Day One by Bill Cameron Read Free Book Online Page B

Eager saw it, for some reason thought the shooter was a cop. Which, hell, maybe he was, though it wasn’t a popular notion in the Homicide pit.
    Theory three? Who the fuck could guess? We took a number of runs at Eager, especially after we learned Big Ed Gillespie had been a cop himself once upon a time. A few years earlier he’d voluntarily separated from the Klamath County Sheriff’s Department rather than face an investigation into questionable activities on the job. We didn’t learn much, but the thrust was that he was linked to a protection racket in some remote corner of the county. Since he’d left of his own accord, the investigation was dropped. No doubt the department down there was glad to get clear of a problem with minimal ruckus.
    But even that piece of info failed to break Charm’s resolve, or Eager’s. He’d been in enough trouble during his short life that Charm knew the system, countered us at every turn. She had a way about her, a kind of reptilian ruthlessness. She didn’t display maternal instincts so much as a dogged combativeness toward all who challenged her.
    Three years later, we still don’t know who the woman is. Jane Doe. Sister of John, daughter of mystery, mother of frustration. She was buried on the county tab, what little evidence we had stored in paper bags. Susan and I kept digging, and we found a few candidates among the Missing Persons files, both local and statewide. Female, early- to-mid-twenties, dark hair, fair skin, full figure. One by one we ruled them out, either through dental records or because the missing turned up again. Her prints weren’t in theregional AFIS, her DNA profile wasn’t in CODIS. No criminal record, no government service, no first responder or job requiring a background check. The woman was vapor until someone showed up to claim her.
    After three years, you gotta figure no one will.

November 12
Gas Station Owner Found Beaten To Death
    MERRILL, OR: Oregon State Police in cooperation with the Klamath County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the beating death of Teller Bowes, owner of the Union 76 Qwik Mart on Klamath Falls-Malin Highway just north of Merrill. The victim was found late Monday evening by a store customer.
    Investigators initially suspected robbery, but the day’s receipts remained in the cash register and there was no evidence anything was stolen. Police are considering other motives for the killing.
    Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation is asked to contact the Klamath County Sheriff’s Department.

Five and Some Years Before
No More Fucking
    I t was hot for so early in the morning so late in the year. Sweat shot off the flanks of the horse beneath her like spray off a waterfall, but Ellie didn’t let up. She drove the horse along the path between a hedgerow and a gully overgrown with weeds, jumped cut banks and outcrops of rotted blueschist. A shoulder of sun shone over the round hills behind her. The smell of pig hung thick in the air, the stink clinging to her like an oily rag. She found a gap in the hedge, headed downhill with the heedless speed of a fugitive. Only when the horse leapt the stream at the foot of the hill and stumbled did she rein in. Far enough, for now. She slipped off of the weary animal. Her feet were bare and the soft mud at stream’s edge oozed between her long toes.
    She looked up the path behind her. The house was there, at the far end of the gully hidden from view by the trees. And Stuart. She looked away, ran her fingers through her hair. Allowed the dress to slide off her shoulders and drop around her feet, heedless of the mud. Felt the pig-sodden air on her bare skin. No underwear. She’d only had time to grab the dress, quickly, before Stuart knew she was leaving. He’d have stopped her if he’d known, maybe even stoodwatch over her while she did her morning chores, just to make sure she didn’t go anywhere. He’d caught her in the Cup ‘n’ Saucer with Luellen the day