Page 39 of Dangerous Secrets
“Why was he forced toresign?”Walker asked.
“He mismanaged thesheriff’s department, and when it eventually came to light, he losthis job and holed up in that cabin.No one saw him for months.Idon’t know if that was because he was ashamed or pissed.Morelikely the latter.It’s been four years since ithappened.”
“Does he have family?Awife and kids?”she asked.
“As far as I know, henever married.”
Walker frowned.“Wait a minute, wasn’the related to Jerod Fetterly?”
“Yeah, Fetterly was hissister’s son.The sister was a single mom and died of an overdosewhen Jerod was a teenager.Grafton took him in.”
“Fetterly was a fuckingbully,” Walker muttered.
“He always had it out forus,” Sawyer agreed.“Seemed like we couldn’t drive anywhere withouthim pulling over one or the other of us just to be adick.”
“Wasn’t he the officer whoarrested you after that fight with Vance Norris?”Delaney askedWalker, tilting her head as she tried to recall the details.“WhenVance and those two other guys jumped you?”
Walker nodded.“Yeah, they thoughtthey’d beat the crap out of me.That’s when I knocked Vance’s teethout.I think Fetterly set that up.”
“Set up the fight?Whatmakes you think that?”Sawyer interjected.
“When Fetterly showed up,Norris said something about him taking long enough.I don’t thinkanyone had called the fight into dispatch, but Fetterly knew it washappening.He was looking for a reason to arrest me.You saidbefore he was dead.What happened to him?”
“After your trial, it cameout he’d been coercing women to have sex with him in his patrolcar.”Sawyer’s jaw tightened before he went on.“The fucker wasthreatening them.Told the women if they didn’t do what he wanted,he’d take them in on prostitution charges.Seems he was pretty goodat finding women who were vulnerable and going through a toughtime.”
Delaney considered what he’d said.“I’d heard about that, but I don’t remember the case going totrial.”
“He didn’t,” Sawyer said.“Every one of those women recanted.”
“Someone got to them,”Walker stated.
“I’m not arguing with you.Upshot?Fetterly kept his job and probably kept doing the sameshit.”
“How’d he end up dead?”Walker asked.
Sawyer filled in the gaps.“At thetime, Grafton’s leadership was imploding and citizen complaints ofexcessive use of force and abuse of authority against Fetterly wereuncovered.Grafton had made sure those claims never saw the lightof day.Once the corruption started catching up to him, Graftongave Fetterly the choice of retiring and keeping his benefits orgoing through the disciplinary process, which might not’ve gonewell for him.He chose the former.”
“That’s fucking corrupt,but it doesn’t explain him being dead.”
Delaney looked up as the first dropsof rain began falling.
“Getting to it,” Sawyertold his brother.“Fetterly was facing a civil lawsuit and negativereports were popping up in the newspaper.About that time, he wentdispersed camping in the back country of Yosemite where a heavythunderstorm brought a flash flood through a canyon.The remnantsof his camp were discovered washed down the river, his tent wasdownstream tangled in tree roots.His truck was parked at thetrailhead and there was no sign of him.It’s assumed hedrowned.”
“Was his bodyrecovered?”
“No.”
“You buying that?”Walkerasked.“Seems too convenient.”
“I’ll admit I wasskeptical.But it’s been several years and he hasn’t been seen inall that time.The farther we get from when it happened, the lesslikely he’s alive.”
The fresh scent of rain permeated theair as fat drops spattered the walkway.
The radio hanging over Sawyer’sshoulder buzzed.He listened for a moment, then nodded to her andWalker.“Gotta go.You kids stay out of trouble.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As Sawyer strode toward his cruiser,Walker grabbed Delaney’s hand.“Let’s get out of this before we’resoaked.”Even as he said the words the sky opened and rain beganpelting down.A crack of thunder echoed across the valley, and hepulled her around the corner and through the door to Three SistersBakery.
