Chapter Ten
Tuesday, July 30 th .
Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.
Billy and Travis had lots of questions about the casino surveillance for me and Harlan at breakfast. “No sign of any robbers,” said Virge. “I took down the names and employee numbers of possible inside people. Everybody me and Harlan thought looked like a con.”
“You can tell at first glance, Virge?” Billy had a smirk on his face.
“Takes one to know one,” snapped Virge. He helped himself to two more eggs from the platter in the center of the table.
“Guess that’s true,” said Travis. “I can tell a cop when I’m looking at one.”
“Soon as we get to the station,” said Virge taking another slice of toast, “I’ll get Molly to run the names through the police database and see who has priors.”
“Wouldn’t hurt a bit to check those people out,” said Travis. “We might get lucky.”
“Might also be a huge waste of time,” said Billy. “I don’t see a casino hiring people with prison records. “I’m sure they vet all of their prospective employees thoroughly before hiring them.”
“Always a way,” said Virge. He took the last piece of bacon, placed it on the last piece of toast, covered it with a layer of ketchup, rolled it up and ate it.
I laughed at my brother and poked fun at him. It got my day off to a good start. “You an expert on casino hiring practices, bro?”
“Maybe I know more about it than you. When I needed money for drugs, I tried to get a job there. One of the girls got me an app and told me for sure I’d get hired. Her aunt Lizzie would put my application through, and they’d never know about my time in Juvie.”
“Huh,” said Billy. “That’s interesting, Virge.”
“Ain’t it?”
“Why didn’t you fill out the application?” I asked.
Virge shrugged. “Can’t remember, bro. Probably couldn’t find a pen.”
Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.
Just like Virge said at breakfast, as soon as we got to the station, he and Molly got to work on the employee names.
“We were on surveillance last night at the Big Bear, Molly, and me and Harlan scouted out all the employees working on that shift who had an ex-con look to them. These are the ones we need run through the database to see if they have records.”
“I don’t think the casino would hire ex-cons, dear. Not with all that money lying around. Too much of a temptation.”
“Billy said the same thing, but Dad said we’d run them anyway.”
“Okay,” said Molly. “Let’s see if we can catch a live one, Virgil.” She laughed.
Virge pulled a stool up next to Molly’s desk and watched her screen. After about half an hour of doing one after the other they caught a girl.
“Got one, Harlan. Come see.”
I ran over from my desk on the other side of the squad room and Virge was writing down an address belonging to Susan Mannington. “She lives in Shelby, Billy. Your hometown.”
“Doesn’t mean I know her, Virge. Give your head a shake.”
“Harlan, keep going on the names with Molly. Me and Billy are going to Shelby to talk to Susie-Q.”
Travis laughed. “Go get her, Virge.”
Billy shook his head. “I’m not sure about this, Travis. The girl might have only made one mistake and now she’s just doing her job and trying to make a living.”
Travis hollered from the door of the break room, “Molly, what did Susan do time for?”
“Let me check, dear. Here it is. Armed robbery of a convenience store.”
“Bingo,” said Ted. “Hope I catch another live one at the store today.”
“Call if you get something hot, Ted,” said Travis. “Your day will be long and boring. Make sure you take time for lunch at the diner.”
“Copy that, boss.”
Mannington Residence. Shelby.
Billy knocked on the door and a tall guy answered. He stared at their uniforms and his smile vanished. “Help you, Sheriff?”
“Does Susan Mannington live here?”
“She does. I’ll get her for you. Hang on a sec.”
A woman came to the door. Short, dark hair. Early thirties. Scar on her cheek. Cigarette in her mouth. “What’s up, Sheriff?”
“Can we come in and talk to you for a minute, Susan?”
She stepped out and closed the door behind her. “Better if we talk out here. My brother doesn’t need to know my private business.”
“That was your brother?”
“Yep. My brother Matt. What do you want to see me about? I’m not on parole any longer. Been clean and on my own for two years now.”
“There was an armed robbery in Cut Bank a couple of days ago, and we’re checking everyone in the county with a record,” said Billy. “Routine check. That’s all it is.”
Susan laughed, but her voice was a little shaky. “I ain’t robbed any stores, Sheriff. I’m living the quiet life now, like I told you.”
“What does your brother, Matt, do for a living?” asked Billy.
“Umm…he’s between jobs now, but he’ll get work. He’s a mechanic and a good one.”
“How long have you worked at Big Bear casino, Susan?” asked Billy.
“Six or eight months. Why?”
“Like I said, this is a routine check of ex-cons in Harrison County.”
“Harassment is what it is. I ain’t done nothing wrong, Sheriff. And I’m not answering any more of your routine questions.” Her right hand made the slightest motion towards her back, then she thought better of it, and she pulled her T-shirt down instead.
Billy tilted his head, and Virge was behind her in a flash. He yanked the gun out of her waist holster and cuffed her.
