“You’ll figure it out.”
After Rafferty left, Justus noticed the notepad on the little table by the couch. She got up, moved to the end where he had been sitting, and looked at it. There was a name she didn’t recognize and a number. “Stewart McClain?” she mumbled. “Wonder who that is?”
“Did you say something?” Rafferty called.
“Just talking to myself,” she replied.
“Do you answer yourself as well?”
“Ha ha,” she said. “Comedian, you're not. You better stick to your day job.”
“I will.” He returned and tore off the paper with the name and number. “I need to make a phone call. I’d tell you to watch some TV while I’m gone, but we don’t have any programming.”
“Ha ha. Rub it in,” Justus scoffed. “I’m fine playing with For All anyway.”
At the mention of his name, the puppy popped his head up and looked at her, his nub of a tail wagging.
“That’s right. I said your name,” she said. He leaped toward her and barked.
Once in his room, Rafferty made the phone call. He didn’t want Justus to know about his inquiry yet, not since she was so keen on knowing everything that happened to Dan that night. Of course, it would have been too easy for him to make the call and reach Stewart McClain immediately. He had to leave a message and wait for a callback.
He spent the time reorganizing his room and unpacking a few of the boxes stacked in the corner after he moved in. He’d moved Rawlins's things into his room as soon as he brought Justus home, and he made room for those boxes in the back of his closet until his brother could reclaim them.
Thinking about Rawlins, he decided that now was the time to give him a call and see how things were going with Chaney. He wanted to find out if he needed anything, maybe those boxes, while staying there. They’d texted briefly last night while Justus was talking with Chaney. But it would be better if he could get his brother on the phone and hear his voice. Maybe that would put him at ease.
As he was reaching to select his number from the contacts list, his phone rang. It was Stewart McClain returning his call.He let the phone ring twice before finally answering, getting his thoughts together.
“Rafferty Grainger,” he said.
“Stewart McClain, returning your call. How can I help you?”
“Sparrow Oakley with the Fool’s Gold Sheriff’s department gave me your number. I understand you supervise a man undercover involved with the auction out in Fool’s Gold a few months back. His name is Dan. Sorry, that is all I know him as.”
“As you said in your message, yeah, Dan works for me, and I reached out to Sparrow to get him out of there alive. What exactly do you need to know about him and why?”
“I understand his objective was to get close to Leland Warshafsky, the ringleader,” Rafferty began. “I also know the man got away that night, and I believe he may still be in Colorado, trying to get at two of the young women who are going to be witnesses at trial against his men who were apprehended. There have already been two attempts to get at them this month. I thought he’d like to know.”
“I’ll be happy to pass along this information to him,” McClain said. “Is that all?”
“No, it isn’t,” Rafferty hurriedly said. “I’ve been assigned to protect one of those young women until she testifies, and she apparently had formed a friendship of sorts with Dan, for lack of a better description.”
“Is this Justus?” McClain asked.
Rafferty was surprised when the man said this. “Yes, it is. She’s concerned about Dan and his whereabouts. Since talking to Sparrow, I let her know he made it out alive, but I have no objection to him reaching out to her if he wants.”
“I don’t advise that. Justus was one of the girls he helped abduct. He felt responsible for them both and that was all. If she feels an attachment to him, she should let it go.” McClain’s voice was coldly professional. “I’ll pass along your number tomy agent if he wants to reach out for more details about these two incidents. If another attack occurs, be sure to call here again and report. The more confirmation that Warshafsky is still in the area, the stronger our case against him will be.”
“Absolutely,” Rafferty agreed.
“Thank you, Mr. Grainger, for your service and for what you’re doing for your country now that you have been medically discharged at such a young age. Take care of Justus.” With that, the line went dead.
A cold sweat broke out over Rafferty. The man was audacious. He’d looked into him before calling him back. That is the only way McClain would have known those details about him being medically discharged.
He was still fuming when a knock came at his door.
“What is it?”
“Sorry to bother you, but we must go to the dog park,” Justus said.
