Long Range (Joe Pickett Book 20)(59)



Marybeth nodded while Joe talked. She was obviously trying to find an angle or explanation.

“We need to talk to Liv and Nate and figure that out,” Joe said.

She agreed.

Then she asked, “How was he doing when the sheriff put him in his truck?”

“Stoic,” Joe said.

“What about Liv?”

“Liv is tough,” Joe said. “Like you.”

“I made the offer that she could bring Kestrel to our house and stay with us until this blows over,” Marybeth said. “She says she’s fine for now. She’d got Loren to help her with the baby and she wants to keep the business going. But she knows she can stay with us.”

“That’s good.”

“Kink Beran had a court appearance this morning in Cheyenne and then he’ll drive north and be up here by five tonight,” Marybeth said.

“Will Rulon be with him?” Joe asked.

“I hope so,” she said. “I really hope so.”

*

BEFORE JOE HAD returned to town from Nate’s residence, he’d had a chance to examine the rifle the deputies found before it was tagged to be used as evidence and examined by Gary Norwood. It was a Gunwerks Magnus 7mm long-range Magnum with a sophisticated Nightforce scope. The rifle cost well over ten thousand dollars and it was in very good shape.

He’d explained to Deputy Woods that long-range rifles weren’t Nate’s weapon of choice and that he had no doubt someone had planted the gun. Woods made sure Sheriff Kapelow didn’t overhear him say he agreed with Joe, but it didn’t look good for Nate.

It looked worse when Deputy Steck located a box of long-range 147-grain cartridges in a plastic bag that had been hidden under falcon excrement in the mews. There were two rounds missing from the box.

The range finder Nate had brought along when he and Joe climbed the hill was found in his panel van and tagged as well.

Before Nate was taken away, Joe had approached Sheriff Kapelow and said, “It’s my understanding that it takes two men to pull off a shot like the one that hit Sue Hewitt. You’d need a spotter and a shooter.”

Kapelow looked over with an annoyed expression. “What’s your point?”

“So who is the spotter?” Joe asked.

“Maybe your friend will tell us.”

Joe scoffed.

The sheriff said, “Maybe one of his outlaw falcon buddies showed up. Those people are a tight bunch from what I understand. And they all have the same attitude toward law enforcement.”

“Not all of them,” Joe said. But having met several of Nate’s circle of falconers, he had to partially agree with Kapelow.

“How do you know so much about long-distance shooting?” the sheriff asked Joe with barely disguised suspicion.

“I’m a game warden, remember?”

“Were you in the military?”

“No,” Joe said. It was something he’d always felt guilty about. Since Kapelow had served, it was a cudgel he was quick to use.

“Where did you learn about sniper teams?”

“Nate,” Joe confessed.

“Well, isn’t that interesting?” the sheriff asked.

“That was in the process of determining where the shooter set up,” Joe explained. “Do you really think Nate would lead me to the location if he had anything to do with it?”

Kapelow looked away from Joe with a smug look on his face. His mind was made up.

“Sheriff,” Joe said. “If you’ll recall, you dismissed the possibility of a long-range shot.”

Kapelow turned away as if he hadn’t heard the question.

Joe was still steaming about the exchange when he’d arrived at the library.

*

MARYBETH SLIPPED HER PHONE into her purse and asked, “Were you invited to the press conference?”

“What?” Joe asked.

He learned from her that Sheriff Kapelow had called a press conference to begin in fifteen minutes at the county building.

“Should we go?” Joe asked her.

“Of course,” she said.

*

THE TWELVE SLEEP County Building was only two blocks away from the library, so they walked there. The day had warmed up considerably and the mountains towered clear and blue in three directions. It was a perfect fall day, Joe thought. Except for the reason they were together.

“Has Kapelow ever had a press conference before?” Marybeth asked. Her heels clicked on the sidewalk.

“Not since he’s been elected,” Joe said. “This is probably a big day for him.”

“Obviously,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

*

“HERE FOR THE SHERIFF’S shindig?” Stovepipe asked them as he lumbered to his feet from behind the metal detector.

“Yup,” Joe said as he once again dumped all of his electronics and hardware into a tub.

“Don’t bother,” Stovepipe whispered. “It’s busted again.”

Joe nodded and retrieved his items.

“I have pepper spray in my purse,” Marybeth confessed to Stovepipe.

“Keep it in there,” he said. “Just don’t spray nobody.”

*

THE BRIEFING ROOM in the sheriff’s department had been hastily rearranged for the event, Joe noted. A podium used by the town council had been wheeled to the front of the room and a microphone was set up. Empty folding chairs flanked the podium and more had been set up for reporters and interested citizens. The table that was usually in the center of the room had been shoved to the far wall to accommodate the guests.

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