Full Circle (18 page)

"Come on, Josie, this was a fluke thing," Jack said. "You heard what Webber said. Rawlings is still home. It's still a boring little town where people get into cupcake fights. That hasn't changed."

"I thought I left all the ugliness behind in Washington," Josie said. "I didn't want to be around that kind of thing anymore."

"Ugly comes in many forms," Jack said gently. "You've lived through your share of ugly right in Rawlings. It's a small town, but it's a long way from perfect."

They checked out of the hotel and headed home. Jack had barely passed through the Rawlings town limits when Tyler Johnson, one of the younger deputies, flagged him down.

"You'd better head over to the sheriff's office, Josie. Georgina has put out a call looking for you. She said you weren't answering your phone."

Josie dived into her purse. "I forgot to turn it back on after our meeting," she complained as Jack pulled up in front of the office. She jumped out, and he followed her inside.

"Where in the Sam hell have you been?" Georgina exclaimed.

"What's wrong? Is it Alex? Is he hurt?" Josie demanded.

"Calm down, honey, it has nothing to do with Alex," Georgina exclaimed. "It's Sheriff Malone. He was in a car accident. He must be hurt real bad because they called a life-flight helicopter to transport him to Trauma One at Oklahoma City Medical Center."

"We couldn't have been that far behind him," Jack said. "We didn't see anything."

"I think you were ahead of him," Georgina corrected. "He called me when he was leaving and said he was going to check out a boot store on the way out of town. He said he wanted to buy some boots, and he'd get back on the road. He didn't make it. Someone ran a stop sign and broadsided him on the driver's side. I got a call from the Holbart Police when they checked his credentials and sent him off to the hospital."

Mayor Aiden Roland stepped through the door. "Josie, you're going to have to take the badge back."

"Do you know something Georgina doesn't?" Josie demanded. "How bad was Charles hurt?"

"I don't know, but I do know this town can't be without a Sheriff," Aiden complained.

"You might want to find out what's going on before jumping to conclusions," Josie snapped. "Georgina, see if you can get through to Captain Will Harper, he's the Chief of Police in Oklahoma City. He might be able to get information out of the hospital that they won't give us. Until we find out how serious this situation is, we don't need to panic. Georgina, pull the sheriff's file and contact his family. Aiden, appoint Clay Tucker as temporary Acting until we find out more."

"He won't take it," Aiden complained.

"Don't give him a choice," Josie snapped. "Clay should have been in charge all along."

"But, Josie!"

Josie gave the mayor a look that made him look away.

"All right, Georgina, find Clay and tell him to come to my office, but he's not going to be happy."

Josie wasn't too happy four hours later when she returned to the sheriff's office. Charles Malone was in critical condition. He had not yet regained consciousness, and the severity of his injuries would keep him out of work for many months. He had a broken hip, broken pelvis, both a broken leg and a broken arm, in addition to a long list of other broken parts, and those were not the serious injuries. He had internal injuries to his kidneys and was on the operating table.

The entire Rawlings town council, all five members, the mayor, three deputies, Georgina and Josie, were squashed into the small sheriff's office.

"Josie, you've got to do it," Mayor Aiden Roland insisted.

"I don't have to do anything," Josie snapped back. "There's no reason Deputy Tucker can't take the badge. Clay has been wearing a deputy badge for fourteen years, and there's no reason he can't step up to do the job!"

"I don't want to be sheriff," Clay Tucker said slowly as was his way. "I'm fine working under a sheriff, be it you, Josie, or anyone else."

"See," Aiden exclaimed. "You have to take the badge. It will only be until Sheriff Malone comes back!"

"Aiden, that it could be a year or more with his injuries, if ever! Call a special election instead of hiring someone. The job of sheriff should have been put on the election ballot years ago."

"We decided a long time ago that the job of sheriff should not be an elected official, but a person with the background and experience to do the job," interrupted Mrs. Freeman, the Victor Rawlings High School Principal and leader of the town council. "Even if we decided to do that, it doesn't change the immediate problem. We need a sheriff now, and you need to step up and do your duty, Josie."

"Why me," Josie demanded, but she automatically dropped her eyes when the older woman gave her a steely look she'd perfected on misbehaving teenage students over the last thirty years.

