Chapter 6
Savvy
I close my eyes and squeeze the bridge of my nose but it doesn’t help.
Opening my desk drawer, I rummage around to find the bottle of Advil I was sure I had in there. I need something to kill this headache building behind my eyes. I can’t afford it, there is too much to do.
I only got maybe four hours of sleep before spending the rest of the night staring at my ceiling, mulling over the case. At about five, I gave up and came into the office to find an email from Tom Richter confirming the identity of our victim.
I’ve talked to Tom on the phone in the meantime, going over some of the remarks in the report he attached to the message.
He agreed with Buck; this had not been an animal attack, but a particularly brutal murder.
He’d found some lake water in the victim’s lungs, suggesting that when he went in the water, he’d likely still been breathing.
It turns my stomach to think he was still alive after sustaining those horrific injuries.
Richter informed me there was blunt force trauma to the back of the skull, suggesting a blow to the back of the victim’s head, disabling him.
He further noted the injuries to the man’s face and abdomen indicated a determined precision that didn’t match the severity of the wounds.
The resulting damage alluded to a violent, enraged attack, but the cuts had been clean and confident, which would be more in line with a very controlled and measured killer looking for maximum impact.
For a murder you generally investigate those close to the victim first, which is the direction I’d been looking. But Richter’s conclusions have me consider the possibility the killer was unknown to the victim, making Franklin Wyatt a random target.
I suspect this perpetrator wanted the body found, or he wouldn’t have bothered with the graphic mutilations. Tossing the victim in the lake is another indication he was, at the very least, not concerned with the body’s discovery.
“You don’t look so good.”
I look up from my computer screen, displaying the digital autopsy photos I’d been studying, to find Trooper Auden Maynard standing in my doorway.
A Silence native, like myself, I’ve known Auden most of my life. We went to school together, hung out in the same crowd, and he was the one who introduced me to Matt when I came home from college.
“Thanks, pal.” I scowl at his amused expression. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to assist in whatever way I can.” He pushes away from the doorpost and takes a precarious seat on the rickety visitor chair. “And before you start objecting,” he quickly adds when I open my mouth to do exactly that. “The captain himself sent me here, so put me to work.”
I grind my teeth. This is my father’s doing, I know it is.
He knows Auden’s boss and put a bug in his ear, I’m sure.
It’s my own fault for conferring with him about the case and needing to let Sanchuk go.
It’s tempting to refuse the offer of assistance, but I’m even more understaffed now than I was before.
I’ve been leaning on Hugo heavily and he already has his hands full running the department while I spend all my time on this case.
I’m going to have to suck it up.
Auden is a state trooper, he’s got a good head on his shoulders, and he’s not going to give me any sexist bullshit for having to answer to a woman in charge. I’d be a fool not to swallow my pride and grab all the help I can get.
“What do you know about the case?”
“Mutilated body found floating in Watts Lake by a fisherman. Victim was renting one of the Sterling’s cabins. Medical Examiner concludes murder,” he rattles off.
That’s a good enough start. I can get Brenda to make a copy of the case file for him. He’ll have to read that tonight because I have a job for him now.
“Right. The ME’s report suggests the victim was surprised from behind and hit with a blunt object, leaving a substantial wound to the back of his head, likely incapacitating him. The man was taking a hike around the lake when—”
“You want me to look for the primary site,” Auden jumps in, guessing correctly.
“Yes. My guys checked the immediate vicinity of the bridge and didn’t turn up anything, but it turns out he was still alive when he was placed in the water.
Not only that, but Richter discovered some splinters under the man’s fingernails, and he was found tangled up with a large branch under the bridge. ”
“You think he got those trying to hang on?” He winces. “Jesus.”
That detail has been burning in my gut since Tom Richter shared it. Clearly Auden gets the picture too.
“Yeah, he could’ve been attacked and dumped in the water anywhere along the shoreline.
Other than my own two feet, I don’t have anyone else I can spare right now, but I need to find the scene of the actual attack before the rain hits later this week, so I can give your forensics guys something to work with. ”
The forecast is for a large system moving through this area the second half of the week, as cold air from the north pushes its way south.
It’ll be a welcome change from the unseasonable, almost oppressive temperatures of the past few days, but it’s going to wash away any possible evidence left behind.
“So let’s go,” Auden urges, getting to his feet with an energy I can’t match.
The loop around the lake is about five-and-a-half miles over pretty rugged terrain in places.
I know, I’ve hiked it before, but that was under much different circumstances.
Today, I’m looking for the scene of a violent crime, one I’m responsible for solving.
It’s the hottest part of the day, and I’m already exhausted.
This is not an excursion I’m looking forward to.
Still, I push myself out of my chair and grab my ball cap and my radio.
“Yeah, let’s.”
Nate
“The drywall is up, but I have to run out to Spokane to pick up some more tape and compound. I should probably get ceiling white while I’m at it.”
I’m thinking I have a day or so of mudding, then sanding, and hopefully I’ll be done by the end of Thursday.
This was a small job, much smaller than I’m used to, but it was a good way to get my foot in the door here.
