by Peggy Staggs
He sized up the situation. “Then, we go to his house.”
The snow-clouds hung heavy and dark above us. Only a miserable amount of sun made the journey through the snow-filled clouds as the day slipped away. “The deadline is less than four hours away.”
“They want the money more than anything,” Don said.
He didn’t know that, and besides, “I don’t have it.”
Jack’s cell rang.
“We got another rock through the window.” It was Phyllis. “What is it with these people? They have our phone number. “This one is covered with blood, too,” her voice came out in a strained whisper as if her nerves were shredded. “I don’t like this. I want my sheriff back.”
So did I. “It has to be the proof of life we wanted. We’ll be right there.” I pushed end.
“Where?”
“Another rock through the Sheriff’s Office window.”
The dashboard clock screamed the time. Three-thirty. They’d had Jack for fourteen hours.
Chapter Ten
“Ensley, over here,” Phyllis said. “I got through to CSU and Luke is on his way. He said we shouldn’t touch it until he gets here.”
Lois watched me but, she remained near the stone as if guarding it. It must smell like Jack.
“Is that kid, Luke, the most senior person at the lab?” Don asked.
“He is for now. Everyone else is on vacation,” Phyllis said.
“I want the person in charge. Call them back.”
“There’s no point.” Phyllis folded her arms and leveled her gaze at him. “The head of the lab went to his folks in Boise for Christmas. With this storm, he’s not going to make it back in this storm.”
“Find someone who can,” Don said.
“I’ll call the sheriff in Mullen,” I said and reached for the office phone.
“No. I don’t want some hick sheriff over here bungling things.”
Phyllis and I exchanged annoyed glances.
Don’s cell rang. He took it out as he walked into Jack’s office.
“I don’t like him.” Phyllis watched him. “Oh, I’m sorry. You used to be engaged.” She stole another glance at Don. “You’re better off with Jack. Much better off.”
I slumped against her desk and glanced at Lois and the rock. If he’s still alive. The thought had my heart punching hard at my ribs. “How did you find out about Don and me?”
“Jane. We talked earlier. She’s worried about you and Jack. I don’t mind telling you, I do not like people stealing my sheriff.”
“Phyllis, why don’t you go home?”
“Someone has to staff the office.” She averted her eyes. “I don’t like some CIA agent in here thinking he knows more than we do.” She was aiming her rage and frustration at the most convenient solid object she could, Don.
I focused on the issue at hand. “When did Luke say he’d be here?”
“Now,” Luke said from the door as he and Carl entered. “I’m sorry it’s taking so long, but the snow is slowing everything down to a crawl. I just hope it doesn’t take out the power lines again.” He shook the snow from his coat and hat. “Where’s the new rock?”
Both men snapped on latex gloves. Luke bent down and picked it up off the floor. Lois followed him to the desk. “I wish we had the facilities to check DNA. I’d like to know who all this blood belongs to.”
I knew. So did Lois.
I watched him meticulously inspect the rock and the paper attached to it. I could feel the seconds ticking away. Each one screaming at me to hurry. My time was running out. I had to get the money. But how? Jack’s cell rang.
“Hello.”
“Ensley, Brad. The number you gave me is troubling.”
Curiosity had me wondering how a phone number could be troubling. “Why?”
“It comes back to a burner. The problem came when I called it.” He paused then said, “Let me talk to March.”
I could almost see the puzzle pieces fitting together. I needed paper and pen to figure things out. The pieces were right in front of me, but I needed them down on paper to see how they fit together.
I went into Jack’s office and handed the phone to Don. “It’s Brad. He wants to talk to you.”
“I’ll call you later,” Don told the person on his phone. “March,” he said into Jack’s phone. “How—” He covered the phone and said to me. “Would you check on the CSU technicians?”
I didn’t want to leave, but I figured whatever they were going to talk about was classified. Out in the main room, Luke was unwrapping the note from the stone. After removing the letter, he smoothed it out. It was torn in a couple of places from its trip through the window.
