“Very well. Mary, please put Sabre with Annie and Frieda. Use the room next to Benjamin’s for the two gentlemen.”
“Aren’t you staying?” Sabre asked Tuper.
“He has a room,” Jacob said.
“Any chance of a shower?” JP asked.
“Of course. Mary will show you.”
Jacob went outside. While he was gone, Tuper said to all three of them, “Don’t take too long to shower. Respect their hospitality. We’ll all get a good night’s sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jacob returned with a tall, bushy-haired young man about eighteen. “Benjamin will show you boys where you will sleep.”
After everyone retrieved their bags from the car, Mary began walking Sabre to a bedroom in another building as Benjamin was escorting Ron and JP to theirs in a different one.
As she walked, Sabre realized she didn’t want to leave either JP or Ron. She suddenly wished she had said she was married to JP, but she hadn’t wanted to lie. They walked to the second row of buildings, which had four separate entrances. They stopped at the third door from the end. Mary opened the door and they stepped inside.
The entrance room contained a table with four straight-backed chairs and a small wall cupboard. A washbasin sat on a smaller table against the wall off to the left. Two girls sat at the table studying. They were dressed in patterned, vest-like blouses over white shirts, plaid skirts, and dark stockings. The girls looked up as they entered and stood as soon as they saw Mary.
“This is Frieda,” Mary said when the blonde girl stepped forward. She appeared to be about eighteen years old with beautiful, deep-set, blue eyes and eyebrows that could pass for caterpillars. Sabre’s first inclination was to take tweezers to her bushy brows.
“What a beautiful name,” Sabre said.
“Ausländishe,” Mary muttered. “The name is too modern. We have good Hutterite names she should have.”
When Mary introduced the second girl as Annie B., Sabre decided not to comment for fear she may say the wrong thing. “Hello, Annie B.” The girl looked like a slightly younger version of Frieda, except her hair was a shade darker and her eyebrows weren’t as bushy.
On the right in the entrance way, a stairway led to a second floor. More remarkable was what was lacking; there were no pictures on the wall, no knick-knacks sitting around, and nothing was out of place. Tuper said it was a Hutterite village, but that didn’t mean much to Sabre. She vaguely remembered something she had studied in a sociology class in college, but she was still a little embarrassed at her ignorance. She wanted to ask questions and learn but decided now was not the time.
Sabre, Mary, and the two girls walked into the second room off to the right of the entrance room. Four double beds were adorned by simple but exquisite quilts. There was one dresser, a small closet, and a door that Sabre hoped led to a bathroom.
Six more girls came into the room chattering among themselves, but they stopped when they saw Sabre and Mary. Sabre wondered if they stopped because Mary was there or if it was the stranger in the room that made their chatter cease.
Mary introduced them as Magdelena M., Mary J., Mary B., Helen, and two more Annies: Annie J., and Annie P. She spoke to them in German, and then she said goodnight and left.
“Is there another bedroom upstairs?” Sabre asked.
“No,” Frieda said. “That’s just an attic. We store our seasonal clothes and tools up there. Things we’re not using right now.”
Sabre took a quick count of the girls and glanced around at the beds. There were eight girls—nine counting her—and only four beds. Frieda must have noticed because she moved a step closer and motioned her toward one of the beds.
“You will sleep here,” Frieda said. “The rest of us will share.”
Sabre felt relief followed by selfishness. She was spoiled by her life. She had just about everything she could want and these people had so little, yet they seemed content and certainly more gracious than she felt at the moment.
“I can share with someone,” she said.
“Mary told us to give you your own bed, but even if she hadn’t said something, we would have. We’re used to it. When we were younger we all slept three or four to a bed. It’s fun, really.”
“That’s very kind of you.”
Sabre visited with the girls for a little while. They were awed by her profession and asked many questions, but she was equally curious about their life in the commune. Sabre kept confusing the “Annies” and finally asked Annie B. what the “B” stood for in her name. She said, “Benjamin.”
“Is that your last name or your middle name?”
She giggled. “No, it’s my father’s name. Annie J.’s father is Jacob and Annie P.’s father is Peter. When I get married, they will call me Annie D. because I will take my husband’s name then instead of my father’s.”
“Are you engaged?”
“Yes, I am betrothed, and so are Annie J., Magdalena, Frieda, and Benjamin. We are all to be married this spring. May the first, to be exact.”
“All of you on the same date?”
“Yes, we often get married in groups of two or three. This is the largest group in a while. We save a lot of money that way and we can have a bigger celebration than if just one of us got married.”
“Frieda, are you looking forward to May 1st?” Sabre asked when she noticed that Frieda didn’t seem as excited about the event as some of the others.
“Oh yes, Michael is wonderful and I want to be his wife, but I wonder some times what it would be like to live like the Welt Leut.”
“The Welt Leut? What is that?”
“The worldly people, like you. I wonder what it would be like to go to the university and become a lawyer, like you.”
“And why can’t you do that too?”
