Outside the police station in the curious town of Eureka, Montana, I found the storm had cleared and left a bright blue canopy randomly smudged with thins strips of cotton. A skiff of snow covered the streets, reflecting my unsettled mood. 

The slippery white carpet also promised a slow drive home. 

Ollie materialized behind me in the doorway emanating a contagious conviviality. Wrapped in a layer of warm caramel optimism and skin that glowed with a rich coffee hue, he left me feeling like a background character in a vampire flick. Ollie, charismatic and indestructible, meets Connor, faceless mortal lingering on the outskirts of eternity.

His face lit up when he saw me. Bags under his eyes revealed exhaustion and stress competing with the facade of inspiration. 

“Officer Gerulis.” I nodded, grateful for his persistent good cheer. 

“Quite a morning, eh?” he asked. 

A rhetorical question answered by the circumstances that brought us together. 

“Quite,” I said. A light breeze brushed my face and tingled my skin. 

Snow-capped mountains glimmered in the sunlight. Crowned with a heavy blanket of snow, they were sentries of old, majestic and permanent. In a symbolic way, they had protected the town below from the wicked deeds of humankind. 

 Sun cast a warm glow over Ollie and me. The tilt of his bulky frame leaned heavily into the door jamb. I stood with hands tucked in coat pockets, feet spread a little wider than usual, like an overworked movie theater attendant. 

“Got an update on Deputy Spiesz, and his untidy gang of ill-doers.” His voice carried intrigue, with a touch of discontent. 

I leaned in. “Let’s hear it then.” 

“Sheriff de Lude and a couple of his deputies from   Libby searched through the debris of Hugh Jenkins’ compound. Found evidence that Faye was’t just a witness who didn’t speak out about the illegal adoptions. She managed every aspect. Her signature scribbled on every payment record, a pile of fake documents she’d created to facilitate the phony adoptions. Evidence against her is overwhelming.”

He took a breath, and then continued.

“Sheriff marched over to the diner in a rage. That man’s had more than his share of loss and betrayal.”

“How did the arrest go?”

Ollie shrugged. “Diner’s grown whisper quiet since we began chasing after Hugh. Whole town’s keeping a distance. Wasn’t much of a scene.”  

I nodded. 

“Couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity for the woman.”

“Ollie, she’s cold blooded as an eel.”

“Maybe. But I’ve known the friendly and jovial town gossip forever. Hard to visualize her as a heinous trafficker of children.” He shuddered.

I shuddered with him. “Disgust and shame drives humans to dark places.”

Ollie nodded. “Interrogation didn’t take long. Not that she sang like a bird, but her pride swelled mighty large. She wouldn’t give Hugh a lick of credit. Refused to implicate him in the adoption deal, but not the way you’d expect. Said, ‘he isn’t smart enough for that. No way I’d let him manage a trade deal for $20,000.’

“Then the woman spat on the floor talking about Hugh’s obsession with young girls. Said she  laid up nights thinking of ways to dispose of the pig. Buying babies from impoverished mothers and selling them to wealthy couples seemed a way to do that.” He huffed. “Kayla Peale just got caught in the machine was how she put it. Vicky approached her with the wild story about needing to get her sister away from their pervert father....” He trailed off for a long minute. “Faye had to know it was her damned husband that molested Vicky.” His eyes became moist.

I bobbed my head. My heart broke for little Kayla. A commodity of these heartless bastards. We may have solved the case and brought justice to those involved in this despicable scheme, but somehow it still felt like we’d failed.

Ollie’s brows knitted together in a harsh line, his deep brown eyes flashing dangerously. The muscles in his jaw twitched. “Enough,” he growled under ragged breaths. 

It was a hard thing to watch, witnessing Mister Happily-Ever-After suffer at the lacerations of wickedness.

“Then there’s Deputy Spiesz,” he said.

“A kick in the teeth for sure,” I said. 

“Turns out he was the mastermind,” Ollie continued. “The man behind human trafficking up here. Made it all happen.” The strain in his voice pinched his words. “Much as I didn’t care for him, a disloyalty like this, from a fellow lawman? It rips your heart. How does a person get through the Academy with a heart so dark? Truly baffles me.” 

