greet her. They went inside and had coffee in the kitchen.
“Ray’s still in bed,” Clifton said to Kate. “He’s not eating, and spends a lot of time crying. He’s finding it hard to accept that Tanya’s…gone.”
“I’m sorry, Clifton. I hope that time deadens the pain a little for him. He’s young, so I’m sure that he’ll find a way to get past it and move on. We have to accommodate the worst as well as the best life throws at us.”
“You’re right, Kate. No one said it was easy. What can I do for you?”
“I just needed to run through it again with Ray from A to Z. But I can come back if now is a bad time.”
“I’m okay,” Ray said, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “I just want whoever did that to Tanya to be caught. I hate myself. If I’d not been so fucking stupid, she would still be alive.”
“If is the biggest word I know, Ray,” Kate said. “If only and what if are the beginning of phrases I hear a lot. Bottom line is, shit happens, and all we can hope to do is clear it up. You can never go back and change a damn thing, so however hard it seems at this moment in time, you have to go forward. And to do that we need to be confidant that you have exactly what happened ingrained on your mind. If they catch the murderer, then from a legal point of view it will be settled. But if you should end up in court as a witness or charged with the crime, then you cannot afford to alter a word of what happened. Change one thing and you would lose all credibility.”
Ray liked Kate’s no-nonsense take on it, although he knew that if he lived to be a hundred he would always feel totally responsible for what had happened to Tanya.
It was as if Kate could read his mind. “And you are not to blame for someone else’s actions, Ray. Whoever took Tanya’s life is wholly guilty.”
Kate ran through the events of that fateful evening again, and covered some of the finer points. It was midday when she left the house. Logan was outside his room, sitting on a chair and holding a mug that she knew would contain coffee. She walked across to him, and he stood up to greet her.
“Hi, Logan,” Kate said.
Logan smiled. “Hi back at ya, Kate. You on top of this case now?”
“With the pull tab you found, it’s looking good for Ray. What worries me is that we may have a sex fiend in our midst.”
“You have,” Logan said. “I need some more caffeine. You want some?”
Kate hesitated.
“It’s a coffee I’m offering you, not a proposal of marriage,” Logan said.
Kate chuckled and nodded her head. “Okay, Logan, a coffee would be good. And what exactly happened last night? I hear rumors that you got in a brawl with your new buddy, Carl Purvis.”
Logan went for the coffee. Came back out and handed her the steaming mug. “He, his brother and another moron stopped me on the highway,” he said. “I got the feeling it wasn’t to discuss the weather, and I was right. I confiscated their baseball bats and called the sheriff.”
“Two of them are in hospital over in Colorado Springs.”
“I thought I’d let them live to fight another day.”
“Who are you, Logan?”
“Just a guy with rambling fever.”
“Sounds an out of the ordinary way to live your life.”
“Suits me,” Logan said. “I’ve spent too much of my life in one place. Now I go where I want, when I want. I’ve got a severe case of wanderlust.”
“Like a rolling stone, eh?”
Logan nodded, “Exactly.”
“Where are you heading next, when you leave the Creek?”
“Haven’t thought about it. Probably south to warmer climes. Maybe southern Arizona. And I’ll be heading out within the hour.”
Kate’s expression hardened. “That would complicate this case,” she said. “You’re involved. You found evidence and will probably be required as a witness for the defense.”
“Not my problem,”
“Ray’s still in bed,” Clifton said to Kate. “He’s not eating, and spends a lot of time crying. He’s finding it hard to accept that Tanya’s…gone.”
“I’m sorry, Clifton. I hope that time deadens the pain a little for him. He’s young, so I’m sure that he’ll find a way to get past it and move on. We have to accommodate the worst as well as the best life throws at us.”
“You’re right, Kate. No one said it was easy. What can I do for you?”
“I just needed to run through it again with Ray from A to Z. But I can come back if now is a bad time.”
“I’m okay,” Ray said, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “I just want whoever did that to Tanya to be caught. I hate myself. If I’d not been so fucking stupid, she would still be alive.”
“If is the biggest word I know, Ray,” Kate said. “If only and what if are the beginning of phrases I hear a lot. Bottom line is, shit happens, and all we can hope to do is clear it up. You can never go back and change a damn thing, so however hard it seems at this moment in time, you have to go forward. And to do that we need to be confidant that you have exactly what happened ingrained on your mind. If they catch the murderer, then from a legal point of view it will be settled. But if you should end up in court as a witness or charged with the crime, then you cannot afford to alter a word of what happened. Change one thing and you would lose all credibility.”
Ray liked Kate’s no-nonsense take on it, although he knew that if he lived to be a hundred he would always feel totally responsible for what had happened to Tanya.
It was as if Kate could read his mind. “And you are not to blame for someone else’s actions, Ray. Whoever took Tanya’s life is wholly guilty.”
Kate ran through the events of that fateful evening again, and covered some of the finer points. It was midday when she left the house. Logan was outside his room, sitting on a chair and holding a mug that she knew would contain coffee. She walked across to him, and he stood up to greet her.
“Hi, Logan,” Kate said.
Logan smiled. “Hi back at ya, Kate. You on top of this case now?”
“With the pull tab you found, it’s looking good for Ray. What worries me is that we may have a sex fiend in our midst.”
“You have,” Logan said. “I need some more caffeine. You want some?”
Kate hesitated.
“It’s a coffee I’m offering you, not a proposal of marriage,” Logan said.
Kate chuckled and nodded her head. “Okay, Logan, a coffee would be good. And what exactly happened last night? I hear rumors that you got in a brawl with your new buddy, Carl Purvis.”
Logan went for the coffee. Came back out and handed her the steaming mug. “He, his brother and another moron stopped me on the highway,” he said. “I got the feeling it wasn’t to discuss the weather, and I was right. I confiscated their baseball bats and called the sheriff.”
“Two of them are in hospital over in Colorado Springs.”
“I thought I’d let them live to fight another day.”
“Who are you, Logan?”
“Just a guy with rambling fever.”
“Sounds an out of the ordinary way to live your life.”
“Suits me,” Logan said. “I’ve spent too much of my life in one place. Now I go where I want, when I want. I’ve got a severe case of wanderlust.”
“Like a rolling stone, eh?”
Logan nodded, “Exactly.”
“Where are you heading next, when you leave the Creek?”
“Haven’t thought about it. Probably south to warmer climes. Maybe southern Arizona. And I’ll be heading out within the hour.”
Kate’s expression hardened. “That would complicate this case,” she said. “You’re involved. You found evidence and will probably be required as a witness for the defense.”
“Not my problem,”
Similar Books
