NIGHT WALKER

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Chapter Three: Molly's Master

Cassidy rushed over as soon as she got the call from Hattie about Detective Russell's visit. "So, do you think they have anything in common Cass?" Hattie asked.


"Oh, I'm sure they do and I'll pull a few strings to find out what they know so far." She knew this little adventure was getting awful strange as each day goes by. "I think we should go out to your place and look around and also go see the guy about my new dog just to make it legal."


"Okay, let's figure about seven tomorrow morning." Hattie looked a little nervous. "Would you mind spending the night? I'm starting to get the jitters."


Cass understood why Hattie felt that way. More things have happened in the past few weeks of Hattie's life, than some people could tolerate in a lifetime. Besides, as a kid she always wanted to spend the night with Hattie. When she was young she was mesmerized by this strong stately woman and actually made her, her idol. Now she looked at Hattie and saw a woman under stress and fear. Sure she hid it well, but Cass was trained to read people and this was easy for Cass to notice.


"No problem, let us go get some of my stuff and will make it a Pajama party." Cass laughed thinking of two grown women having a pillow fight and doing each other's make-up.
They drove to northwest Tucson to Cass's Mothers house where she was staying until she figured out what she was going to do with her life. Her Father had died several years ago and Cass missed him dearly. Her mother was a real estate agent and was doing well so Cass didn't worry about her. Cass did harp that she should get out more and enjoy life but she always said she was too busy.


As they walked in Helen McBryde was at the kitchen table with tons of paperwork sprawled to the point that it was drifting on to the floor. "Hattie Malone." Helen said getting up from the chair. "My God Hattie, it has been such long time."


The contrast between the two women was starting. Hattie tall and thin with that gray and bright red hair and Helen no taller then five foot with jet-black hair streaked with gray and pure white strands coming from her widow's peak. Helen was dark while Hattie was a typical light skin redhead.


She cleared a chair for Hattie and sat back down. "I'm going to spend the night with Hattie Mom." Cass walked to the back of the house to grab her stuff.


"Cass told me about what has happened Hattie, I'm really sorry." Helen liked Hattie, she was a good influence on Cass and she appreciated it. "Is there anything that I can do for you Hattie?"


"If things don't go right I might have you sell that property of mine." Hattie said with a slight laugh. "Really though, I'm doing fine and Cass has become a source of strength for me."


"I know Cass is really worried about you Hattie." Hattie just nodded her head. "So do you still like the little house I sold you?"


"I love it Helen, it was exactly what I had hoped for." Hattie still missed her old place but this one was so close to the original that she fell in love with it. "I appreciate you taking so much time with me Helen."


Helen reached over and took Hattie's hand in hers and they just communicated as only a touch could do.


Cass came back in with a small suitcase and stared at the two women. "Guess we better get going Hattie." She bent over and gave her Mom a kiss on the forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow night Mom, but I'll call and let you know what's going on."


At eight forty seven on a Saturday, Cassidy and Hattie stopped at the place that once was Hattie's home. The area had yellow police tape wrapped through the bushes and in some spot it was torn by the wind. "I guess if Mother Nature can tear through a few taped off areas we can to!" Hattie said


"No Hattie, it is still a crime scene and we should just look at it from outside the tape." Cass was very stern when she said this, maybe she thought a little too stern. "I'm sorry Hattie. Old habits are hard to break."


"That's okay Cass, you're right so we will just look around." After a half an hour of finding nothing, Cassidy and Hattie decided to head over to Mr. Henry Porter's house and see if Cassidy could buy Molly.


Porter lived on five acres with a doublewide sitting on a cinder block foundation. The front of the house was professionally decorated in the typical desert fashion with rocks and desert plants. Everyone kept their yards that way because water was almost sacred in the desert. The doublewide was brand new and wasn't here two years ago.


