Ashley thought for a moment. “I guess that’s okay. For now. She stood up and walked around the room. “As a matter of fact, it might be a good idea. If they think they’re untouchable, they might lead us to something. You are going to have them followed, right?”
“I’ve thought of it,” Miller said. “We have to be really careful with that.”
“What’s the update with the men you brought in from the mountain who were with Justin that night? They were definitely out to harm us and tried to ram your car with their truck!” Ashley said.
“They won’t talk. We are working on a confession. They’ve been questioned over and over. As soon as they give us some information to go on, we can expand the net.” He paused and looked at Ashley. “They did say they’d rather stay in jail though.”
“What’s the reason they gave?” Sean asked.
Ashley looked at Miller. “We both know, don’t we detective? They are afraid they’ll be killed if you let them out.”
Miller stared right back at her. “This is the biggest case I’ve ever handled. I need kid gloves at this point. We’re close, but it’s very dangerous. My job is to protect as many lives as I can.”
Ashley knew he couldn’t say anything else. And wouldn’t say anything else either. She walked over to him and shook his hand.
“Okay.” She sighed. “You’ll notify Harley’s cousin about Justin, right?”
“As soon as I get the autopsy back,” he said.
“Of course,” Ashley said. She stood up and walked over to Sean. “I hope we helped up here, detective. We’re taking your advice and going back home. Good luck. And I hope for everyone’s sake, that this is resolved soon. Let me know as soon as the autopsy results come in.”
“Will do,” Miller said. “Stay safe.”
Ashley turned to leave as Sean opened the office door.
“Ashley?” Sean?” Miller said.
“Yes?”
“Thanks a million to you both. I mean it.”
“Welcome,” Sean said.
Ashley didn’t say anything for a moment. She just stood at the door. Her voice was filled with regret when she finally spoke.
“You know, I’ve never left a case before I finished helping to solve it, detective. This is a first. For a professional caterer turned amateur sleuth, that is.”
Miller gave her a rueful smile. “If it makes you feel any better, this is the first time I’ve enlisted help from a professional caterer.”
Sean coughed.
“And baker,” Miller finished saying. “Now go home. I’ll have a car on you until you get back to your hometown. You should be safe after that. And go back to cooking. You’ll have a happier life, believe me.”
They waved at him as they walked out the door. He waved back.
***
They got in their car and headed out. Ashley noticed the cop in her rear view mirror. It would be nice to have the cover until they got back to Comfortville. It was beautiful country they were driving through, but somewhere out there were people with evil intent.
Ashley shivered. She closed her window on the warm summer air. Sean was surprised and put his hand on her shoulder.
“Not cold are you?” he asked.
“No. Just don’t want the window open. And I can’t wait to get home,” Ashley said.
“Me too,” he said.
They drove in silence for a long time. Every now and then Ashley would check her rear view mirror for the cop car. There it was, cruising along behind them on a steady course. Her eyes grew heavy and she leaned her head back on the seat. The green trees became a blur and she drifted off into sleep. Sean glanced at her every now and then, and continued to navigate the winding roads on the way home. The sun shone behind the trees and dappled the woods with light. On the left was a lovely mountain stream meandering through the landscape. And far enough behind the cop car, a small sedan kept a steady pace down to Comfortville.
***
Back up in Brewer, two people were talking in low tones to one another as they walked near the pumping station up in the mountain.
“You heard they took the body down, right?” one of them said.
“I know. But don’t worry, they won’t be able to trace it back,” the second one said.
“How can you be sure? That stupid Steve could open his mouth! And what about those idiots with him in the can?” He spit on the ground. “Who screwed this up? You? Justin? We were supposed to get to the body before they did!” he said.
“Don’t know. Could’ve been—”
“Oh shut up! Don’t need to hear could’ve been,” he said. “Personally, I think it was Justin. He was always the weak link in the chain.”
“He worked hard, he tried his best—”
“Stop defending him! I know you’re sad about what happened, but you have to buck up…lots more lives are at stake now.”
“Yes sir.”
“You’re in charge of this, and you need to go forward. No more time for sadness. He’s not coming back. And we need to cover our tracks! I have to make my report and send it off. And make sure those fools in the cell don’t talk. Get a message to them they’re dead if they say one word!”
“Yes sir.”
“Now are you sure those two snoops from Comfortville are going to be taken care of?”
“I’m sure. They’re being followed now. That problem will be over soon.”
“Good. Let’s hope so. No more excuses. I’ve got a lot to take care of here and have to be able to count on you.”
“Yes sir.”
“When do you leave to pick up everyone?” he asked.
“Tomorrow morning, early.”
“Okay, bring them back safely and I’ll meet you at headquarters. It will be good to be out of this town and far away from preying eyes for a while.”
“Okay.”
“Come on, put a smile on your face. You’re going to be rolling in dough. Justin would’ve only held you back anyway. Take care of everything and get back to me later,” he said.
