Caruso 01 - Boom Town Page 11

  “Right.”

  “You got something on your mind there, Tony? You don’t mind if I call you Tony?” the sheriff said.

  “Tony is fine.”

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “I just came from the court house,” he said. “Doing a little research. What do you know about Cliff Humphrey and the destination resort he wants to build west of town?”

  Before the sheriff could answer, the waitress brought him a huge club sandwich cut in triangles and held together with tooth-picks. She asked if Tony was going to order and he said no, just the coffee.

  “You mind if I eat while I talk?” the sheriff said.

  “Go for it.”

  Sheriff Green picked up a triangle and shoved a good portion of it into his mouth. When he was almost done chewing, he said,

  “That’s who you’re working for?”

  Tony didn’t say a word or show him anything non-verbally.

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  Maybe that was a mistake.

  “Humphrey might have a little problem this time around,” the sheriff said. “Might have bit off more than he can chew.” He laughed and a piece of bread flew out his mouth onto the table. “I should talk.”

  “You don’t think the county will issue him a land use permit?”

  He shook his head. He’d just taken another bite and his mouth was really full now. When he finally had it down his throat, he said, “Don’t see how they can. He still hasn’t gained access and I don’t think the water board will approve it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Have you seen the plans?”

  “No.”

  “The amount of water they’d require is too great for our twenty-year plan. That’s a lot of green space to keep green. A long distance to pump it up hill, too. That’s not to mention the hold out denying him right of way. Although he may have softened some after that robbery on his place a few weeks back.”

  “Robbery?”

  “Yeah,” the sheriff put a small chunk of sandwich into his mouth, chewed on it with one side while he spoke out the other.

  “Damn near took everything he owned. Someone pulled a moving van right up to the front door. He’s not the only one. We’ve been having a rash of them lately. Driving me nuts. Real professional job. No breaking. Just entering.”

  Now that got Tony thinking. Maybe Cliff Humphrey was playing hardball with one of the last obstacles to his resort.

  “Who’s the holdout?”

  “Don Sanders.”

  “The acupuncturist?”

  “No, D.O.N.” the sheriff said. “It’s her brother.”

  Now he knew this town was smaller than he had thought. He left the sheriff to finish off his sandwich and newspaper.

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  CHAPTER 18

  It was nearly one o’clock by the time Tony got back to his truck to get Panzer and then walk the four blocks from downtown Bend to Dawn Sanders’ acupuncture clinic. The weather was nice. Not a cloud in the sky. The forecaster had been right. It was close to sixty.

  Telling Panzer to sit and wait, Tony walked right into the clinic this time through a screen door without knocking.

  A young woman with straight blonde hair to her waist stood behind a small glass-front counter that contained herbal reme-dies, Chinese serenity balls and tea.

  “Nice dog,” she said.

  “Thanks,” Tony said, glancing toward the door.

  “I have an Australian Shepard. You don’t see many Giant Schnauzers. Mostly the mini variety.”

  “You’re absolutely correct. Most people think I either gave him growth hormone as a pup, or he grew up next to a toxic waste dump.”

  She giggled. “You’re that Italian guy Dawn told me about.”

  “Guilty. Is she in?”

  “Afraid not. It was just too nice out. She brought her lunch down to the river. You can catch her there.”

  “Thanks,” Tony said on his way to the door. He stopped and said, “I’d like to see that Aussie of yours someday.”

  Laughing again, she said, “And I’d like to show you.”

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  “Ciao.”

  Once outside, he whisked his dog away from the clinic toward the river.

  When he got down to the Deschutes River, he found Dawn feeding the last of her sandwich to a gaggle of geese. She was wearing long spandex pants with running shoes, and an oversized maroon sweatshirt with the sleeves shoved up to her elbows. She didn’t see him until he stopped a few feet from her.

  She turned, and with surprise said, “Tony. Are you looking for me? Or is this just some cosmic coincidence?”

  He smiled. “Your receptionist said I could find you here.”

  She gazed at the geese. “I know I shouldn’t do it,” she said.

  “They should have flown south by now. But everyone fattens them with bread, so they don’t want to leave. Many stay all winter now.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “How’s your shoulder?” she said.

  He glanced down at his right arm. “Is nothing sacred in this town?”

  “They broadcast that stuff over open frequencies,” she said.

  “But I have friends at the hospital. We don’t get many shootings around here. Except for domestics.”

  “Like Dan and Barb Humphrey?”

  She hesitated. “Yeah.”

  They started walking along the river toward the foot bridge that crossed into an older westside neighborhood. Panzer ran around the groomed edge of the river, keeping his distance from the geese. The dog had learned his lesson in Seattle a while back, getting a peck on the nose.

  “Who would want to shoot you, Tony?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You have something you want to ask me,” she said. “I can tell.”

  “Are you a psychic as well as an acupuncturist and a massage therapist?”

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  She stopped and looked at him seriously. “Actually, yes. To a certain degree. I have feelings, but they’re not very clear. For instance, last night I was sitting around the house and felt a strange chill. I had an intuition that something bad was about to happen. Then this morning I find out that you were shot. Weird, ha?”