"Looks like Porter came into some money or something." Hattie said as they pulled up to the front of the house. "He use to live in an old trailer like the kind you pull behind a car. He never kept his place very neat and I always told him he should take pride in his property, guess he finally caught on."


As they got out of Cassidy's truck, Hattie holding Molly's leash, noticed a new black Jeep sitting on the side of the doublewide. "I don't remember him having a new Jeep either." Hattie said as she knocked on the door.


Henry Porter squeezed himself out the door and stood on the porch. He was a very thin man wearing a western shirt and blue jeans topped off with a cowboy hat. The only thing that didn't fit was the name brand expensive white sneakers. His face was that color that comes with hard drinking and desert living. His nose was large and you could see a lot of veins, so many, that it almost made his nose look purple. "Hattie, I haven't seen you in so long." He seemed awful skittish. "And who is this young lady?"


Cassidy didn't like this man, never did and especially now as he looked at her with those, I'm undressing you eyes. "It's Cassidy McBryde, you remember her don't you?"


"Sure do, God you have grown into something else." He started to walk pass them going down the steps, making sure to close the door quickly so that they couldn't see inside. "I don't want to seem rude Hattie but I have to go."


"Okay Henry, we came by because Cass found one of your dogs and she wants to know how much you want for her." The two ladies followed him around the doublewide until he came to a new Dodge 3500 duel wheel pick-up.


"Don't worry about it." He said as he looked at the dog standing by Hattie. "Keep her if she's taken a shine to you. She was the last of the line you know. Anyway, got to go." He climbed into the truck and smiled at the women


He hesitated and just sat there as the women walked back to Cassidy's truck. "It's strange that he had that parked behind the house, I wonder who owns the Jeep." Cassidy said.


As they drove away, they noticed that Henry wasn't following, he was still sitting in his truck with his head on the steering wheel. "I think he knows something but it is best to leave it for now, at least until that Jeep disappears." Hattie said excitedly.


This was like a game for Hattie and that worried Cassidy. She knew that with one attempted murder and now a full-blown murder this was not a game. She thought about hiding Hattie somewhere and telling her to stay out of sight until she figured this out. But she also knew Hattie was a mystery fan and she would do it on her own, so it was best for Cass to keep her next to her. "Yes, maybe later."


They stopped at a McDonalds in Marana for breakfast and think about what they knew so far. They sat in the truck eating their breakfast with the air on. They would have gone inside if Molly wasn't along but they couldn't leave molly in the truck with the heat of the desert rising.

"I really can't say why Henry was so nervous, it could be a thousand reasons, maybe someone's wife was the owner of the Jeep and he's scared of getting beat up or shot by the husband." Hattie said with a mouthful of a breakfast burrito.


"No, if it was an affair, the Jeep would have been hidden behind the doublewide not the truck." Cassidy said. "There is something going on, but does it have anything to do with our mystery? We don't know." Cass watched as Molly ate her egg McMuffin off of the waxed paper wrapper.


And hour later, they pulled up in front of Hattie's adobe to find a strange four by four parked in front. It was a yellow Toyota Land Cruiser, Cass thought a lot of money went into that car. On Hattie's doorstep sat a young man in uniform. "Looks like we have a visitor, and I might add, quite a handsome young man Cass!" Hattie had a smirk on her face as she said it.


"Knock it off Hattie." As they walked up Cassidy looked at the young man as he stood to greet them. He was about five-eleven, black hair and beautiful dark eyes. He was perfect, almost too perfect. Cassidy found she was growing interested and mentally slapped herself.


"Good evening Ladies." He said as they stopped in front of him. "I'm Jay Odam of the U.S. Border Patrol."


"Hi, I'm Hattie Malone and this lovely single young lady is Cassidy McBryde and I swear she is not an illegal alien." Cassidy scowled at Hattie as she said this. "How can we help you Officer Odam?"


"Actually, right now I'm off duty." He looked at Cassidy as he was talking which made Hattie giggle. "This is more of a private visit."