“I had to make a choice and I chose Michael. He has a nice family and I’ll be happy living in his colony. I’m luckier than most because I know his mother and she’s real nice.” She went on to explain that when a woman marries, she leaves her own colony to join that of her husband. Often they don’t know their soon-to-be mother-in-law and she is the one they will answer to.
“Do the elder members choose your husbands for you?”
The girls giggled. “No, we can marry whomever we choose.”
Sabre fielded a dozen or more questions, mostly from Frieda, about her work and her life until Frieda said, “Let me show you where to clean up. We only have twenty minutes until the lights go out.”
Frieda led Sabre outside and across the square to the communal kitchen, where they would all meet for their morning meal. At one end of the building was a doorway that led into a group of smaller rooms where the laundry was done and the showers and tubs were located. Frieda showed her where the towels and soap were stored.
“Do you need anything else?”
“No, this is fine,” Sabre said. “You don’t have to wait. I can find my way back.”
Sabre took a quick shower, remembering Tuper’s words about “respecting their hospitality,” even though she would have liked to just relax in a hot tub with a glass of wine or a cup of hot tea.
When Sabre returned the girls were already in their beds. She crawled into hers, her Catholic guilt setting in once again as she saw the two crowded beds of three girls in each. Then the lights went out and Sabre tossed and turned for a while. She mulled over the predicament they were in and then her mind took her to her court cases. She was particularly concerned about Sophie Barrington, her minor client whose case was set for trial. She wished she and JP were there so she could try to find out who molested Sophie and she would then know where to place this poor little girl. Sabre finally brought her mind back to something more pleasant and fell asleep thinking about JP.
Chapter 29
The sun was just peeking over the horizon into a clear, blue sky. The crisp air snapped at JP’s nose and cheeks as he walked to the car to join Tuper, who had arrived moments earlier. They drove away from the c
ompound and left Ron, Sabre, and Ringo behind. He knew Sabre wouldn’t be happy about it if she got up before they returned, but he didn’t want to expose her to any more danger.
“Thanks for doing this,” JP said. “I couldn’t get any reception at the complex, and I need to make some phone calls and check a few things online. I can’t just sit around and wait.”
“Understood,” Tuper said.
They drove for a while before either of them said anything. “It was kind of your friends to put us up.”
“They’re good people,” Tuper said. “They believe in helping when someone is in need.”
“You seem to have quite a connection with Jacob.”
“We go way back.”
When JP reached a place where he had a signal, he checked his phone messages. Ernie had called three times. He dialed Ernie’s cell.
“What the hell have you gotten yourself into?” Ernie asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Those six men you asked me to look into: four of them are dead, two very recently. No one wants to give me any information, and everything keeps leading back to the feds. Are you sure you’re not in trouble?”
“I don’t think so. As far as I know, no one knows I’m even investigating this mess. I’ve been hired to protect someone. The person I’m protecting is either in danger of being killed, is being framed for those murders, or is actually doing the killing.”
“What the hell? Who is this guy?”
“It’s no one you know or know about. He testified years ago against those six guys and he’s been in witness protection ever since.”
“You mean WITSEC is involved too? How about the CIA and the KGB? Are they also in on this?”
“Okay, smart ass. I know it’s a mess and I can’t seem to get any answers. I feel like a rubber-nosed woodpecker in a petrified forest.”
“Now, there’s a visual. Look, I may be able to help. I have a really good friend in WITSEC. Do you want me to see what I can find out?”
“It might help.”
“You’ll have to give me a little more information, though.”
JP gave Ernie the highlights and told him about Ron’s last contact, Marshal Nicholas Mendoza.
“Do you think he’s a straight shooter?”
“I haven’t spoken to him, but Sabre did. She got the feeling that he wanted to protect Ron and he wasn’t too thrilled with either the local law enforcement or the FBI. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t working with them, though. He’s law enforcement first, social worker second.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Ernie said. “Are you running from the law?”
“Not that I know of. I haven’t slowed down enough to find out yet, but it looks like my client is and….”
“Enough said. Just be careful,” Ernie said. “Oh wait, you asked me to see what I could find out about Gina Basham.”
“That’s alright. I think that ship has sailed.”
“I don’t know. I did find a Gina Basham with the description you gave me. She had the same birthday and was about the right age, but she died a year ago.”
“That’s interesting. It could be coincidence, but I’m not much of a believer in that,” JP said. “By the way, I don’t have phone reception where I’m staying so you won’t be able to reach me. And I don’t know how long I’ll even be there, so if you find something, leave me a message and I’ll call you first chance I get.”
By the time JP hung up, Tuper was pulling into the casino parking lot where they had left the rental car. Dimes Casino glowed in big red letters across the top of the building. Only six cars were parked in the lot. Tuper pulled into the spot next to JP’s Jeep and left his Toyota running.
“Damn,” JP said.
“What?”
“My trunk isn’t completely closed.” They both got out. JP walked around to the back of the car. “I’m sure I didn’t leave it open.” JP looked inside the trunk. It was empty, just as it was when he left it. He closed the trunk.
Tuper pulled the handle on the passenger side with his gloved hand. It was unlocked. “Did you lock your doors?”
