Dead Wrong

Chapter 17

Once the Yukon was under way, Joa

“You’re not going to believe it,” Frank returned. “Our one gunshot victim has turned into three.”

“Three!” Joa

“That’s right. We’ve tentatively identified the female found in the yard at Roostercomb Ranch. She turns out to be Lupe Melendez, Tony Zavala’s presumably ex-girlfriend.”

“Her identification was on her?” Joa

“She was naked. We found her ID inside the O’Dwyers’ house, in a bedroom along with the second victim, who’s evidently one of the O’Dwyers-the one with the scar on his neck.”

“That would be Clarence,” Joa

“It looks like he took a bullet in the middle of the forehead while he was sound asleep.”

“So Lupe hooked up with Clarence, and Tony Zavala took exception?” Joa

“That’s a likely scenario,” Frank replied. “And our crime scene folks just got here to work the yard and the ranch house.”

“What about Billy?”

“Unfortunately, we found him a little while ago,” Frank answered. “He’s dead, too, but not here at the ranch. It looks like he took off through the desert, trying to get away. Someone chased him down and shot him off his ATV just over the state line in New Mexico. We found a disabled Toyota RAV abandoned a mile or so from where we found Billy O’Dwyer’s body. In chasing after the ATV, the shooter evidently broke the Toyota‘s front axle.”

“Who’s it registered to?”

“The Toyota? Amelia Zavala, Tony’s mother.”

“We’re assuming he’s the shooter and he’s on foot then?” Joa

“For the moment.”

“Have you called in the K-9 unit?”

“Like I said, Billy O’Dwyer’s body was found just across the state line,” Frank explained. “The Toyota was found a mile or so beyond that. So Sheriff Trotter is organizing the ground search. He’s called for the Hidalgo County K-9 unit, although the last I heard, they had yet to arrive.”

“Are there visible tracks?” Joa

“Not really,” Frank answered. “It’s pretty rocky terrain.”

“There’s no guarantee that just because Zavala started out in New Mexico he ended up staying there,” Joa

Terry Gregovich and his German shepherd Spike made up Joa

“I’ll call them,” Frank said, “but speaking of dogs… We do have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“A potential PR disaster. The O’Dwyers were ru

“How bad is it?” Joa

“Bad,” Frank replied. “Bad enough to make me think it was probably a good thing someone took a gun to those two yahoos. There are at least ten dogs chained in the yard-fighting dogs so vicious that our officers can’t get anywhere near them without being torn to pieces. They’ll all have to be tranquilized before we can unchain them in order to move them. Then we’ve got a bunch of starving bitches with batches of starving puppies locked in filthy runs. Seventy-five dogs in all, by my count.”

Joa

“That many,” Frank repeated. “What the hell are we going to do with seventy-five dogs, Joa

Great! Joa

Ever since Animal Control had been moved into the sheriff’s department on a temporary basis, Joa

“Where’s Ma

“Out at Animal Control. He’s shifting animals around and doubling them up wherever possible to create more room. Once he’s finished with that, he’ll be coming here to start picking up dogs.”

“What about Randy Trotter? Can he help us out with any of the AC issues?”

“Hidalgo County Animal Control has offered help, but only with transportation,” Frank replied. “And I believe two of their AC trucks and officers are already en route, but since the dogs are all physically located on our side of the line…”

“I get it. I get it,” Joa

“That’s right,” Frank said.

“Well, let me think about it,” Joa

“Where are you right now?” Frank asked.

“Deputy Thomas just picked me up from the Triple H, where I didn’t get to first base interviewing Aileen Houlihan. I did talk to Leslie, though, and to Leslie’s creep of a husband. Now we’re on our way to the Target in Sierra Vista. I wanted to talk to Mr. Oxhill.”

“Wasted trip,” Frank said. “Manfred Oxhill called me a little while ago and told me that he had tracked down the transaction. The primer was purchased on Friday afternoon and paid for in cash. We’re not going to find a paper trail.”

“We’re having a bad week,” Joa

“That’s what I say,” Frank agreed.

“Since there’s no sense going to Target, I’ll have Deputy Thomas bring me there. At least that way I’ll be able to see firsthand what’s going on. I seem to remember there was a warrant out on Zavala. Do we have a current mug shot?”

“Yup,” Frank said. “I’ve loaded it into the website, and I’ve put out an APB. You should be able to access it from the computer in Rick’s Yukon.”

“Great,” Joa

“All right,” Frank said. “We’re at the Roostercomb ranch house. See you when you get here.”

Joa

Joa

“Dr. Ross.”

“Sheriff Brady here,” Joa

“Better,” Millicent responded, her voice sounding lighter than air. “Much better, in fact. Jea

Clearly Jea

“In fact,” Dr. Ross continued, “I’m thinking of ru

It was the opening Joa

“So those two assholes are dead?” Millicent asked. “Good riddance. As far as I’m concerned, they got what they deserved, but what do you need from me?”