Page 40 of Longest Ride

Ted came to get Archie when it was his turn to be booked. “Your turn, Archie.”

“All right, Harlan, possession only for Archie. Not enough on Archie for trafficking. Archie is helping us with our murders.”

“Possession is what I’m charging Archie with. Copy, boss.”

Archie smiled.

Turcotte Ranch. South of Coyote Creek.

Travis and Billy drove south to Big Dave Turcotte’s ranch. His lane was fairly long and led to a low one-story ranch house painted dark green. White shutters and a broad front porch.

Billy knocked on the front door and no one answered after several tries. “Let’s go to the barn.”

“Yep,” said Travis. “Might be in the barn.”

Nice looking barn that was pained to match the house. Travis pulled open the double doors and they stepped inside and gave a shout out.

“Hey, Big Dave. You in here?”

Dave poked a big head out of one of the stalls and gave them a wave. He grinned as they got closer. “What’s the sheriff want with me? I do something?”

“Probably not,” said Travis. “We heard you were friends with Paula Fleming, and we need to ask you a few questions about her husband’s murder.”

“Aw, shit. You guys don’t think I had anything to do with that, do you? Sure, Harry was an asshole husband to Paula. He did drugs with his buddies, and he cheated on Paula all the time, but we were kind of waiting until he got himself arrested and went to jail for dealing. Then she planned to divorce him.”

“Y’all never discussed getting rid of Harry a faster way?”

“Hell no. I’m no murderer. I’m a rancher. Yes, I love Paula and when she was free of Harry, I planned to ask her to move here to the ranch, but I could wait.”

“Can you think of anybody else who would want one of the victims dead?” asked Billy.

“Who was there besides Harry Fleming?” asked Dave.

“Alex Perkins and Carla Venner.”

“Never laid eyes on Carla Venner, but I heard Alex Perkins was a prick. I can tell you that much. He was Harry’s best buddy who supplied him with drugs.”

“Did you know Alex Perkins well, Dave?”

“Nope. Seen him at the roadhouse with Harry a few times. Alex always had a couple of young girls with him. I think he was a regular at Krystal’s Palace. Paula was always fuming when he took Harry there for a night out.”

“Why didn’t Paula just divorce Harry?”

“I wanted her to, but she wanted to wait until Harry got his inheritance from his aunt who was dying. She was in a nursing home in Great Falls and didn’t have long to live. She was leaving her estate to Harry, her only relative.”

“So, Paula wanted Harry to have that money before she divorced him, so she’d get her half?” asked Billy.

Dave shrugged. “I told her the money didn’t matter because I’m not a fuckin poor man. I could give her everything she wanted.”

“How much was the inheritance?” asked Travis.

“Paula thought it was a lot. Maybe a million.”

“Huh,” said Travis.

Billy drove out Big Dave’s lane slowly as he lit up a cigarette. “What did you think of that story?”

“Interesting. If Dave is a liar, he’s a damned good one. The story about the inheritance was pretty detailed to be a lie. There might be some truth to it.”

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