Slim To None (Cedar Tree #1)

by Freya Barker

  This was where she didn't want to give everything away, so she opted for obscurity.

  "I never make copies, or save to USB keys. And if I make printouts, it's only to work on mistakes and those copies are run through the shredder when I'm done. No hard copies are kept." Technically, nothing she told him was a lie, even though she did leave out the online drop box, but she couldn't help dropping her eyes away as she said it.

  The small move didn't escape Corbin's attention. Before she could take another breath, he was up in her face, one hand in her hair. He had her head pulled back so far, she was afraid her neck would snap.

  "You're lying!" He spat out, shaking her body like a rag doll from the precarious hold on her head. She could feel the hair ripping from her head in chunks, as blackness started to encroach on her vision. Barely able to cling to consciousness, she defiantly forced out: "Fuck you!" Which earned her a vicious punch to her jaw with his free hand and sent her over into welcome darkness once again.

  *****

  Ten minutes after the Flight For Life helicopter lifted off with Katie, Emma's house was crawling with law enforcement personnel. Frank had arrived as well and had just informed them that he had found the patrol car at Ralph's house. His personal Jeep Cherokee was missing from the driveway however. With an APB out for car and driver, the limited forensics team on scene and the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office aligned with the Cortez PD, a network was being thrown out to attempt to cut off exit routes. Officers were also venturing out, trying to actively pursue any witnesses they could find in and around Cedar Tree.

  He figured that was how Arlene came to be storming up the porch steps, right for him. The diner was likely one of the first stops they made. Gus didn't step back from the hard slap she delivered to his face.

  "You fucking asshole! You promised you would look after her." Overtaken by anger and fear, Arlene continued to pound him with her fists, when Joe stepped in, trying to pull her back.

  "Leave her." He all but whispered at Joe. "She's right. I was supposed to..."

  Wrapping Arlene up in a tight hold, feeling the struggle seep out of her as slowly her body sagged in his arms, he bent his head to her shoulder and softly repeated. "I was supposed to, I'm so sorry. I promise I'll find her."

  With a deep breath in, Arlene pulled back and with a tear streaked face looked at him.

  "You'd better, and not without me. Now what have we got?" Getting a smirk from Joe.

  "Lady..." Joe started, "This is a police investigation that is ongoing and right now—"

  "Oh save the official bullshit lines, will ya?" Arlene bit off. "That is my soul sister you are talking about. Closer than any blood relative of mine. Now, I know everyone and everything that goes on in this county. See if I can't be of help. I need to help."

  With a look at Joe, who nodded his assent, Gus told Arlene what he knew. When he mentioned Ralph's Cherokee, her head shot up. "Is that thing green?"

  "Why? What do you know?" Joe jumped in before Gus could.

  "It's just that my waitress just came in half an hour ago, complaining about being nearly forced off the road. Some idiot cut across the county road onto that back road that leads to the Cemetery. The one north of the reservation. She said he was driving a forest green Cherokee."

  Joe was immediately on the radio relaying the information. Both Gus and Joe took off for his truck, leaving Arlene swearing at them from the porch. As he tried to maneuver the truck around the fleet of law enforcement vehicles cluttering the drive, he could see her and Caleb running at her truck, parked at the end. "Fucking stubborn woman!"

  "Who?" Joe wanted to know.

  "Arlene is behind us with Caleb. Fuck. She better not get in the way." He slammed his fist on the steering wheel.

  "Tell me where to go." he instructed Joe.

  "Go back through town, past the diner. On the other side is a turn off on the left only. It won't have any markings. I'll tell you when."

  Joe was beside him alternating between cell phone and radio, barking out instructions. Gus' focus was on the road, trying to steer clear of any traffic as he floored it. Trying to keep his mind as balanced as the truck was another matter. His thoughts were bouncing between what he was going to do to Ralph Murphy when he got his hands on him, and what might be happening to Emma. All the while the road took forever to be eaten up by his wheels. Finally he resorted to praying Emma was going to be alright, but the whole time he felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin. For the short period he'd known her, he could sense there was something unique and unguarded between them. For most of his life he had worked hard to simply live on the surface. He was good at not letting things touch him too deep. But with Emma he didn't seem to have a choice. The woman was made up of such courage. She had an open and welcoming attitude towards life without trying to block away or deny the tough parts. She simply accepted them and brought them into her positive attitude. He wanted to have more of that; be a part of that. Of her. At least have a chance at that. He was not going have this fucking asshole take it - take her - away from him.

  "Hey!! Watch it!" Joe grabbed the wheel and pulled them away from the ditch.

  "Don't fucking get us killed. Stay focused."

  "Sorry." He mumbled, forcefully clearing his mind from anything but driving.

  "Turn coming up on the left." Joe pointed ahead.

  Slowing down at the last minute, he almost had the truck on two wheels as he made the turn sharply.

  "Jesus Christ! Next time I'm driving." Joe swore beside him. "Slow down a little. Lots of little turn offs here into the bush, mostly dirt roads. I want to check for tracks."

  Just then Gus' phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket he looked at the screen and handed it to Joe to answer.

  "It's Caleb, put it on speaker. He's still behind us. Maybe he's seen something."

