Chapter 20
The door dinged, and Gideon winced as he entered the diner. His phone call to ICE had preceded a moment of clarity. Every moment since, he’d battled with doubt.
The mat was soaked, he reminded himself. God knows what He’s doing. He pushed his fear aside and scanned the room. Normally, he wouldn’t risk being seen in the diner since the trouble he’d had with Fairfax, but this would put an end to all of that.
The agent he’d come here to meet sat in a booth toward the back, sipping a mug of coffee while he looked at his phone. He stood out with his dark suit and the briefcase he’d parked beside him on the floor.
“One of these things is not like the others,” Gideon mumbled as he continued forward, the tread of his shoes sticking to the floor. He focused on the sensation as he took one step, then another until he reached the suit.
“Agent Beck? ”
Beck looked up. “You must be Mr. Stone.” He stood and shook Gideon’s hand. “Would you mind if I search you?”
“Search me for what?”
“Anything. A weapon. A wire.”
“Why would I be wearing a wire or carrying a gun?”
“I never said gun.”
“I haven’t got anything on me.”
“Then you won’t mind me searching.”
“Fine.”
Gideon held his arms away from his side. He glanced around the room while the agent searched him. It would give those watching a fun bit of gossip to send around town. He’d probably get a call from Nikki asking about it within the hour. She’d be upset.
“Satisfied?” Gideon said when Beck had finished.
“Let me see your phone.”
“Why?” Beck held out his hand and waited for Gideon to give it to him. After turning it off, he placed it on the table. “Are you worried I’ll record this conversation?”
“You can have a seat now.”
Gideon tucked into the booth. “That was unexpected.”
“Standard procedure.”
“I’ll take your word for it. But thank you for meeting me so quickly.”
“We take accusations of this nature very seriously.” He lifted the briefcase and laid it on the table, pulling a file from it .
Gideon’s knee bounced as he waited for the agent to look through it.
“You mentioned on the phone,” Beck said, lifting one sheet of paper out of the way while he read from the one underneath, “that you believe Mayor Andrew Fairfax has a number of illegal immigrants living and working on his farm and that he is mistreating them?”
“That’s correct.”
“You have evidence of this.”
“Possibly. We had to rescue one of the women who he had abused so badly she lost the baby she was carrying.”
“Whose?”
“The baby? His.”
“The mayor’s?”
“Yes.”
Beck lifted several more sheets and frowned. “That’s a very serious charge. Especially against someone so highly regarded in this town.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily call him highly regarded. I think most people are afraid of him, which goes to show the nature of his character.”
Beck studied Gideon for a moment, then looked back at his notes. “But it’s true that you only came into town a few weeks ago?”
“I grew up here, but I’ve been away for a few years.”
“How many?” Beck clicked his pen and held it over the paper, waiting to write the answer on the paper.
“About seven. I’ve been back for over a month now. Initially, I had intended to stay for only a week or so.”
Beck scribbled a note. “For what purpose? ”
“My dad had a stroke, and I came here to see how he was doing. I wanted to see if I could help.”
“He’s incapacitated?”
“To a degree. One side of his body doesn’t work as well as it used to.”
“Is he unable to live on his own?”
“He does pretty well, considering.”
Beck wrote again. “But he doesn’t need ongoing care?”
“No. He’ll be fine on his own once I leave.”
“So, you are leaving again? You won’t be staying permanently?”
“My intention was never to stay. Part of the reason I’m still here is because his home and business were burned down in a fire. But he has another place to live now.”
Beck nodded as he looked through several sheets. “Multiple premises were lost in the fire.”
“That’s correct.”
“But you sound like you believe it started at your dad’s?”
“Yes. In the workshop.”
Beck read some more. “My report says it was deliberately lit.”
“That’s correct.”
Beck blew out a long sigh, wrote something else, clicked the pen, and closed the file. “So, you’re still here because?”
Gideon’s leg stopped mid-bounce. “I’m still here because I’m concerned for the safety of a group of people as well as the state of this town. Fairfax and Sheriff Peters have warned me to leave town.”
“The sheriff asked you to leave town?”
