Page 2 of Sheltered by the Lawman

“Tougher than that tower of a bastard I brought in two days ago?” Why did he feel an invisible punch to his ribs?

“Still in pain?”

“Like a mofo, but that’s why you fellows contract this shit out. I take the beating and you take the credit.”

Deke’s laughter rasped the line. “Yeah, that sounds about right. You sure you’re still into finding fugitives? This next one will throw you for a loop.”

“He’ll go down like the rest.” Cull eased back into the leather of the driver’s seat.

“Well, he’s actually a she who has a few tricks of her own. She is Monica Warren. We found a business card in the dead guy’s wallet. Who’d think escorts would have business cards these days. Anyway, she was last seen in Cheyenne a week ago, disappeared right after the murder of some big-time lawyer, Thomas Yates. He was found stewing in his own blood in a motel room.”

“Thomas Yates? Isn’t he the one in the commercials, guaranteeing people that he’ll win their case? His slogan is ‘Yates has the best rates’.”

“Yes, that’s him. Get this, the guy was married to some rich broad for ten years, but apparently liked snatch on the side. Warren was his paid mistress, and the last known person to be seen with him before he bit the dust. It appears the rich suit was into paying for dates for a year now and met Ms. Warren twice weekly, rain or shine. Same room.”

“Do you think she had a motive to kill him? Isn’t that bad for business?”

“Hell, maybe Yates wanted to turn the old model in for a new one and she didn’t like the thought of losing her money wagon. Shit, who knows what these people think.”

Cull slowed the truck. He’d seen a lot of things in his days as a lawman, but he’d learned to never judge a book by its cover, so to speak. “How’d the victim die?”

“A stab wound to the chest and a sliced throat. Her prints were all over the place, but she disappeared and is nowhere to be found and we can’t match her in the system. Broad’s never been in trouble and the only photograph we have is a shot from a surveillance camera from the hotel property.”

“Did she work for an agency? Did you talk to them?”

“No, and everything these days is done incognito online. I’m slammed with three homicides, the boss is breathing down my neck, and these cases with rich people suddenly become sweet bait to the media. We’re trying to keep the circumstances hush hush for the family, you know, because who the fuck wants it splattered all over the news that her husband had his dick where it didn’t belong. If anyone can find Warren and bring her in, it’ll be you. Bring her to me, buddy, so we can get to the bottom of this.”

“It should be pretty easy.” He was ready for an easy capture. “Another question, who found the dead man?”

“Housekeeping.”

“A stabbing and sliced throat would cause a lot of bleeding. Did Ms. Warren walk out of the hotel with blood all over her?”

“Hell, maybe she brought an extra pair of clothes to change in.”

“Were they found?”

Deke groaned. “Listen, buddy, you’re working the wrong side of the law here. Your job is to bring them in and let us handle the details.”

“Right.” Cull had a hard time not asking questions, but the less he knew about a case the better. His only purpose was to track them down and haul them in.

“You should be thanking me. There’s a large amount of reward attached to this. The family want her caught as badly as we do. They want this handled with care, if you know what I mean.”

“A reward? Already? Seems like a knee-jerk reaction.”

“Hell if I care. We’re on a time crunch here. If the media gets ahold of the details they’ll have a field day with their smear campaigns.”

“Who are these people you’re talking about? Politicians or church members?”

“You’re good, my friend. Politicians. Our widow is a candidate for senator and is endorsed by some heavy-duty backers who want this to stay as hushed as our widow does. The bastards are always wanting to cover up something.”

“You don’t sound very sympathetic with the situation.”

“Hey, the guy was boning a girl twenty years his junior and his wife gets in front of the camera and is all weepy-eyed. You know she must be thanking her lucky stars that the bastard met his death. Widow lady’s PR gave a speech with some bullshit story that Yates had been doing business from the motel room, blah blah blah. Anything to save her political career.”

“You still harboring some issues with the ex, Deke?” Cull remembered how his buddy had hit rock bottom after his wife of twenty years asked him for divorce when she met a rich oil tycoon and they ran off together. This only made Cull appreciate more that he was single.

“Just a bit.”

---