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Dani parked in the lot behind the Rusty Nail. Hawke pulled up alongside her car even though all the way to Winslow, he’d told himself to park on the street and not make it look like they came there together. However, his chivalry had him walking her to the café and opening the door for her.
Justine’s eyebrows rose when he and Dani sat at a table in the far corner where most of the locals didn’t congregate.
“This is a throwback,” Dani said, as Justine walked up to the table with a coffee pot.
“Coffee, Hawke?” Justine asked.
He turned over the coffee cup on the table.
Dani did the same. “This has to be better than what he makes.”
Justine’s brows rose again. Her gaze darted between he and Dani.
Hawke cleared his throat. “Justine, this is Dani Singer. Dani, this is Justine Barrow.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Dani said, holding out a hand.
Justine shook hands and stared at Dani. “You the woman running Charlie’s Hunting Lodge?”
“Yes, I am.”
Justine’s gaze landed on Hawke. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking and wasn’t sure he wanted to know. “I’m starving. I’ll take my usual.” He handed the menu back to Justine.
“I’ll have toast, please.” Dani handed the menu back as well.
“Coming up.” Justine backed away from the table before spinning around and heading to the counter.
“Nice woman. Do you know her outside of the restaurant?” Dani asked.
“She’s a friend. I got Dog from her. She raises bird dogs and rescues dogs.” He figured that was all Dani needed to know. “What was it you wanted to tell me about?”
“Tuck found game cameras set up in an area where the elk like to bed down. But they weren’t pointed toward the beds, they were pointed out. As if someone wanted to catch photos of people shooting the elk. Are they something the Fish and Wildlife put up?”
He shook his head. “Nothing that I’ve heard of. But you didn’t have to come tell me about this. You could have waited until I was up there this weekend.”
“Tuck said you might need to look things up.” She pulled a small game camera out of her purse. “He took this one down. Thought you might be able to use numbers on it or fingerprints to find out who is putting them up if it’s not Fish and Wildlife.”
He took the camera, wrapped in a neckerchief. “I’ll take it to Fish and Wildlife when I finish breakfast and check it for prints.” He placed the bundle to the side of the table. “You still didn’t have to come find me for this.”
She smiled. “I guess I just wanted to see you.”
His brain shot off fireworks that she had wanted to see him and at the same time his conscience, the one that told him daily he was happy with being single, had his heart back pedaling. “I see.” The two words came out as strangled as they felt.
Her brow wrinkled, and her eyelids lowered, hiding her eyes from him. Her body which had appeared relaxed, now tensed and straightened.
Justine arrived with their food. Her gaze bounced between them before she tilted her head toward Dani.
Hawke shrugged.
Justine scowled.
Sheesh! When the waitress returned to the counter, he picked up his fork and said, “I’m sorry. I’m not used to women showing up at my apartment and telling me where I’m going to have breakfast.” Damn! That had come out as sarcastic and chauvinistic as all hell.
Dani’s gaze shot to his. Her eyes blazed, and her lips were pressed together.
“I’m sorry.” He reached across, putting his hand on hers. “I didn’t mean it to come out like it did.” He shook his head. “I’m not good at this man/woman thing. That’s why I’m single.”
He drew his hand back and shoved his fork into the hash browns.
“You don’t have to be good. You just have to be civil,” Dani said, picking up her knife and spreading the butter around on her toast.
His day couldn’t get any worse than it was right now. His friend who was female was watching him make a mess of his friendship with another woman.
Bremmer walked into the café. It was good to see the man alive, but then, he’d figured as much after hearing what he’d told Ball.
“Hey! Look at our resident trooper having breakfast with a lady friend.” Bremmer’s voice boomed throughout the café and Hawke flinched.
“Are you having your usual?” Justine asked Bremmer, directing his attention to her.
Hawke relaxed a bit, but felt all the eyes in the place on him and Dani.
“What is wrong with being seen with a woman? We had dinner at the Firelight several times,” Dani said, peeling open a packet of jam.
“I don’t frequent the Firelight. This has been my breakfast place since I was transferred here. I prefer to not let these people into my personal life.” He sipped his coffee.
“And how’s that going for you?” Dani raised one eyebrow and drew his attention to Justine watching them.
“Miserable. Can we just finish eating and get out of here?” He shoved egg on his toast and shoved all of it in his mouth. If he kept eating, he wouldn’t be able to put his foot in his mouth.
Justine came over with the coffee pot and check. “Refills?”
“No.” Hawke picked up the check. “Unless Dani wants to stay longer?” He said it only as a way to show they weren’t together but when she smiled at Justine and said yes, he wished they were leaving together.