  He wasn’t a real skeptic when it came to the sixth sense. If the experts were correct, and people only used a tenth of their brain, then it stood to reason that some people might actually be able to use another part of it for more than cranial filling.

  “You didn’t happen to see who pulled the trigger?”

  Unexpectedly, she put her arm through his, like they were high school sweethearts, and pulled him along toward the bridge. They went out onto the middle of the wooden walking bridge, leaned against the rails, and gazed back at Mirror Pond, an elongated part of the river that slowly passed Bend’s downtown and reflect-ed the city lights at night.

  Tony had a feeling about Dawn Sanders, thinking that somehow they would become friends, if not more. She was the kind of person who enjoyed each breath she took, savoring the moment.

  It was as if tomorrow was never certain, so don’t waste today.

  “Well? What are you trying to tell me?” she asked.

  “I was wondering about your brother, Don.”

  She narrowed her brows, confused. “What about him?”

  “I hear he’s the only thing standing in Cliff Humphrey’s way to building his destination resort.”

  She turned away from him and gazed down into the water flow-ing by. “Don won’t budge on that.”

  “You think Humphrey had anything to do with Don’s house getting broken into?”

  She turned back quickly. “That’s what I told Don. But he wasn’t sure.”

  “Did Don ever go to any of Dan and Barb’s wild Jacuzzi parties?”

  She laughed so hard Tony thought she’d fall off the bridge.

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  When she f
inally settled down, she said, “You’ve never met my brother, have you?”

  “No.”

  “Go talk to Don,” she said. “He’s working down in one of the southeast subdivisions. Paulina Ridge. I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk with you.”

  He wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or not. But he agreed.

  As he was about to leave, he thought of one more thing.

  “How close are you with Melanie?” Tony asked.

  She shrugged. “Not at all.”

  “Do you know if she knows Cliff Humphrey?”

  She laughed again. “You’re kidding, right? You don’t know much about her, do you?”

  “I guess not.”

  “Her and Cliff were an item a while back. Right after she and her husband got a divorce. She didn’t tell you?”

  He didn’t have an answer for her. But now things were starting to make a little more sense.

  Dawn put her hand on his. “Why don’t you come to dinner tonight,” she said.

  He mulled it over. “Let me give it some thought.”

  Suddenly, Panzer came flying up and stopped a few feet away.

  “What an interesting dog,” she said, looking around. “I wonder whose it is?”

  “Panzer, sitzen!”

  The dog responded and sat onto the wooden planks.

  “This is your dog?” she asked, stooping down for a better look.

  “The one from the back of your truck the other night?”

  “Yep.”

  Looking up to him, she said, “May I pet him?”

  “Sure.”

  She put a hand behind each ear and gently stroked Panzer’s favorite spot. The dog’s eyes closed and Tony thought about his own experience with those hands recently. Dawn seemed to know where to touch.

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  “What kind of dog is he?” she asked. “He looks like a big ol’

  schnauzer.”

  “He’s a Giant Schnauzer.”

  “I’ve only seen the miniature type.”

  “There are three types; miniature, standard and giant.”

  “You spoke German to him. Is that where you got him?”

  “Yeah. My last assignment as a Naval officer was a three-year exchange with the German military. Just before I left they gave me Panzer as a gift for my work there.”

  She suddenly stopped petting his dog and rose up to Tony. “You were a Navy officer?”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “No. It’s kinda sexy. Like An Officer and a Gentleman sexy.

  What were you doing in Germany?”

  “Mostly drinking beer.” He hesitated, looking deep into her eyes. “When I wasn’t working on my master’s degree in international relations, I was training the German Air Force and Navy on a few new weapon systems that we were selling them. I was assigned at the installation where they train their military working dogs. Shepherds, Rottweillers, Dobermans, and Schnauzers.

  Panzer’s parents were both bomb dogs. In fact, his military pedi-gree goes back a hundred years. Don’t ask him about the Nazi years, though.”

  “Why did they give him up?”

  “I was introduced to him and he immediately took to me. The Germans weed out those dogs that are not strictly business.”

  “He didn’t have the nose for it?”

  “Just the opposite. He’s a little over two years old now, but before they gave him to me at just under a year old, Panzer was introduced to nearly every explosive compound in existence. He never forgets. Giant Schnauzers have been bread for their intelli-gence, endurance and their exquisite nose.”

  She reached down and rubbed Panzer behind the ears again.

  “Well I just know he’s a sweetheart.”

  A breeze came up and Panzer lifted his nose into the air.

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  “I better get going,” Tony said. “Your brother is at Paulina Ridge?”

  “Yeah, you can’t miss it.” She gave him directions and then said, “Think about dinner.”

  He headed off toward his truck, Panzer running side to side in front of him.

  It took Tony fifteen minutes to get to the Paulina Ridge subdivision. He had a lot running through his head, but not enough to realize that his arm wasn’t hurting. Pulsating under the bandage, the wound felt like it was going to suddenly blow up.

