Page 71 of Home Town Knight

“I saw a similar coin in Dawson Witkins’ office last year at Paradise Ranch,” Owen said. “I assume it went into evidence with the feds, since they conducted the search and prosecuted the cases against the cult leaders.”

River sat on the edge of his desk. “I’ll work the resources I have in the federal government. Find out what they know about it. Those coins are manufactured somewhere. Distributed. I just put out feelers to Genevieve’s source to see if he’ll let me play in his sandbox, see what we can drum up when we pool our talents.”

“You know how to reach Cerberus?” I asked. “I don’t even know that. He always contacts me, not the other way around.”

“Don’t worry your pretty head about it.” River winked, which I had no doubt was for Owen’s benefit. Predictably, Owen grumbled and rested his hand on my lower back.

“Just be careful,” I said. “We have no idea who’s on Stillwater’s payroll.”

“I’m always careful. I’m more concerned about that killer who came after you at Last Refuge. Sheriff, any new leads to the suspect in your murder investigation?”

“Yeah, about that.” Owen’s thumb rubbed gentle circles against my hip. “There’s another complication. Something I just learned.” He sent a file to River, who opened it on his large monitor display. It was a map of Hart County. “This isthe location data we got from Ace Tucker’s cell carrier for the two days before he died.”

“The killer took his phone, right?” I asked. Otherwise, I assumed Owen would’ve gotten this from the phone itself. Cops had ways of unlocking devices. Anyone who believed his phone to be an impenetrable fortress was kidding himself. Considering the confidential data I kept on mine, it was something I thought about a lot.

Of course, River had gotten past my cybersecurity measures too, but he was on another level. And not so concerned with using legal means.

“It’s likely that the killer took it, yes,” Owen said. “The phone hasn’t pinged any towers since, so he likely destroyed it. That’s why we got the location data from Tucker’s cell carrier. We use software to analyze the data and create these maps for use in our investigation.” He pointed on the map. “Here’s where Tucker was the first day he and his buddies were out hunting. This is public land. They shouldn’t have been hunting there, especially since they didn’t have a proper license for elk. Anyhow, we know that the next morning, Tucker and Ellis split up from their friends. Here’s where Tucker went.”

Owen clicked to another map.

“This whole area is private property. Once again, they were hunting where they weren’t supposed to.”

“Can you pinpoint where exactly they went?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no. The data shows Tucker driving along this road. But then there’s nothing. He disappeared, which means Tucker went into airplane mode or turned off his phone. So we can’t tell where they ended up.”

No wonder Owen was frustrated.

“What about Ellis’s phone?” River asked.

“Ellis wouldn’t consent to us pulling the data from his device, but we got a warrant to request his location historyfrom his carrier. It shows Ellis driving along that same road, then disappearing around the same time that Tucker did. Theybothturned off their phones. Didn’t turn them back on until they returned to the Alpine Hotel later that afternoon.”

“So it was deliberate,” I said. “They wanted to hide where they were going. They knew it was more problematic than just hunting without a license on public land.”

“Plenty of criminals, even unsophisticated ones, know how police can track cell phones. The bad guys make it a lot more difficult for us when they turn those little spy devices off.”

River chuckled. “No kidding. It’s a pain in the ass.”

I shifted my weight, studying the map on the screen. “But even if they turned off their phones, at least you’ve narrowed down the area they were in.”

“But here’s the extra complication Ireallydidn’t need. In this part of the county where Tucker and Ellis were hunting, a lot of the land is owned by Jud Hale. He’s a former state senator who’s been giving me trouble about this investigation.Andwho’s expressed interest in challenging me for sheriff in the next election.”

River looked thoughtful, and I probably had a similar expression. Trying to puzzle out what this could mean.Jud Hale. I definitely knew that name. “You think Ellis and Tucker might’ve been hunting on Hale’s land?” I asked. “That’s where Tucker found the cash?”

Owen’s theory had been that the killer wanted revenge for the theft, and possibly to stop Tucker from going back for more. Which could make Hale a suspect if the hunters had stolen from him.

“That’s where my mind went as soon as I saw this.” Owen’s thumbs worked on his phone, and then he turned the device to me. “Recognize this man?”

It was a photo of a man in a cowboy hat, but he didn’twear it as well as Owen. Mr. Hale was in his forties, dressed in upscale Western clothes with a smug grin. “I remember him. I’ve probably interviewed him a time or two in Denver because of his job in the legislature. But he’s not the shooter who killed Ace Tucker.”

“You’re sure?”

“Completely. The faces are nothing alike. If it had been Hale, I would’ve recognized him, even if I couldn’t remember from where. I didn’t realize he was in Hartley and gunning for your job.”

“So it seems. At least we know he’s not the killer.” Owen exhaled. I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or relieved. “But I have no idea what role Hale could play in this. And I have to be extremely careful asking questions or trying for a warrant to search Hale’s land holdings. For one, my evidence doesn’t directly link Tucker and Ellis to his land. But even more, Hale will claim I’m harassing him. Retaliating and trying to make him look bad for wanting to run against me.”

“I can dig more into Hale,” River said. “Find out what dirt he’s hiding.”

---