P. Parrish - Claw Back

“With all due respect, sir, I’m not your officer and most of the paperwork and investigation will fall to Lee County. Now, I would — ”

Zeedler looked back at him. “Who did this Keno guy kidnap?”

Louis held Zeedler’s little black eyes for a moment. Louis was sure the sheriff wouldn’t notify Mobley until he knew exactly what had happened and how it would play out in the media.

Damn Gary.

He had done a piss-poor job at explaining things to Zeedler. And Louis knew why. Gary had hoped to give them enough information to get Hendry County out here, and then he planned to turn into a ghost, just like he had after the episode with the Fort Lauderdale robbers. But that wasn’t going to happen this time. The Hendry County deputy had not left the side of Gary’s SUV.

“The victim, officer,” Zeedler repeated. “Who did Keno kidnap?”

“Her name is Katy Letka,” Louis said. “She’s an officer with the Florida Wildlife Commission.”

“And that man Gary Tootillo outside — how is he involved in all this?”

“Katy and I were working on a poaching case. When Katy disappeared yesterday morning, I suspected Hachi Keno had taken her and was keeping her at one of these old camps. Gary knew about the camps and we spent most yesterday searching. We found her and Keno last night.”

Zeedler blew out a breath and again wiped his brow. He was so sweaty his dark uniform looked as if were melting onto his body.

“Don’t fuck around with me, officer,” Zeedler said. “You’re a cop. Why not just arrest Keno last night and drive him and the victim back into town in Toot-whatever’s vehicle?”

Louis hadn’t been fucking with Zeedler but he would now.

“Because we couldn’t have brought Grace with us,” Louis said.

Zeedler yanked off his hat. “Who the fuck is Grace?”

“Follow me,” Louis said.

“Now wait a minute,” Zeedler said.

Louis walked toward the shack. “Follow me, sir.”

Zeedler hesitated then decided to follow Louis to the shack. When Louis pushed open the door and Zeedler stepped inside, his hand went immediately to cover his nose.

Louis had heard that sunshine was the best disinfectant but in this case, the light only elevated the place from disgusting to revolting. Feces. Bones. Maggots. Rust.

How Katy had stayed in here all night, Louis didn’t know. It had to be a powerful devotion to Grace and those kittens. Even now, she was still sitting on the floor near the cage. He could tell she was exhausted but her eyes were lit with exhilaration.

Keno was tied to a hook on the opposite side of the shack, awake but pale. Katy had taken off his shirt and cleaned his wound the best she could. Louis’s bullet had caught him in the fleshy part of his shoulder, exiting cleanly. But even a minor gun wound could easily become infected.

“Sheriff Zeedler,” Louis said. “That’s officer Katy Letka, on the floor.”

Katy raised a hand in a weary acknowledgement.

“That man is Hachi Keno,” Louis said, “and that’s Grace in the cage.”

Zeedler spun back to Louis. “Grace is a goddamn panther?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“You son of a bitch,” Zeedler said. “You sneak into my jurisdiction, you solicit civilian help in a search for a kidnapper and then you shoot an Indian — all over a goddamn lost panther?”

“Poached panther,” Louis corrected. “Keno abducted Grace, which is what started all this.”

Zeedler just stood there, hand back at his mouth, his gaze circling the tiny shack. He was blanching a little and Louis hoped he would at least move outside if he puked up his coffee.

“Now will you call my sheriff and get him out here?” Louis asked.

Zeedler lowered his hand. His eyes grew even smaller, like shiny drops of oil. “Yeah, I’ll call your sheriff. And I’ll be surprised if you even have a job when he gets a load of all this crap.”

Louis suspected Zeedler was probably right, but he said nothing. Job or no job, he didn’t regret a moment.

Zeedler grabbed his radio and told his dispatcher to contact Sheriff Mobley. He added that he would be transporting a suspect to the hospital. Then he jammed the radio back in his belt and pointed to Keno.

“Untie that man,” Zeedler said. “I’m arresting him for kidnapping.”

“There was no kidnapping,” Katy said. “I went with him willingly.”

Louis glanced at Katy, not surprised she didn’t want Keno arrested. During the long night, Louis had wandered in and out of the hot fetid shack but Katy had stayed inside, watching Grace and the kittens but also talking to Keno. Even standing outside, Louis could hear the soft murmur of their voices. Keno would clam up every time Louis came back inside. Louis didn’t know exactly what Keno had told Katy but he had the feeling they had reached some understanding about Grace and some forgiveness about what Keno had done to Katy.

Zeedler stared at Katy for a moment then looked back to Keno, who was now paying attention to what was happening. He looked terrified.

“Then I’m taking him in for poaching an endangered animal,” Zeedler said.

A new voice came from behind them, deep and commanding. “I don’t think so.”

Everyone turned to the doorway. Moses Stanton stood there, arms crossed.

Like Zeedler had done, Moses took in the interior of the shack, his eyes resting a long time on Katy and Grace. He stepped inside and slowly took off his hat.

“Who the fuck are you?” Zeedler asked.

“Moses Stanton, executive assistant to the Seminole chief.”

“And who the hell called you?” Zeedler asked.

“Smoke signals,” Moses said, with a small smile.

“Very funny, Stanton,” Zeedler said.

“Let’s get to the point,” Moses said. “You have no reason to be here, sheriff.”

“The hell I don’t. We’re in my county,” Zeedler said. “And that panther over there is a federally protected animal. That means no one can hunt it. Not even Indians.”

“You’re wrong, sheriff,” Moses said. “May I remind you of a 1985 case right here in Hendry County. A Seminole man killed a panther and the state charged him with a felony for killing an endangered animal.”

“I remember that,” Zeedler said. “He got off because the court ruled old treaties said you could hunt anything you wanted on the reservation. But this panther is not on your land.”

“The lawyers said the treaties gave us the right to hunt anywhere, not just on our own land,” Moses said. “And it was argued that the Seminole had the right to kill the panther to use in a religious ritual.”

Louis glanced at Katy. She gave him a small shake of her head as if to warn him not to ask any questions.

“It doesn’t matter what the fucking lawyers said,” Zeedler said. “The case was dismissed.”

Moses nodded. “Do you want to spend the next two years fighting about this again?”

For a moment, Zeedler looked so angry he couldn’t draw a breath. But then the anger faded to simple frustration. He looked down at Keno and then at Grace in the cage.

He shook his head. “All right,” he said. “I’m not going to the mat over a fucking cat.” He looked at Louis. “Mobley can deal with this — and you.”

Zeedler pushed by Moses out the door. Louis turned to watch him as he stalked back through the tall grass toward his swamp buggy.

“I will be taking Hachi with me,” Moses said.

“I can’t let you do that,” Louis said.

“Why not?”

“Because I shot him,” Louis said.

Moses nodded. “He probably deserved it,” he said.

“That’s not the point,” Louis said. He wiped his sweating forehead, his head clouded from exhaustion. “I’m a cop,” he said. “I’m looking at a shit storm because of this.”