Free Points West (A Butterscotch Jones Mystery Book 5) by Melanie Jackson Page B

It pained Chuck to say this. He tried
to hide his disgust, but he knew that Desoto saw through his guise of
indifference. “He was eventually caught and the higher-ups in government
decided to use him to pass misinformation to his various employers instead of
prosecuting him. This would have scared a normal person, but I don’t think
Brian was normal.”
    “Is it his hand that’s having the funeral?”
    “No. Brian is still more or less intact. He would be at the
bottom of a ravine somewhere except for a couple of matters.” The Mountie was
aware of Butterscotch’s surprised glance. He hadn’t known that he was going to
be completely open about what happened, but it felt like the right thing to do.
“First, he has fresh needle tracks on his body and he wasn’t a drug user or a
diabetic. Secondly, the hand belonged to a sometimes girlfriend of his who
worked for a drug company in their immunology lab. The woman—Janet Dee—was lying
in wait for Brian and shot him between here and Seven Forks for reasons
unknown—“
    “But easily guessed given Brian’s past,” Butterscotch added.
    “It wasn’t an immediately fatal shot and Brian ended up
killing her before she got off another. He left her in the forest. Bears got to
her body before we did and all we recovered was a hand and her work badge.”
    “Mean bears,” Desoto commented.
    “Yes, unseasonably so,” Butterscotch added, setting some
soda water in front of the agent. “We don’t know why the bears are out of their
dens. But since they are, they’re hungry and there isn’t much to eat. They
haven’t come into town but everyone needs to be careful when outside.”
    Desoto shuddered.
    “Do you know why this Brian was coming to the Gulch? Was he
a friend?” Desoto asked.
    “Not hardly ,” Chuck said. “And
Brian didn’t pack when he came up. It looks like a spontaneous decision to flee
from someone or something. He bought a heavy coat at a department store and
then blackmailed another pilot to fly him into Seven Forks. The pilot wouldn’t
take him all the way to McIntyre’s Gulch.”
    “Too bad he didn’t fly with Danny McIntyre.”
    “He couldn’t. Danny was already flying Brian’s killer into
town. She used an alias.”
    Desoto grunted.
    “So premeditated murder.”
    “Probably. Or a
willingness to use murder as a last resort. Danny also flew in another
agent the next day. He is calling himself Mr. Smith—the same alias Brian used
on his flight. It’s the same alias all agents to the Gulch have used. I am
afraid that my government hasn’t hired very original thinkers. The agent is
still in Seven Forks, unable to rent a vehicle to get here. I don’t know how
long he can be kept away though.”
    There was a silence.
    “Why call me?” Desoto asked.
    “You’ve played straight with us in the past. And Brian had so
many masters that I don’t know whom to trust. Even if I find someone honest, I
can’t see any way to turn in this information without it leading back to the
Gulch.”
    “And you can’t have that?” Desoto’s voice was neutral.
    “We can’t have that.”
    He wanted to ask, but didn’t. Again, Chuck approved.
    “And you think there is important stuff here in these
files?”
    “I think that this was Brian’s insurance policy, his
potential blackmail database when he decided to retire to some country that doesn’t
have an extradition treaty with Canada. At least half of it is, and someone
needs to know who’s dirty in the government and who else might be for sale.”
Desoto grunted again. “The other part has chemical formulas. Maybe they’re
nothing—a new pain killer or antifungal cream. But maybe, given Brian’s choice
of employers, it’s something worse. I think we have to know which it is.”
    Desoto sat back in his chair. He didn’t like this idea at
all.
    “I noticed a large burned area as we were flying in. Did you
have a fire?”
    “In a manner of speaking.” Chuck
hesitated.
    “Some of the big