Wes dropped a report on Luna’s desk with a heavy sigh. “Just seems like things are getting worse and worse.”
She looked up. “What do you mean?”
“Seventeen-year-old kid died two weeks ago of an apparent drug overdose. Someone dropped the kid off at the emergency room and split but the kid was already dead by the time they dropped him off. Surveillance cameras show a dark, older sedan but whoever dropped him off was wearing a hoodie and a ski mask so they knew the cameras were there and avoided showing their faces.”
“Do we know anything about the kid?”
“Not much. Name’s Dougie Branch, in and out of juvie for minor offenses, a short stint in foster care, and didn’t seem to be going anywhere but prison if he’d kept on the same path but fate got to him first.”
She opened the file, quickly skimming. “So, accidental overdose. Seems cut and dry. Why’s it on my desk?”
“Medical personnel found a packet of white powder in his pocket when he was brought in. They tested the substance and confirmed it was methamphetamine but it was also laced with fentanyl. They turned over the packet for further testing and forensics came back with something unusual on the packaging.”
“What do you mean?”
“A howling wolf, only visible under a black light, which is pretty sophisticated for a backyard operation. No one’s going to that kind of packaging trouble for a small batch of product. That made me look into the database and see if that particular packaging has popped up before and it has.”
“Oh? Where?”
“All up and down the Midwest and as far as New York. Whoever is behind the howling wolf production line, it’s pretty extensive.”
A sophisticated drug operation running close to Cottonwood? Or was it bad luck that Dougie Branch had happened to get his hands on product that came in from out of town?
“Seems like bad business to cut product with a lethal ingredient,” Luna mused. “Can’t count on a repeat customer if they’re dead.”
“My guess is that somebody inexperienced cut the meth with too much fentanyl not realizing just how deadly that shit is. It’s not like these drug dealers are hiring chemists to mix these deadly compounds together. It’s basically a paint-by-numbers: mix the green with yellow and you’ll get blue. They don’t know what the hell they’re doing and that’s how dumb kids like Branch end up dead.”
Luna thought of Roger and his mystery money source. Was it possible Roger had been mixed up in some drug network? “Thanks, Wes,” she said, deciding to look a little more deeply into the howling wolf drug emblem. “Can you pull up last known associates of Dougie Branch?”
“Sure thing,” Wes said, leaving to do as requested.
She was only a few minutes into her research when Bonnie Turford surprised her with a knock on the doorframe.
Luna bit back her irritation, only because Bonnie had been less aggressive since the bigger networks had split town for bigger news. “What can I do for you, Bonnie?”
“Maybe the question is, what can I do for you?” she countered, sliding into the chair opposite Luna.
“What do you mean?”
“Imagine my surprise when Sayeh Griffin came around asking to take a look at the archives, going back thirty years to when an explosion on the reservation killed four people and orphaned three little girls.”
Luna sighed, returning to her paperwork. “Yes, Sayeh is doing some personal research into the deaths of our biological parents. That’s entirely her project, not mine.”
“Any reason why she’s looking into that old case?”
“Not that I can tell.”
“Is it related to the Leicki murders in some way?”
Luna’s expression mirrored her tone. “What? Why would it? They aren’t related at all. Sayeh is bored and looking to satisfy some personal questions. That’s all.”
“Must be hard on the family,” Bonnie said. “Very painful.”
“Yeah, it’s not fun,” she agreed wryly. “But Sayeh has always done whatever Sayeh wants to do.”
“Hmm, tension at home, huh? That’s rough. But it must be hard to not have answers.”
“That’s where we disagree. I have all the answers I need about that situation,” she returned, hoping Bonnie would take the hint. She looked pointedly at Bonnie, saying, “Was there anything else you needed...?”
“You really have no idea why Sayeh would be digging into that cold case?” she asked, surprised.
“Other than personal curiosity, Sayeh has no reason to be digging and I have no reason to care. I’m satisfied, she’s not, but I have bigger fish to fry than the prospect of chasing ghosts.”
Bonnie understood but added, “I was new to the Tribune staff but I remember the explosion being big news even here. A few people actually heard the explosion, according to interviews. There were quite a few conspiracies.”
The reservation wasn’t far from Cottonwood, so that wasn’t surprising. “Sound travels,” she said, shrugging, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she asked, “What conspiracies?”
