Page 10 of Claimed by the Lawman

Chapter 3

AFTER TYLER LEFT his office, Kace realized he’d just caved in to her will. Even after all these years she could still convince him to see her way of things. She had a magical touch that he couldn’t resist.

Getting up from his desk, he stomped across the room, pulled open the door and stepped over to the desk of his deputy, Jake Payne. Kace took a seat on the corner of his desk and received a curious look. “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”

“I’m looking into the Susannah Posey case. You were here when Mansfield investigated the suicide, but it seems we might be missing a few pieces of evidence.”

Payne, a thirty-something athletic man with a sharp jaw shrugged a lean shoulder. “What’s missing?” In school he’d been a star football player pegged to go pro until a knee injury took him out of the game. He was a decent man and investigator, although a little wet behind the ears if Kace said so.

“Did you know that she’d written a suicide note?”

Payne clasped his hands on his desk. “Thinking back, yeah…I remember a note. It was your basic goodbye letter. The Posey family certainly made a big stink out of it. Something about it not being the girl’s handwriting and all. From what I recall Sheriff Mansfield ate an entire bottle of antacids that day.”

Mildred sniffed loudly. “He certainly didn’t seem himself right after that.”

At her response, Kace stood and stepped over to her desk. “You saw the note too?”

She pushed her large glasses up further on her nose. “No, I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but I remember when Tyler, Rogue, and Johnny came in demanding to see it for themselves. They argued that they had a right to see all the evidence. I don’t know what happened after that except for Mansfield’s tension. When that man got riled up, it couldn’t be missed. His face would turn beat red and he’d go into the bathroom and spend an hour.”

Deputy Payne chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Do either of you have any idea where the letter disappeared to?” Kace asked.

“No, sir,” Payne said.

Kace stomped into his office, grabbed his hat and shoved it down on his head. “I’ll be out for a few hours,” he said to the others as he made his way to the door.

“Still haven’t replaced your broken phone, Sheriff?” Mildred called after him.

“I keep forgetting about it.” He smiled and stepped out into the bright sunlight of the Wyoming morning and headed down the sidewalk toward the corner diner. He never did get that coffee Mildred promised. The woman had been as sharp as a needle, but as of lately she’d been forgetting a lot more. Yesterday she didn’t tell him that an agent had called from the FBI, and the day before she forgot to set the alarm system in the office. However, she never forgot to give him the messages from Tyler. Imagine that.

“Howdy, Sheriff. Your usual?” the waitress asked from behind the counter of the diner known to serve the best coffee and pancakes this side of the state.

“Yes. Thank you, Beth.” Kace steered his gaze around the room and his eyes wavered on none other than ex-Sheriff Kyle Mansfield whose ears had to be burning from that morning’s conversation over at the office. The icing on the cake, he waved Kace over.

“Mornin’, Mansfield.” Kace greeted him.

“How are things over at the station, Cade?” Mansfield eased his stocky body back as he pushed the empty chair out with his foot and Kace took a seat.

It seemed too good to be true that he’d run into the other man when he had a few questions that needed answered. “Things are good. How’s retirement treating you?” Kace swiped off his hat and laid it on the corner of the table.

Mansfield snorted. “Never thought I’d get here, but here I am.” He scratched his jaw. “I can’t count how many times I’ve had someone tell me I’d love fishing, hunting, golfing…pfft. There’s nothing that can match hunting a criminal. The hunt is in my blood. I miss the reward of slamming the cell door on another bastard.”

Kace winced at the other man’s choice of words. “I planned on stopping by your place later.”

“Yeah? Need some advice?” The man’s grey eyes lit up. “Ask away.”

“I have a couple of questions about an old case.” When Beth brought his coffee, he thanked her, popped off the lid to the take-out cup and poured in a good amount of cream.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with the Posey girl, would it?” Mansfield grinned.

Kace wasn’t surprised that the man had a head’s up. News traveled fast in Bohannan. At least this would cut out some much-needed explanation. “She wants the case reopened.” He stirred his cup and took a sip.

“She and I went round and round when I was Sheriff.” He swiped a hand down his tight jaw. Mildred was right. When the man got irritated it showed. “Everyone’s a detective. Everyone thinks they know better than the man in uniform.” He sighed. “You’re not falling for it, are you son? Don’t you have enough on that overloaded plate to keep you occupied?”

Scooting his chair closer to the table, Kace noticed he’d gotten some curious looks from other diners. He prepared himself for negative feedback from Mansfield. To a certain point, his anger was understood. No lawman liked when they were accused of not being thorough enough. A gentle choice of wording was needed in this situation. “I promised I’d look into a few new details, that’s all.”

Mansfield’s silver brows scrunched. “New details? The case was a suicide. Point blank. Send her to one of those groups here in town.”

---