Page 48 of True Valor
Right there, on the screen in front of them,was motive for murder.
Frank Raines—Staff Sergeant Frank Raines—hadindeed received his country’s second highest honor.However, therewas one small detail that turned on the light for Nic and Eric.
Frank Raines had been awarded that honorposthumously.
“So, if Frank Raines died before he could seehis medal,” Cruz smiled ruefully, “then who the hell is the Sheriffof Lassen County?”
Nic hummed a sinister tune.
“No kidding.”
The hair on the back of Nic’s neck bristledat the thought.“And what would make a guy want, or need, to dothat?”
Eric continued to scroll through the fewfavorites Patrick and Ellen had left.“Well, he’d have to not wantto be who he was pretty badly.Another question is whether he’dwant that identity bad enough to kill for it, even back then.”
When there was nothing more to look at on thecomputer, Cruz re-deleted what he had found and turned it off.Hethen pulled off the latex gloves and stuffed them in hispocket.
Neither man spoke until they were in the carand on the road to Quincy.It was fairly obvious the Gallowayfamily and maybe Uncle Jess, were all killed because they knewabout the medal.Nic and Eric had no way to prove it, though.Andthe information they did have just led to more questions.Was itsimply an old secret that Raines was protecting or were there othershady activities an investigation would uncover?
It really didn’t matter.Raines was willingto kill people and it was only a matter of time until he would finda way to get to Julie and, by extension, Nic as well.They neededenough information to force the authorities to take action againstone of their own.
“So, what do you think of Sheriff Raines?”Julie asked Liz as they talked.The sheriff had visited Julie twicein two days.He’d been friendly, solicitous, assuring her that hebelieved her innocence.He was very charming in an aw-shucks way,but there was something about him that made her uncomfortable.
Liz wrinkled her nose in response.
“Really?How come?”
“I don’t know.I hate the way he uses my namein every other sentence.I mean, it’s a little over the top.”
“I noticed that, too.Did he go tosalesmanship for law enforcement or something?It’s creepy.But atleast he thinks I’m innocent.That’s more than I can say for yourundersheriff.”
Liz pushed back her chair as she stood.“Things aren’t always as they seem, Julie.I gotta get back towork.Talk to you later.”
What could that mean?That Brogan thought shewas innocent?Couldn’t be that, ‘cause he had the keys.So, Raineswas not what he appeared to be?Maybe Julie could press Liz formore on her next visit.
Nic spent most of Monday in Susanville,looking through the archives of the local paper.Raines had beensheriff in the sleepy community for the past sixteen years, havingjust won re-election again last November.Before that he’d lived inTennessee.Nothing Nic dug up gave him any idea when or where thenew Frank Raines had come into being but it was definitely beforehe came to California.To find out which person had that identityin Tennessee would take a lot more digging.
Raines was well liked in town.That is, bythe white-collar population.Those that hung out at the local barwere of another opinion entirely.They weren’t in the leastimpressed by cowboy poetry or cowboy antics.The sheriff neverreined in his loose-cannon deputies and a person could only get afair hearing if he wasn’t riffraff.
Cruz was into the third level of records forthe 9th Infantry Division and, so far, the pictures all matched.Eric had been through the first twelve years of Raines’ militarycareer.There weren’t a lot of pictures, but so far they showed thesmiling face of someone entirely different than the man who nowresided in that identity.
A knock at the door snapped Cruz from hiswork.He glanced at his watch.Three thirty-five.
“Julie!Madre!”Eric snatched her intothe room, glanced outside to see if they had other company, andshut the door.“What are you doing here?”
“They let me go.”She tugged her arm loosefrom his grasp.“Is Nic here?”
“Not at the moment.What do you mean they letyou go?”
“It’s not a hard concept.Apparently, theydidn’t believe Nic’s accusation, believed my story instead, and letme go.”
While she talked, Eric packed.They needed tovamos.It wouldn’t take long for Raines to find out, if hedidn’t know already, that Julie was out of jail.And in a town thissize, it wouldn’t be hard to find out that she’d come here.
Damn, if only Nic had his phone.He’d left itcharging in the room.
Cruz went into the bathroom and turned on thehot water, closing the door behind him when he came out.
“Does Raines know that you’re out?”