"Because sometimes we have to step up and do what's right," Mrs. Freeman said. "Don't we?"

Josie knew defeat when she was faced with it. "Yes, ma'am."

There was an almost audible sigh of relief in the room.

"But, only until you hire someone to replace him," Josie said stiffly. "I am not taking on the job of sheriff again for an undetermined period!"

"Good, that's settled. Thank you, Josie," Mrs. Freeman said, turning to leave the office with the rest of the council members following her.

Josie snagged the mayor by the sleeve and held him back. "Not so fast!"

"Now, Josie, you agreed," Aiden said, trying to inch his way closer to escaping.

"Temporarily," Josie snapped, "and you'd better get on the phone with the state people and get an extension on that inspection of the sheriff's department because I am not doing it. Got that?"

"I'll try," Aiden promised.

"No, you'll do it," Josie threatened as she slammed the door behind everyone, sat down in the leather chair, and spun around furiously. She was never going to get rid of this damn job!

Josie picked up two large, thick steaks on the way home, where she found Jack painting a second coat over the graffiti on the back of the garage.

"Is it going to cover this time? The black fluorescent spray paint keeps bleeding through," she said, holding up the grocery sack. "I brought steak."

"You took the job back, didn't you?" Jack asked.

"I had to. Mrs. Freeman ganged up on me and gave me the evil eye," Josie whined.

Jack chuckled. "I ran into her one morning jogging by her place. She's scarier now than when I was in school."

"If she hadn't shown up, I could have beat Aiden and the council down. Mrs. Freeman still makes me feel like I'm thirteen, and caught smoking in the bathroom."

Jack grinned. "Did she make you scrub the bathrooms or use the paddle on you?"

"I had to scrub the bathroom. I don't think she ever used that paddle on anyone or at least on anyone that has ever admitted it. Although it's still legal in most Oklahoma school districts. She keeps that thing front and center on her desk as a scare tactic, and it works." She shuddered.

Jack kissed her on the top of her head. "I'll give you an exemption for caving. Mrs. Freeman still scares me, too."

"I don't how long it's going to be this time, but I'm going to run roughshod over Aiden and the town council about hiring a new sheriff. I'm not going to let him get away with putting me off this time, and I'm going to be doing short days too. I've got a bunch of stuff I still want to get done around here."

"I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to do, too," Jack muttered, giving a tug to her tucked-in shirt and sliding his hands up inside. 

Sheriff Raintree and Deputy Clay Tucker stepped inside Riley's Tavern in their official capacity. Josie looked to Riley Connors and around the room where Jeanine, one of the servers, was sweeping up broken glass and setting things right.

"Damages," Josie asked.

"About sixteen broken glasses," Riley answered.

"Eighteen plus two pitchers," Jeanine corrected, walking past with a dustpan full of broken glass.

Riley gave a nod. "If she pays for the damages and you get her out of here, it's a wash. I'm not letting her come back in my place again. This is about the fourth time—"

"Sixth time," Jeanine corrected, coming back from the kitchen with a loaded tray.

Riley grinned at his favorite waitress and sometimes sleeping partner, and returned his attention to the Sheriff. "Like I said, I'm banning Jolene from coming in. Some of the guys may appreciate two women rolling on the floor fighting, scratching and pulling hair, but it's not my thing and I'm not paying for the entertainment value. Lorrie's got her in the backroom. She was already about half lit when she showed up. I refused to serve her liquor, so I think she's been spiking her soda with booze that she brought in with her."

"I can't check her purse without cause," Josie said.

"Get her out of here and make her pay the damages," Riley said.

Josie made a face. "Deputy Tucker, I'm going to let you handle this. I am not Jolene Watson's favorite person, and I don't want to set off another catfight. Explain to her she has to pay for the breakage, and she'll be real lucky if Shelley doesn't press charges. You'll have to confiscate her keys and drive her home. If she wants her car back, she'll have to pay for Riley's damages or I'll have it impounded."

"Don't you want to—" Clay started to ask.

"No, I don't," Josie cut him off. "I'm giving you the lead on this one. Do you have a problem with that, Deputy?"

"No, ma'am." Clay shook his head and went off to do his duty.

"She'll be all over him," Riley warned. "She's a crazy drunk!"

