Devil’s Claw

“Who’s the friend?” Frank interjected. “The one Sandra’s supposed to be staying with?”

Catherine bit her lip. “Her name’s Melanie Goodson, and she’s not much of a friend, if you ask me. She lives somewhere out on Old Spanish Trail. She was Sandy’s attorney years ago. She’s also the one who let that stupid plea bargain go through. I don’t know if she was lazy or what. I don’t think she even tried to take Sandy’s case to court. If she had, I’m sure my daughter would have gotten off. What happened between Sandy and her husband should have been ruled self-defense. He was abusive, and my daughter never should have gone to prison for manslaughter. After all, Tom Ridder beat her up. If I’d‘a been her, I would have shot the son of a bitch, too.”

Listening, Joa

Catherine Yates was a stout woman. When asked that question, her broad shoulders seemed to shrink inside her shirt. She shook her head sadly. “Lucy loved her father,” Catherine said. “All she remembers is this tall handsome devil in his smart army uniform. I’ve tried talking to her about it, tried explaining that as far as Tom Ridder is concerned, looks weren’t everything. Tom looked a whole lot better than he really was.

“But it’s like talking to a wall, Sheriff Brady, and it hasn’t done a bit of good. No matter what I say, Lucy still blames Sandy for her father’s death. You know how kids are. Once they get some wild idea in their heads, nothing short of an act of God is going to shake it loose.”

“I take it Lucy wasn’t necessarily happy that her mother was getting out of prison?” Joa

Catherine sighed and nodded. “Happy? I’ll say she wasn’t happy, not at all. Furious is more like it. In fact, we had a big fight about it just yesterday afternoon when Lucy came home from school. She told me that she had prayed every day that her mother would die in prison so she’d never have to see her again. I tried to explain how wrong and unforgiving that was. I told her there are two sides to every story, and that she needed to give her mother a chance to tell her side of it. Instead, Lucy blew up at me. She told me that she would never live in the same house with her mother, no matter what. She said that I’d have to choose between them-between Lucy or Sandy-because I couldn’t have both.”

“What did you tell her?”

In the glow of the porch light, Joa

“Who’s Big Red?”

“A hawk,” Frank Montoya supplied. “Remember? I told you about him. Big Red is Lucy’s pet hawk.”

“A red-tailed hawk,” Catherine added. “Lucy found him when he was nothing but a half-dead hatchling-a tiny little thing who had fallen out of his nest. Lucy climbed up and put him back. She waited and watched, but the parents never returned. Finally, rather than leave him there to starve to death, she brought him home and took care of him.

“For months we’d get up early several mornings a week and go find what we used to call fresh road-kill pizza. We’d drive along the highway between here and Elfrida or between here and the freeway and pick up whatever had been run over on the road overnight-rabbits, kangaroo rats, coyotes-and we’d give Big Red that for breakfast. Finally, though, he got big and strong enough to hunt for himself. And wouldn’t you know, the first thing he nailed was a newborn kitten-a kitten Lucy had her heart set on keeping. She was mad about it for days, but I told her that wasn’t fair. I told her that hunting is what hawks do to survive and that she was wrong to hold a grudge when Big Red was just doing what comes naturally.

“Yesterday I tried to explain that what happened between her mother and father was the same thing that had happened between Big Red and the kitten. I told Lucy that Sandy did what she did to protect herself-to save her own life and Lucy’s.”

“What did Lucy say to that?”

“She said it was all a lie, that her father never hit anybody. After that, Lucy stormed off to her room and didn’t come out for di

“Was anything else missing?”

“Some food from the kitchen, her bike…”

“And?”

Catherine bit her lip and didn’t answer.

“What else?”

“A gun,” Catherine answered reluctantly. “A twenty-two. It belonged to my husband. I keep it for protection-for snakes, that kind of thing.”

“Does Lucy know how to use it?”

“Yes. I taught her myself.”

“Did you tell Frank earlier this afternoon that the gun was missing?”

“No. I was afraid if I told him she was armed that it would keep people from looking for her.”

It wouldn’t keep them from looking, Joa

“What about Big Red?” Joa

“No.”

“So it’s possible he’s with her?”

“Probable more than possible, I’d say,” Catherine answered. “The two of them spend most weekends together. They ride over to the Stronghold.”

“Ride?” Joa

“Oh, yes. Big Red rides on her shoulder or her handlebars. He’s done that since he was just a baby. When they get to the park, Lucy climbs up and down the cliffs and Big Red usually sticks around somewhere nearby. Out of sight, maybe, but not far away.

“I tried to warn Lucy about that, by the way. There are so many other people hiking and camping up there that I told her it could be dangerous for him. I tried to explain that turning wild animals into pets is a bad idea because once they grow accustomed to humans, they may not be afraid when they ought to be. But of course, by the time I told Lucy that, it was already too late. And maybe it’s not as bad as all that. As far as I can tell, she’s the only person Big Red’ll have anything to do with. I can tell you, as soon as that bird catches sight of me, he flies off in a hurry.”

“Does Lucy drive?”

“No. She’s still too young to get a learner’s permit.”

“So you don’t think Big Red would get into a vehicle with her?”

“In a car? No. But on the bike, no problem.”

“Which means, if the bird is with Lucy, then wherever they are, they most likely traveled there on foot or by bicycle.”

Catherine Yates nodded, and Joa

“They’re aware of the situation,” Frank replied. “By morning the twenty-four-hour waiting period will be up. I’ve made arrangements with Mike Wilson to have a Search and Rescue crew here by first light in the morning if Lucy hasn’t been found by then.”

Joa

“Do you happen to have recent photos of your daughter and granddaughter?” Joa

“The one I have of Sandy is several years old, but I have last-year’s school picture of Lucy. Would that help?”

“Very much,” Joa

“Well then,” Catherine Yates told her, “come on in. You might as well wait inside. It’s cold out here.”

Joa

“When are you going to get around to telling her?” Frank asked, under his breath.