Page 57 of Midnight Ride

“Not really. One of them is maybe Jim or Jeff or something like that. Something short.”

Travis searched James Newlands through the DL data base and came up with an address for him. “Yep. There is a James Edward Newlands in Sunburst Acres. This is great. Thanks, Jack.”

Travis made another call to Harlan.

“Dad, where are you?”

“At the Run asking Jack questions. I got a lead. Drive up here and we’ll go check it out.”

“Five minutes,” said Harlan.

“The boys will be here in five, Jack. Give me a refill. My nerves ain’t holding out so good.”

Tucker Residence. Cut Bank.

Billy knocked on the door of Warden Tucker’s house and her husband answered. He smiled and hope flashed in his brown eyes. “Hey, Sheriff, did you find the guys yet?”

“No. But I have some pictures for Linda to look at. Do you think she’s up for it?”

“Sure. She’ll want to look at them. Linda wants you to catch the bastards as much as I do.”

“Great. This won’t take too long,” said Billy.

Jimmy Tucker showed Billy into a neat living room decorated in soft earth tones. He pointed to an armchair. “Have a seat, Sheriff, and I’ll get Linda.”

Linda walked into the room a minute later and some of the bruising on her face was gone, but she still looked like she’d been in a car wreck. Taking her a long time to heal.

“Can I show you some photos, Linda? Might help to jog your memory.”

“Sure. Spread them out on the coffee table and let me take a look.”

Linda sat down next to Billy and studied each of the pictures for several seconds before shaking her head. “No, none of these guys. Never saw any of them before. The guys who grabbed me in their campsite weren’t old, but they were older than any of these boys in the pictures.”

“How old were they, Linda? Best guess.”

“Late thirties or early forties. Right around there.”

“That’s helpful,” said Billy. “Were you able to remember more about what they looked like?”

“The doctor said my memory would come back to me gradually, but it’s a slow process. I’ve got a picture of one guy stuck in my head, and he’s been on my mind the last couple of days. A big guy with a beard and he was the leader, or the most aggressive of the four in that camp.”

“Can you remember any names?”

“I think I heard one of the guys shout to another one and called himEarl. Pretty common name. Lots of guys are calledEarl.”

“That’s helpful,” said Billy. “Every little piece of information helps. We could even run that through your office and see how many guys named Earl were issued hunting licenses for elk in Montana. This is an early hunt and shouldn’t be too many.”

“I can do that myself, Sheriff,” said Linda. “Jimmy will help me do it. I’ll call and let you know if I get a name and an address.”

“Great. Any names and addresses you come up with, I can getyou the DL picture to look at.”

Jimmy Tucker had a big grin on his face. “That’s progress. Today we’re actually getting closer. Thanks for coming, Sheriff Johnson.”

“No problem. I want to catch these guys and put them away for a long time for what they did to Linda.”

Jimmy nodded and there was a look in his eyes that scared Billy.

Billy left the Tucker residence and called Molly at the shop. “After you give the Arkansas boys lunch, Molly, you can let them out of the run. Linda Tucker said they aren’t the ones.”

---