From what she had discovered in the ice chest downstairs, she wassure that this man was no murderer.
And she doubted very much that he was really going to hurt AnnMarie.
Looking at her, the man growled, “What the hell are you two upto?”
Pointing both her weapon and her flashlight beam at his face,Riley said, “We’re Agents Paige and Esmer with the FBI.”
Still holding the knife to Ann Marie’s throat, the man said, “FBI,huh? Care to show me some ID?”
Riley had a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other, and atthe moment, she didn’t want to put either of them down to fetch her badge.
She said, “Let go of my partner and she can show you.”
His expression wavered for a moment. But Riley could see in hiseyes that he had no intention of turning this into some kind of hostagesituation. After all, he had no reason for it. Sure enough, he released AnnMarie from his grip. She took out her badge and showed it to him.
Returning his knife to a sheath on his belt, the man growled, “Justwhat business has the FBI got trespassing around my place?”
Holstering her own weapon, Riley said, “It depends. Are youGabriel Ballard?”
“Folks normally call me Gabe—but yeah, I’m him.”
He flicked on the overhead light switch. It took Riley’s eyes amoment to adjust, but she quickly saw that the house was even dirtier and moredecrepit than she had originally thought. Gabe had a dull, unintelligent face,and at the moment he looked seriously rattled.
Riley said, “And would you describe yourself as a law-abidingcitizen, Gabe Ballard?”
Ballard shrugged uneasily. “Well, I ain’t done nothing illegalenough for the FBI to come after my ass.”
“No, just hunting out of season,” Riley said.
“Hey, it ain’t out of season for bow hunting. I’m an archer, atleast during this time of year.”
Riley said, “Judging from the amount of deer meat you’ve got inthat freezer downstairs, I’d say you’ve killed over your limit—way overyour limit. And you sure do keep a disgusting place here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about that smell,” Riley said.
“What smell?”
Riley scoffed and said, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised thatyou’re used to it. You’ve got pieces of butchered deer all over the place downthere, and whole buckets full of entrails. It’s an out and out health hazard.”
Ballard shrugged again and said, “I just never get around to cleaningthings up, I guess. What business is it of yours, anyway?”
That’s a good question, Riley had to admit to herself.
“Look, just explain a few things to me, OK?” Riley said. “Why didyou just threaten my partner with a knife?”
Ballard snorted. “Hell, I didn’t know who the two of you were—acouple of strange people coming around here at night. Couldn’t tell anythingabout you. You were trespassing and I didn’t know why. Thought you must beafter something.”
“Do you live here?” Riley asked.
“Naw, I live over in town. I keep this place for hunting, storingweapons and deer meat and such. I was just driving over here to check on thingswhen I saw your car way up ahead, slowing down and checking out my gate. Iturned off my headlights and watched you driving slowly on. I thought somethingmight be up, so I pulled over and stopped and waited. Sure enough, I saw thetwo of you came walking back, then slip through the gate.”
“Why didn’t you say anything to us then?” Riley asked.
“For all I knew, you might be armed. I didn’t have a gun on me.So I followed way behind on foot, watching your flashlights as you walked downthe drive. I was still down the road a piece when I saw that you got through myfront door somehow. Picked the lock, I guess. I could have called the cops onyou right then, but I didn’t want them poking around either. It took a littlewhile before I got up the nerve to come on into the house to find out just whyyou’d broke in here.”
He’s got some reasonably good stalking skills, Rileythought. She could appreciate that after having a father for a hunter.
Then Ballard pointed at Ann Marie and said, “Then I came inside,and I got blinded by the beam of this girl’s flashlight. I figured she wasliable to shoot me, so I grabbed hold of her fast as I could. I asked who shewas, and she didn’t say a word.”
Riley turned and glared at Ann Marie. She stopped herself fromasking aloud, You didn’t introduce yourself as an FBI agent?
Ann Marie lowered her eyes ashamedly. She obviously knew whatRiley was thinking.
Ballard then said, “Now maybe the two of you would like to tellme what the hell you’re doing, breaking into my place like this?”
Riley stifled a discouraged groan. She owed the man anexplanation. But just how much should she tell him?
“We’re investigating a murder,” Riley said.
Ballard’s eyes widened.
“Murder? Are you talking about the missing girl who turned updead today? I sure didn’t have anything to do with that.”
Ann Marie demanded, “Really? Because we’ve got a few questions weneed answers to. For example, where were you last night?”
Ballard snapped back, “Last night I was over at Tim’s Bar, havinga few drinks with buddies.”
Ann Marie persisted angrily, “What about Halloween a year ago?”
He looked puzzled for a moment, then replied. “Back then I wasout in the next county, at a hunting lodge with a bunch of bow hunters. It’sabsolutely legal, you know.”
Riley remembered the crossbows in the basement. Although she hadn’tseen the exact dates for this year, she knew that bow hunting season usuallyopened before the regular season. Her father had looked down on that kind ofhunting. He’d said it was done just to show off skill, for bragging rightsrather than for food needs. Bow hunting too often resulted in wounded animalsrather than clean kills. But even so, it was certainly legal in season.
Ballard broke into a grin. “See, ladies? I’ve got lots of friendswho’ll tell you everywhere I’ve been.”
Ann Marie looked like she was about to continue trying to drillhim, but Riley silenced her with a gesture across her throat.
Then she
