Nothing but Trouble_ A Kevin Kerney Novel - Michael Mcgarrity [129]
“Can you hear me?” Kerney called out over the roar of the storm.
“I can,” Martinez yelled back, blinking hard to keep the hammering rain out of his eyes.
“Do you have a weapon?”
Martinez raised his hands to show that he did not.
“Would you like to stay out of jail?” Kerney asked.
“What do I have to do?”
“Let’s get out of this storm and we’ll talk,” Kerney said.
Martinez nodded and approached. “I didn’t steal my saddle.”
“Of course you did,” Kerney replied with an easy smile. “But if you cooperate, that saddle may buy you your freedom.”
Chapter Fourteen
With the saddle in the trunk of the unit and Martinez cuffed and behind the cage in the backseat, Leo and Kerney returned to Lordsburg. The storm had passed, leaving behind a misty drizzle under a low sky, the sweet smell of moist air, and standing water in the streets.
Kerney’s attempts to draw Martinez out during the ride were met with stubborn silence.
“I told you I didn’t steal the saddle,” Martinez said as they pulled to a stop at the Sheriff’s Department near the courthouse.
Kerney glanced over the front seat at Martinez. “Then why did you run?”
“Because I don’t like jails. Are you charging me with a crime?”
“Right now, we just need to gather some facts,” Kerney answered. “If you cooperate, it shouldn’t take long. Maybe you bought the saddle because it was too good a deal to pass up. Maybe you didn’t actually know it was stolen, but in the back of your mind you wondered if it might have been.”
“You said that I stole it.”
Kerney got out and opened the door to the backseat. “Because you ran. It made you look guilty as hell.”
Martinez stepped onto the pavement. “Like I told you, I got scared about going to jail.”
Kerney uncuffed him. “That’s perfectly understandable.”
Inside, Leo guided them to a cramped, tiny room used for interviews and interrogations. It contained an old video camera on a tripod, a narrow table, two metal folding chairs, and a half-dozen sealed cardboard file boxes stacked in a corner. From the dust on the table it was clear the room hadn’t been used for its intended purpose in a long time.
Kerney pulled out a chair. “Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Martinez. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
“Where are you going?”
“We’ve got to log the saddle into evidence. First things first. Would you like some coffee?”
Martinez nodded.
Kerney closed the door and went looking for Leo, who was in his office with the saddle on his desk. “He wants coffee.”
“I’ll have it brought in,” Leo said. “You gave him a ready-made out.”
“Deliberately. He’s not going to admit guilt easily. I want him to feel free to tell me his story. How quickly can you run a financial history on him?”
“It’s in the works.” Leo picked up the phone and asked his secretary to take Martinez a cup of coffee.
“I’ll start without it,” Kerney said. “Get me what you can as soon as it comes in.”
Martinez looked a bit more relaxed when Kerney returned to the interview room. He had his legs stretched out under the table and a mug of coffee in hand.
Kerney sat back in his chair and smiled. “Tell me how the saddle came into your possession.”
Martinez nodded, took a sip of coffee, and put the mug on the table. “I bought it off a guy in Las Vegas last December. He’d had a bad run at the tables and needed the money.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“In a diner off the strip. The guy came up to me at my table and asked if I’d be interested in a great deal. Took me outside to the parking lot and showed me the saddle. I bought it on the spot.”
“How much did you pay for it?”
“A thousand.”
“That’s a lot of money to be carrying around.”
“I got lucky at the craps tables.”
“Who was the guy?”
“Just another cowboy in town for the pro rodeo finals. He said he was from Utah. I don’t remember his name.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Tall, maybe your size but younger.” Martinez paused and thought for a long moment. “Oh, yeah, he had a crooked nose. You need to