“Yes.”
Beck opened the file and jotted another note. “You didn’t believe it was in your best interest to do as he said?”
“I’m more concerned for others at the moment.”
Beck drummed his fingers on the table. “Do you have any idea why no one else has come forward before now?”
“I told you, I believe people are afraid of Fairfax. He owns most of this town. He could make people’s lives difficult.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve only recently returned to check on your father, but why did you leave in the first place?”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
“I’m simply trying to understand your state of mind.”
“I left because my upbringing wasn’t the best, and I needed to get some space from it.”
“You don’t particularly like this town?”
“You think I’m making this up to get back at someone?”
“In my line of work, I try very hard not to make assumptions. I like to stick to the facts. That’s what I’m doing here. Gathering facts in order to get a clear picture of what’s going on. ”
“You want facts? Go to Fairfax’s farm and have a look around. You’ll get plenty of facts.”
“I’m not sure how you think the law works, but I can’t just enter someone’s property and snoop around without permission or a warrant.”
“I understand that, but?—”
Beck’s attention lifted toward the door, and he nodded.
Gideon spun at the sound of the dinging door. Fairfax and Peters entered.
He slowly turned back to Beck, his lips folded in anger. “That’s why you were checking me for a wire? Because you’re a dirty agent?”
“I’d be very careful if I were you. It’s important I hear from all sides. There’s no need for a wire, as I’ll have all the details on record. You won’t be able to take anything out of context.”
“Sure.”
Beck moved farther into the seat so the sheriff could sit, and Fairfax brought a chair from a nearby table.
“Gideon,” Peters said. “I’m surprised by this. Disappointed. I thought we understood each other. You had a second chance, and you blew it. I really hoped you wouldn’t stoop this low.”
“Let’s save the commentary for later,” Beck said. “Gideon has suggested, Mr. Fairfax, that you are housing numerous illegal immigrants on your property.”
Fairfax folded his arms across his chest. “He’s lying.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s a troublemaker, and that’s what troublemakers do. He hated me before he ever met me. ”
“Why would that be?”
“He got caught up with a girl.” He rolled his eyes. “You know how young men can be. She’s been nothing but trouble for years. Very resistant to any change in this town.”
Gideon scoffed. “This is unbelievable.”
“Mr. Stone,” Beck said. “You’ve had your chance to speak. I’d like to hear from Mr. Fairfax. Please, go on.”
“It’s not her fault,” Fairfax continued. “She found it difficult when her dad died suddenly. And her mom has mental health issues.”
Gideon jerked, and the sheriff held out his hand. “Stay where you are, Mr. Stone.”
“Beth does not?—”
“I asked you to refrain from interrupting,” Beck said.
“You’re in a very precarious position right now, Gideon,” Peters said. “I’d do as the agent says if I were you.”
“Thank you, Sheriff,” Beck said. “Do you have anything you’d like to add?”
“Absolutely. From the first day he arrived, he’s been nothing but trouble. In fact, I have a sworn affidavit from the bar owner saying that, on the first day Gideon came into town, he entered the bar and harassed his customers.”
“Charlie said that?” Gideon said. “You’re lying.”
Peters pulled a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket and handed it to Beck. “This is a copy.”
Beck read it, then looked at Gideon. “Would you like to see it?”
“Yes.” Gideon checked the name first, confirming it was Charlie’s, then scanned the contents of the affidavit. “He wouldn’t have written this.” He tossed it onto the table.
Peters tapped Charlie’s signature. “He signed it in front of me. It’s all true.”
Gideon looked at the three men in turn. He’d never experienced anything like this. How had Fairfax and Peters gotten to Agent Beck? He’d flown in from another state. Not only that, the mat was wet. This meeting was all wrong. It was supposed to make everything better, not worse.
“And that’s not all,” Fairfax said. “There’s the fire.”
“The fire at Mr. Stone’s father’s place?” Beck said.
“Yes. There’s evidence to suggest Gideon is the one who started it in his dad’s garage.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Gideon spat. But it was too late. He was outnumbered. Beck was on their side. It didn’t matter what he said now.
