26

DETECTIVE WORK

The sun was setting when they arrived back at Wildtrax. As soon as they got inside, Wendy called Kyle to let him know they had got home safely. He did not scold her for having gone to the Ozark forest, simply saying, “Glad you made it back okay. Be sure all the doors and windows are locked before you go to bed.”

“I will,” Wendy promised.

She and Danny had dinner, including birthday cake, then watched a National Geographic wildlife special on TV. When it was over, Danny stretched and yawned. “That was a good show. But the real one, when we let the bobcat go — it was better.”

“Yes,” Wendy said. “Returning one to the wild is always a thrill.”

They both went to bed early, but Wendy couldn’t sleep. She lay awake, waiting for Kyle to come home. And when he finally did, he didn’t come upstairs right away. After awhile she went down to see what was keeping him. He was sitting on the sofa, holding a 7-Up and staring at his own sock feet, which were propped on the hassock.

“What are you thinking about so hard? Work?” she asked.

“Sort of.” Kyle squeezed the can, which appeared to be empty, because it crushed easily. “I did some detective work. That’s why I didn’t come home right away. I needed to be in the office to check some law enforcement data banks.”

Wendy knew Kyle had never wanted to do ordinary police work. His main interest was detective work. But he was still fairly new on the force, and it took time to get promoted to detective. If he was investigating something, it was on his own.

“You were looking for a lead about that phone call?” she guessed.

“Yeah. And I think I found one. Remember those ex-cons I told you about who got picked up in Florida? The ones who tried to buy a boat with money that contained some bills that were traced to the bank robbery here?”

“I remember,” Wendy said. “But what reason would they have to threaten me now? It’s been over three years!” Kyle didn’t answer, so Wendy added, “Besides, didn’t FBI have them in jail?”

“They’re not in jail now. There wasn’t enough evidence to hold them.”

“They let them go?” Wendy asked incredulously.

Kyle grimaced. “Worse that than, I’m afraid. I phoned today and asked for more details. Seems that when the investigators couldn’t get a confession out of the guys, one had the bright idea of telling them that the teller at the Arkansas bank they robbed could identify them, and would, in a line-up. They had the guys separated, of course, and told each one that, hoping that if they thought they were about to be identified, one would rat out the other.”

“That’s crazy!” Wendy yelped. “I never —!”

“Of course it was crazy. Besides which, it didn’t work. Neither man admitted to anything and in the end the Feds had to let them go.”

Wendy slumped forward, head in her hands. She knew animals were most dangerous when they were frightened. It was probably the same with people — especially people who were dangerous to start with!

“I can see why they’d want to shut me up if they think I might provide info that would get them sent back to prison, but, my goodness, Kyle. All my contact information has changed since we got married, and our phone number here on the farm has always been unlisted.”

“Still, there are ways,” Kyle sighed. He tossed the pop can across the room where it made a direct hit into a wastepaper basket. “It looks like they didn’t have time to spend the money they stole here before they got locked up in Florida. So as soon as they were released, they got the money from wherever they’d stashed it and went on a spending spree. Which got them picked up by the Feds, and you got dragged into it. Not by name, but enough that they thought they knew who the cops were talking about.”

“We have to change our phone number!” Wendy cried.

“Already did,” Kyle said. “And believe me I had to pull a lot of strings to do that on a Saturday. It’s easier to get action from the FBI than from the phone company on a weekend.”

“I’ll bet,” Wendy said. Then, noticing a box on the floor, she asked, “What’s in the package?”

“A new phone. The kind that shows who is calling — or at least what number they’re calling from. I’ll install it in the morning.”

Wendy went to the wastebasket to retrieve the crushed can. “Danny saves these,” she reminded him. She sat down next to Kyle on the couch, and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’ve already told you you’re a good police officer, right?”

Kyle put his arm around her. “I think you mentioned it once.”

“Looks like you’re getting to be a pretty good detective, too.”

“Well,” he yawned. “If I break this case, at least I’ll have something besides bottle-feeding baby animals to put on my resume next time there’s an opening for detective.”