“Yes, I’m certain of it,” JP said.
“They’re unlocked now, and look at this.”
JP walked around to the driver’s side. It was unlocked as well. Black powder covered the outside of the driver’s door as well as the side of the door panel. The glove box was open and there was more black powder on the console, the inside door panels, the dashboard, steering wheel, and seats. “Someone took fingerprints in here.”
“Who would do that?”
“I don’t know, but I think we better leave,” JP said as he glimpsed a man in an overcoat walking toward them.
Tuper jumped in his car and backed out. He pulled forward and JP jumped in. They sped out of the parking lot as the man ran toward a dark blue Dodge Challenger partway across the lot. Tuper made a quick turn onto a side street, then another into an alley, and turned up another street. Then he weaved in and out of several streets before he ended up in another alley behind a small bar. He flipped around and backed into a space between two other cars, partially hidden by a huge tree.
“I think you lost them on the first turn,” JP said. “But whoever it is knows I’m here. I’m sure Sabre’s prints are in the car, too. And if they run the license plate, it’ll show who rented the car.”
“Could Ron’s prints be on it?”
JP thought for a second. “No, he never got close to the car. But they know about me now and they know Sabre and I are together.”
“But who is ‘they’?”
“This job looks like law enforcement, but I wonder why they didn’t just tow the car.” He paused. “Of course, they were waiting for me to return. But how did they find me?”
“Maybe they ran the plates and traced it back to you.”
“So what do we do now?”
“I want to check with my friend, the manager at Dimes Casino. See if he knows anything. There’s a phone in here I can use. Come on in.”
They got out of the car, both looking around for anything or anyone who appeared suspicious.
Once inside, Tuper walked to an office in the back. JP sat at the bar and ordered a cup of black coffee. He called his home office line and checked his messages. Among others, there were three messages from Marshal Nicholas Mendoza. The first two just said to call him back. The third said, “This is Marshal Mendoza again. They all know who and where you are. I can still relocate Ron, but we have to do it right away. Please have him call.”
He found it odd the way he said it, “They all know who and where you are.” Is he talking about the cops or the ex-cons? Or both? And why would he tell him that? He glanced up and saw Tuper coming toward him.
“Ready?” JP asked.
Tuper nodded. JP took another sip of his coffee, set the cup down, and followed him out.
Once inside the car, he told Tuper about the message. “What do you think?” JP asked.
“It’s either a warning or a threat. The question you need to answer is whether or not you can trust him. If you do, I expect it’s a warning. If not, I’d take it as a threat. Can you trust him?”
Tuper drove out of the lot and onto the street back in the direction of the Hutterite colony. He kept up a steady speed, much as he did when they left the casino, but drove faster than usual.
“I don’t know if I can trust him or not,” JP said. “Did you talk to the casino manager?”
“Yup. The feds are looking for you.”
“For me?”
“They asked for you by name and about the car.”
“What did your friend tell him?”
“He said he never heard of you, which is the truth.”
“And about the car?”
“Said he had no idea who it belonged to and he didn’t know who the other cars in the lot belonged to either.”
“Is he sure it was the feds?”
“They had badges. He’d swear they were real.”
Chapter 30
Breakfast was being served in the dining room when Tuper and JP returned. Several long, picnic-style tables filled the room. A simple buffet was set up on one end of it and offered two huge pots of oatmeal, four jars of milk, fresh homemade bread and jam, and butter that looked like it had just been churned.
The room was filled with women and children. At the opposite end of the buffet were Sabre and Ron. When Sabre sat down, a young girl about five or six years old came up and sat down at the table across from her.
“Hi,” Sabre said.
“Hi,” the girl said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. She stared at Sabre without saying anything else.
Sabre smiled back at her and then looked up to see JP approaching. “Where did you two run off to this morning?” she asked him.
“We went into Great Falls,” JP said. “I’ll tell you about it a little later.”
“Is everything alright?” Sabre asked.
“I hope so,” JP said.
“Have a seat.” Ron scooted over and made room. “The men have already eaten. They frowned on Sabre eating earlier with the men, but they seem to be okay with my eating with the women. I’m not sure how to take that.” He smirked. “Grace has been said, but you’re welcome to say your own if you’d like. I think Sabre is supposed to serve us, but we might starve if we wait for that, so I’m going to get my own breakfast.”
“That’s very wise,” Sabre said.
They all got their food and ate their breakfast. Ron talked about how nice it felt to be clean and shaved again. Sabre told about the weddings the girls had told her about the night before. She explained how they were all to take place in the spring on the same date. JP and Tuper just listened.
When they were done, JP asked Tuper if there was some place they could all talk privately.
“Follow me,” Tuper said.
The foursome walked across the complex to the barn. Inside, past the cows, was a small room with only a bench and a chair in it. Tuper turned to Ron and said, “Grab a couple of those milking stools.”
Ron picked them up and carried them in. He gave them to Sabre and JP to sit on and he and Tuper sat on the bench. JP explained what they had learned in town and the messages he had received from Marshal Mendoza.
The Advocate's Felony Page 14