“Yes sir, bye sir.”
The two parted and one of them got in a truck and took off down the hill. After a mile, the truck took a sharp right and drove into the woods on a narrow dirt path until it couldn’t maneuver anymore. The driver got out and covered it with branches, and then started to hike back and up into the dense growth.
The other one went into the facility and started to inspect the operations. The workers paused as he walked through, explaining how everything was being kept up and verifying the daily output. A lot of money was being made on the mountain and it was an important job to make sure that nothing shut PWCS Company down. He would report it all to the top brass at headquarters next week. And hopefully get a nice big bonus for his efforts.
The streams kept gushing over the rocks and down the twists and turns of the mountain pass. Like liquid money. And the plastic bottles kept getting filled with water, and spun on a belt through the facility into trucks for distribution centers. Neat and tidy. The profits kept rolling in—to the company pockets, the mid-tier managers, and mostly to those chosen few who reigned at the top and lived a life far from all this madness.
***
Sweating and breathing heavily, Harley pushed open the hidden door. It had been quite a hike from where she had parked the truck, but it had to be this way. She always parked her vehicle off the road and out of sight, but it could only go so far. It wasn’t safe to have the tiny cabin any closer than it was to civilization. It had to be out of the way, to be hidden. Only she and Justin knew where it was. Her heart sank thinking of Justin. She was truly alone now.
Once she got inside the small room, she breathed a sigh of relief. Everything she had left here seemed to still be in place. She sat down for a moment to catch her breath and think about her next move. The manager of this operation had reamed her out up at the facility. Like she was an idiot, a peon. After everything she had done for the company to make them money. To safeguard them from anyone
finding out their secrets. To keep up the appearance of them being “environmentally friendly.” If it hadn’t been for her, they would’ve been exposed a long time ago. And this puppet manager wouldn’t even have the little power he did.
He was going to make a report to Douglas Anderson and no doubt cast blame on her for Justin getting away and the others getting caught. He wouldn’t share any responsibility for what happened up here in the woods. She knew he would throw her under the bus. And all the head honchos would side with the manager and Douglas Anderson and try to get rid of her.
And she was certain one of them was responsible for Justin’s murder. They had to get rid of her brother so he wouldn’t talk. She started to sob quietly.
Even if they had paid her and Justin well, it wasn’t enough for all the crap they had gone through. For all the times she had risked her life. For the fact that Justin had lost his. She stopped crying and her face flushed with anger as the bile rose in her throat.
She sat down and started to put all her records and journals together, and then opened up her laptop and imputed all the information she could think of about everyone in the company, from the line managers on up the ladder. She cited all the evidence she had for their misdeeds, and provided all the copies of everything she had. Then she methodically named every council member in town that had been paid off to cover for PWCS. It was enough to prove their guilt in any court of law. Then she typed out her part in it all and signed her confession simply:
“I was wrong. I make no excuses. Please remember me as I was as a young girl. There was a time I was happy, long ago. I’m sorry, but now I have to finish the job.”
She put it all on a memory stick and then made two more copies. She would mail one to the police before she left town. And mail one to the media, then one to Ashley. She owed her that at least.
She walked out the little door and locked the cabin up tight. Not that it would matter. Even though she never made a phone call from here to trace, and couldn’t get internet up here to send any messages, they would still find it soon. But it would be too late.
Chapter Eighteen
Ashley and Sean got home late afternoon and dashed into their apartment. “Charlie! Susie Q!” they shouted. Their cats came flying around the corner from the bathroom, yowling at the top of their lungs. Ashley reached down and picked them both up one by one and gave them copious pets. They looked a little plumper than usual, no doubt due to her parents giving them extra treats. She smiled as she hugged them.
“I’ll go talk to the cop and ask him to contact Thompson that we’re here before he takes off and goes back to Brewer,” Sean said.
“I don’t think we need a cop car watching us now that we’re back home,” Ashley said.
Sean paused at the door. “I disagree. I’m going to request one. At least for a while. Why don’t you call your parents and tell them we’re home?”
After he went outside, Ashley got on the phone to her parents and made a date for them to all get together for dinner that night.
“Why don’t we all go out?” she asked her mom.
“Don’t be silly!” April said. “I went shopping at the Farmer’s Market yesterday and got lots of summer vegetables and a bunch of fruit to make a cobbler. Dinner is more relaxed here! Besides, your Dad will be happy to have a big dessert for a change.”
“Sounds good. Can’t wait to see you!” Ashley said.
“You too honey. See you later.”
Ashley walked into the bedroom to unpack and Sean came back in and let her know the car tradeoff would happen soon.
“Good,” she said. “Now we can just relax until we go to my parents for dinner tonight.”