“That’s not what I asked for. Where’s our proof of life?” I stared at the bloody note. If this was meant to terrorize us. It was working.
“What’s it say?” Don asked as he joined us.
“Five million.” Luke flipped it over. “Nothing else. No message.”
I called Jane’s phone. It rang three times.
“You got the demand?” a man said.
“This isn’t what we agreed on. Where’s my proof of life? No proof. No money.”
“Do you have—?”
Mrs. Shaw came on. “Do you have the money?”
“What I don’t have is proof of life. Wasn’t I clear earlier? No proof. No money. How much more concise can I make it?”
“I’ll kill them both.”
“Here’s the deal. I need more time. The money is on the way, but it’s going to be a while because of the holidays and the snow. More important, if I don’t get proof of life, there won’t be any money. If you kill them, I will hunt you down, and I will end you. Each and every one of you. I’ll have nothing left to lose. Now, do we understand each other?”
“I want my money.”
“And I want my people. So, we do understand each other.”
“We’ll be in touch.” The line went dead.
The red end bar was a blur through my tears. Even if I’d been able to see it, I was shaking so hard I would have missed the phone entirely. I don’t know who hung it up.
I wiped my eyes, and glanced at the four faces staring at me—three were stunned, and one was angry.
“And I thought the sheriff was tough,” Luke said. “I’ll get you a copy of this.” He put his hand on my shoulder as he left. “You’ll find them,” he whispered as he passed me.
I’d prepared for this. I knew what the worst-case scenario was. I tried to breathe. My future was out in the snow-covered desert. I hoped I wouldn’t have to figure out how to survive their deaths. “It was my turn to be the bully,” was all I said.
Phyllis hugged me. “You’re going to be fine,” she whispered. “We’re stronger than they know.” She motioned toward the men.
I wasn’t so sure.
Without a word, Don walked back into Jack’s office.
I grabbed a tablet from the desk and a pen, and sat down, Lois came over. I sank to the floor. She cuddled into me. I remembered the first time I’d met her. It was the night my dad died. She’d been the welcoming committee when I’d arrived at Jack’s. Her very presence then was as therapeutic as it was now. “I’m going to make this right,” I promised her, all the while knowing it was going to take a miracle. A Christmas miracle. I scanned the red and green decorations littering the office.
If I was going to figure this out, I needed to see it in writing.
The first thing I put down was:
How they’d been able to take Jack at his house, on his turf. That still puzzled me. Jack is too smart and too skilled to be taken by people like the Shaws.
There had to be someone else there. Could it be the people on the other end of that mysterious phone number? Whoever the person was they had to be as skilled as Jack.
How did the terrorist angle fit in? If they were involved how did they get tangled up with the Shaws?
Where were they? They couldn’t be far. No one was getting in or out
of the valley. I decided that was good-news-bad-news situation. Everything now seemed to have that component to it.
The last rock through the window had an ominous feel to it. It had more of a psychological component to it. Meant only to frighten.
The Shaws were mean and crazy, but the other faction was a lot more chilling. Everything circled around to the mystery person or people. I felt they were all tangled up with Don and his mission here. Whatever that was.
I laid my pen down and rubbed Lois’s soft ear. She opened her eyes, eyes that held all the sadness I felt. This wasn’t the Christmas I’d expected. Oh, I knew it was going to be hard without my dad. Not in my wildest imagination did I expect to be sitting alone on the floor of the Sheriff’s Office, clinging to Lois desperate to find two people I cared deeply for. Both depending on me to save their lives.
Mentally drained, I gleaned every ounce of comfort I could from my furry companion. She laid down and put her head on my lap. I closed my eyes and ran my fingers along Lois’ velvet-soft ears. Her even breathing brought with it calm. I concentrated on the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest and nothing else.
“Ensley, I think I have something.” Luke squatted next to us.
I blinked up at him. “What is it?” Gently, I lifted Lois’s head. She popped right up.