“Why are you carrying inside your house, Susan?” asked Billy.
“Because I want to.”
“Sheriff Frost will have a few more questions for you at the station. Let’s go.”
Virge secured Susan in the back of the squad, and as they pulled out the driveway, Matt pulled the curtains back and watched out the front window.
Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.
Billy and Virgil brought Susan Mannington in for questioning and charged her with carrying a firearm without a permit. Something to give them time to check her out. Check out her brother too.
I printed Susan and took an updated mug shot and I was ready to lock her in the run when we got a break in the case.
Ted called Travis with a print he’d found at the store. He’d been eliminating employees and regular visitors to the store and the print he’d found was unaccounted for. Nate Telling.
“Ted’s got a print,” hollered Travis. “Nate Telling. I’m running him now.”
Virge and I ran into the break room to see what Dad had and he said, “He lives in Sunburst Acres. Let’s go.”
“Course he does,” said Billy. “You go get him and I’ll stay here and work on Miss Susan.”
“Copy that,” said Travis. “Let’s go, boys.” He whistled for the dogs, and they raced for the back door, always excited when they got the chance to go with us and work.
Sunburst Acres Trailer Park.
“That’s it there, Virge.” Travis pointed at a rusty-looking single-wide on the back street of the mobile home park. This particular park was about twenty miles from the Canadian border and handy for those interested in international trade.
“Block the pickup in.”
“Copy, Dad.” Virge parked the squad sideways across the end of the dirt driveway.
“Let’s see what Nate Telling is up to.”
Dad took the front door of the trailer with my brother—Virgil being our designated shooter—and I took the back door on my own.
I circled around avoiding several trash bins overflowing with garbage. Looked for a dog chained out back and there wasn’t one. Lucky.
Tried the back door and it was kind of locked. Supposed to be secure, but the doorframe was warped so bad the lock wasn’t clicking into place like it should.
Pushing the door open slowly so it wouldn’t squeak, I went inside and listened for Dad and Virge coming in from the front.
Travis knocked at the front and a kid came to the door—no more than fourteen. “What do you guys want?” He stood with the door open and hollered over his shoulder, “Dad, it’s the fuckin’ law.”
Nate Telling sauntered towards the door with a smirk on his face. Tall guy with shaggy dark hair and a mustache. Shiny earring in his right ear. Diamond? Probably not.
“Hey, it’s Sheriff Frost himself at my door. Heard a lot of stories about you, Sheriff. Always wondered how many of them were true.”
“Overexaggerated,” mumbled Travis.
“Under,” mumbled Virge.
“This is a red-letter day for me,” said Nate. “Travis Frost coming to my house. Heard Frost was an alias, but what do I know?”
“Need to talk to you, Nate.” Travis ignored Nate’s sarcastic chatter. “Got a minute?”
“I’m pretty busy drinking a few cold ones with my friends. Could you come back another time?”
“Nope.”
“What did I do, Sheriff? Can’t wait to hear what you’re trying to lay on me.”
“I’d like you to provide me with an alibi for your whereabouts the day the Outfitters store was robbed in Cut Bank, and the store owner was murdered.”
“That’s easy. I was in Canada when that went down. Heard about it when I got back.”
“I didn’t tell you when the robbery took place, Nate.”
“Don’t matter. It was a couple days ago. I been away for a week and just got back last night. I wasn’t even in this country, Sheriff.”
“Anybody across the border in Alberta who can verify that, Nate?”
“Don’t need nobody. The government will do it for me. Easy to check with the border guards when I crossed and when I crossed back.” He grinned. “That should keep you busy for at least an hour.”
“I’d like to meet your friends,” said Travis. “Who have you got visiting you today?”
“Couple of my good buddies stopped by for a beer. Come on into the kitchen and see for yourself.”
Travis followed Nate into the kitchen and Virge was right behind him.
Nate’s two buddies were more nervous than he was and had their guns drawn and pointed at Travis when he walked into the kitchen.
Time for me to move in. “Guns down,” I hollered from the doorway into the hall. “Put your guns down and your hands in the air.”
“Don’t think so,” said buddy number one. Fat belly and beard. Looked like he belonged on a Harley.
Bang.
Virge didn’t give second chances. He shot beer belly in the knee and knocked him to the floor. Beer belly fired a wild shot on his way down to kiss the linoleum and shot out a window on the other side of the trailer.
“Hey, take it easy,” shouted Nate at his buddy. “You might hit my boy.”
“Guns down,” hollered Virge. “You assholes deaf?”
I moved in closer to the action, pointing my shotgun at the buddy who wouldn’t lower his weapon.
“Put your gun down, Pat,” said Nate. “These boys mean business.”
Pat somebody—buddy number two—a short stocky guy with a mop of sandy hair—laid his Glock on the kitchen table and started to raise his hands in the air.
“Call an ambulance, Harlan, for the guy on the floor,” said Travis.
