Chapter 46 Part 46
Asher
It was 4 p.m. when the sheriff’s cruiser parked outside of Asher’s house. He took a deep breath and walked out of the shed toward the car. Dakota had returned an hour earlier, and now his ears pricked, a growl escaping from his throat.
“Sheriff,” Asher said. “Easy, Dakota.”
“I need to ask you some questions, Asher.”
The Sheriff was in his mid-50s, had ruddy brown hair, brown eyes, and still looked fit for his age. He shaved every single day, combed his hair in a side parting, and you could almost see your own reflection in his shoes.
“You want some coffee while you ask me these questions?”
“That sounds good. I heard we might get more snow over the weekend,” Sheriff Bill Connely said.
Asher led the Sheriff into his house and through to the kitchen. He filled the stovetop kettle and turned the gas on. The coffee machine would take too long for what Asher assumed would be a short conversation.
The two men were silent in the kitchen as they waited for the water to boil, and once it did, Asher made them each a cup of coffee, and sat down at the kitchen table.
“I know Finn told you about the man we found down at the riverbank,” Bill said.
Asher nodded. “Yeah, he did.”
“It seems like this man, Malcolm Walters, came out to Two Bear Meadow looking for Maggie,” he said.
“I’m aware.”
“You are?”
“I overheard him in town talking to someone named Sean. He said he’d found Maggie, knew where she lived, and that he would have some fun with her before delivering her to this Sean person,” Asher said.
“What did you do after you heard that conversation?”
“I stopped at Maggie’s house, told her to pack her stuff, then I moved her and Melody into my house. My family agreed that the ranch was the safest place for them.”
Bill rubbed his goatee and seemed to be thinking. “Hmm. What happened after that?”
“Nothing, Sheriff. We thought he might come to the ranch asking for Maggie, but he never did. I thought he might have left town when he found her house empty,” Asher said.
“You don’t think that creates a motive for murder?”
“Murder? I take it Dr. Hammond finished the autopsy on him.”
“Yes, he did. Mr. Walters suffered a severe blow to the head, and then his windpipe was crushed, almost like someone gripped him in a chokehold,” Bill said.
“I won’t lie and say I’m sorry to hear that. The world is probably better off with that man dead.”
Bill gave Asher a sharp look, and frowned. “Now why would you say that, Asher? What did this man want with Maggie? Who is Sean?”
“Any man that tells another man he’s going to have some fun with a woman but waits until night to go to her house sounds like a predator to me. I don’t know what he wanted with Maggie, and I don’t know who Sean is.”
“Does Maggie know Malcolm Walters?”
“No, Sheriff, when I described the man to her, she had no idea who I was talking about, or why he was looking for her. That’s why we all agreed that if he wanted to speak to her, it would be here on the ranch.”
Bill shifted on his seat. “Yeah, I can see how you thought that. The pressing question, however, is why he wanted Maggie, and where he wanted to take her.”
“Your guess is as good as mine, Sheriff,” Asher said, his face void of any emotion. “Is there a reason you’re asking me all these questions?”
“Well, you see now, Lorelei pointed this man to the Lansing house where Maggie lived, and she might have implied that you were a tad sensitive when it came to the topic of Maggie, and now this man is dead.”
“Of course Lorelei told him where she lived. Listen, Sheriff, let me clear something up real quick for you. Lorelei cheated on me, and got engaged to Winchester, while I was still in Afghanistan. I met Maggie, we quickly fell in love, and last week, we got engaged. Lorelei wasn’t particularly happy to hear that. She’s mad at me for some reason, and she got it into her head that Maggie’s just using me. That’s not true at all. I love Maggie; my whole family loves Maggie, and she loves us back.”
“What exactly are you trying to say, Asher?” Bill looked confused, and Asher sighed.
“My point is, you shouldn’t believe everything Lorelei tells you. I’m not sensitive when it comes to Maggie. However, I did tell Lorelei off for talking about Maggie behind her back.”
“Well, she didn’t imply that Maggie killed the man.” Bill looked almost flustered. Lorelei had been Two Bear Meadow’s darling almost from birth.
“So your theory is that I killed him?”
“There is no theory here, Asher. It was just a conversation and some questions. Finn mentioned the strange man to me last Sunday. Said he might make some trouble at the ranch. I’m just trying to connect the dots here.”
“Good luck with that, Sheriff, but I’ll stick with my original assessment. The world is better off with him dead.”
“Saying things like that might make some people think twice about your involvement,” Bill said.
“Well, thank you for the advice, Sheriff. I have to get back to work.”
Asher stood on the porch and watched as Bill Connely drove away from his house. His rigid stance relaxed, and he exhaled a shaky breath. Once the car rounded the corner, Asher walked back inside the house.
He was sitting in the kitchen again when Maggie returned home, and he smiled at her as he took Melody. He kissed her cheeks and made her giggle. His heart felt lighter at that moment. Melody and Maggie had a way of doing that.
“Asher, are you okay?” Maggie was looking worriedly at him.
“I’m fine, I promise. Everything will be fine.”
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Sean
Hundreds of miles away, Sean Ricard answered the call from the unknown number. His fist clenched tightly at the news of Malcolm’s death. Malcolm had been his half-brother, and his murder stirred unthinkable anger in him.