“Mostly aliens.”
That made her laugh. “That’s refreshing.”
Bonnie smiled as she rose. “In all seriousness, what happened to your parents—”
“—Biological,” she gently corrected.
“Right, biological parents, was a tragedy but it’s a miracle you and your sisters weren’t in that trailer that night. It was a stroke of pure luck or divine intervention that Chief Paul was able to put you and your sisters with your dad that night.”
Luna looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”
Bonnie seemed delighted to have something of value to share. “Because there weren’t any tribal police available that night, Cottonwood Police Department took the assist call on the reservation. Chief Paul was covering the night shift when the regular shift deputy got called away for an emergency.”
Luna shifted with discomfort. She’d never heard that version of the story, but then it wasn’t something her parents liked to talk about. Nancy had consistently downplayed talk about the incident, saying it only brought up sad memories, and they were trying to move forward, not backward.
That statement had always seemed sensible, but now it hit differently.
Maybe she ought to take a look at the archives, too.
She bit back an unhappy sigh. Might as well add that to the growing list of things she had to talk to her dad about. “Thanks, Bonnie,” she said, mulling over the information. “I appreciate the stop by.”
“Of course. Actually, since I’m here, I was wondering if there’s been any new news on the Leicki investigation that you can share.”
“Not really,” she said. “I promise, you’ll be the first to know if that changes.”
Whether or not Bonnie believed her, she didn’t say, but she waved and let herself out, leaving Luna to circle back around to Bonnie’s little tidbit about the past.
It wasn’t a big deal that Chief Paul had been involved with their rescue, she told herself when it continued to strike an odd chord. Cottonwood had an assistance agreement with the reservation to help when the need arose, seeing as there were only two tribal police for the entire reservation. The explosion would’ve attracted a lot of attention, and the need for assistance would’ve been an obvious choice.
Luna remembered very little about that actual night, and the details she did remember she was happy to forget.
She remembered being cold and afraid, huddled with her sisters on an old musty couch that smelled like stale cigarettes and spilled beer.
She remembered the loud boom that shook her small bones and the way little Sayeh had wailed while four-year-old Kenna vibrated with silent terror.
But she didn’t remember anything past that moment; it seemed someone had taken an eraser and wiped away the memories that followed until Bill and Nancy appeared, wrapping them in warm blankets and tucking them into soft beds for the night.
Yeah, there was a reason she didn’t like to go down memory lane; it sucked.
Shaking off her thoughts, she gathered her stuff to meet Benjamin for lunch. He had information to share from his friend Codi and didn’t feel comfortable sharing at the station, which sounded cryptic, but Luna needed a break from the station anyway, so she’d agreed.
Benjamin wanted to meet at Branson Park, an older, secluded park that’d fallen into disrepair over the years when a newer park opened across town. He figured they’d have some privacy for what he had to share, and it was a pretty place for a bite to eat.
“We couldn’t meet at the café?” Luna asked, eyeing the graffiti marring the cement walkway and weeds choking the metal play structure. “At night this place is a popular hangout for the local hooligans.”
“Call me paranoid but I don’t know who might be listening,” he said, adding wistfully, “I remember being one of those hooligans back in the day.”
She chuckled. “That sounds ominous,” she said, half-joking as they sat at the picnic table. The old wood creaked beneath their weight but seemed solid enough. Luna got right to business. “What do you have?”
Benjamin pulled the hoagie from the bag and handed Luna her half. “Codi called me last night. She went down a rabbit hole after I gave her the personal info she needed to start the search. You’re not going to believe what popped up.”
Intrigued, Luna took a bite while she waited for him to continue.
“Roger Leicki was purposefully keeping his deposits under ten thousand per deposit so the bank didn’t report the deposit to the federal government. He knew to keep a low profile as far as the government goes so it was important for him to go unnoticed.”
“Is there any way to trace where the money came from?”
“Sure, if we had a lot more time. It would take capturing a digital footprint of the cash deposits and matching it to deposits made from other places.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
He explained, “Micro similarities in the ink, paper and environmental contaminants—as I said, it would take way more time and resources than we have available. Codi is doing me a favor but I don’t want to overtake her life.”
“Got it, but this doesn’t feel like much of a win,” she said.
