Page 38 of Rocky Ride

“Up Black Wolf Mountain,” said Billy.

Perry held the door for Travis to limp through on his crutch. The entire store was a mass of dumped shelves, rolling beer cans and broken glass. You had to watch where you stepped.

“The money was in the safe in the office,” said Perry. “They didn’t try for the money. Only merchandise. Far as I can tell with only a quick look, they took beer, tequila and whiskey. I’ll have to do a complete inventory to see exactly what’s gone.”

“You may have to do that anyway for insurance purposes,” said Billy.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just such a time-consuming pain in the ass.”

“Cameras?” asked Travis.

“Yes,” said Perry. “Come into the office and we can take a look and see what the cameras saw.”

The store owner sat down at his desk and typed on his keyboard. He pulled up the screen for the indoor cameras and pointed. “Here they are breaking the glass in the bathroom window at two forty-five.”

“You have a camera in the bathroom?”

He shrugged. “People steal stuff.”

Not much to see as the thieves squished through the bathroom window, but once the boys were in the main part of the large store, the three of them were clearly visible. Masks on. Torn jeans. Leather jackets.

“Look like punks,” said Billy.

The parking lot cam showed no vehicles but if the boys were carrying cases of beer, they couldn’t have run too far on foot.

“You mind if we take the videos and copy them?” asked Billy. “You’ll get them back.”

“Sure. That’s no problem for me.”

“You notice anybody hanging around your store lately youweren’t familiar with?” asked Travis.

“Wasn’t thinking about it until now,” said Perry. “Give me a couple of hours to ponder that or I could run through tapes from the past week and see if the same faces are coming up.”

“That would be helpful,” said Billy. “Since they didn’t bother with the safe, I have to rule out druggies looking for money. Sounds more like kids doing the damage.”

“Will you have a crew of techs coming in?” asked Perry. “I’m not familiar with what the local sheriff’s office does in these cases.”

“We have no budget for forensics,” said Travis. “But our fingerprint guy will come as soon as Billy gets him out of bed on his day off.”

Perry laughed. “Yeah, there’s that.”

Kings Court. Coyote Creek.

I drove south to Coyote Creek and Sunday told me she’d never been to this part of Montana before. Cruising slowly along Kings Court I looked for houses with cams mounted outside. Ones that were pointed in the direction of the Ellington house.

“There’s one,” said Sunday. “Straight across the street. That cam might have recorded the killer’s vehicle.”

“Yep. Let’s ask.” I pulled into the driveway and parked, and Sunday and I walked up to the front door.

Holding up my badge, I said, “Sheriff’s office, sir. I noticed you had a security cam mounted outside and I wondered if I could have a look at your recent videos.”

“What are you looking for, son?”

“Searching for any record of vehicles coming in and out of the Ellington’s driveway, sir. Could you help me with that?”

“Of course, I’d be pleased to help your office with the investigation. My wife and I were horrified when we heard what happened to Sandra. This is supposedly the safest street inCoyote Creek with all the security systems and cameras we have installed. I’m Frank Wendover.” He stuck out his hand.

“Deputy Harlan Bristol, sir.” I shook his hand. “Were you and your wife friends with the Ellingtons?”

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