Page 74 of The Killing Plains

“I don’t like it.”

“We won’t cut him out entirely. As a practical matter, we can’t. But he’s under pressure from a lot of directions. Let’s do what we can to minimize it—for his sake, and for the investigation’s.”

Avery scowled at her boots. “I’ll play it your way, for now.”

“Thank you.” Colly exhaled. “Okay, tell me what you found out at the turbine plant. We’ll compare notes.”

Avery brushed back a strand of purple hair and sat down on the trough. “No one would talk to me at the plant. But after I left, one of the fiberglass packers called me. Lori Lambreth. I went to high school with her. She said Lowell’s been erratic the last year or so, losing his shit for no reason, coming to work drunk. And get this—last March, he got into a shouting match with Jace Hoyer. They were in Lowell’s office. All the line workers heard them. Then Lowell came out and announced Jace was fired.”

“We already knew that.”

“Yeah, but a few minutes later, Lori walked by Jace’s workstation when he was packing up. She saw him log into his computer and print some papers, and she asked what he was doing. He said he’d be damned if he’d let Lowell throw him under the bus—he was taking some insurance with him.”

“She doesn’t know what the papers were?”

“Spreadsheets of some kind.”

“Did Lowell give an explanation for firing Hoyer?”

“He sent around an internal memo saying Jace broke safety regulations bringing Denny to the plant.”

“Lowell confirmed that today at the bluffs.”

“Lori says that was a load of crap, though. Jolene was right. Denny’d been coming around for months. Everyone liked him, even Lowell. He was the plant’s unofficial gofer.”

“Does Lori know why Lowell lied?”

“If she does, she didn’t tell me. There was another big blow-up a few weeks later. Lori wasn’t there, but she heard about it. Jace showed up at a job site, screaming and carrying on. Punched Lowell in the face. The workmen had to pull them apart.”

“What was that about?”

“No idea.” Avery tipped up her longneck and swallowed. “What do you think?”

“It’s odd neither Lowell or Jace mentioned any of this.” Colly narrated a quick rundown of her interview with Lowell. “We need to talk to both of them again—Jace first, if we can find him.”

She checked her watch. Satchel was alone in the house and she needed to get back. She stood too quickly, and her vision darkened. The floor pitched like a wave. Colly stumbled, and Avery grabbed her arm.

“You okay?”

“Just a headrush.”

Avery started to answer, but then her phone rang. She pulled it out, and her face reddened. “For you.”

Colly took the phone and glanced at the caller ID. “‘Queen Bitch’? Seriously?” She raised it to her ear. “What is it, Satch?”

“Uncle Russ is here.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I think something bad happened. He looks upset.”

Chapter 20

Returning to the house, Colly and Avery found Russ pacing the entryway, his Stetson in one hand and his phone in the other. Sounds of a children’s cartoon emanated from the living room.

“What the hell?” Russ demanded when they entered. “I hear you sent Avery to interrogate the workers at the turbine plant without checking with me first?”

“Why would I need to check with you? That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“The last thing we need—”

“Satchel can hear you,” Colly hissed. “Go outside—I’ll be right there.”

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