“Copy that.” The second I was busy with my cell, buddy two—Pat—reached for his boot knife.
Travis saw him go for it, whipped his blade out of the sheath on his belt and fired it across the room. The movement was so lightning fast none of us really saw it happen.
Heard it.
That whizzing sound the knife makes when it’s breaking the fucking sound barrier.
The knife was deadly on the mark and stuck right in buddy two’s jugular. Pat collapsed into a bloody heap right next to buddy one who was still breathing and gagging and hanging onto his bleeding-out knee.
“Listen up, idiots,” Travis was deadly calm. “Nate, you’re coming with me to the station for questioning. Down on your knees and assume the position.”
Nate dropped to his knees, and I ran across the living room to cuff him.
Travis walked over and pulled his knife out of buddy number two’s throat. He wiped the blood off on buddy’s plaid shirt and put the blade back where it belonged.
“Harlan, get Doc Olsen up here from Cut Bank. We have a customer for him. Virge, secure Nate in the back of the squad. I’ll cover you.”
“Copy, Sheriff.”
Once Nate was secure and we were waiting for the ambulance and Doctor Olsen, Virge and I searched the trailer for evidence and found plenty.
We bagged up all the opiates and a couple of bags of meth. Two more guns, but they weren’t the guns we were looking for from Charlie’s store. Nope. No rifles or shotguns.
Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.
We hauled Nate Telling back to the station along with a lot of drugs and a few handguns collected from his trailer.
Before we left the trailer park, Nate sent his son across the road to stay with his grandmother until he got back from jail—no telling when that would be.
“How’d that go?” asked Billy as Virge and I brought Nate in from the sally port.
“Pretty good,” said Virgil. “Good outing.”
Once Nate was printed and booked and locked in a cell, Billy went into the run to talk to him about the robbery.
“Hey, Nate, I’m Sheriff Billy Johnson and I’d like to know why your print was found in the Outfitters store if you were in Canada when the robbery went down.”
“Can’t explain it, Sheriff. All I can tell you is me and my boy, Chris, have been in that store in Cut Bank more times than I care to remember. Chris loves that store, and he always wants to go there and look at the knives and the guns in the showcases. That ain’t a crime.”
“No, it isn’t. The drugs found in your trailer, that’s a different issue,” said Billy.
“Yeah, a different issue.”
“We’ll have your tag checked out at the border crossing and if that’s verified, you’ll be clear of the robbery.”
Nate smiled. “One down.”
“Yep. One down.”
Before leaving the run, Billy asked Nate if he knew Susan Mannington in the cell at the opposite end of the run.
Nate took a good look at her and shook his head. “Never seen her before, Sheriff. She a robbery suspect?”
“One of them.”
“Sorry. Can’t help you out.”
Health Sciences Center. Kingston. Ontario.
Grieving for Tammy, there was nothing Willy could do but lie flat on his back in his bed and accept the care he received from the dedicated hospital staff.
He was lucky to be alive and he knew it.
Willy cheered up considerably when one of the nurses breezed into the room and told him his dogs had been located in Gananoque.
“A member of the cleaning staff who works at that clinic saw your dogs in the truck and took them and their food to her house. She’ll take care of the dogs until you’re released and come to pick them up.”
“That’s wonderful news,” said Willy. “Thank you so much for going to the trouble of finding them. I’ve had George and Gracie for years and those dogs are my family.”
“No problem, Willy. Happy to help you.”
Holiday Inn. Kingston. Ontario.
Two days of resting and relaxing at the Holiday Inn did wonders for Bobby, and Cleo didn’t mind either. She enjoyed sleeping on a big comfy bed as much as the next dog.
“I think this may be our last night here, Cleo. I want you to think about where you want to go tomorrow. Okay?”
Cleo wagged her tail.
Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.
At dinner, we went over the case and what we had so far was Susan Mannington. A girl with a record for armed robbery who worked at Big Bear Casino.
“What about her brother Matt?” asked Virge. “That dude could use some surveillance.”
“Yeah, we’ll put Ted on Matt Mannington tomorrow,” said Billy.
“Also, we have Nate Telling who left his print in Charlie McNeil’s store, but according to Mark at the border, Nate was in Canada when the robbery went down,” said Virge.
“Thanks for the recap, Virgie,” said Billy. “Where do you suggest we go from here?”
“I guess we’ll have to dig in and work harder on it tomorrow,” I said.
“Guess so, Harlan,” said Billy. “Hard work solves cases like nothing else.”
“Guess work never cuts it,” added Travis.
“Tomorrow is Dad’s last day as sheriff. Are we having a party for him at the Run after work?” I asked Billy.
“Sure as hell are, boys.” Billy had a big grin on his face. “We’ll make sure it’s one night he won’t forget.”
“Does that mean I’ll have a headache for fuckin’ days afterward?” asked Travis.
Virge laughed. “That’s exactly what it means, Dad.”