“I checked this rock for the synthetic oil. It’s on this one, too.” He looked down at the floor. “I should have checked the other one first thing. I’m sorry.”
“You’re doing great. I’m impressed you found it at all.” Since I didn’t know what the oil meant, I asked.
“I think it’s from the Jessen ranch. They bought a couple new ATV’s before all that happened last fall. They were the ones they used up in the hills when they were after you and the Sheriff. It’s hard to believe Max Jessen was out to kill you and the sheriff. I guess people do all kinds of things for money.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, Max bragged about the ATV’s to everyone. He said he’d only use the new synthetic oil because they were high performance.” He paused. “I didn’t think about it before because no one’s out there.”
“Oil?” I was exhausted to the point my cognitive processes were lagging far behind what I needed them to be. “I should have remembered. There was a case of oil broken in one of the sheds at the Jessen ranch when we were there earlier.” I got up from the floor. “Did you tell Don?”
Luke shook his head. “He’s been sitting in the sheriff’s office. He was talking on the phone. Since he hung up, he’s been staring at something on the wall.”
“Thanks. I’ll tell him.” If Luke was right, they were at the Jessen ranch. I walked to Jack’s office. “Don?”
He swiveled around. His face was emotionless. “Yes.”
“Luke found the same oil on the rock he found on the dead man’s shoes. Do you remember the broken case of oil we found in the old building at the Jessen place?”
“The building was filthy. There was garbage everywhere.”
“Pay. Attention. The oil must be what was on the pants of the dead man at Jack’s. It’s all over the rocks. It makes sense it has to be where they are.”
“The oil is probably in a dozen different places.”
“Listen to me. With more than three feet of new snow on the ground,” I pointed outside, “they’d have to have a place where there’s bare ground. They aren’t going to dig through all this snow for rocks.”
“We need to wait here for their call.”
“Then what? We can’t fake five million dollars.” I took in at the wall he’d been staring at when I came in. It was full of pictures of Jack’s Army buddies and certificates. I’d seen them all, dozens of times.
“Know who they are?” Don sat forward. “Jack’s last team.”
Ten smiling faces mugged for the camera.
“Want to know what happened to them?”
“Not now.” I had enough to think about, and we had to get to the Jessen ranch.
He acted as if he hadn’t heard me. “In a week, half of them would be dead.”
One more dagger of sadness stabbed my heart. I took a step forward to see the men better. Jack knelt in front with two other men. A black man with a cheesy grin and a red-hair man who was laughing.
“Want to know how they died?” He motioned to the wall.
“No.” I didn’t want to hear Don’s version of anything to do with Jack.
“You should know what kind of man he is before you give up everything for him.”
I shot him my best annoyed look.
“Later.” He stared at me.
This was classic Don March. “I don’t have time for your head games. Either tell me or not.” I wasn’t going to let him have any more control than he already had.
“If I had the backup, I’d take them out,” Don said.
“That would put Jack and Jane in more danger. It’s not an option.”
“It doesn’t matter. We don’t know where they are.”
Wasn’t he listening? “I just told you where they are. They’re at the Jessen ranch.”
“We were there. The place was abandoned.”
“Because we didn’t check all the buildings.” Remember Mr. Smart-guy?
“I don’t have the manpower to go after them.”
“You have Oliver, Lyle and me.” I was too exhausted to remember the rest of the officers’ names.
“You’re not going. I’m not taking the others, they aren’t trained.”
“Lyle is a former Army Scout. He just got out of the service a few months ago. I don’t know about Oliver. But you aren’t leaving me behind. Jack and Jane are going to need medical attention.” I took a step toward the door. “I’ve gotten pretty good at patching holes in people.”
He got up and walked out into the main room. “Phyllis, what training does Oliver have?”
“He’s been on the force for six years.”
“Military. What’s his military training?”
“He’s in the reserves.”
“They’ll do. Get them in here.” He might as well have been barking orders at a private.
She raised one eyebrow and crossed her arms. “If you say please.”
“Fine. Please.”
She picked up the phone and called the men.
