Caruso 01 - Boom Town (27 page)

It didn’t help that Tony knew this, but it gave the term ‘company town’ a whole new meaning.

Tony drifted away from Humphrey. Left him there in his pain as the sheriff’s deputies shuffled through securing the area.

On the way back to his condo, Tony slowed the truck when he saw a man dragging himself alongside the road. He slid past the man and then pulled over. Tony almost didn’t recognize him as he got out of the truck and stepped toward the guy.

Dressed in a suit and tie, no beard, was Don Sanders.

Glancing up from the ground, his face covered with fresh shaving cuts, Don said, “A little help here.” He rolled to his butt.

“Truck went off the road a ways back. Broke my leg.”

Tony helped him up and into the back of the truck, laying him onto the bed, while Panzer whined next to him.

“You take care of him, Panzer.”

Then Tony drove Don to the emergency room and dropped him off, before returning to the condo to see the other Dawn.

214

TREVOR SCOTT

By the time Tony got back to the condo, he didn’t know what he’d find there. There was only one light on, a night light over the stove. He went to the refrigerator and reached for a beer. There was a note on the last India Pale Ale. It read: “I hope you’re up for a few more chapters.”

Tony laughed as he opened the bottle. Then he pulled out some more ice and set it against his jaw. The swelling had gone down, but he didn’t want to look at it, even though he knew it was only bruised, not broken.

When he turned around, Dawn Sanders was standing in the gloom of the living room. She was wearing one of his sleeve-less T-shirts and nothing else. She stepped closer and quickened her pace when she saw his face.

“What happened?” she said.

“Had a little accident.”

“That’s not what I heard,” she said. She took the ice from him and gently set it against a point he didn’t even know hurt. Almost instantly the pain started to seep away.

“What did you hear?”

“That you kicked the crap out of some people again. I say we should go into business. Did you give them my card?”

“Right after I told them to have a nice day.”

She laughed, jamming the ice into his bruise, which made him wince in pain.

BOOM TOWN 215

Tony quickly told her his version of what had happened, mentioning her brother would need a ride back to his place from the hospital.

“It’ll take them a while to cast his leg,” she said, leading him back toward the bedroom. “Let’s see if we can’t move some of your blood around in your body from the top to about mid-section.”

How in the hell could he ever complain about that?

It had been a long evening. Later, Tony and Dawn had gone to the hospital to pick up her brother. His leg would take a good six weeks to heal. But, crawling along the side of the slippery road, his broken leg dragging behind him, Don had made up his mind to hold onto his land. He had even thought about getting another horse. Maybe two.

In the morning, Dawn Sanders and Tony were sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. Tony checked his e-mail on his laptop. There was one message from a woman in Coos Bay who wanted to hire him to find her husband. He had been missing for a couple of days. He fired back a reply saying if he didn’t show up in a few days, she could give him a call. He gave her his cell phone number and hit send.

“I suppose you’ll be going soon,” Dawn said.

“This? I don’t think so. Husband just decides to vanish. Wife says they weren’t fighting. The most stable guy in the world.

Probably out drinking beer with Frank Peroni. Besides, I have my photos showing at the Cascade Gallery downtown in a couple of days. I can’t disappoint my public. I think I’ll stick around here for a while. I think we have a lot more to learn.”

With that she came over to him and straddled his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him on the lips and then along the edge of his good jaw.

He knew it would be hard to leave Central Oregon.

216

TREVOR SCOTT

It took a lot of explaining over the next few days to convince Sheriff Green that everything was as Tony said it was. The two Portland detectives said he had ambushed them and tried their worst to get out of the mess they were in. Green wasn’t buying that. Especially after Captain Degaul had called from Portland, saying the detectives had been under investigation by internal affairs.

The two Einstein twins couldn’t give each other up fast enough. Seems they were both poking around Mrs. Ellison’s place, which was not difficult to understand. Same with Larry Gibson. Mrs. Ellison had copped for a lawyer faster than a Columbian drug lord. She had some hotshot from Atlanta on speed dial. She could even get off.

Tony would end up testifying on Cliff Humphrey’s behalf. He had shot second, trying to protect Tony. That’s his story and he was sticking with it.

Now, standing in the Cascades Gallery in downtown Bend, Tony sipped a glass of merlot as he watched people go from photo to photo, their appreciation evident to him.

“They’re beautiful, Tony,” Dawn said, moving closer to him and wrapping her arm around his waist.

“I think they’re all your friends.” Tony said. “You know everyone in town?”

“Lived here all my life.”

BOOM TOWN 217

Tony’s cell phone rang. He considered turning it off, but instead he answered it.

“Tony Caruso,” he said into the phone.

“The famous private dick?”

“Hey, Uncle Bruno. What’s up?” Tony shrugged to Dawn.

“Your aunt is making canoli. Your favorite.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“All ya had to say was canoli, Uncle Bruno. I’ll come to Duluth.”

“That’s a good boy, Tony.”

“Just a second.” Tony held his hand over the phone and turned to Dawn. “You ever been to Minnesota in the winter?”

“No,” Dawn said.

“How would you like a road trip? My aunt is the best Italian cook.”

“I’d love to.”

Tony returned to the phone. “Bruno. Is it all right if I bring a friend.”

“That crazy black beast of yours?”

“Two friends,” Tony said. “Panzer and a woman I met here in Bend.”

There was silence on the other end. Finally, Bruno said, “Damn right, Tony. Your aunt will be so glad to hear that.”

“Great. See ya in a few days.”

Tony clicked off the phone and put his arm around Dawn.

Together they watched the patrons of Bend admire the faces of the world.