“A rogue law enforcement officer once tried to throw me to my death in the East China Sea. So, I can believe it, Ollie. Hard to trust after a thing like that.”

Ollie looked up. “I may never understand it.”

“That might be a good thing, not knowing the mind of a psychopath.”

“And to hear he’s actually from right here in the Tobacco Valley,” he said. “Grew up down the road.”

“I heard,” I said, realizing Ollie didn’t know Tony and I found the evidentiary news article about Spiesz’s childhood trauma. 

“From Fortine. Abusive uncle beat him and his mother, then sold his own flesh and blood into child slavery. Sick bastard.”

I shook my head. “Strange how time repeats patterns, even the blackest ones.” 

“Now that you mention, yeah.”

“Ah,” I said absently, making the connection that Spiesz was the voice from behind in that black dungeon. I could still smell the place. “The guy who drugged and abducted me, that was Spiesz. Trying to run me off when I got close.”

Ollie gave a dry chuckle. “There’s a twist.”

“Whatever happened to him as a child turned him. He became a slaver.”

 “Spiesz made sure the abducted victims got moved across the border unhindered, as a way to finance his nefarious retirement plan.”

“Where’d you get all this? You’re like an encyclopedia of local crime.” 

A car drove past and honked. Ollie waved. The mountains watched over us, undaunted by the wicked ways of men.

“A lot of it came from Derek Cooley trying to make a deal. I guess Spiesz planned to produce teen porn films.” His coffee skin turned greenish, beads of sweat broke on his forehead.

“A real gem.” 

Ollie straightened and shook it off, giving a strong nod. “Sickening.”

“He’s done now. That’s a take away.”

He shrugged. “We all thought he was a doofus.”

I harrumphed.

“Right? Didn’t we all think he was a first rate buffoon the sheriff wanted to help?” His eyes pleaded with me for confirmation.

“I certainly thought so. Even once I had suspicions, after he told me about the secret client with money, I wrote that off as him not knowing better.”

“Meanwhile,” Ollie said. “He’s building an organized crime empire in Tobacco Valley.” He locked eyes on the mountain vista, lost in what might be shame and self-loathing. “What an idiot I was.”

“You, and the rest of us, Ollie.”

“And that Cooley. Another piece of work. A hired gun sent to do clean up work. According to him, East Coast Mob bosses decided Spiesz had gotten full of himself and become a business risk. Once the Kayla adoption finished, Cooley was supposed to end Spiesz.” He snorted. “Just business, folks. Sorry about the bloody mess.”

I smiled. “I guess he was upset that Vicky cheated him out of the hit money?”

That made him laugh.

Tony emerged from the station, his wide, mustachioed grin revealing a love for life. He sauntered over, light and easy. The familiar sparkle of amusement danced around his eyes. He playfully nudged me with his shoulder, a silent invitation to join in on his mirth. “Whoa, buddy. I sure didn’t need a bunch of police paperwork to fill out on my vacation.”

“You’re welcome,” I said.

He slapped my chest with the back of his hand, and turned to Ollie. “There’s never enough fun in Connor’s life what he don’t have to scare up a murder or two, Officer Gerulis. Just be careful who your friends are is all I’m saying.” His toothy grin shined at me under that atrocious mustache.

We all sniggered like teenagers on skip day.

“I just found out Sheriff de Lude’s wife passed,” Tony said, losing the grin. “Guess that’s reason enough for distraction.”

“Sadly, yes,” Ollie said, dropping his chin. “Didn’t want anyone to know. Swore me to secrecy. Daily drives to Whitefish and back, sleepless nights, naps in his office. I told him to take some time. But, his brain couldn’t take a break.”

“Damn,” Tony said. “That’s a passel of tragedy all on its own.” 

Ollie and I agreed. 

“Then Spiesz,” I said, scowling at the mountains.

 “Shattered him completely,” Ollie said. “The man’s a specter of the brassy character I signed on with ever since.”

Tony stroked the Pancho Villa mustache. “He did say, while we were booking Vicky, he’ll be taking some time. Got a cabin to hole up in off the grid until the trial date.”

“Good plan,” I said.

“What a mess,” Ollie said. 

The three of stared up at the impervious mountains glistening in the sun.