Ground Money by Rex Burns Page A

kind of investigation? What are they supposed to be doing?”
    “I’m not at liberty to discuss that, Deputy Schrantz.”
    “Well, now, Sergeant Wager—this here’s our jurisdiction. If you got some kind of information bearing on our jurisdiction, we’d appreciate knowing about it.”
    “The names came up in relation to an occurrence here in Denver, Deputy. The men aren’t suspects, and this is just a routine inquiry.”
    “Uh huh. Well, as far as I know neither one of them’s in any criminal activity of any kind. You want me to investigate further, Sergeant?”
    “No thanks.”
    Wager had lived up to his promise, and that was enough.
    He hung up and finished his coffee and turned back to the paperwork that was his official worry.
    “You ready to go arrest that vicious killer, Gabe?”
    “Let’s do it—let’s get out of here.” He stretched and lifted his coat off the hanger. “Denver will sleep safer tonight.”

CHAPTER 5
    W AGER HAD JUST finished shaving and washing down a Marine Corps omelet with half a pitcher of orange juice and was checking the contents of his gym bag before his afternoon workout when the telephone rang. He flicked off the answering machine and said, “Hello.”
    “Gabe? This is Tom. Listen, can I see you right away, amigo ? I’m in town, but I won’t be here too long.” An urgency made his voice tense.
    “Where do you want to meet?”
    “Same place as last time? That’s where I am now. Thanks, Gabe.”
    Wager found him sitting behind a glass of beer near the doorway of the almost empty bar. Tom stretched the crease of his mouth into a smile. “Sorry to keep pestering you, Gabe. I know you got a hell of a lot better things to do than mess around with me.”
    “It’s no problem,” lied Wager. “Did you get over to the ranch to see the boys?”
    “That’s what I want to talk to you about, Gabe. I was wrong, flat-out. There’s not a damn thing wrong up at that place.”
    “You looked the ranch over?”
    “Yeah. It’s a real big spread, and they run some cows and have a kind of campsite for river rafters. It’s a real good job for both of them.”
    “I’m glad to hear it. I guess you are, too.”
    “Yeah, I am. I mean, not that I thought the boys were in any real trouble, you know. But you hear these things and you start to worry …”
    “I can’t blame you. They’re your sons.”
    “Right— familia . I ain’t been much of a father to them, but I damn well know one thing: family’s about all a man’s got in this world.”
    Some had one, some didn’t; Wager nodded. In the rear of the bar, a heavy electronic pulse started up and a woman sang thinly, “And then there’s your wife—”
    Tom frowned at his beer. “You haven’t come up with anything new, have you, Gabe? This Jerry Latta or anybody?”
    “Not yet. From what you tell me, I don’t expect to.”
    “‘Not yet.’ That means you’re still looking?”
    “Some other people are. I ask a few questions here and there, they ask a few, somebody else asks questions. After a while some answers might come back.”
    Tom gave a snorty kind of laugh. “Sounds like throwing rocks in a goddam pond—after a while the waves come back.”
    “That’s a lot like it.”
    “Well, I’m sure now the boys aren’t into anything. I think it was just a bunch of crap and somebody got the wrong information or something.”
    “That’s probably what I’ll find out. And that’s good news.”
    “Yeah, it is. I appreciate your help and all, too. I didn’t mean to put you and everybody else to all this damn trouble. I guess I was so worried that I just didn’t give it much thought—you know, about you having to bring a lot of other people in on it.”
    Wager splashed more coffee into his cup from the little aluminum pot the waitress had set in front of him. “What are you after, Tom?”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “I mean it sounds like you want to know how many people I talked to about the