Stone Cross (Arliss Cutter #2) - Marc Cameron Page 0,95
turned when he was finished. “If she’s gone, you know we gotta go with Ned to find her.”
With so many unknowns in play, Cutter had asked Lola to stay at the school with the judge. Now he wished she’d come along so he could talk this over with her. Donna Taylor was now the prime suspect in a murder and kidnapping. It was unthinkable to let her get away. She was also the best chance to lead them to Sarah and David Mead.
Cutter leaned in closer, catching the slight ammonia odor of the fur parka and, thankfully, the more pleasant coconut of Birdie’s shampoo. “I wish I could,” he said. “But we can’t be a hundred percent sure Daisy Aguthluk is the one who made the threat against Markham.”
Birdie turned in her seat again. Tears, caused by the cold and stress, streamed from her eyes. Her nose and cheeks shone pink in the reflection of the headlight off the snow.
“Well, I’m sure of it,” she said. “Daisy told everybody what she wanted to do to him—you know, hold his beating heart in her hand, that type of deal.”
“Wait a minute.” Cutter forced himself not to squeeze tighter with his arms. He spoke directly into her ear. “You knew Daisy mailed a threatening letter to a federal judge and you didn’t report it?”
“Everybody in Stone Cross knew,” she shouted over her shoulder.
“Birdie,” Cutter said, exasperated. “That’s the reason Lola and I came out here.”
“See,” she said. “It’s lucky nobody mentioned it then. You would have arrested her and left. We needed you here to help us out.”
“I can’t believe this,” Cutter said. “We didn’t know about Aguthluk until we landed and Markham got off the plane. What if she would have followed through with her threat?”
Birdie scoffed. “She wouldn’t have. She’s angry and hurt, but she’s still just a sweet old lady.”
“Did Jasper know?”
“Don’t go getting pissed at Ned,” Birdie said, cranking the handlebars to dodge a large pothole. “He’s new in the village. He didn’t know about Daisy until just before you arrived—and he told you. Anyway, he’s the law—tegusta—just like you. The only difference is, the people he takes away come back.”
Birdie switched off her headlight when she saw the VPSO’s Arctic Cat ATV parked alongside the road next to a stand of snow-covered willows. Boot tracks led toward the cabin through otherwise virgin snow, so he hadn’t been there long. The dogs were going crazy with yelps and barks.
“Park here,” Cutter said. They were closer to the house now, so he dropped his voice. “We’re going to have to talk about Daisy Aguthluk later. Misprision of a felony is a serious crime. You know that.”
“You ever hear the story about the guy who shot the eider duck up on the North Slope?”
“Yeah,” Cutter said, still fuming. “Ewing told it to everybody on the flight when we were coming out here.”
Birdie gave a well-there-you-go shrug. “This is that type of deal,” she whispered, sliding her rifle out of the scabbard on her ATV. “Guess you can go ahead and arrest everybody in the village for protecting a sweet old auntie, or you could admit to yourself that the judge is safe as he’s ever going to be, and we can go find the Meads.” She stopped and turned to face him, only her face visible in the circle of fur around her parka hood. “Look, I’m not a cop. I didn’t see a threat, so I didn’t want to get Daisy in trouble.”
Cutter raised a hand, listening to the dogs. There was no point in arguing now. “Wait here. I’m going to find Ned.” He started to say something about being careful with the rifle, but decided against it.
A half moon showed through the clouds on the new snow around the cabin, bathing the area in purple blue. Dogs jumped on and off their plywood houses, howling, straining at their chains when Cutter approached.
“She’s already gone,” Birdie whispered, following close behind Cutter.
“What part of wait don’t you understand?”
“The part that says you got no right to tell me what to do.”
Cutter sighed. His right hand rested on the butt of the Colt Python as he played his flashlight across the yard with his left. The light swept across something near the cabin door that made Cutter swing it back. His Colt cleared the holster the moment he realized it was Ned Jasper lying on his face.
Birdie saw it too and rushed forward, boots crunching in the snow.