Chapter 3

"OK Maggie, what have you got?" said Gina later that morning, walking into the office and noting the expectant look on her clerk's face.

"Sam radioed that he found at least a partial tire tread impression. He's making a cast now. Should have it back here in an hour or two."

"And?..."

"I took those boot impressions by the shoe store. Bob says they aren't like anything he handles, so no help there. Want me to send them on to Denver?"

"Yeah, let's see what their lab can tell us. Send them the tire impression as well."

"And the biggest news of all. CHP got our fax of the photo of the victim. Bingo! Catherine Melton 1244 Airway Drive, Boulder. 32, husband and daughter."

"We were the same age," mused Gina.

"CHP will contact the family for positive I.D. What do you suppose she was doing up here all by herself?"

"Another bit of detective work for you Sherlock. Contact CHP. Ask them for anything they can give us on her background."

"OK. How about the Lakota?"

"You pretty well had it pegged. Boyfriend beat her up and raped her, but she won't press charges. She thinks he's staying over in Little Falls. I'm going over there this afternoon and talk with him."

"Little Falls? That's..."

"You don't miss a thing, do you? Yeah that's Takoma County where our victim was kidnapped."

"Do you see any connection?" asked Maggie.

"Not at the moment. Maybe I can find out more when I talk with the boyfriend. In the meantime, why don't you contact Pine Ridge and see what they can give us on a Johnny Two Forks."

"You got it," smiled Maggie turning to her PC.

The drive to Little Falls took a little over twenty-five minutes. Gina mulled over in her mind the information Maggie had gotten from the Pine Ridge authorities. Johnny Two Forks had been in and out of scrapes since he was a kid, even once boosting a car to take on a drunken joy ride when he was fifteen, but he had no serious arrest record. He was noted for his quick temper, and Kim's allegation that he had beaten her was borne out by the Pine Ridge records. She had refused to press charges, so he had no arrest record, but twice she been sent to the emergency room, once with a separated shoulder. Johnny Two Forks was a heavy drinker and pretty much of a loser. He never held a job for long and often wound up in the drunk tank of the local jail.

Since Little Falls was such a small town, it had taken only three phones calls for Maggie to trace him to a flea bag motel on the edge of town.

"Johnny Two Forks?" asked Gina.

"So who wants to know?" he said, speaking out the crack in the motel door, his breath stinking of cheap booze.

"Drago County Sheriff's Department." Gina showed him the badge as reinforcement.

"What ya want with me?"

"I want to talk with you."

He reluctantly opened the door and Gina stepped into the ill lit and dank motel room.

"What's this all about. I ain't done nothing."

"You call beating up and raping Kim White Feather nothing?"

"She's my fiancee."

"Not the way she tells it."

Gina saw the emotion swell in his face and eyes.

"Damned bitch. Did she sic you on me?"

"No, as a matter of fact I volunteered to come talk with you. I wanted to see what kind of man would beat and rape the woman he says he loves."

"It's none of your damn business."

"As of now I'm making it my business," said Gina with a cold, calculating voice.

"And what are you, her dyke?" he sneered.

"Mr. Two Forks," said Gina with utter contempt, "you're drunk right now, so I'm going to let that remark pass... this time, but I'm telling you and I'm telling you straight, you leave her alone or I'll be back to see you... and you won't like what happens if I do! Do we understand each other?"

"You don't scare me, bitch!"

"If you're smart, you will be scared because I don't bluff, Johnny," she sneered back, using his first name to impress upon him her position of superiority. "Come near her again and you'll regret it."

"Get the hell away from me!"

"Glad to," she answered, moving to the door. "You just remember what I said."

The door slammed behind her.

The drive back to Capston was one in which Gina's mind flitted back and forth between the murder investigation and the beautiful young woman in number 19 of the Indian Creek Apartments.

The afternoon was relatively uneventful. Todd returned form Denver, reiterating that it would be a day or two before the crime lab would have any results. Sam had gotten a partial tire print he had discovered where the unknown vehicle had apparently backed up to turn around. It wasn't much, but Gina had him forward the cast to the state crime lab in hopes they could tell them something.

That night after her bath, Gina tried watching TV but became bored watching seemingly intelligent people miss ridiculously easy questions on a game show hosted by a personable, but not too bright individual who over hyped the suspense of each question and answer. As the evening wore on, she tried reading, but soon found her mind wandering to the face and body which had so captivated her earlier in the day. Try as she would, Kim White Feather's image would not retreat from her conscious mind and the more the image persisted, the most aroused Gina realized she was becoming.