Her Grave Secrets (Rogue River #3)(8)

“I get that. It still makes me stress when she’s making home visits. Some of those places are really remote. But she’s got a sharp head on her shoulders, I keep telling myself that, and I’m trying to learn to have faith in her judgment.”

“That’s good to hear. You and Carly belong together. I didn’t like watching you two go your separate ways.” Zane waved at a chair and went back to his own, taking a seat to give Seth all his attention and bring the conversation around to business. “I assume you’re here because you were notified about the drugs in Bill’s system.”

Seth looked grim. “He was my father-in-law. It was bad enough when I’d thought he’d had a heart attack, but now to consider that he’s possibly been murdered? I’m sick over the news. Does Patsy know yet?”

“I’m waiting on a final report from Hank. Stevie wanted to rush right over there, but I asked her to wait until I had it.”

“Stevie around?” Seth glanced over his shoulder.

“No, she’s out on a call.” Zane grinned. “The Campbells’ cows got out again.”

Seth snorted. “What else is new? I don’t know if they hate the Campbells’ feed mixture or what, but I’ve never seen escape artists like that herd. Nice to see you aren’t giving her any favoritism on the patrol calls.”

“I think she flipped a coin on the call with Carter and lost.”

Seth leaned forward, his forearms on his thighs, his expression deadly serious. “I’m kind of glad she’s not here for this discussion, because I want your input on who would murder Bill.”

Zane took a deep breath. “I’ve been asking myself the same question all day. He was the chief of police and a cop for forty years. He’s bound to have made some enemies. There’s no way he took the drug for recreation. We all know that. Someone slipped it to him, but no one is automatically coming to mind. Where is the task force on narrowing down the possibilities for the distribution and manufacturing site?”

Seth slumped back in his chair. “I feel like we’re spinning our wheels. All we’ve found are a bunch of dead ends. Our best lead was when Peter Rollins found drugs stashed in a hollowed-out tree. Or he said that’s where he found them. We’ve combed that area with no other results.”

“I saw you had two more deaths at the coast from C-22.”

“Yes, two guys in their twenties who decided to take it for their Saturday-night enjoyment. It didn’t work out so well for them.” Seth shook his head.

“You’d think people would stop taking it with all the deaths that are happening. Why play with a loaded gun?”

“The last guy I interviewed said the high is incredible and that it’s worth the risk. He’d taken it dozens of times.”

“Who was his supplier?”

“One of the dead guys.” Seth held up his hands. “We can’t catch a break in this case. It’s been going on for months. Something or somebody has to crack soon.”

“At least it hasn’t struck Solitude too bad. I think the death of Ted Warner effectively knocked out the Solitude distribution line. At least temporarily.” Zane frowned. “You heard about Roy Krueger, right?”

“I heard his body turned up and that the scene was a bad one. That’s two big blows for the Taylor family this week. Rumor says it was suicide?”

“You can squash that rumor right now. He was murdered. Double tap to the back of the head.”

Seth straightened and his brows shot up. “What? This is crazy. The two former highest-ranking police officials in Solitude were murdered? Jesus.”

“Has Roy’s name come up with the drug task force at all?”

“No. Should it?”

“For a man who claimed to have financial difficulties, he’s got a shed full of expensive toys. Big-boy toys. A boat, a pair of WaveRunners, and a ton of new fishing and hunting gear.”

“Holy shit.” Seth ran his hands through his hair. “If that doesn’t say drug money, I don’t know what does. The execution-style shots indicate it too.” Seth paused. “This sounds like Los Angeles, not Solitude.”

“I think we need to keep Bill’s drug tests quiet for now. Whoever slipped the drug to him has been happily enjoying the fact that his death was blamed on a heart attack. Let’s let them keep thinking that.”

“Unless they’re already dead,” added Seth. “What if it was Roy who overdosed him? Or Ted Warner?”

“Then I still want to find the manufacturer. Someone in this corner of the state is making a lot of money off an unstable mix of chemicals.”

“And the addicts love it. They keep going back for more bacon.”

“Stupid name for a deadly drug.”

Seth raised one brow. “I found it quite accurate. That fatty shit can eventually kill you.”

“You’ll have to add Roy’s murder to the task force’s investigation,” said Zane. “Stevie and I went out to his place last night to collect evidence, but the house seems really clean. We didn’t see any evidence that his murder took place on his property. I suspect we’ll find that he went to the river to meet someone.”

“I assume you brought in his computer for processing?” Seth asked.