He put money on the table to cover both their meals and left the café. When he glanced through the window as he walked by, Justine was sitting across the table from Dani. His day had to get better from here.
At the office, he typed up everything he’d learned and done the day and night before.
“What are you doing in here on your day off?” Spruel asked, when he stepped out of his office and saw Hawke.
“Typing up information on the Sigler/Brooks case from yesterday and last night.” He leaned back in his chair. “I think the D.A.’s investigator is mixed up in it. Either that or he’s trying to keep tabs on the whole thing for someone.”
“I would guess D.A. Lange.” Spruel stood with his arms crossed. “Any idea when we’ll get you back out checking hunting licenses?”
Hawke knew he was making them one man short by following the murder leads. “I’ll head up Minam again tomorrow.” He held the camera out to his sergeant. “This was found not far from Charlie’s Hunting Lodge by their head wrangler. He said it was near an elk bedding ground but pointed away from the beds. I’m taking it over to Fish and Wildlife after I check it for fingerprints.”
“This is your only day off this week. You shouldn’t be in here dusting a camera for prints.” Spruel picked up the bundle. “I’ll dust it and get it to Fish and Wildlife with the notation they need to talk to you.”
“Thanks.” Hawke finished entering the information in his computer and decided to dig into Thomas Ball’s information.
He appeared to have family who’d lived in the county for a lot of years. He had lived in the Pendleton area, studied Criminal Justice at Blue Mountain Community College, and became an Alder City Policeman. It appeared he’d spent eight years as a cop before becoming the D.A.’s investigator. Nothing popped as out of the ordinary. So, by talking to Bremmer did Ball think he was protecting Lange? Or was he working with someone else, a woman, perhaps Ms. Wallen, to shove Lange under the bus?
The best way he knew to find out would be to ask him outright. Hawke turned off his computer and climbed in his pickup. Dog started whining.
“You need a doggy pitstop?” Hawke asked as he slowly drove by the Rusty Nail. Dani had left. What had she and Justine talked about? He had a pretty good idea it was him. He groaned and drove out of town, pulling over at the first wide spot and letting Dog run into a field and take care of his business.
Hawke’s phone buzzed. Donner.
“I just read your report. You think Bremmer knows who killed Sigler?”
Hawke let out a long sigh. “I think Sigler told Bremmer who he planned to get the money from to pay him off. I think he thought it was Lange, and now Bremmer thinks he can get something out of Lange to keep quiet. But he’s going through Ball, the D.A.’s investigator. I don’t understand that. I was just headed to have a conversation—”
A vehicle drove by and the driver laid on the horn.
Dog ran through the field back to the pickup.
“I missed that. What did you say?” Donner asked.
“I’m going to have a visit with Ball.”
“Let me know how that goes. Both homicides left us with little to go on. I’m still waiting for the DNA results from the gum. At this point it is the only thing we have that might conclusively tell us who shot Sigler.”
“Or if we found the gun...” Hawke knew that was a long shot.
“Yeah. And I’m going to win a lottery.” Donner ended the call.
Hawke opened the driver’s door and Dog leaped in. The wind was picking up and getting colder. He wasn’t looking forward to going up the Minam tomorrow. Each year when the cold set in, he was happy to remain patrolling in his warm vehicle rather than riding a horse up into the mountains.
He stopped at Trembley’s long enough to drop off Dog. Then he headed to Alder and the courthouse in hopes of having a conversation with Ball.
«»«»«»
At the courthouse, he discovered everyone but Lange had gone to lunch. He sat in the reception area reading the three-year-old magazines and listening to Terri type and answer the phone. He was surprised by how many times the phone rang.
“Are there that many pending trials on the docket?” he asked Terri.
She stared at him blankly. “What do you mean?”
“All the phone calls you’ve been receiving.” He stood and walked over to the desk.
“Oh, they are people returning Mr. Lange’s calls.”
“Calls about upcoming trials?” His interest was piqued.
“No. He’s been having me find phone numbers for people from his past. I guess he calls and leaves a message because they have all been saying they are returning his call.”
“Can I see that list?”
She glanced at the district attorney’s door. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to give them to you.”
“Are they people from around here?”
“Some are. Well, a good number of them are locals, from families that have been here for generations.” She put her hands on her keyboard as if suggesting he leave her alone.
“What age range would you say these people are?”
“How would I know?”
He stared at her. “You just said they were from families around here. You have been here your whole life. You should know approximately how old they are?”
“Mostly around Mr. Lange’s age.”
Hawke wondered if they were people who had been at the party all those years ago when Lange’s best friend had died?