Read The Treacherous Teddy for Free Online Page B

don’t think that’s such a good idea, ma’am,” said the animal control officer.
    “It’ll be all right. He can tell that you’re scared of him.”
    “You’re damn right I’m scared of him.”
    “Well, I’m not. Now, give me the catchpole,” said Ash.
    The animal control guy shot a nervous glance at Tina, who reluctantly nodded. He handed the steel pole to Ash as Randy backed away. Longstreet was panting hard now, and it was obvious that the noose around his neck was too tight. Ash pressed the release mechanism on the catchpole to loosen the cable a little. The dog didn’t try to attack her or escape. Instead, Longstreet looked up at Ash with coal-black eyes that were both sad and grateful. I began to relax and noticed that Tina had holstered her pistol.
    “We need to let him go over and smell Everett,” said Ash. “After that, I’ll take him out to the truck.”
    I slowly backed away from the body as Ash led the Rottweiler over to the corpse. Longstreet snuffled the body and then nudged Rawlins’s left shoulder with his broad muzzle. The dog whined when his master didn’t respond. A few moments earlier, I’d been frightened of the dog; now, I felt sorry for him. Ash bent over to scratch Longstreet between the shoulder blades and quietly tell him that his daddy knew he was a good dog. Then she led the docile Rottweiler away from the dead man and down the driveway. Randy and the animal control officer followed them at a discreet distance.
    Tina came over to me and I said, “That was nearly a doggone tragedy.”
    She ignored the pun. “It’s also another example of why I need Ash as a full-time deputy.”
    “Yeah, she is something special, isn’t she? But Ash doesn’t want to become a full-time cop. I’m sorry, Tina. I don’t know what to tell you.”
    “How about that you’re interested in the job? Even with your bad leg, I’d rather have you than any of the duds who’ve been applying for the position,” Tina said with a heavy sigh.
    “Thanks, I think.”
    Tina winced. “That’s not how I meant it.”
    “I know, relax. This whole deputy thing is going to work out. Now, I want you to look at something very interesting.”
    I was showing Tina the slight downward angle of the arrow in Rawlins’s chest when Ash and Randy returned. Both of them looked unruffled and—more important—unbitten, so I assumed that they’d secured Longstreet without incident. The game warden crouched down to take a look at the arrow and, after a moment’s inspection, agreed with us. The killer had likely been somewhere on the lower slope of the hillside when he’d fired the arrow.
    “We need to search that hillside for evidence, but I don’t see how we can do it tonight,” said Tina. “It’s just too dark.”
    “So we come back early tomorrow morning, when I can at least see what I’m tripping over,” I said.
    “What next, then?” asked Ash.
    “Well, we don’t need to take any more photos of Everett until the ME gets here. I’d suggest we get some pictures of the inside of the house,” I said.
    Randy pulled a folded sheet of paper from his coat pocket and handed it to Tina. “I figured you’d want the hard copy of Chet’s driver’s license and vehicle info. The physical description is still pretty accurate, except for the black hair. It’s all gone now.”
    Tina turned on her flashlight to look at the sheet. “I see he lists a Remmelkemp Mill P.O. box for his address. Where does he actually live?”
    “On Shawnee Camp Road, over on the east slope of Massanutten Mountain,” Randy said. “He has a single-wide mobile home out in the woods near the end of the road. I know he probably won’t be there, but I’m going to swing by his place on my way home.”
    “Call us if you see him,” said Tina.
    “Count on it. Oh, and a word to the wise if and when you do visit Chet’s house . . .”
    “What’s that?”
    “Chet is as bald as a cue ball, but nobody is ever gonna confuse him for Mr.