I even have something lined up for next week.
Nothing major, just a bathroom makeover for Brenda, which won’t take me that long, but it’s a start and one job will lead to the next. Hopefully.
Small steps.
I’m not hurting financially, but I need to keep my hands busy and I want to be able to do things for my daughter. Also, I have a reputation to fix if I’m going to make Silence our home. If not for me, for Tatum’s sake.
I have something to prove here, maybe even to myself.
“Ginny at Nuts building bird feeders, bread boxes, industrial table lamps, and other small stuff he would sell as a little sideline.
He taught me how to use power tools, weld metal, mix concrete, make dovetail joints, and gave me a chance to be good at something.
Yeah, I definitely owe the old man a lot, and I’ve been avoiding the store because I’m not sure how to face him.
That’s why when Brenda tells me a moment later that Will died only two years ago, I’m hit with a feeling of regret so heavy, it momentarily robs me of air.
I left many years ago without looking back, but in my mind Silence and its people stayed the same. Frozen in time. I guess I thought there’d always be an opportunity to set the record straight, to right old wrongs. Time to atone to those I might’ve hurt when I took off.
Looks like I let time run on too long.
Too late to tell him I’m sorry.
“It was a massive stroke. Fast,” Brenda explains. “We buried him in Potter’s Field.”
Potter’s Field is the town’s cemetery, where most of Silence’s residents go after they die. Including my mother.
“The store was closed for two months while Savvy did her best to track down his only living survivor. His niece, Genevieve. She found her living in Montana. Ginny came here with plans to sell the place, but ended up sticking around. She moved into Will’s apartment upstairs, and has been running the store ever since.
She keeps the place pretty well stocked, so you can probably find what you need right here in Silence. ”
Somehow this feels like a test to see how committed I am to being back here. If I go into Spokane to hit up one of the bigger box stores, I’ll have failed.
Great.
“I guess I’ll give Nuts I’ve taken two steps in their direction.
I don’t know if his attentions are welcome.
He’s at least six two and built like a tank to Savvy’s compact, five-foot-four frame.
It’s not until Savvy lifts her hand and touches the guy’s face, I recognize him as Auden Maynard.
I stop in my tracks.
Jesus, the scrawny kid from down the road my mother would occasionally watch has certainly grown up.
The prominent hooked nose is unmistakable, as are the dimples in his cheeks.
Kinda cute on a kid, but ridiculous on a grown-ass man.
And he sure has grown. Only kid I knew who came from a more fucked-up household than I did.
Why else would his mother leave mine in charge of her kid? She couldn’t even take care of me.
Hard to believe this is the same Auden. Even harder to believe he’s obviously quite comfortable with Savannah. Not sure why I assumed she was single. It shouldn’t surprise me she has someone in her life. She’s gorgeous and smart, and every bit as irresistible as she was years ago.
The moment Savvy catches sight of me, I change direction and head to my truck. None of my damn business what she does and who she does it with. I have no desire to live in the past anyway.
Moving forward.
Nuts & Bolts is much like I remember, too much stuff crammed into too small a space.
The store is relatively small and the aisles so narrow, with shelves stocked to the brim, half the time you have to shuffle sideways to get through.
It was almost impossible to find what you needed, but Will knew where every little washer or screw could be found.
The first thing I notice as I work my way to the left of the store where I remember the counter to be, is how well the shelves are organized.
All the small hardware is in clearly labelled bins, sorted by size.
Everything is neatly arranged. Each aisle is numbered and a sign shows clearly what is there.
“Can I help you?”
The voice belongs to a well-shaped blonde, leaning forward on the counter.
“Hi, are you Ginny?”
She straightens up, and I try not to get distracted by her curves. She’s got plenty of them.
“Ah, I am, but you’ve got me at a disadvantage. I know most everyone who’s ever as much as looked at a hammer, but I can’t recall you. Trust me, I would’ve remembered.”
The woman’s suggestive scrutiny combined with those words teases a chuckle from me. She reminds me of some of the women I’ve dated over the years. Generally uncomplicated, easy, and fun while it lasted, which was never that long. That was just fine by me.
After burning my bridges here in Silence, I ended up getting caught on the rebound by Tate’s mother, Charlene.
The pregnancy had been her attempt at getting what she wanted from me when it was more than I’d been prepared to give.
It backfired on her because, although I did stick around for the baby, Charlene and I were done.
I can’t bitch and moan about it too much, because I got Tatum out of the deal and she is everything.
But it did make me a bit more cautious with my choices after that, and I made sure any woman I dated understood I was not in the market for anything permanent.
There’s only one person who would ever fit that bill, but I burned her too. Despite the grain of hope sprouting that perhaps there might be something to salvage here in Silence, it looks like I may have been too little and too late.
So when the pretty woman with the great curves beams an even better smile at me, I lean forward with my elbows on the counter.
“I stopped in for some drywall compound and tape, but for your information, I swing a mean hammer, and I’ll be happy to introduce myself properly over a cup of coffee or a drink sometime.”