Chapter Thirteen
Law Enforcement Lies
Willow
Dale started his investigation by marking off locations on the ranch map, which he found online. Other than hers, the lots were mostly divided into forty-acre parcels.
“There are some old-timers out here who might talk to me,” Dale told Willow.
“They might know names of some of the people who have come and gone. There are a lot of them. People don’t realize how tough it is to live off grid.
Most don’t have running water and haul it from town.
Your grandmother chose this place because of the well. She was a smart woman.”
Willow smiled. She still found small memories her grandmother left behind. She’d explored the boxes in the attic a few months ago. There were clothes, along with a few more pictures from Willow’s childhood.
“Can I come with you?” she asked.
Dale looked at her for a long moment before answering. “Don’t take this wrong, but these men don’t talk to many people and stay to themselves for the most part. I’ll have more luck if I go alone.”
Willow was disappointed, and it also made her nervous when she thought about Dale approaching these men alone. Then she remembered he’d been a deputy and this had been his job. She laughed silently at herself for worrying.
“Give me an idea of where you’re going and how long it will take you, and I’ll stay behind and sulk,” she teased.
“Ha,” he said. “I’d pay money to see you sulk.”
She curled her lower lip down and gave him the best pouty face she could muster. Now he laughed full out. “I’m lucky you came into my life, Willow. You give this old man something to live for.”
She walked over and gave him an awkward hug from the side of the couch. “I feel the same about you.”
His cheeks reddened.
“When are you going to start interviewing people?” she asked after she sat down beside him.
“No interviewing. I’ll simply be talking to people.”
“Okay, what will the sheriff’s department think about it?”
“I don’t give a flying rat’s ass what they think, but they’ll probably never know. If I find out something that could be a real lead, they would most likely ignore it anyway. We’ll play it by ear and see where my friendly conversations lead us.”
Dale took off mid-morning the next day. He said he’d call if he needed more than four hours. Willow had been working on a project in the barn for months and decided it was a good day to continue.
The dresser had been her grandmother’s, and it needed a lot of work.
Willow was refinishing it by hand. Power tools drew down the solar.
She could use the generator, but this was a long and involved process.
She decided to forgo the electric sander and do it herself.
She thanked the internet for instructions.
In prison, the internet was extremely limited. You could send email to your attorney, and that was it. The outgoing email was heavily monitored. Even her attorney told her not to put anything important.
Willow now made use of the resource daily, playing music from her cell phone and humming along as she worked. Max and Daisy’s sudden round of barking alerted her to a visitor. She looked outside the barn door and saw Deputy Wallard sitting in his vehicle. Her stomach tightened.
She had two choices. She could hide and let the dogs keep him in the patrol car, or she could go out and greet him. He began honking the horn, which made the decision for her. She didn’t bother removing her gloves, and approached the driver’s side window.
He rolled it down a bit. Max had stopped barking, but he continued to growl.
“I need to speak to Berger. Could you put the dogs in the house?”
“No, Dale,” she emphasized his first name, “is resting. We had a pack of coyotes last night, and he didn’t get much sleep.”
The deputy looked around. “Don’t see his truck,” he said when he glanced back at Willow.
Well, damn. She wanted to run into the house and lock the door. She was not good at this. “You caught me,” she finally said. “Dale isn’t here, and I don’t like talking to strange men when I’m alone. Call him and arrange a time,” she said, and took two steps back.
Wallard grinned, and it sent chills down her spine. “The last thing I am is a strange man. You know it’s illegal to lie to law enforcement?” It was said offhandedly, but there was a mean glint in his eyes.
She wasn’t sure if what he said was truth or a lie. She would ask Dale, and until then there wasn’t much she could do. “My safety comes first. If you want to write me a ticket or something, do it.”
He rolled the window down another few inches. This time Daisy joined Max’s growl. Wallard’s expression changed again.
“You don’t need to worry about me; I’m just teasing. A beautiful woman out here alone needs to be cautious. Let me take you to dinner, and we can get to know each other better.” His grin widened as he spoke.
Willow was stumped for a moment. This was the first time she’d been asked on a date in her entire life. It was also the last thing she wanted from the deputy. She was at a loss. Should she be rude? If he checked into her, would he find out who she really was?
Dale’s truck tires crunched rock as he came up the drive. Overwhelming relief filled Willow.
“Dale’s here. You can talk to him. I need to get back to work.” She turned and walked away, deciding Dale could handle this.
Max followed Willow inside while Daisy waited for Dale. Her fingers trembled as she began sanding again. Twenty minutes later, Dale entered the barn. She stopped working on the difficult corner and faced him.
“I’m glad you came back when you did,” she said.
Dale sat on the corner of the generator. “He wanted to let me know the case would be left open and the remains kept at the state lab. It was a total bullshit excuse. What did he say to you?”
“He asked me on a date,” she replied as she used her arm to scratch her ear, which was tickling.
It took less than two seconds for Dale’s face to turn alarmingly red. “That son of a bitch used the bones as an excuse to come around you,” he stated.
“That’s what I figured. I don’t like him.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Dale promised.
“No, I don’t want him finding out about me. I don’t want to make him angry.”
Dale stepped closer and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll make it clear this is my doing.
I don’t want him bothering you in any way.
I’ll call my friend at the sheriff’s office and find out what the dirt on him is.
My friend will talk to a deputy in Gila County and find out the real reason he left if he needs to. ”
It still made her nervous. “Max and Daisy kept him from leaving his car. I told him you were inside sleeping, but he noticed your truck missing, and I had to come clean. He said it was illegal to lie to him. Can I get in trouble?”
Dale turned away and let out a string of not-so-nice words as he stomped to the barn door.
He finally walked back and hugged her for a moment.
“No. There is nothing he can do unless you lie in an investigation,” he said after pulling back.
“If it’s a misdemeanor investigation, the most you can get is a misdemeanor citation.
A felony is a felony. He, however, can get in a lot of trouble for harassing someone while he’s in uniform.
I’ll make that clear to him. I don’t have a lot of friends at the department, but I can be a huge pain in the ass if this continues. ”
“Thank you.” She released a sigh of relief.
“Let’s go inside and have some iced tea. I saw you put out a new jug this morning.”
After they settled on the couch and chair with their tea, Willow asked about his visits.
“Nothing,” he said. “One guy talked my ear off about rabies which he swears every mouse and rabbit has now. He’s a little cracked in the head, but mostly harmless.
The other only grunted. He was good at it, too.
I left feeling like a fool.” He smiled. “I’ll need to work on my grunting technique just like you. ”
That made Willow laugh, which she knew was why he said it. “I think you have a good grunt,” she teased. “You just don’t use it often enough, and it gets lonely.”
That made him chuckle before his face turned serious. “I mean it. Don’t worry about Wallard. I’ll handle him.”
She nodded.
The deputy scared the shit out of her, and she needed to be prepared if he showed up again. She had a feeling he would.