I’ve got a lawsuit to deal with, and I have an unsolved open homicide, not to mention all my job duties, and this pops up?” She pointed both hands down at the documents.

“Holmes is competent to handle Scott’s investigation, so no worries there.”

“Hmph.” Hanna clenched her jaw.

Nathan walked around the desk, leaned his hip onto the corner, and held her gaze. “You were elected in a landslide, Hanna Marie Keyes. Your first year is almost over, and the reviews are in: you’re doing a great job. The fire will be contained. Jude Carver is a knucklehead. This request won’t derail anything.”

Hanna leaned back in her chair, feeling some of the tension leave her body. She and Nathan had worked together for a couple of years, and Hanna liked him. They were good friends. She wasn’t certain where their romantic relationship was going, but she enjoyed his company. One thing she really appreciated was that Nathan had a knack for often saying the right thing and keeping her grounded.

Hanna rubbed her forehead. “This just blindsided me. I really try not to give him any thought. What do you think I should do?”

“I can’t answer that. He’s your father—”

“He’s not my father. He’s a sperm donor. They tell me I saw him when I was a baby.” She shrugged. “I have no memory of that.”

“Fair enough. But you bear his name. At one time he and your mother were married.”

“They were. But this request is insane.”

“It’s surprising for sure. Compassionate, though. The state’s only asking that he be given the opportunity to die at home. I’m not surprised that the California Department of Corrections would make such a request.”

“There you go again.”

“What?”

“You think I should do it.”

“Honestly, I’m only thinking out loud. The situation needs prayer. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. Maybe even talk to Pastor Rick. I can tell you what the Bible says, but this situation is between you and God. I’m not getting in the way of that.”

Hanna looked away. Nathan was right, but she couldn’t go there now. She considered what her mother would say, were she alive. Paula Keyes never forgave Joe. He was arrested for murder the day she went into labor with Hanna. The memory of her mother’s voice reverberated in her thoughts. “He can rot in a dark, hot hole for all I care.”

Everyone who knew her mother knew that she had been an angry, bitter woman. Did Hanna want that said of her as well?

“You still want to go to lunch?” Nathan’s voice redirected her thoughts.

“Of course—” Her door being pushed open cut her off.

Sergeant Asa Parker burst in. “Chief, we got a situation. Braden Buckley fell into a gulch up off the Buttonwillow Trail.”

Nathan stood. “He okay?”

Asa shrugged. “Cassidy was babysitting, she called 911, said he’s not moving.”

Hanna looked at Nathan. “County Search and Rescue?”

“Sorry, they are all up at the Crest Fire. I might be able to scare up some volunteers.”

“Take too long. I’ll take Big Red up there. It has climbing equipment and other emergency gear.” She nodded to Asa. “Bring it around?”

“You got it.” He left the room and Hanna went to the coat tree, where her gun belt hung when she worked at her desk.

Nathan grabbed her arm. “You be careful. No unnecessary risks, okay?”

Jared came to mind: “Risks are a part of life” was his philosophy. And Hanna agreed. She hadn’t run for chief of police to play it safe. But Nathan meant well.

“Don’t be a worrywart.” She squeezed his hand, and he released her arm.

His pale-blue eyes were warm, supportive, and for a second, Hanna wished the letter were a cruel joke and she could erase it from her memory.

“I’d go with you if I could, but I have to be in court.”

“I’ll text you as soon as I can.”

Hanna left the office, told Terry he would be the only cop in the station for a while, and rushed to Big Red. Once a search-and-rescue vehicle, the ancient Chevy dually had been with the PD for a decade. They got the hand-me-downs when the fire department upgraded. The beast was hard on gas, but it went anywhere and everywhere. The Dry Oaks PD ran on a shoestring budget, but it ran smoothly, and Hanna loved being a part of the organization.

Asa sat in the driver’s seat. Hanna jumped in the passenger side, and he accelerated before she’d closed her door. Even though she was glad the situation with Braden had taken the stupid letter off her mind, she prayed the boy was okay and they were overreacting, even as she doubted that could be the case. Hadn’t the Buckleys been dealt enough grief for one lifetime?