Read Online Indivisible by Kristen Heitzmann - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kristen Heitzmann
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Fiction - General, American Mystery & Suspense Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Fiction, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Christian fiction, Religious, Christian, Colorado, General & Literary Fiction, Christian - Suspense
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didn’t want to beat people to earn it. “Heard a report you’ve booby-trapped your shed. I need to make sure it’s not a public hazard.”
“Now who would you hear that from, the old suck-up next-door?”
Jonah shrugged. “Just open it up and I’ll be on my way.”
“The hell I will. Not without a warrant.”
“What are you talking about, warrant? I’m just saying show me it’s safe.”
It wasn’t safe. His scalp burned as the hand came down, clawing the hair by the roots, dragging him up. “I’ll teach you to hide, you miserable whelp.” He couldn’t hear out of one ear for a week. But that wasn’t what made the shed a terror.
Jonah shook off the memory and stalked toward Caldwell’s shed.
“Stop right there. This is my land, my shed, and I said no.”
Jonah turned, sick with relief to have it out of his sight. “If I come back with a warrant and find so much as excessive pesticide, I’ll run you in.”
Without warning, Merv streaked across his yard with an ax. “This half’s across the line.” He started hacking at the shed wall that faced his house.
Jonah hollered for him to stop. He didn’t know where the properties joined, but this wouldn’t settle the dispute. Caldwell charged, and Jonah charged after him. They reached the wall as Merv ripped out a splintered board. Caldwell shoved Merv to the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth. Just inside the hole, a shelf held bags of yellowish-white crystals.
Caldwell kicked at Merv while trying to keep his back against the breach, but Jonah had seen enough. “Face the wall, Tom.” He reached for his cuffs.
Caldwell swung, a maneuver embedded in Jonah’s reflexes. He twisted, then grabbed the man’s arm and bent it up his back. Catching Caldwell’s elbow in the ribs, Jonah took him down, pressing his face into the dirt, a knee between the shoulder blades as he locked the cuffs around his wrists. As much as he resisted using physical force, the scuffle did relieve the pent-up tension of seeing his mom and the dead raccoons. And Tia.
After shoving Caldwell into the Bronco, he radioed for the sheriff to send a deputy to secure the site until he returned with a search warrant. As soon as the county car arrived, he told Merv to follow them in, called Sue to procure the warrant, and headed for the station.
Rolling his head side to side in the backseat of the Bronco, Caldwell scrunched up his face. “What died in here?”
A smile tugged the corners of Jonah’s mouth.
At the station he pressed Caldwell down onto the metal bench in the booking area and cuffed him to the ring on one end. Caldwell glowered. When Officer Sue Donnelly joined them, Jonah said, “Read him his rights. Might take a few times before he gets it. Have him sign the form when he understands.”
Caldwell’s nostrils flared, his lip curling up with disgust. “You are making such a mistake.”
“Call me when he’s through photo and prints.” Jonah could have processed the man himself, but handing it over to Sue reminded him that the smirk on Caldwell’s face did not need punching.
Twenty minutes into questioning, during which Caldwell mostly smirked at the wall, his attorney arrived. Interesting because Caldwell hadn’t made the phone call—unless he’d somehow speed-dialed his cell from the Bronco with his hands cuffed. Gordon Byne was a small man with a big head—literally. It sat on his shoulders like a bowling ball, with close-set eyeholes and an extra large mouth hole.
Crying illegal search and seizure, he claimed Merv’s vandalism put whatever they thought they’d seen in plain sight and made the arrest unconstitutional—forgetting, of course, the little matter of assault on an officer.
In the video-conferencing room, Jonah sat at the desk with the computer and looked up at the screen mounted on the wall. Caldwell sat in a chair next to him. When the magistrate had sworn him in, Jonah gave him Caldwell’s name and address and laid out the arrest.
“Now who would you hear that from, the old suck-up next-door?”
Jonah shrugged. “Just open it up and I’ll be on my way.”
“The hell I will. Not without a warrant.”
“What are you talking about, warrant? I’m just saying show me it’s safe.”
It wasn’t safe. His scalp burned as the hand came down, clawing the hair by the roots, dragging him up. “I’ll teach you to hide, you miserable whelp.” He couldn’t hear out of one ear for a week. But that wasn’t what made the shed a terror.
Jonah shook off the memory and stalked toward Caldwell’s shed.
“Stop right there. This is my land, my shed, and I said no.”
Jonah turned, sick with relief to have it out of his sight. “If I come back with a warrant and find so much as excessive pesticide, I’ll run you in.”
Without warning, Merv streaked across his yard with an ax. “This half’s across the line.” He started hacking at the shed wall that faced his house.
Jonah hollered for him to stop. He didn’t know where the properties joined, but this wouldn’t settle the dispute. Caldwell charged, and Jonah charged after him. They reached the wall as Merv ripped out a splintered board. Caldwell shoved Merv to the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth. Just inside the hole, a shelf held bags of yellowish-white crystals.
Caldwell kicked at Merv while trying to keep his back against the breach, but Jonah had seen enough. “Face the wall, Tom.” He reached for his cuffs.
Caldwell swung, a maneuver embedded in Jonah’s reflexes. He twisted, then grabbed the man’s arm and bent it up his back. Catching Caldwell’s elbow in the ribs, Jonah took him down, pressing his face into the dirt, a knee between the shoulder blades as he locked the cuffs around his wrists. As much as he resisted using physical force, the scuffle did relieve the pent-up tension of seeing his mom and the dead raccoons. And Tia.
After shoving Caldwell into the Bronco, he radioed for the sheriff to send a deputy to secure the site until he returned with a search warrant. As soon as the county car arrived, he told Merv to follow them in, called Sue to procure the warrant, and headed for the station.
Rolling his head side to side in the backseat of the Bronco, Caldwell scrunched up his face. “What died in here?”
A smile tugged the corners of Jonah’s mouth.
At the station he pressed Caldwell down onto the metal bench in the booking area and cuffed him to the ring on one end. Caldwell glowered. When Officer Sue Donnelly joined them, Jonah said, “Read him his rights. Might take a few times before he gets it. Have him sign the form when he understands.”
Caldwell’s nostrils flared, his lip curling up with disgust. “You are making such a mistake.”
“Call me when he’s through photo and prints.” Jonah could have processed the man himself, but handing it over to Sue reminded him that the smirk on Caldwell’s face did not need punching.
Twenty minutes into questioning, during which Caldwell mostly smirked at the wall, his attorney arrived. Interesting because Caldwell hadn’t made the phone call—unless he’d somehow speed-dialed his cell from the Bronco with his hands cuffed. Gordon Byne was a small man with a big head—literally. It sat on his shoulders like a bowling ball, with close-set eyeholes and an extra large mouth hole.
Crying illegal search and seizure, he claimed Merv’s vandalism put whatever they thought they’d seen in plain sight and made the arrest unconstitutional—forgetting, of course, the little matter of assault on an officer.
In the video-conferencing room, Jonah sat at the desk with the computer and looked up at the screen mounted on the wall. Caldwell sat in a chair next to him. When the magistrate had sworn him in, Jonah gave him Caldwell’s name and address and laid out the arrest.
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