As they puttered around their place, Ashley could feel her whole body relax. What an ordeal it had been. But for better or worse, she was glad they had been able to go up to Brewer and help. She had no more control over anything now, and hoped Detective Miller would be able to put the rest of the pieces together to solve the case. Her stomach got queasy again just thinking about what had gone on up there. So much loss over nothing but money. She wondered if they would find Harley alive. Her life had been so sad already. How did it ever get to this?
She shook her head. She had to focus on moving ahead and get back to that place of post honeymoon bliss. She smiled at Sean as he moved around the apartment. How wonderful to be home with him. He caught her looking at him and smiled back.
Outside, a plain sedan car had pulled up on their street and parked down the block a bit. A man sat there and glanced in his rear view mirror. He patiently waited for his next order. He’d do whatever they told him to. He had seen the cop car in front of their place, and then watched it as it pulled away. A feeling of relief came over him, but it was short lived. Another police cruiser pulled over across the street directly in front of Ashley and Sean’s complex. The man scrunched inside his seat a bit and picked up some reading material so he wouldn’t look obvious. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay too much longer with that cop sitting there. Just then his phone rang.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Come back,” Harley said.
“Come back? I just got here. Are you sure? You told me to follow them and take care of the problem.”
“That’s right, come back. No need to stay there as we have a much bigger problem here. Leave now and don’t call anybody or talk to anybody! I’ll see you up here. Wait for my call.”
The phone went dead.
The man looked in his rear view mirror again and saw the cop looking away and writing something down in his car. Perfect time to leave. He pulled out causally and drove slowly down the street so as not to call attention to himself, then headed for the highway leading north.
Detective Miller had just arrived in his office that morning bright and early. He made a cup of coffee and wiped his eyes. He still had a hard time sleeping as he couldn’t knit up the crime. He glanced up at his board again and read the new notes from two days ago. Ashley had given him food for thought. There was a lot more to investigate now. The capture of a few suspects had given him hope, but the “big guys” were still out there. Or were they? Was this all a bigger scheme like she had alluded to? Or just petty corruption in the town that unfortunately was tied in to some local murders? He thought about the businessmen she spoke of. Were they really running things in town, and did it all tie into water rights and PWCS? He shook his head.
Where’s the evidence? he thought. I’m stuck without it.
It was a warm summer day, but he felt cold. Not physically cold. Just numb to his core. This case could drag on forever. He desperately wanted to solve it and move on with his life.
There was a knock at his door.
“Yes?” Miller said.
“Sir, a package just arrived for you. It says urgent.”
“Bring it in,” Miller said.
The officer put the package on the desk.
“Stay with me while I open it,” Miller said. He put on gloves and a face mask and scanned the package first. Then he opened it slowly and took out the contents. He read the letter first, then put the memory stick in his computer.
Harley’s face was onscreen, and she was revealing everything. Miller and the officer stood there in shock as they watched.
“Oh my God!” Miller gasped. He turned to the officer and yelled. “Notify the Chief and tell him to get reinforcements now so we can head up there immediately!”
***
The ride up the mountain was a steady stream of one cop car after another. The vehicles were full of policemen and weaponry. Miller and the police chief didn’t know what they’d encounter up there, but they only had so much equipment in this small town. Backup had been called from other law enforcement agencies, and some had already arrived on the scene. Looking in the rear view mirror, Miller was taken aback at the show of force.
In this small and peaceful town, he thought. Who would have ever guessed?
They followed the coordinates provided on th
e memory stick, and parked at the bottom of the small path leading to the cabin. Some men stayed down below and drew their weapons behind the cars. Several men climbed up fully armed and ready to engage. It was insane. But the police couldn’t take any chances at this stage of the game. As soon as they approached, the police chief yelled through a microphone.
“Police! Come out with your hands up!”
No sound except the breeze moving through the trees. He shouted again. Nothing. Then he raised his hand to his men and they charged the small dwelling, kicking the door in.
The little room had been entirely ransacked. The chair and desk were turned over, and the computer and files were gone. The small bed mattress had been slashed and apparently searched for something. Everything inside of the desk had apparently been taken. He knew whoever had been in here was trying to confiscate evidence, but they probably had no idea that everything they took had already been copied and turned in. Now all they had to do was find the link leading back to who had been here. Miller cased the room while the men took fingerprints. He took what little items were left and put them in a bag. In a corner, he saw some red stains on the floor. Blood.
“Over here! Get these samples.” As he walked out, he noticed some more drops by the door. He looked off in the woods behind the cabin. “Get a K9 out there now!” He and the police chief followed the dogs who ran off at full speed. In the distance, they heard shouting, and running up, they found a man cowering on the ground panting and clutching his side.
“Get them away please. I’m in pain, please help me.”
“Were you at that cabin back there?” Miller asked.
“Yes,” the man gasped. “Someone tried to kill me.”
“Can you identify him?”
“Yes, the lowlife betrayed me. I don’t care about keeping his secrets anymore.”
“Hang on, we’ll get you out of here,” Miller said.
Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 72