"Please, come in Officer Odam." Hattie unlocked the door. Jay and Cassidy followed her in. "My God!"


Hattie couldn't believe what she saw. Her house had been turned upside down. She started crying and actually slumped to the floor. "This is just to much, first my home is set on fire, then my dog gets killed, then I'm shot at and a body is found on my land and now this!"


Jay turned over Hattie's leather chair and helped her off the floor and into it. "I think that I have come at a bad time."


"I'll call the police." Cassidy went hunting for the phone and heard Jay talking to Hattie.


"John Remone was my Uncle. He was the man they found on your property." Jay was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Hattie. "I know what you told Detective Russell, but there is one fact he didn't tell you."


About then Cass walked back into the room. "They said a patrol car was just around the block and will be here in a second." She looked at Hattie who looked worn out and tired. "Before they get here. I'm going to do a little look around myself."


"Does she know what she's doing?" Jay asked Hattie watching Cass walk away. "I mean she may mess up some evidence."


"I think being a cop for several years and an ex-FBI agent may give her the experience." Hattie said with a smile.


Jay was looking at Cassidy in a new light. She looked at everything without disturbing anything. He thought she had x-ray vision the way that she would stare at an item for a long time. Finally there was a knock on the door and Jay let the Tucson police officers in.


After about an hour of questions and a few more police officers, Hattie, Cassidy and Jay were alone again.


"You said that there was something that Russell left out when he came to visit." Hattie said to Jay as he helped Cass clean up the mess.


"My uncle was able to scratch something in the dirt just before he died." Jay was putting a basket back on a shelf. And remarked "This was made by my people, a very nice piece."
"So what did he write in the dirt?" Cassidy asked


"He left it as a clue, it was Kokopelli." Jay stopped and looked at them. "I think he was trying to find something out there and that was his way of passing it on so I thought maybe it would jar your memory."


"Kokopelli, that doesn't seem to help us." Hattie continued. "After all, he is strung all through the west in all the trading post and in every mall store that sells southwestern items her in the west."


"True." Cassidy added. "I've seen Kokopelli playing golf, bowling, surfing and numerous other portrayals. He is sold as everything from doormats to coffee cups, so I don't get it."


"The point is, Kokopelli is more of a Four Corners creation. Maybe that is where he was pointing to and since you paint I thought maybe you had gone up there and it may jog your memory." Jay said starting at Hattie.


"I only paint this region Mr. Odam." Hattie said. "Sorry, it just doesn't help."


Jay got up from the sofa and walked to the door. "I better get back, I promised to stop by the Tohono O'odham Police Department the Sergeant there might have heard something, I better go, he's not that patient."


"Why did you come out?" Hattie asked. "I mean, I am sure Russell told you I didn't know your Uncle."


"He knew you, he was fascinated with the loss of your home." Jay walked to the door with the women following. "He said he had a vision and would go out there off and on over the years."
At the Toyota Cassidy asked him what kind of vision. She was feeling the paint job on the Toy and knew that Office Odam considered this his symbol of masculinity.


"He never told me Ms. McBryde." Jay unlocked the car and slid into the driver seat. "I plan to go through his home and see what I can find, I'll let you know."


"Call me Cass, Jay." She leaned on the car door. "If you don't mind I would like to go with you to his place."


"No problem, meet me at the police station in Sells, tomorrow after four in the afternoon." Cass shut his door and watched as Jay drove off.


"So, you wormed a date out of him." Hattie said. "Sneaky."


"It is not a date and what has got in to you?" She looked up at Hattie. "You all of a sudden have gone into the match making business, a woman that never married."


Hattie just stared at her after that remark and walked back into the house. Cass stood on the street staring at Hattie regretting what she said. Every time she brought up that subject, Hattie would withdraw and stay solemn for the rest of the day.


As Cassidy walked inside Hattie was back in her chair. "Come over here Cass, it is about time I tell you about my love life."