  Paulina Ridge was one of those places where the houses sat behind a stone wall, but not quite exclusive enough for a gate or a security guard. There was only one phase of fifteen or so houses completed, with perhaps half of those occupied. Workers in bulldozers were clearing and leveling an area to the south, with another crew scampering about farther down from them.

  Tony parked his truck and stepped down into the dirt. A man came running toward him waving his arms. He was a dirty, scruffy-looking guy with a ZZ Top beard. He had a yellow hard hat on, and his hair frizzed out from the brim, making him look like Bozo on acid.

  “What the fuck you doin’ here, Dude?” he yelled, getting way too close for Tony’s comfort. “Can’t you see we’re about to blow the shit outta some lava rock?”

  He spit a nice wad of tobacco, just missing Tony’s new Nike cross trainers.

  Tony looked around, trying to find a warning sign or anything else to indicate this was a blasting zone. Zilch. Once he looked more carefully, he noticed some wires stretched out to three separate sites that lead to a box maybe ten feet in front of his truck.

  “I think you should mark this a little better,” Tony told him.

  “Listen, shitforbrains,” he said. “The sales office is up the hill a ways. Go talk to Zelda up there if you wanna buy a place.”

  “I’m not here to buy,” Tony said. “I’m looking for Don Sanders.”

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  The man checked him out more carefully now. “What da fuck ya want with him?”

  “I’m a friend of his sister, Dawn.”

  He really considered him this time. “You aren’t that Italian guy, are ya?” He paid particular attention to the ‘I’ in Tony’s national-ity.

  “Afraid so.”

  “Well I’m Don Sanders.” He held out his grimy right paw, which was missing the pinky. They shook and pain shot up Tony’s arm tempting to pop his stitches. “What ya need? By the way, you really should be more careful in a blasting zone. Coulda got your ass blown up. My sister wouldn’ta liked that.”

  Without saying another word, Don Sanders went over to the control device, waved his arms at two other men standing off a ways from the explosives, glanced back at Tony momentarily, and then set the charge.

  If Tony hadn’t been familiar with explosives and watching things blow up, he might have been alarmed by the shaking ground and the lava rock and dirt flying high into the air, not to mention the tremendous noise. In fact, he even had enough time to cover his good ear. He looked back at his truck, hoping the topper had cut some of the sound from reaching Panzer.

  When the dust settled, Tony followed Don Sanders toward the blast site.

  They stood over a covered hole of broken lava and gnarled wood from juniper roots.

  “Cool,” Don Sanders said.

  Sanders gave his two men instructions on what needed to be done next, and then Don and Tony wandered under a large ponderosa pine.

  Sanders pulled out a can of chew, shoved a wad into his right cheek the size of a golf ball, offered Tony some, but Tony declined with a shake of his head. Tony had tried chewing tobacco once in high school right before a baseball game in his sophomore year. Threw up twice, once just after sliding into second 114

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  base off a double. Vowed never to try the stuff again.

  “So, what ya got on your mind?” Sanders said, his tongue working the tobacco into his cheek.

  Tony wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but that never stopped him in the past. With Don Sanders, anything but the direct approach would be sniffed out as bullshit.

  “Tell me
about your land squabble with Cliff Humphrey,” Tony said. Couldn’t get any more direct than that.

  Sanders’ eyes shifted and he spit a straight stream of brown cud into the dusty ground. “Not much to tell. That dipshit wants my land. I don’t want him to have it.”

  That was straight enough on his part. “Isn’t he offering you a fair price?” Tony asked.

  “You work for that bastard?”

  Tony hesitated. Maybe too long. “I’m just asking a simple question. I could care less if the man builds a destination resort in Bend.” That was the truth, and Don Sanders seemed to sense it, Tony could tell.

  Sanders ran his grimy fingers through his beard. “The only reason I’m even talking with you is because my sister told me about you. If she likes you, I guess ya gotta be all right.” He thought for a breath or two before spitting. “The price isn’t the problem. I probably would have sold out to the guy until my place was ripped off. Don’t like those kind of tactics.” He shifted his eyes about as if they were being observed or listened to by some unseen enemy.

  “What’s the problem?” Tony asked.

  “He’s a powerful man.”

  “Cliff Humphrey?”

  He nodded his head yes.

  “You think he ripped you off?”

  “Damn straight! That ain’t all. I’m lucky to have any work in this town. The bastard blacklisted my company. Only reason I got this gig is because I went to high school with the developer. He was the running back and I was the pulling guard. Saved his ass BOOM TOWN 115

  many times.” He smiled and his teeth were brown with tobacco.

  “There’s got to be a lot of lava rock to blast out for a development the size Humphrey is proposing. Couldn’t you work out a contract for that, plus a fair price for your property?”

  Sanders thought it over, as if he hadn’t considered that before.

  “I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of working for him. Are you sure you don’t work for the guy?”

  “That’s not my agenda,” Tony said, which was really the truth.

  “That’s what Dawn told me,” he said, and then hocked up a nice wad and sprayed it airborne through his teeth. “Said you were looking into Dan and Barb’s deaths. Thought that was figured out.”

  Perfect opening. “There’s still a few insurance issues open. I’m just trying to confirm what the authorities have called it. You knew Dan and Barb?”