In the Ground (David Wolf Book 14)

present while we do so.”
McBeth and Koling exchanged a glance and shook their heads. Sexton stared at Wolf.
“So, where are we going to stay?” McBeth asked, gesturing to his men. “Casey lives down in Dredge, so he can go home. But what about the rest of us? The only other places we have to stay are up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.”
Detective Yates cleared his throat. “We have a relationship with a local hotel in Rocky Points. They’ll give you cut rates if you’re staying there because of an investigation we’re conducting.”
Koling barked a laugh. “As if we have money for that right now. Discount or not.”
McBeth looked at Wolf. “Things were tight enough here at the mine to begin with. I’m not sure that’s an option for us. We’ll probably head back up to Jackson if it’s all the same to you. The way I see it, we called you guys in because we found our man. Now you’re kicking us out so you can look for evidence? You think that we killed him? Sorry, but that doesn’t sound like something I’m interested in sticking around for. How about you guys?” He looked at his other three men. Koling and Sexton nodded agreement while Lizotte, the local new man, looked less sure how to act.
The truth was Wolf was hoping to get these men into the station right then and there for questioning, before they could come together and concoct a story. The other truth was he couldn’t make them stick around, or make them talk.
They started walking away.
“Whoa, whoa.” Wolf held up his hands, stopping them. “Listen. You’re absolutely right. That certainly doesn’t sound like a good deal for you guys. Listen, we’re trying to get to the bottom of what happened to your friend, and we need your help. How about this? We’d really like to talk to you guys at the station down in Rocky Points. I was going to say tonight, but I know you’ve had a long day and the last thing you guys want to do now is sit in a stuffy room and talk to us. How about we put you up at the motel in Rocky Points. It’s clean. Comfortable.” He noted the filth caked onto their skin and hair and the permeating scent of men who hadn’t cleaned themselves in days or weeks. “You guys can get a nice hot shower. Watch some television. And in the morning maybe we can chat down at the station.”
Koling looked at McBeth. So did Sexton. They’re leader clearly held the responsibility to make the decision now, and he looked to ponder it reluctantly.
“There’s a good pizza joint right next to the motel,” Rachette said. “Got craft beers.”
Wolf shrugged, watching McBeth. McBeth flicked his eyes to Wolf again, this time looking resigned. “What time tomorrow?”
“How’s nine a.m.?”
McBeth looked at the others in turn. They shrugged, and then Koling nodded.
“And then what?” McBeth asked. “When do we come back here? You can’t just put us up at the motel forever. I know you’re not going to pay for that.”
“Right now let’s not worry about that,” Wolf said. “We’ll talk about that tomorrow.”
McBeth looked at him, his face blank. “Okay, fine. So what do we do?”
“I’ll call now and reserve three rooms at the Edelweiss Inn in Rocky Points. You three go there and get some rest. We’ll see you tomorrow at nine so we can chat.”
They broke away without another word and walked out into the rain. The three original Jackson Mine men climbed into three full-sized Ford trucks, two blue, one black. McBeth’s was black.
The new guy, Lizotte, got into a Jeep CJ-7 with a hard top that looked less than weatherproof.
All four vehicles fired up their engines, and in a cacophony of sound moved out and up the road.
Wolf, Rachette, and Yates stood under the tent, watching the rain intensify.
“Dang,” Rachette said. “Didn’t know you were such a good salesman.”
Wolf shrugged. “Get on the phone with Tammy and set up those rooms.”
“And if there’s no availability?” Rachette asked.
“Then put them in the Super 7 north of town.”
“And if there’re no rooms there?”
Wolf looked at him. “Then find somewhere else or we don’t have anybody to talk to tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s get in my cruiser and warm up,” Yates said. “Do you guys use this?” He elbowed Rachette.
“What?”
Yates pulled out his key fob and pressed the center button. The lights on his SUV flashed and the engine roared to life. “There’s remote-start on these babies.”
Rachette fluttered his lips. “I invented remote-start.”
“So you haven’t seen it.”
“No.”
They walked to Yates’s humming SUV. Rachette sat in the front with Yates. Wolf sat in back and unzipped his rain jacket, savoring the heat already pumping out of the vents as it wicked the moisture from his flannel.
The dash clock read 5:05 p.m. Outside Lorber and his crew had the body loaded and the forensic van rolled out of the lot. There were still a half dozen deputy vehicles parked and idling, warming their inhabitants. Wolf rubbed his hands together in front of the rear vent.
"I'll tell you what,” Rachette said, turning to Yates, “if I wasn't married, I would be all over that chick."
“Who?” Yates asked.
“Deputy Cain.”
"If you weren't married, she would be all over a restraining order on you.”
“Says the guy who hasn’t been laid in—”
"Let’s watch the language,” Wolf said.
“Yes, sir.”
“Have you searched the trailers yet?”
"Not yet, sir,” Yates said. “We’ll get inside them once this blows over.”
Outside, the rain lashed sideways. A web of whitewater runoff laced between the vehicles and down the sides of the mountains in every direction.
“But they each reported having guns inside their trailers. I had them each show me where they were when they got their overnight bags.”
“How about Casey Lizotte?” Wolf asked.
“He says he does not own a firearm,” Yates said.
“And he lives down in Dredge?”
“Yes, sir.”
The rain began to slow, and just as quickly as the storm had hit, it was letting up. The last of the deluge swept down