Gary chuckled when he reread the report, glancing up at Dan in the doorway of his office and laughed even harder. The acting sheriff reddened under his amused regard.
“You’re really gonna file this?” Gary asked and waved the report Dan wrote up of what happened at the Chase house earlier that day. “Ghosts? You gotta be kidding? The kid’s nuts!”
Dan defended his report. “He said he couldn’t see who or what attacked him. His mom said nobody was there when he was pulled out of the pool. I just wrote what they told me.”
Gary shook his head, grinning. “You believe him?”
“I’m not an idiot, Gary,” Dan snapped. “You saw the kid. Somebody beat the tar out of him and destroyed that room. He claims it was Jason Turner’s ghost, so I’m assuming he’s not willing to tell us who beat him up.”
Gary raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like the ghost had his reasons.”
“I knew you’d come back to that,” Dan grumbled. “Marianne says Cam’s been in a funk since he lost the scholarship and has to go to summer school. She said he hasn’t been getting a lot of sleep. He’s been partying a lot. I think he just fell down and hit his head.”
“You got an explanation for the damage to the room too?” Gary asked.
“None that you would accept,” the deputy-turned-sheriff said sourly.
“Dan, we both know a ghost didn’t waltz in there and destroy that room,” Gary informed the younger man. “I think Cameron’s suppliers are getting anxious to get paid back for what we confiscated.”
“You could be right.”
“We got two pounds of dope and a boat load of prescription drugs from his room. Don’t tell me the kid paid for it up front,” Gary told him with a sound of disgust. “No, he got it all fronted and the suppliers want payback. Welcome to drug dealing. That’s what I think.”
“Marianne told me off the record Cam’s been having problems with his dad. After he lost the scholarship his dad told him to get out after he graduates.”
“You expect me to feel sorry for him after what he did to the Turner kid, Dan?”
“No, but it explains his erratic behavior now.”
Gary glared at Dan. He really was clueless. “He’s a psychopath, Dan. That explains his erratic behavior. He’s also asking for it with these dealers in Helena. They obviously sent him a warning. Pay up or else.”
Dan appeared to be listening, but Gary could see the resentment flaring in his gaze. Every time he gave the younger man pointers he saw that same look. Dooley had seven months to go as acting sheriff.
Gary had no doubt he would get voted out the next election. The higher ups were talking about bringing in a guy from Helena with more experience to run for the office.
“Marianne says he’s been in therapy this whole last year. She says he has anger issues.”
“Yeah, after stabbing his best friend to death; I can see that,” Gary muttered dryly. “I can tell you how this will end, Dan. We’re gonna find Cameron Chase face down one of these days with a bullet in the back of his head. These people don’t mess around. I figure if he walks on the murder charge; the dealers will get him by the end of the year.”
Gary could tell Dan was irritated he continued to insist Cameron was guilty.
“Yeah, well if they can find him by then. Marianne said he’s leaving for his grandparent’s place when the charges are dropped. She doesn’t want anyone to know where he’s at. She thinks he’ll get probation for the theft.”
“Oh, I have no doubt he’s gonna walk for Jace Turner’s murder. His buddies in Helena are going to track him down; you can bet on that.”
“You hope for it, don’t you, Gary?” Dan asked in irritation. “He’s a kid! A mixed up kid, that’s all. This hunch you have hasn’t panned out. Nothing you got proves he killed the Turner kid. Why don’t you just let it go? After Friday you’re done here.”
“If it was your kid; would you let it go?”
Dan flushed and looked away, disgusted to keep being reminded he lacked compassion in his line of work. It was all over his annual evaluations. The only reason he was acting sheriff was the six months on the job he had more than Bob.
The election that loomed in the distance was the true challenge. He had to run for the office. Unless he caught Jace Turner’s murderer, he didn’t have a chance to get elected.
Some might say that would have made him eager to latch onto Gary’s theory about Cameron. He hated to admit it, but it started to make sense to him. His pride was hurt that he failed to impress Gary in that too. He failed to come up with a reasonable scenario why Jace Turner was murdered, outside the obvious robbery.
“I get it why this bothers you so much, Gary. I do. You got a kid a couple years older. It hits home,” Dan said and gazed at the older man in understanding. “But you could be wrong about Cam.”
“I’m not,” Gary replied tightly and smiled at Dan. “Trust me. My gut is never wrong. He killed Jace. We might never know why, but he did it.”
“He goes to court in two weeks and that decides it all.”
Gary didn’t need to be reminded the charges could be dropped at that hearing. Cam’s attorney was moving for a dismissal based on lack of evidence. Knowing that was a strong possibility made Gary pray Lindsay got something on that wire before then.
“A lot can happen in two weeks, Dan.”
Dooley left and went back to his office. Gary sat back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the file on Jace Turner sitting in front of him. He went through it over and over again, studied the crime scene until he could see it blind-folded. He couldn’t for the life of him find any reason beyond the thrill of it why Cameron would have done this. Without a motive, it made things difficult to prove.
The thought of Cameron Chase walking free two weeks from now was more than a reality. Without a confession; it would happen. Gary hoped the kid had the stupidity to try something with Lindsay. He’d like to see justice handled the old-fashioned way. He didn’t see the point in a guy like Cameron sitting on death row for ten years. He would get another decade to live while Jace Turner missed out on everything he wanted in his young life.
Gary fought the urge to walk outside the boundaries of the law any more than he already had by giving Lindsay an unregistered weapon. He employed such efforts before he left Chicago and swore he never would ‘help’ again. It wasn’t hard for a good cop to turn vigilante after years of seeing scum like Cameron go free. He had to have faith Lindsay would come up with something.