Shocked, Cassidy sat on the sofa and leaned forward. This is something she had always waited to hear. "I had a love of my life once. I even married him, he was tall and handsome and had a great job in Phoenix." She had a faraway look on her face as she told this story.

"We lived there for two whole days, and then he left me."


"He left you Hattie, I'm sorry." Cassidy couldn't imagine how that would feel.


"What I mean by left me, at the age of twenty-seven he had a heart attack and died at his desk at work." Her eyes started to shine from the growing tears. "We eloped, never took pictures for me to remember him by, I never got to say I love you before he passed away, his family never knew me, so I was a stranger."


"My God Hattie, what did you do?" She got up from the sofa and sat on the arm of the chair putting her arm around Hattie.


"I went on, that's what I did." She sat up straighter and looked up at Cassidy. "I got twenty thousand dollars from his work insurance, I bought the twenty acres with this old adobe house on it and rebuilt it and stayed away from men for the rest of my life."


"But why? You were still so young." Cassidy tried to figure out what she would have done if that happened to her. "Didn't you ever feel lonely out there?"


"I wasn't lonely, I had my art gallery friends and I traveled a lot." She grabbed Cassidy's hand. "But it was a mistake, don't let that happen to you!"


"I won't Hattie, I promise." Cassidy moved out of Hattie's way as Hattie got up from her chair. "But quit being a matchmaker."


Hattie laughed. "Okay, no more, and you asked was I lonely out there. How could I be with a snot nosed kid bugging the hell out of me every week-end?"


"It's not my fault your twenty acres sat a few miles from my Dad's." Cassidy followed Hattie into the kitchen. "It was a simple twenty minute bike ride to see the crazy lady of the desert."


Hattie made some coffee and brought out some lunchmeat and bread. "Hungry?"


"Sure." Cassidy watched as she made the sandwiches and threw a bag of jalapeno chips on the table.


"What are we going to do now Cass?" Hattie asked


"We are going to do nothing but eat and get some sleep." Cass said thinking of the Kokopelli connection. She had to agree with Jay Odam that there wasn't any true connection between his people and that symbol of the Four Corners area. But it was important enough for a dying man to scratch in the hard earth of the desert. What was he trying to say.


Cass and Hattie settled down in sleeping bags on the living room floor watching an old BBS series called Keeping Up Appearances on the PBS station. Hattie didn't have cable and she could only get a few channels on her old TV so the choices were far an in-between. Hattie always said that television was the downfall of the youth of the past and created the insensitive nature of people today. She said that politicians that grew up that way would rather spend millions if not billions on other countries when we have so much here that needed fixing. That was about as political as Hattie got.


Every time a strange noise was heard or Molly shifted in her sleep Cass could see Hattie looking around. "Hattie, you need to relax just a little. Before you put yourself in an early grave."


"Early grave, that's a laugh." Hattie said. "Half my old colleagues are already dead from poor health and to many parties."


"You're only sixty-two Hattie, hell you'll probably outlive me." Cass said.


"You might be right, they always say the good die young and I sure don't fit in that category." They laughed and changed the channel to watch the news.


The reporter on channel four was talking about the murder of Mr. Ramone and the ongoing investigation. Then he reacapped the Molly's mystery story ten years earlier showing scenes that was taken back then. Cass quickly turned the channel back to the PBS station. "You didn't have to do that Cass, it doesn't bother me about the past. What bothers me is that poor old man's death may have been caused by me not knowing what I should know."


"Hattie, you didn't force him out there." Cass turned the TV off. "He made that choice and sometimes when people get involved in their little crusades they forget that there is always a consequence to their action."


"I know, but it wasn't like I disappeared from the earth. He could have found me and I could have told him that there was nothing to what ever his vision told him." She snuggled down inside the sleeping bag. "Maybe he would be alive now if he had."


Cass looked over at Hattie and saw that she was falling asleep but she also answered that last statement of Hattie's in her mind. I doubt it!

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