Classified Cowboy

Wyatt shone his flashlight over the ground. “Can you get casts of these prints?” he asked the sheriff.

Hardin crouched down and studied the ground. “It’s pretty wet, and he was slipping in the mud. But yeah.”

“You’re sure?” Wyatt asked.

Hardin nodded. “Deputy Spears can handle it.”

“Make sure he finds the sharpest print,” said Wyatt.

Hardin frowned. “Look, Lieutenant, if you want to call in your own crime scene investigator—”

“No!” Nina exclaimed.

Wyatt’s gaze snapped to her.

“Sheriff, if your deputy can cast the prints over there, I’d appreciate it.” She pointed. “I really don’t want anyone else trampling the site.”

Wyatt shook his head. “Professor—”

Nina stood. “First of all, I’m a certified crime scene investigator, so I can do it if you insist. But I have no doubt that Sheriff Hardin and his men know what they’re doing. Let them cast the prints over there while I extract the other two bones. I’ll process this area for trace evidence while I’m at it.”

It probably couldn’t hurt for her to handle the crime scene. And the boot prints at the edge of the shallow hole were clearer, anyhow. He nodded at Hardin.

Beside him, Nina sighed in obvious relief.

The sheriff rose, dusting his hands against each other, then propping them on his hips.

“Can we get them done now?” Wyatt asked.

This was why he didn’t like small towns. Everything moved at a snail’s pace. This was a crime scene—a major crime scene. It might tell them of the disappearances that had haunted Comanche Creek for the past several years. It might hold evidence of what had happened to Marcie James.

And yet the people who could provide the answers—the doctor, the sheriff, the deputies—seemed to operate with a “we’ll get around to it” mentality.

Hardin sent Wyatt a hard glance. “Can we get a thing or two straight, Lieutenant?”

“Happy to. As long as it cuts down on the delays.” Wyatt nodded.

“This isn’t Austin. We might be kind of slow here compared to your Texas Ranger pace, but we can do the job,” Hardin replied. “I’ve already called Deputy Spears and told him to get back out here. Once he’s here, he’ll get the footprints cast. Do you think that’ll be time enough for you?”

Wyatt clenched his jaw. “That’s fine. Spears. He’s the one who abandoned the crime scene, isn’t he?”

“He didn’t abandon it.” Hardin countered. “Dr. Jacobson, a member of your task force, assured him that she would be responsible for the scene until Tolbert came on at midnight.”

“Nobody on my task force but me has that authority, Sheriff. Is that clear?” Wyatt grumbled.

Reed Hardin’s mouth flattened, but he nodded.

Wyatt felt a twinge of regret for his tone. “Thanks,” he muttered. “When can I talk to Deputy Tolbert?”

“Any time, Lieutenant. I would like Doc to release him first.”

Wyatt nodded. “What’s the story with him, anyhow? I know he and Marcie James were dating at one time. Apparently she told Nina he could be abusive.”

“I said mean,” Nina interjected as she bent down again to study the indentation where the missing bone had lain.

Hardin nodded. “Right. Abusive might be too strong a word. Shane’s got a temper, but he’s a good deputy. He’s competent. Might even call him a go-getter.” Hardin’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he has his sights on being sheriff one day.”

“You trust him that much?” asked Wyatt.

“Whether or not he could become sheriff has nothing to do with how much I do or don’t trust him. It’s a matter of competence,” replied Hardin. “In fact, that’s one of the things I admire about him. He’s gone to school on his own time to take classes on crime scene investigation. He’s pretty knowledgeable.”

“Yeah?” Wyatt’s mental radar buzzed. So Tolbert was pretty knowledgeable about CSI. “Where’d he get his degree in hostility?”

Hardin shrugged. “That he comes by naturally. His dad, Ben Tolbert, has always been a drinker and a woman chaser. Knocked Shane around some until he got big enough to fight back.”

“And once he got big enough?”

“I doubt you’re asking that question without knowing the answer.”

Wyatt nodded. “He has a suspension on his record. Excessive force.”

“It was a domestic dispute. Single mother’s boyfriend came home drunk and decided to whale on her eight-year-old for leaving his bike in the driveway. He broke the boy’s arm. Shane broke the guy’s nose.”

Wyatt looked at Hardin with new respect. Suspending the deputy was the right thing to do, but it couldn’t have been easy to put a black mark on his record for avenging a child. Especially given Tolbert’s own childhood.

“Ever hear anything about trouble between him and Marcie James?”

Hardin shook his head. “You know how people can talk sometimes. I remember once she hurt her arm. Claimed she’d pulled a muscle playing tennis.”

“Did you check it out?”

“Doc said it could have been twisted in a fall.”

“Could have.”

Hardin nodded. “I kept an eye on her, but I never saw anything else. Shane seemed to care about her. I don’t remember why they broke up.”

“What do you think about the missing bone? Who in Comanche Creek would attack your deputy and steal one of the bones?” Wyatt looked toward the burial site, toward Nina. As he watched, she stood and shed the hooded sweatshirt, leaving her in nothing but the little red thing. He swallowed.

“I don’t have a clue,” Hardin said. “I know there were people who were upset about Marcie testifying in the land fraud case, but it’s hard to imagine that any of them could have killed her.”

“The professor says the bones are recent.”

Nina tugged the red camisole down over her low-slung jeans as far as it would stretch, which wasn’t far, then picked up a fallen branch. After testing it with her weight, she stuck one end into the ground and braced herself as she reached across the shallow mud hole. She stretched precariously, straining toward something Wyatt couldn’t see.

“What are you getting at?” Hardin asked.

“Could Shane have faked the attack so he could destroy evidence?”