I thought it vital to point out— “We now know they’re at the Jessen ranch, we still don’t know in which building. We can’t go blundering around. They’ll see us.”
“The Army Scout, what’s his name? Lyle? Should be able to get in, pinpoint them and get out without being seen. If we’re lucky, we’ll get them back and live to tell about it.” He reached for me then stopped. He must have finally gotten the idea I wasn’t going back to him. “Then we’re going to sit down and have a long talk. I’m going to tell you everything.” His words sounded more like a threat than a promise.
Jack’s cell phone rang.
“Is this the doctor?” It was the nasty-woman.
“Yes.”
“We have a problem.”
Chapter Eleven
Dread swamped my brain cells, as the muscles in my neck twisted into Gordian’s knots. “What kind of problem?” The strength in my voice was all for show. I leaned hard against the desk.
“One of my men got a little carried away. Your friend isn’t going to make it if you don’t get here fast. I’m not going down for murder.”
My heart slammed against the inside of my chest as my breath caught in my throat. “What have you done?” I swallowed hard. “How am I supposed to find you?”
“I’m not going to say where we are, you’ll tell the police.”
You have the most important part of the department, you idiot. “Where are you?” The command in my voice matched my rigid stance.
“Go to the Gas and Gulp. The cashier will have instructions. Don’t bring anyone and leave your cell phone behind. And don’t forget the money.”
I didn’t look at Don. “I’m on my way.” The line went dead.
I
walked back into the main room. I didn’t want to be in Jack’s office with Don one more second.
I dialed Brad. “We have a problem. The kidnappers called, and one of the hostages is severely injured.”
“I’m still in Salt Lake. Do not. I repeat, do not go to the kidnappers.” He cleared his throat. “Ensley. You can’t do this.”
“I can’t live with any other choice.”
He paused. “Damn it. I wish you wouldn’t.” A longer pause. “Jack has a way of getting through the most impossible situations.” His lull held a silent sigh. “That was when he didn’t have anyone to come home to.”
I didn’t know how to process his words. “Wish us luck.” We hung up.
Don stood in my way. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Oh, really. I don’t see anyone here who can stop me.”
“I’ll lock you in a jail cell if I have to.”
“Seriously?” It wouldn’t stop me. “I’m going.” I shoved my way past him.
He took hold of my arm—again. “You don’t have any idea what he is—these people are capable of.” His grip tightened until my arms hurt. “Ensley, you don’t know who’s out there.”
“But you do, don’t you?” At that moment, I wanted to hurt him. Make him feel the way I did. I stared into his eyes. The eyes I’d once gazed into as we made love. The same ones that had shown real emotion when he’d told me of his childhood. Suddenly, I knew he already hurt as much as he could. It was the kind of pain that lives deep inside you. One you can never sooth. “I won’t abandon them to die out there alone.”
His eyes were colder than the temperature outside.
“What aren’t you telling me? You have something to do with this, don’t you?” I wanted to rip his throat out. My breathing increased.
“You’re coming with me.” He pulled me into Jack’s office and shut the door hard enough to rattle the glass. “You need to hear the story. Why he’s in this town.”
“Not now. I—” I had to get to Jack and Jane.
“No. Now. Before you risk your life for a man, who is...an imposter. He isn’t who you think he is. Before you give up everything for a murderer.” Don stood between me and the door. “I sent Trace on a mission to Africa. To rescue plane crash victims. The daughter of a high-ranking diplomat was on board. Boko Haram captured the passengers. Trace and his team went in posing as expats, go-betweens in an off-the-record ransom exchange.” He sounded like he was giving a briefing. No emotion. “They took a sack of diamonds to swap for the girl. When they arrived, they found not only the daughter but everyone who’d been on the plane with her. There were thirty people in all. The drug lord wanted more money. Trace gambled and seduced the leader’s daughter, hoping to get her to convince her father to give them more time. With more time, he thought he’d be able to get everyone out. He was—is good with women.” His eyes narrowed as he watched me.