“She swore she didn’t kill Joey.” She saw his pitying look.
“Just as she swore that your sister didn’t kill herself?”
“At least I know that Natalie didn’t have anything to do with Tricia’s death. She was behind bars when Tricia hung herself.”
Lou shook his head. “I’ll get you the autopsy report, but I don’t think you’re going to find any answers in it. The coroner ruled it a suicide. If there had been anything suspicious—”
“I want to see the photos taken at the scene, as well.”
He sighed. “Why put yourself through that?”
“Because I can’t close that door until I’m sure.”
“All right. I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes.”
“Lou...thank you.”
“What are partners for?” His expression saddened. “You’re not coming back to the force, are you?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded. “Thirty minutes.” And he was gone.
She looked at Brick.
“He seems like a nice guy.”
“He is.”
“Are you really never going back?”
She shrugged. “Buy me a cup of coffee?” As they entered the diner, she saw Shane Danby and several of his friends leaving. Her stomach dropped, half expecting him to make a scene. To her surprise, he merely nodded and left.
Thirty minutes later, Lou entered the coffee shop and handed her a paper sack. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said and left.
Mo glanced into the sack and saw a copy of the autopsy report and the photos taken at the scene. She closed the bag and turned to Brick. “I thought we could take these back to the motel. But first I need to use the ladies’ room.”
“I’ll be waiting for you outside,” he said, looking worried. Like Lou. Both knew that seeing the report and the photos was going to hit her hard. But she had to know. Since her sister’s death and Joey’s, she’d been having the nightmares. She had to believe that the reason for them was that justice hadn’t been meted out. Not yet anyway.
BRICK STEPPED OUTSIDE the coffee shop into the summer sun. He was worried about Mo with good reason, he thought as he started down the street to where he’d parked his pickup. The threat against her was real. Someone had taken potshots at them. And now she was looking into her sister’s death. Had they been followed to the campsite outside of Red Lodge?
He’d watched for a tail and hadn’t spotted one. Who else knew about Tricia having been there? Who else knew about the carving on the tree with the initials on it? Tricia’s lover.
“Well, look who it is?” said a male voice as he walked past an alley near where he’d left his truck. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t seen the man. Turning, he saw cop Shane Danby and two other men. Clearly, the three had been waiting for him. “Guess we meet again.”
“What a coincidence,” Brick said. “And you’re looking for trouble just like last time, only this time you brought your friends to help you.”
Shane’s jaw muscles bunched along with his fists as he took a step closer. “You should have stayed out of it with me and Mo. You messed with the wrong man.” He took a swing, but Brick easily sidestepped it.
“Get him!” Shane cried and charged, head down. Brick caught him in an uppercut that knocked the man to his knees, but then Shane’s buddies were on him. One slammed a fist into his lower back, knocking the wind out of him, as the other grabbed him in a headlock from behind.
He tried to fight them off as Shane got to his feet again and attacked with both fists before the cop’s friends threw Brick to the ground. As he tried to get to his feet, Shane kicked him in the side, then the stomach, then in the head.
Brick heard the sound of sirens as he fought not to black out.
“He’s a cop, man,” one of his friends said as he pulled Shane away to keep him from kicking Brick again.
“I didn’t know he was a cop,” Shane said as he stumbled over to him and pulled his wallet out. “I was just walking by and the bastard attacked me. The two of you saw it. I didn’t know he was some deputy marshal until I pulled his ID and by then, I had arrested him.”
“That’s your story?” one of Shane’s friends demanded.
“That’s our story,” Shane snapped.
“You are going to get us into so much trouble,” his friend complained.
“I already called in the attack,” Shane said with a laugh. “A disturbance in an alley near Henry’s Bar. Might need medical attention. Cops attacked.”
As the cop car came roaring up, siren blaring and lights flashing, Shane said, “Just stick to the story.” Walking past Brick, the cop got in one more kick.
Just before he passed out, Brick heard Mo’s angry voice and then she was taking his truck keys as he was being carried to the cop car. The last thing he heard was her saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out.”
MO HAD WANTED TO attack Shane herself. Instead, she demanded that Brick be given medical attention, promising to bail him out as quickly as she could.
“Shane, you best watch your back,” she warned him quietly as Brick was loaded into the back of the ambulance behind the police cruiser.
“You aren’t threatening an officer of the law, are you, Mo?” He smirked at her. “Careful, or you’ll end up behind bars, as well.”
She’d already been behind bars, so she kept her mouth shut. This was all her fault. If she hadn’t involved Brick in this... If he hadn’t come to her rescue at the bar... Through her anger, she told herself that there was nothing else she could do for Brick. He wouldn’t be arraigned until tomorrow at the earliest. All she could do was wait and then get him out on bail—just as he’d done for her.
In the meantime, she had the
