Free The Trophy Hunter by J M Zambrano Page A

about you, now that you two are an
item.”
    Jess didn’t comment as she pushed open the
outside door and held it while Diana exited. Cold air hit them as
they crossed the parking lot. How un-Jess, to shut down the
conversation, thought Diana. Typically, she’d be the first to brag
about a conquest, like a guy might.
    “Who’s the girl you’re looking for on
Colfax?” Diana tried to jump-start their dialogue.
    “Remember the guy who had Darren’s daughter
stashed in the cabin?”
    “Frozen dead guy?”
    “You did read my report.”
    “Why would Darren want to do him a
favor? I mean, he’s dead. ”
    “No, it’s for the guy’s widow. See, these
red-necks were all Joe’s buds before Darren ever knew them. He
feels sorry for the widow. The Strickland girl went missing the
same night as Lori.”
    “That’s not what the police report says. It
says─”
    “I know what it says, but that’s when it was
reported, not when she went missing. Darren thinks Joe and Larry
did some kind of a sick trade.”
    Diana cringed at the thought. “Trade his
granddaughter for his buddy’s daughter? This just gets worse.”
    “Does make you want to puke, doesn’t it?”
    “Wouldn’t Darren’s children have told him if
there had been a strange girl in their grandparents’ house?” asked
Diana.
    “Are you nuts? He wouldn’t keep her at the
house.”
    The women approached their respective
vehicles, adjacently parked in the crowded lot.
    Diana’s apprehension heightened as she
grabbed Jess’s elbow. “I think Darren may not be the person you
think he is. I was at the Flannigan house yesterday. As I was
leaving, I saw a small, blond girl run through the yard. I think it
was Lori, which means Darren didn’t take her from school. He lied
to you, Jess.”
    Jess shrugged away from her grasp. “Patty
Strickland is a blonde. Maybe that’s who you saw.”
    Under his wife’s nose? Is that
possible? But Diana knew from past cases she’d handled that
victims of abuse will put up with the impossible─until something
snaps.
    “Even if it was Lori,” continued Jess, “that
doesn’t mean Darren lied. She could’ve just been running back for
some of her stuff.”
    Diana withdrew the car keys from her purse.
She shivered under her knee-length, down coat. “Are you working
with the cops or the Feebs on this?” she asked.
    “Patty lived in Westcliffe. The Custer County
Sheriff considers her a runaway. As you know, she’s also considered
a person of interest in her dad’s murder. They’re dragging their
feet ‘cause Strickland wasn’t exactly popular in those parts.
That’s why Darren asked for my help.”
    “Why would you be looking for her on Colfax
if Darren claims Joe has her?”
    “We think she got away from him. She left a
message on Darren’s cell that got cut off in the middle. He called
in a favor from an old police buddy who had it traced to a pay
phone on Colfax.”
    Diana pressed the release on her key ring and
the BMW’s lock clicked. “I sure hope he’s paying you well.”
    Jess drew her fake fur coat more tightly
around her as she opened the Camaro’s door. “Like ex-cons can
really demand high wages. He lost his cop’s pension and everything,
Diana. But at least he’s trying.”
    “He’s unemployed?”
    “He’s working on the problem. Trying to build
up a clientele in a trade his father-in-law taught him. Darren
considers it more of an art form. Back when they were family , Joe taught Darren taxidermy.”

 
     
     
    Chapter 14
     
    A glint of silver caught Diana’s eye in the
side view mirror as she turned off Evans onto Colorado Boulevard on
her way home from the health club.
    Though artificial Christmas trees decked out
in red and gold garlands brightened the streets, Diana felt a sense
of gloom. Christmas was only five days away. She just wished it was
over.
    Usually a workout left her spirits as well as
her body tingling and uplifted. Too soon, she told herself. The
healing process is