Page 31 of Gunner

Tie firmly in place, I checked over my appearance in the mirror of the cheap motel room. My suit had survived the ride to Riverton in a garment bag with minimal creases, but I was having second thoughts about my attire. A pair of jeans and a dress shirt with a tie might have sufficed for my meeting with Captain Millwood of the Riverton PD, but if I stopped to change, I would run late.

Suit it was. Better to be overdressed than underdressed.

I grabbed the remote from the bed and froze. I’d left the news playing in the background, and the headline on the screen grabbed my attention.

Pregnant Inmate Flees Smoky Vale Horizon’s State Jail: Authorities on High Alert.

I hit the volume button, and the voice of Smoky Vale’s most critical reporter, Emily Kane, filled the room.

“…where a pregnant inmate has made a daring escape. The breakout is all the more troubling, given the dark cloud that has been hanging over the women’s prison for the past two months.

“You may recall the shocking allegations that surfaced recently of a ‘baby farm’ being operated within these prison walls. Inmates were mysteriously turning up pregnant, only for their babies to subsequently vanish without a trace. The horrifying scheme came to public light when Gerald Wentworth, the former mayor of Smoky Vale, discovered that his pregnant ex-wife, an inmate here, had sold their baby—a child he didn’t even know she was carrying at the time.

“That story took an even grimmer turn, leading to the deaths of several individuals, including the former prison warden and the ex-mayor’s wife herself. Authorities are still at a loss, grappling with a puzzle that seems to deepen by the day. One can’t help but wonder if today’s escape is in some way connected to that unsettling and unresolved case.

“We’ve attempted to reach out to the acting chief of police, Benjamin Witter, for a statement regarding the latest developments and how they might tie into the ongoing investigation, but we have yet to receive a response. An anonymous source has shared that the acting chief has taken a few personal days from his desk and is out of town. With the current lawless state of Smoky Vale, is now an appropriate time for Acting Chief Witter to be on vacation?

“In the meantime, authorities are urging residents to stay vigilant as they continue to search for the escaped inmate. If you have any information about the inmate, Jennifer Brettman, reach out to the Smoky Vale PD.”

My heart stopped, then kicked into overdrive, pounding as if trying to break free. How could an inmate escape, given the beefed-up security since the incident? Could it be purely coincidental that the escaped inmate was pregnant?

The room felt like it was closing in on me. I shook my head and loosened my tie. I picked up my phone and speed-dialed Ryan Thoms, the deputy chief. He answered after I’d called him three times.

“Thoms here,” his deep voice growled.

“Thoms, it’s me, Witter.” I paced the room in front of the bed and ran my fingers through my hair. “What’s going on there? I just saw on the news that an inmate escaped.”

“Then you’re up to date.”

I stopped dead at his snarky response. I knew how he felt about me and the fact that they’d made me chief of police instead of him. He’d been deputy before Mason even became chief. Then they overlooked him and gave me the position. I’d have felt the same way, but his grudge ran too deep sometimes, so deep it affected his ability to do his job.

And he wonders why they’ll never make him chief.

“I asked to be informed if anything significant crops up, Thoms. I don’t appreciate getting the news about what’s happening in my city from a television broadcast.”

“Your city? Isn’t that going a bit too far?”

I gritted my teeth, hating how he took my words out of context and biting back the words I truly wanted to say.

The position calls for diplomacy. You won’t always be able to say what’s on your mind.

Mason’s voice came clear in my head like he was in the room with me.

“What do we know so far?” I asked.

“The inmate went into labor at around four fifteen this morning. She escaped when she was at the hospital—not from the prison.”

“What about the guards who traveled with her to the hospital? Hold them for questioning. Anyone who came into contact with her from the time she left the prison to the hospital is a suspect.”

“I’m already on it, Witter. Don’t worry about the case. Who knows? I might even solve it before you get back from vacation.”

His words rang familiar. The reporter. Was Thoms the one who’d leaked the information to the reporter I was out of town?

“Thoms, the mi—” The line went quiet. He’d hung up.

“Son of a bitch!” I punched the mattress several times to let off some of the steam bottling up inside me. Sometimes I hated this fucking job. Always having to curb my feelings to get things done right. That was all that mattered. Doing the job the way it was meant to be done.

I straightened my tie and took several deep breaths to calm my nerves. The police department thought I had taken a few days off for leisure. As much as I would have loved for them to know what I was doing, my time working in Smoky Vale had taught me one thing. A few of the cops had their position solely to report to others. Gunner had his men in the police force, and so did Grimm. We’d gotten rid of a few over the years, but what was the sense when they only bribed new ones?

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