“On the money angle, true, but that’s not all she found. Codi found financial records from a deep web search indicating Roger Leicki was in business with a company called HW Inc. But a deeper dive revealed the company wasn’t real in spite of owning several properties.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“Lots of reasons but I think the biggest and most plausible reason—money laundering. Or tax evasion, either one would work.”
“And you think Roger was involved with something like that?” she asked, trying to wrap her brain around the idea of mild-mannered Roger Leicki as some criminal mastermind.
“He was definitely involved on some level, but whether or not it was willing remains to be seen. I keep thinking of what we read in Charlotte’s journal about Roger wanting out. That tells me either he was getting cold feet or he was scared.”
“Seeing as they all ended up dead, seems like his fear was justified.”
Benjamin nodded. “He could’ve gotten spooked by something and that’s why he was trying to distance himself from the operation but he should’ve known that once you get in over your head, there’s no one to save you from drowning.”
Luna’s frustration showed as she wiped her mouth. “It was probably his damn pride that kept him from coming to me for help and Charlotte was trying to stand by her man so she kept all this to herself, too. This could’ve been avoided. My sister works for the FBI. I could’ve brought the feds in to help.”
Benjamin wanted to believe it could’ve been prevented, too, but hard to say. “The feds don’t usually get involved unless they can get something out of it. They might’ve been on their own.”
“A kid here in Cottonwood died from an accidental overdose—fentanyl cut with the meth—but the packaging came up with a howling wolf printed in invisible ink, which has shown up in the database quite a few times—all the way to New York. Got me to thinking, why is product from a sophisticated drug network showing up here? It seems almost as out of character as an entire family getting murdered in their own home.”
“Codi did say that if Roger was involved with private security doing something illegal, there was a good chance drugs were involved.”
“And everyone knows there’s the potential for a lot of money in the drug trade,” Luna said, thinking out loud.
“Have you asked your sister about it? Didn’t you say she worked in narcotics?”
Luna chewed her bottom lip, admitting, “No, I haven’t had the chance to talk to her about it but that’s a good idea. She might know something that could help.”
“Is there anything about the kid that stands out?”
“Not really. Just your garden variety messed-up kid who drew the short straw in life. I plan to talk to a few of his associates and see if they remember where he might’ve gotten the drugs.”
“Good luck with that. They’re going to scatter in the wind the minute they see a cop show up.”
“I have to try.”
“Fair enough. In the meantime, I’ll keep after Codi and see if there’s anything else she can find.”
Luna nodded but seemed distracted, which was odd given the information he’d shared. He broke into her thoughts to ask, “Is there more?”
She shook her head. “Not on the case, something personal. Bonnie Turford told me before I came to meet you. She said that Chief Paul was the one who found me and my sisters the night of the explosion but I don’t remember that at all. You’d think I would remember that my dad’s best friend was the one who rescued us that night. But my mind is blank. Like the memory was erased or something.”
“It’s normal to have gaps in your memory when something traumatic happens. You see it all the time with combat veterans. Why does it bother you that you can’t remember it was him?”
“I don’t know, something feels off about it. I want to talk to my dad but...” She trailed off and Benjamin filled in the blanks.
“One problem at a time,” he reminded her gently.
“Yeah,” Luna agreed, shaking off her thoughts. “I don’t know what Sayeh hopes to find but it’s disturbing how the dust is already being kicked up over the smallest details. Worries me.”
Benjamin wished he could help somehow, but he knew this was something she had to figure out with her sisters, and it was best to stay in his lane. He wanted to invite her over but didn’t want to add to her stress either. He wanted to rub the tension bunching her shoulders and creasing her brow but tried to follow her lead, even if it was maddening as hell to hold back.
Luna cast a brief but warm smile his way. “I appreciate your advice. You always seem to know what to say to make sense of the chaos in my head.”
He’d gladly take that compliment. “Anytime.”
From the way Luna lingered, her gaze holding his, he thought she might broach the subject of coming over tonight but she didn’t. Instead, she thanked him for the sandwich and left to return to the station.
He didn’t let his disappointment show. He wasn’t supposed to feel this much for a woman he hardly knew. It didn’t make sense but he was getting real tired of not having her in his arms at the end of the night. He needed to decide how much longer he would stay in Cottonwood, especially when it didn’t feel like they were any closer to solving Charlotte’s murder.
If he weren’t careful, he’d end up living here again—and that wasn’t an option.