"I'm trying to force the issue, trying to make Clay step up a little more as a back-up," Josie said quietly as Clay went into the other room. "Are you and Jeanine still coming over for steaks tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yep. Jack has been bragging on the size of that grill for a week. We'll see if it and he live up to all the hype," Riley said, grinning.

Deputy Clay Tucker brought Jolene Watson through the tavern with a firm grip on her arm while doing a lot of holding up and guiding as he tried to get her outside. Jolene did not go quietly. She was yelling that she did not start the fight and that Doug told her he was through with his wife. The deputy was trying to keep her quiet, but a drunk, incensed woman was a battle. Jolene pulled the deputy to a halt when she saw Josie standing at the bar. She tried to weave her way in Josie's direction.

"Bitch! Slut! Cunt! You've been causing me trouble ever since you came back!" Jolene screamed before a shocked Deputy Tucker grabbed her again.

"Sorry, Sheriff, but I'm not driving her home. I'm taking her to the office," Deputy Tucker said, hauling the drunken woman out with a stronger grip this time. "There isn't any call for her to say things like that, and she can sleep it off in a cell."

"That went well!" Josie said, with a grin to Riley.

"You could charge her for that," Riley said mildly. "Isn't that verbal assault on an officer of the law?"

"True," Josie said, "but it wouldn't do any good. Jolene has been calling me names since the third grade. Some people never grow up. Tomorrow morning, she's going to have one hell of a headache, and she'll probably blame that on me, too. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon and don't forget to bring some of Sal's baked beans."

The trip back to the sheriff's office was loud and R-rated. Jolene spent a good portion of time calling Josie names. On top of that she got sick in the backseat, which made both Josie and Clay cringe because they knew who had to clean up the mess.

"To Jack's Monster Grill!" Jeanine toasted. Three beers and an iced tea clinked together as all four friends looked to the monstrous stainless-steel two-tank gas grill. It was big enough to cook food for twenty, but for this meal Jack had barbecued four short stacks of baby back ribs, a half dozen ears of corn and various other vegetables.

"We're going to have to plan a bigger party," Josie complained. "This wasn't even a test for that beast."

"Says you who didn't do the cooking," Jack teased.

"I could cook on it," Josie said, sensing a challenge.

"It's off limits," Jack proclaimed. "That grill is man territory. No females allowed."

Jeanine laughed. "Hold him to that, girlfriend. You'll never have to cook again—it's the gift that keeps on giving. Now come on and give me the grand tour. I'm stuffed, and I need to move around a bit."

Josie led Jeanine off to show her the progress on the upstairs rooms and the library. Jack tried to hand off another beer to Riley, but he shook his head.

"I've had my limit," Riley said. "Occupational hazard. I keep strict tabs on myself. After my last tour, I almost went into the bottle for good. It screwed my head up for quite a while. Have you got yours screwed back on straight yet?"

"Sometimes better than others," Jack admitted. "Josie helps. We both have our demons."

"Buck got tipsy one night and spilled his guts," Riley admitted. "That's a tough break on him; she is not bending."

"She spent a childhood believing he didn't care enough to find her. She's a tough sell. It's not my business and not my balls she wants to cut off, so I'm trying to stay out of it."

"I looked her up, Josie I mean, on the Internet. Reading between the lines, it looked to me like they left her out there to fend for herself. So she got herself out of that mess the hard way, and the agency tried to mop up afterwards and cover their asses."

"She doesn't give out too many details, but it was bad," Jack agreed. "She still has nightmares."

"Don't we all," Riley said bluntly, while pouring himself and Jack another glass of tea.

"Jack, there's plenty of room here," Josie said over breakfast. "Pick a room or several rooms and setup shop."

"I know, but I need to do a lot of research and I need to give myself time to think it through." Jack picked up her hand and kissed her palm. "I'm not moving out, Josie. I'm only setting up an office. I was hoping we'd have more time together, but now that you're back wearing a badge, that's out for a while longer. I'll get the old house site cleaned up and bring in a temporary office trailer. Once the utilities are re-connected, I can take on-line classes and spend some time trying to design again. It's been a long time. Although I never lost the desire, I have lost the skills or at least the most current program skills."

