Chapter Fourteen #2
made him feel like the kid who’d shot a paper airplane across the
classroom to have it land on the teacher’s desk. “You staying out
of trouble now that you’re a proper adult?”
He shrugged. “Trying to, but I’m going
to deal with whoever tampered with the evidence to get me convicted
and sent to prison for a crime I didn’t commit. That might lead me
to some trouble.”
“Be sure the trouble is
worth it. But if you’re set on that course,” she raised her brows
expectantly, and when he nodded, she said, “then I’ve got something
for you.” She rose from the table. “There’s a box in the house I
set out for you.”
“Can I carry it out for
you?”
“Drink your tea. I’ll get
it.”
Walker leaned back in his seat as the
screen door slapped shut behind her and did as he’d been told. He
drank his tea. Bees buzzed as they circled the blossoms. The dogs,
three fluffy fuzzballs he thought might be poodles, stared at him
unblinkingly, occasionally licking their lips like he was
dinner.
One he kept an especially wary eye on
when it curled a lip and made a rumbling sound in its chest.
Laney’s eyes were shadowed and he thought she was making a
determined effort not to look at him. He wondered if Mrs. Watkins’s
warning had resonated with her as it had with him.
The older woman returned with a
cardboard banker’s box. He rose to take it from her and set it on
the table.
“You called and asked if I
could help you understand what was happening in the sheriff’s
department at the time you were falsely accused.”
That stopped him short. “Did you know
I was being framed?”
“Not at the time. I think
Neil knew I wouldn’t stand for it, that I’d speak up if I found
something illegal going on, so he kept it from me. I’m sorry. I
wish I’d known.” The passing of years had done nothing to dim the
intelligence shining from her clear eyes.
“You helped my grandfather
and Clara Bryant when they were trying to clear my name,” Walker
said.
“I did, but I couldn’t do
more than tell the truth about what I knew. I’m sorry it wasn’t
much help.”
“It helped build a
complete picture. Thank you for that.”
Mrs. Watkins nodded and Walker went
on. “When I called yesterday, it seemed like you were expecting to
hear from me.”
“I knew you were back in
town and figured you’d want to learn for yourself what I know.” She
gestured to the box. “A lot of it’s in there. Take the box with
you. When it came out that Neil was mismanaging the office, and was
possibly involved in criminal activities, I made copies of what I
thought might be important. I didn’t want the records to
disappear.”
She sipped her tea, then set her glass
carefully on the table, seeming to gather her thoughts. “Remember
this: people are rarely all good or all bad. We’ve all got places
where we blur the lines. Neil Grafton wasn’t a bad man. Early in
his career, he’d never have made the choices that ended up costing
him his job and the respect of the community. But eventually he
sacrificed his integrity to keep his position and convinced himself
his choices were righteous. They weren’t, and now he has to live
with the consequences of those choices.”
She indicated the box. “Look through
what’s in there. I don’t know how much of it will be useful, but
there might be something.”
Laney rose from her seat. “Thank you,
Mrs. Watkins. Can I take the glasses and tea inside for
you?”
“No, I’ll do it, but thank
you.”
Walker lifted the banker box, then
paused. “Mrs. Watkins, don’t tell anyone you spoke to us, or that
you gave me what’s in this box.”
She nodded, but the shadow crossing
her expression made him prod her further.
“Did you tell anyone you
made these copies?”
“I mentioned it to my
daughter, Valerie. She lives in South Tahoe and we talk every day.
She wants me to live with her, but I plan to stay in my home as
long as I can.”
“Ask her to keep it to
herself. And be careful,” he warned. When she frowned, he pressed,
“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
She sat up straighter, seeming to have
come to a decision. “Yes. I don’t believe Jerod Fetterly is
dead.”
Walker set the box back on the table.
Laney stood next to him and appeared shocked. “You’d better
explain.”
“About a year ago, my
daughter picked me up to take me to her home for a visit. We
stopped at a gas station in a little town near Tahoe.” She gave
Walker a direct look. “I saw a man I believe was Jerod Fetterly
coming out of the gas station market.”
“Are you sure it was
him?”
“Not a hundred percent,
but I think so. He always liked junk food, and this man had a bag
of chips, a couple of those skinny packages of beef jerky, and a
beer. If it was Jerod, he’d put on a lot of weight and didn’t look
healthy. He was wearing a ball cap down low over his forehead so I
couldn’t see his eyes. He opened that beer right there in the
parking lot before getting into a Chevrolet Malibu.”
“Do you recall the name of
the town?”
“It was a little place
called Ponderosa Flats. Not much more there than the gas station
and market.”
“Any chance he saw you or
your daughter at the gas station?”
“I was sitting in the car,
but he did look my way. I suppose he could’ve seen Val when she
went in to pay for the gas. They were in school here in Sisters
about the same time, so he might’ve recognized her.”
“Did you tell anyone your
suspicions?”
“Only my
daughter.”
“Mrs. Watkins, you need to
be on guard.” He pulled out his phone. “I want to give you my cell
number.”
“I have it from when you
called.”
“Good. Keep an eye out,
and if you see anything unusual, someone parked on the street you
don’t recognize, someone following you, call me or
nine-one-one.”
Laney asked, “Mrs. Watkins, can you go
stay with your daughter for a while?”
“I could, but I don’t
think there’s a need. I’m always careful. My girls here raise a
ruckus if anyone so much as sets a toe across my property line, and
I had a very good security system installed on my house after my
Charlie passed. I wasn’t used to living by myself and this old
house makes a lot of noise as it settles for the night. I’ll be
fine.”
Minutes later, Walker and Laney were
in the truck, heading down Pinon Road. He felt her gaze.
“You’re worried about
her.”
“Yeah. I don’t want anyone
else caught in the crossfire when shit starts happening.” He shot
her a look. “You included.”
“I’m fine.”
“You need to be careful
too. I’ll talk to Sawyer about getting the sheriff’s office to keep
an eye on Mrs. Watkins.
“Meantime, I’ve got a box
to go through.”