Atonement Read Online Free Page B

won’t get spit from the sheriff.  Unofficially, from a police source, she was strangled.  And that is all I know.”
    Clifton lowered his head and cupped it in his hands.
    “Was anything taken from her?”  Logan said.
    Kate shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of.  They recovered her purse and cell phone at the scene.”
    That was it.  Ray was being held for further questioning.  He hadn’t been charged with anything, yet, but it looked to be cut and dried from a department point of view.  They had at that point no other avenue to investigate.
    Clifton went to visit with Ray.  Logan walked down the street to the Steamboat Diner, sat at the counter and ordered a cheeseburger and coffee black.  As he finished up the sandwich, he got company.  One deputy either side of him.
    “You mind if we join you, Logan?”  Carl Purvis said.
    Logan said nothing.
    “I’m talking to you,”  Carl said.  “Are you deaf or something?”
    “Or something,”  Logan said.
    “Wise guy, huh?”  Deputy Sheriff Earl Dempsey chipped in.
    “Just grabbing a bite to eat,”  Logan said, picking up his coffee cup and moving to an empty window booth.
    Carl and Earl followed him across the diner and slid onto the bench facing him.
    “You a drifter or vagrant?”  Carl said.
    Logan sighed.  “Just a citizen.”
    “Not a local or a guy moved into the Creek looking to find honest work and pay taxes.  Am I right?”
    “I’m on an extended vacation, moving around and taking in the sights of Colorado.”
    “There aren’t many sights to see in Carson Creek, buddy,”  Earl said. “Probably time for you to hitch a ride out of town.  Maybe go see what New Mexico has to offer.”
    “Thanks, I may just visit the ‘Land of Enchantment’ in a week or two.  Who knows?”
    “I was thinking you should head out of town in the next twenty-four hours.”  Earl came back, emphasizing the suggestion by taking hold of Logan’s wrist in a firm grip.
    “And I suggest you let go of my wrist, unless you really want to see that hand in a cast for the next few weeks.”
    “That sounds like a threat to me, Logan.”
    “Think of it more as a promise, son.  And don’t let the fact that you’re wearing a uniform go to your head.  There are at least a dozen townsfolk, two waitresses and the owner hanging on to every word.  You are harassing and intimidating a patron for no good reason.  I’m initially asking you politely to back off.”
    Carl gave Earl a quick look.  Earl withdrew his hand and got up, knocking Logan’s coffee mug over, seemingly by accident.  “Twenty-four hours, Logan,”  he said.
    “Did you see that old movie First Blood ?”  Logan asked them.
    “Yeah, so what?”  Carl said.
    “It was a lesson for hick cops in a small town.  The message was to be extremely careful with an unknown quantity.”
    “That sounds like a definite threat.”
    “Just friendly advice,”  Logan said.  “Same as you’ve given me.”
    Carl wanted to arrest Logan and throw him in a cell.  Earl shook his head almost imperceptibly.  Wrong time, wrong place.   They’d wanted to scare the guy off, but it hadn’t gone to plan.  They got up and headed for the door.
    “Freshen your coffee?”  Amy Granger asked Logan.  Amy was the owner of the Steamboat; a fifty-something bottle blonde with a nice easy smile on her round face.
    Logan nodded.
    “You need to be careful around those two,”  Amy said.  “Carl is a mean piece of work, and Earl is worse.  They’re just overgrown schoolyard bullies in uniform.”
    “Thanks,”  Logan said.  “I’ll be sure to keep on their good side.”
    “They don’t have a good side, Mr. Logan.”
    “Just Logan.  What about the sheriff?”
    “Lyle is a fine man.  He keeps the law and cares a lot about the Creek and the folk in it.  I’ve known him for longer than I care to remember, and always found him to be a man of his word.”
    “That’s good to know.  Have you