“Why would he do that, Sheriff?” Beck asked.
“Could be a whole host of reasons. His dad’s a drunk, and he wanted to get rid of him for good. Maybe there’s an insurance policy, or maybe he hoped the fire would burn the whole town down.”
“Agent Beck,” Gideon said, trying to muster up some semblance of calm. “None of this is true, and I have reason to believe that it was actually a deputy by the name of Cole who is the culprit.”
“You have evidence of this?” Beck said.
“As much as they’ve got that I did it.”
“So, it’s your word against theirs?”
“Not quite,” Peters said. “Unlike Deputy Cole, Gideon has established a pattern of behavior. We not only have witnesses, but Mr. Stone himself has admitted to me that he destroyed public property.”
“What property?” Beck said.
“He claims to care about the people of this town, and yet he cut down artwork in the town square. Artwork that the town adored and found a great sense of comfort in these difficult times with the drought. It caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. Then there was the assault.”
“Assault?” Beck said.
“Unprovoked. You may have noticed the bruising on the mayor’s face.”
“That was Mr. Stone?” Beck looked at Fairfax.
“I’m afraid my desire to show compassion gave me a blind spot,” Fairfax said. “The sheriff insisted that I press charges, but having grown up under the heavy hand of a difficult father myself, I thought it my duty to give him another chance.”
Beck address Gideon. “Is this true? Did you attack the mayor?”
Gideon sat up straighter. “Yes.”
“This is very serious. You’ve admitted to assaulting the man you are now accusing of a grievous crime. It sounds to me like you have a grudge against him.”
“I do. He’s breaking the law.”
“Look,” Fairfax said, sitting forward in his chair. “As the mayor, it is my responsibility to keep the peace. I have obviously done a poor job of that in this instance. I made a mistake in letting Gideon off lightly, but as far as his accusations are concerned, I have nothing to hide. Agent Beck, if you would like to search my residence and the surrounding farm, I don’t require any kind of warrant. You are free to have a look for yourself.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Beck said, depositing his paperwork back in his briefcase.
“What?” Gideon protested. “You can’t be serious. You have to go and look.”
“I’m being very serious. It seems to me you don’t recognize the trouble you’re in.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Peters chuckled. “After what you’ve admitted?”
“Not at the level of what Fairfax has done and what you’re all doing now.”
“If you’ll excuse me, gentleman. I believe the next steps are outside of my purview. Mr. Stone, I’ll leave it to the sheriff to decide what’s to come of you. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve wasted my time. You better think long and hard about trying a stunt like this in the future. And next time you get a second chance—if there is a next time—I suggest you take it. If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.”
Peters got up to let Beck out, then he slid back into the seat. Fairfax shifted to keep Gideon from getting up himself.
“Didn’t I tell you to get out of town?” Peters said, folding his hands on the table. “I don’t know how I could have been clearer.”
“Is Agent Beck an old friend of yours?” Gideon said. “Is that why he checked me for a wire? He wanted to make sure I couldn’t record this conversation to use against the three of you? ”
“You’re really full of it, kid. You know that?” Fairfax said somehow making his voice both quieter and louder at the same time. “I know you stole Isabel from me.”
“She’s a human being, not an object you own.”
“You’re wrong about that, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve gotten past it. She turned into more trouble than she was worth, and look how far it got you.”
“What do you want to do with him?” Peters asked. “You want me to lock him up again?”
“Won’t do any good. He’s not worth the resources. The best thing for this town is if he disappears. I don’t really care how that happens. I just don’t want to look at his face again.”
“You hear that, Gideon?” Peters said.
“What if I refuse to go?” Gideon said. “What if I want to go to court? You might not have enough friends there to keep you out of trouble.”
“Nothing is going to court. This is it for you.” Peters leaned closer. “I don’t want your blood on my hands, but sometimes the sheriff’s job is a tough one. You either get out of town tonight, or they won’t find your body. Do you understand?”
Gideon looked at his phone, still turned off on the table. He should have assumed Beck was on their side, but it was too late now.
“I understand perfectly.”
“Good,” Peters said. “Then we’re done here.”