"I don't understand why you can't do that here," Josie said. "If you don't want to set up in the house, there's the entire second floor of the carriage house. That's over two thousand square feet. It's so big that Alex wants to turn it into a skate-boarding area."

"Pride," Jack said simply. "I don't want people to get the idea that I'm living off you."

"That's silly and chauvinistic!"

Jack grinned. "I know. I also promised Alex I wouldn't mooch off you."

"Machismo." She shook her head in disgust.

"Right down to my toes and you love it," Jack said, pulling her into his lap. "Complaints?"

"A few," Josie teased. "We can discuss them later. Is Jimmy sending a crew out to clean up your site?"

"No, he said he was up to his eyeballs in work. I didn't want to put it off, so I called a company in Franklin. They'll meet me there this morning with several commercial dump trucks, an excavator and a small dozer. They haven't seen the site yet, but I sent them photos, and they estimated it would take less than a day. What's on your agenda today?"

"Whatever comes up," Josie said and when he raised an eyebrow, she laughed and kissed him. "That too, macho-man—only much, much later!"

Later, Josie thought, as Georgina called and told her to get out to the Rawlings' place pronto. Thinking Jack or one of the workers was hurt on the site, she broke every speed limit getting there.

Parking behind the equipment, she saw Jack and another man standing at the edge of the yard. Workers were all gathered over by one of the barns.

"What's going on?" Josie demanded walking over to Jack.

"Josie, this is Glen Barlow from Barlow Excavation. Glen, this is Sheriff Josie Raintree," Jack made the introductions.

"What's wrong?"

"I hope you haven't eaten since breakfast," Jack said. He took her by the arm and led her over to a dump truck where an excavator had stopped with its bucket hovering over the truck. He pointed at the fill bucket, and Josie looked at it a minute before she realized what she was seeing.

She swallowed hard. "Is that a... ."

"Yeah, badly decomposed," Jack said. "As soon as we recognized it, we stopped."

"Oh God, not another one," Josie exclaimed.

"More than one," Jack said pointedly. "We walked back over to where the bucket picked up that load. Josie, it looks as if there might be more. I called Georgina to get you and I called Detective Webber. He's on his way. You two will have to decide what to do. We kept everyone away from the area and haven't touched anything."

"Good," Josie whispered. "Oh God." She fumbled for her phone and called Detective Webber to tell him she was onsite. She went back to her car to get crime tape out of her trunk and realized the affected area was too extensive. The only thing she could do was contain the area, and Jack had already done that.

"Tell the workers to stay exactly where they are and not move around until the state people get here," Josie ordered. "Detective Webber is calling the FBI Field Office in Oklahoma City. We can't touch anything until they get here."

County, state and FBI personnel arrived en masse in unmarked vehicles, SUVs, vans and coroner body transports.

Glen Barlow and Jack explained how they were there to clean up the site. Detective Webber explained about the body discovered after the fire. After that, they had little to do but stand back and let the state and federal experts assume responsibility for the crime site.

The FBI took over the sheriff's office for their use. They transported the workers from the site by van to the sheriff's office for questioning before releasing them. They sequestered Georgina's dispatch station and instructed her not to give out any information to anyone. Within hours though, someone was leaking information. The press began to arrive and sniff around the perplexed citizenry of Rawlings.

It was well after dark before the FBI Senior Agent and Team Leader, Bill Coulter, asked Jack and Josie to leave the site.

"How many," Josie asked of the FBI Agent.

He shook his head. "Go home, Sheriff Raintree.  This case is under our jurisdiction, we'll contact you later."

"Yes, I know," said Josie calmly, but firmly. "This is my town, Agent Coulter. You will keep me in the loop. I am ex-CIA, and I can handle it. Mr. Rawlings is a recently decommissioned Lieutenant Commander, Team Leader of a Navy SEAL unit. This is his property. Whatever you discover, I need to know. How many?"

The FBI Agent stared at them for five long seconds taking their measure. "Follow me." He took them to where the excavator had found the first remains. He gingerly stepped around marked off areas, not daring to disturb the forensic experts sifting through dirt very much as archeologists did, with precise care and respect. "So far we've found four distinct sets of remains. They seem to be lined up in a row as if in a cemetery, buried about three feet beneath the surface."