“Sure. Any help is appreciated.”
“No problem.”
She left and he sat there waiting, scrolling through his messages on his phone, checking to make sure he hadn’t missed any updates from Jennings or Evans, or even an inquiry from Leland. The waitress was gone for longer than he thought was necessary but when she returned, she brought back his food as well as the photo.
“Here you go,” she said, giving him the photo. “I’m sorry, but the other waitress didn’t have any news for you either. We did call the deputy sheriff for you. If anything might have happened to your friend while he was in Fool’s Gold she would know. She should be here shortly.”
“There was no need to go to that trouble,” Minchin assured, definitely not wanting to get the Fool’s Gold police involved.
“No trouble at all. Sparrow is a friend. She’ll be more than happy to help you search for your pal. Enjoy your meal,” RJ said.
Minchin stared at his plate, the bile rising in his throat, appetite gone at the thought of the sheriff asking him questions about Dan that he couldn’t answer. A cold sweat broke out all over him as he imagined being thrown in jail until he shook himself for being silly and letting his imagination run wild. There was no way this was going to happen. He almost laughed at his foolishness.
If he was searching for a friend there was no way he was going to be arrested for doing that. He took a drink of his beer before digging into his burger. He was finishing up when the deputy sheriff walked in.
RJ brought her over to his booth right away and cleared his empty dishes.
“I’m Sparrow Oakley,” the deputy sheriff said offering him her hand.
He took it as he stood out of politeness. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m sorry to make you come all this way. I could have come by the station if I’d known they had called you.”
“No problem. I was on patrol and passing by here as I made my rounds. I understand you have a friend that was last seen in the area back in June?”
“That’s right.” He pulled out the photo and handed it to her.
She studied it and looked up at him. “I saw him. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your friend got himself tangled with some bad people. I don’t know the details, but there was a raid on a house in the mountains not far from here in June and he sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. I personally put him in an ambulance headed to Colorado Springs for emergency care because our medical center here can’t handle that type of injury. As for what happened to him after he reached the hospital I don’t know. Was he treated and released? I hope so.”
“He was shot?” Minchin said, taking the photo. This was not even something that they’d ever thought could have happened that night.
“Yes.”
“And the hospital?”
“UC Memorial Hospital.”
“I’ll check there and see what they can tell me,” Minchin said. “This has saved me so much time searching. Much as I don’t like to hear he was shot or that he fell in with the wrong crowd at least I have a direction to go now.”
Sparrow nodded. “I hope you find him well.”
“Thank you for your time,” he said. He looked for his waitress and got her attention motioning for her to come over. “I’d like to pay my bill please.”
“Sure. Here you go,” she laid it on the table for him.
He pulled out cash to cover his tab along with a generous tip for her efforts for him. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks.”
He got out of there as quickly as possible without drawing suspicion and headed back to the Springs. He wanted to call Leland right away and inform him of his discovery, but felt it was better to learn whether Dan had survived or not before he made that call. It was only a half hour drive back to the Springs and the hospital was on the way. Hopefully he’d luck out and find someone working in the emergency department that would remember Dan being brought in that night. And they’d be able to tell him what he needed to know.
CHAPTER 11
Rafferty was relaxingin his room while Justus was cleaning up in the kitchen. She was finally feeling better and had insisted on cooking and cleaning up herself tonight. He didn’t argue. But he really wasn’t sure what he was going to do with himself for the next several hours before turning in for the night either.
His cellphone rang and he answered it, surprised to see that it was Deputy Sheriff Sparrow Oakley from Fool’s Gold. “Sparrow, what can I do for you this evening?”
“It’s what I can do for you,” she said. “I’ve already talked to Dan, and he asked me to loop you in if anyone came looking for him. Which they did today.”
“Does that mean he’s gone back undercover?” Rafferty asked.
