chuckled at the thought of old Judd being swept down the drainage ditch like a long down a chute. He would have given a month's salary to have seen it. Whoever did it was a fast thinker and knew the land. You just don't happen on a thing like that and then think of it. No, it was almost a trap and whoever it was had all the angles figured.
Lucas stopped munching on his meal and stared at the TV only he wasn't really looking.
Angles. And the break-in at the Gans' house. And that girl with the spooked look. Beth Carruthers. And Wilma and all those footprints. He tossed his fork down and got up, cocking his wrist to get the time. It was after eight. His deputy would handle things and it seemed like it was going to be a quiet night and he was bothered and thought a drive in his private car might relax him.
Angles. More angles than… He drove leisurely, going past the camp on the highway at a moderate speed. Lights were still on in the camp except for the admissions office. Tina and Jake Barnes were probably going at it again. Jake and Tina didn't talk during the daytime, didn't seem to know each other very well, but, at night – Lucas grinned. That was another story.
The Gans' house was well lighted up and Lucas figured Judd was sitting up there with his shotgun in his lap, waiting for someone to come along. The Gans' house would be a good place to stay away from at night for awhile. Judd was going to take it out on somebody.
The camp seemed peaceful and quiet, just the way it should be and Lucas was two miles down the highway before he smacked himself on the forehead with the heal of his hand. No it wasn't! Something was wrong!
He swerved on the highway and headed back at high speed, only slowly when he got to the camp, pulling off the highway and crunching slowly over the cinders. The camper, that Carruthers girl's camper was gone! He sat munching on his lower lip, thinking. Nothing illegal about moving your camper. Still… His private car had a radio system and he switched it on to the county answering service. The mike held to his lips, he switched it on and said, 'Hi, Doris. This is Lucas. Call the admissions office at the Gans' camp and tell Tina I'm coming over to see her on county business.'
He switched the radio and car lights off and sat waiting as he heard the phone ring seven long times in the admissions office before a light went on and the shadow of Tina could be seen answering the phone. He grinned, waited a suitable length of time then got out of the car, slamming the door and walking clumping up the steps to the office, coughing loudly.
Tina met him at the door, her hair wild and a robe around her body. 'What the hell do you want this time o' night, Lucas?'
He tipped his Stetson courtly. 'Evening, Tina. Sorry to get you out of bed,' he said with a grin.
Tina slouched against the doorjamb, blocking his entrance. Begrudgingly, she smiled at him. 'Go to hell, gringo. You're enjoying it. Whatsamatter? Somebody speeding?'
Lucas grinned. 'This'll only take a minute. I see Miss Carruthers' camper is gone.'
Tina shrugged. 'Big deal.'
'Where was she last night when Judd was chasing around in the dark?'
'Dio!' Tina's dark eyes flashed as she gestured with a Latin flourish. 'I'm supposed to know? You wanna know what goes on here's make me a deputy or something, then I tell you!'
'You didn't see her at all?'
'No, not at all. Not until the next morning when she teach the babies, the children. Why?' Tina was interested. Lucas could see that she was thinking back. In all the excitement, she had seen everyone but her.
Lucas examined a fingernail and asked casually, 'You don't know where she is now?'
'No. Why? Hey, gringo, I got better things to do than fink for you. What she done, huh?' Tina's Latin was up again.
'Nothing, not a thing. She's just green that's all and I'm a little worried about her.'
Even before she spoke, Lucas knew she was lying. It was a knack he had picked up over the years. People in trouble were almost certain to lie to a sheriff. Human nature being what it was, people lied to law enforcement men even when they weren't involved directly. No one liked to inform and Lucas personally hated informers. 'She left. She drove off around seven.' Tina didn't look him in the eye.
'Oh? Did she say where she was going?'
'No. I didn't talk to her.'
'Was she alone?'
'I theeenk,' Tina said, drawing out the word as she looked away, 'I theeenk maybe somebody was with her?'
'A man or a woman?'
'I dunno,' Tina answered with a shrug of the shoulders. 'Theeenk maybe I ask everybody his business, huh?'
Lucas grinned. 'No, of course not.' Hell, he knew Tina asked everybody everything she could find out. Tina had told him enough, he wouldn't learn anything more from her. He tipped his hat. 'My apologies to Jake. Remind him that he'd better get plates for his truck or I'm going to write him up.'
Tina grinned wickedly and flicked a hip at him. 'Tell him yourself on your own time, sheriff big man.'
The door was slammed and the lights snapped off and Lucas walked away grinning. Tina was all right and maybe he ought to pay a little more attention to her. It had been a long time since he had a woman.
But the Carruthers girl was on his mind. He looked up at the brightly lit Gans' house and shook his head. It was the way that girl threw her body around and acted so haughty; like she was asking for it.
He drove around, checking the bars and pool halls and the one whorehouse in his county. All was quiet, In a diner, he had a cup of coffee with his deputy and found everything peaceful. Too peaceful. A check of the drive-in movie near the county line told him there wasn't more than a token representation of the kids-there. A few casual calls to parents told him all the boys were away on a camping trip. No one knew where.
Lucas sat in his car for a few thoughtful minutes before sighing and deciding that he wouldn't get any sleep that night. Although he didn't really have anything to go on, he was restless and every time he had felt that strange uneasy restlessness in the past, something had been very wrong. The Carruthers girl had left with a passenger and Tina knew very well who it was. But she had lied. Why? And the Gans' burglary attempt. The ditch. The Carruthers gal the next day. Since she had been on the scene, things were mighty furtive.
He headed out on the highway and up into the hills toward the hippy commune. It was a long trip over bad mountain roads, but, he wouldn't sleep anyway and something was going on that he felt was his business. If anything was happening up at that damn commune, he would run the whole lot of them out, pronto.
Beth Carruthers woke by painful degrees. She opened her eyes to see sunlight streaming through the open door of the camper and she moaned and turned her head away and went back to sleep. It was late afternoon before she woke fully and managed to haul herself into a seated position. Her whole body ached. It had been ravaged and pillaged through and through.
The events of the night before came back like a nightmare and Beth put her hands to her face and tried to cry. But she couldn't there were no more tears left. Absently, listlessly, she gazed around the camper and found it a mess. She pulled herself painfully off the cot and tried to stand. She was shaking with pain and exhaustion. She was hungry yet couldn't eat. Slowly, painfully, she put on clean clothing and cleaned the camper on her hands and knees. She drew back the curtains, flooding the camper with sunlight and fresh air. She looked out and saw that she was high in the mountains. Ironically, it was such a lovely day and she found herself close to tears. Her life was destroyed and it was a nice day. She laughed and her laugh was close to hysterical.
The sun told her it was late afternoon and she had to get out of the mountains before dark. She couldn't stand another night there. She hunted in the bushes outside the window where Lonny had thrown the keys, scratching her hands and face. She began to cry, tears blurring her vision as she groped around for them. The least they could have done after taking her so brutally, was find her keys. Her fingers closed over them and she heaved a sigh of relief and wiped her eyes.
Weak, aching, her mind a turmoil of doubt and near insanity, Beth managed somehow to back the camper down the road until she found a place where she could turn around. Looking down at the highway far below, she saw that it was an easy thing to get to in the daytime and she coasted down in low gear, reaching the highway
