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Chapter 17
Cameron drove straight into town, with Ghost beside him. He went through the ATM drive-up at his bank to get cash, then parked downtown. He put Ghost on a leash and began walking around, visiting with friends and talking to tourists who wanted to talk about his dog. He never told them the truth. Not about himself. Not about where Ghost came from. He would just make a joke about everything being bigger on the mountain.
When he saw Sam Carson, the injured veterinarian, coming out of the pharmacy, he stopped to talk. “Sam, how have you been? Leslie told me about your accident.”
Sam grimaced. It was still a point of embarrassment to him that he’d let a big animal get the best of him when he should have known better.
“I’m still off work until my broken rib heals a bit more.” Then he reached out to Ghost and gave him a quick scratch between the ears. “Hey, boy. Long time no see.” Then he glanced back up at Cameron. “Did his paw heal properly?”
“Yes, you did a great job,” Cameron said. “Leslie and your sub seem to have everything under control.”
“I know,” Sam said. “I might be feeling a little insecure about not being needed.”
And right at that moment, Ghost licked Sam’s hand. Both men laughed.
“I guess that was Ghost’s way of saying you’re irreplaceable,” Cameron said.
“I’m going to take it that way,” Sam said. “Did you hear about all of the to-do down at Neighbor’s Gas Station?”
“No. What happened?” Cameron asked.
“A couple of teens, a boy and a girl, tried rob it. There was quite a ruckus getting them into custody. I heard they were both underage and the girl was pregnant. Can’t imagine what a paperwork nightmare that’s gonna be. It’s been good to see you, but I need to get home. Take care.”
“You too,” Cameron said, and watched Sam ease himself into his truck and drive away. Now he knew why Sonny Warren hadn’t returned Rusty’s call, but that wasn’t going to stop him from doing what she sent him to do. “Come on, Ghost. Let’s go for a ride.”
They walked back to where he’d parked, and a few minutes later he was driving past the precinct, checking out the number of cars to gauge his chances of getting to talk to Sonny. He didn’t see any signs pointing to turmoil, so he parked, locked Ghost in the Jeep, and went inside.
Walter Winter, the desk sergeant, was a short, stocky man with a shock of gray hair and was a year shy of retirement. Cameron had known him most of his life.
Sergeant Winter eyed Cameron’s approach. He’d heard all about him being with the feds who’d taken over the crime scene at the campground, and he still didn’t know what he thought about that.
“Afternoon, sir,” Cameron said. “I need to speak to the chief, if he’s available.”
“I’ll check,” Winter said. He picked up the receiver on the switchboard and punched a button. “Hey, Chief. Cameron Pope is here. Says he needs to talk to you.” There was a pause as Winter listened. “Yes, sir,” he said, and hung up. “You can go back.”
“Thanks,” Cameron said, and walked toward the hallway leading down to the offices.
When he reached the door to the chief’s office, he knocked, then heard Sonny’s voice.
“Come in.”
Cameron could tell when he walked in that Sonny Warren was frazzled. He looked like he’d been running his fingers through his hair, and there was a snap that had come undone on his shirt. But when he saw Cameron, he smiled and stood up.
“Sit down. Sit down,” he said.
Cameron sat. “From the gossip in town, I hear you’ve had quite a day, so I’ll skip the chitchat and get right to the point. Agent Caldwell has a task that you can easily fulfill for her. She needs a list of names of every employee who works at the PD. Not just officers…but support personnel included…like janitors and cleaning services.”
Sonny frowned. “What the hell does she need with that?”
Cameron leaned forward. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking it still has to do with why they arrested Emily Payne.”
The frown slid off of Sonny’s face. “Oh! Right! Sure, I can furnish that easily enough.” He spun around in his chair to face his computer and began typing on the keyboard.
Cameron could see the cursor sliding down a list of files on the screen until it stopped at one. Sonny clicked on it. From where Cameron was sitting, he could tell it was some kind of spreadsheet, with names and the addresses and contact information for each employee.
“I’ll just print off a copy for her,” Sonny said, then got up and walked across the room to the printer.
It spat out five sheets of paper. Sonny took them back to his desk, eyed them once making sure the list was up to date, and then handed it to Cameron.