  "Caleb. Talk to me."

  "It's Arlene, Gus. Caleb and I were talking. The cemetery is on the edge of the reservation and fairly closely patrolled for vandalism. I doubt anyone would go there, but there is something I just thought of. There are some old Anasazi ruins just a mile or so this side of the cemetery. A dirt road - well, more like a set of tracks really - going into the sagebrush on the left hand side. They go in for about half a mile to a bit of a clearing. The ruins should be only 50 yards or so straight north from there. Caleb said to call you. We're almost on your tail."

  "How much further up ahead is it, Arlene?" Joe asked, checking his mirror to see Arlene's truck closing in on them.

  "Just a minute or two."

  Gus looked at Joe, trying to gage his thoughts.

  "Stay on the phone," Joe instructed, "Give us a head's up for the turn off. I want to check for tracks. If there are any fresh ones, we both turn in, but you stay well behind. Should we be heard or spotted, and they get around us somehow, you will be second tier. Reinforcements are not far behind us, so if anyone is in here, we'll get them."

  Relaying the same instructions to the teams in the rear, all eyes were now focused on the left side of the road.

  *****

  Fresh tracks had lead them onto the trail. Trying to drive on it making a minimum of noise wasn't easy. Aside from the engine noise, the uneven surface jolted and rattled the big Yukon. Gus almost had to slow down to a crawl by the time they reached a clearing of sorts and spot two vehicles.

  Joe immediately got on the radio, with the phone line still open to Arlene's truck far behind them, giving updates.

  "Forest green Jeep Cherokee confirmed and a tan Toyota 4Runner unknown, looks to be a rental. National ZRE-839, Colorado plate. Run it. We're going in.

  Leaving the Yukon at the opening of the clearing, so it faced the trail out, Gus and Joe carefully scanned the surroundings for any movement. Not able to spot anything, Gus was the first to get out, leaving the door unlatched. Then he saw Joe do the same. Weapons drawn, both made their way toward the north side of the clearing, eyes and ears peeled for anything unusual.

  Gus could
hear his own heart pounding in his ears with the heightened level of adrenaline that was pumping through him. He could somehow sense Emma was close, but shut down any emotions. He had a job to do. Keeping Joe in his vision from the corner of his eye, he saw him motioning to the right. Changing direction, he followed closely behind. Joe lead them through an old burned out patch of spruce. On the far side he could see what looked to be some piles of stone.

  Stopping in his tracks, Joe crouched down, motioning him to do the same and whispered, "Right there. To the left of that tall burned tree trunk, half behind those bricks.”

  Looking where Joe indicated, he spotted the shape of what appeared to be a man's head and torso, half hidden by the rocks. His back was towards them. Pointing to his right, Gus started moving, while Joe automatically circled around in the opposite direction.

  Two separated targets are more difficult to control than one. Besides, they had two cars in the clearing, which meant there was at least one other person they didn't have eyes on. One other person who might be in a position to harm Emma, if they were discovered.

  The snap of dry wood sounded on the other side of the ruins, and the figure suddenly disappeared completely from sight. Gus could only hear was some rustling and then the loud reverberation of a gunshot. Spurred into action, he abandoned all attempts at staying hidden and ran in a direct line for the roofless structure, terrified of what he might find.

  Coming up on the side of the small building, he kept his back to the wall, inching his way around. He was constantly checking in front, behind as well as above him, to make sure he wasn't walking into an ambush. Other than sounds of movement from within the walls, he could hear nothing else. Coming to the end of the wall, he carefully snuck a look at the other side, but there didn't seem to be anyone. Turning the corner, he saw an opening to the building and made his way towards it. At the last minute he spotted a body laying off to his right. Ralph. Dead. Fuck. That was not good, not good at all. Was that the shot he had heard? Looking a little closer, he noticed that the pool of blood under the body had started congealing around the edges. Flies had started collecting on the body already. He must have been dead longer than the few minutes since the shot rang out for sure, especially in this heat. It would've taken longer than 15 minutes for that blood to start clotting. Damn. Would Emma be lying dead somewhere too? Was that gunshot the one that ended her life? The thought almost made his knees buckle. And where the fuck was Joe?

  Tamping down his emotions once again, he turned his focus on the doorway, pretty sure he wouldn't like what was waiting inside, but moving toward it anyway.

  *****

  "Mr. Flemming, how convenient to have you join us here. I'm afraid your partner has been slightly indisposed."

  Corbin, the cock-sucking weasel had one hand wedged under Emma's jaw; the webbing between his thumb and forefinger all but cutting off her air. His other hand held a gun to her thigh. Emma looked to be passed out, and her lips were tinged slightly purple from lack of oxygen. One side of her was covered in blood, and Gus couldn't hold back the growl that started low in his chest, or the inadvertent step forward his body made. Fucker must have taken down Joe.

  "Hold it right there, lover boy. One more move, however slight, she loses a leg. Another after that she's done. And so are you." Using the gun in his right hand to stroke up and down Emma's leg, he smirked at Gus.

  "Juicy piece of pussy, is she? A bit too old and chunky for my liking, but I guess there is no accounting for taste is there."

  "Leave her the fuck alone! You'd be lucky to have a woman like that even look at you twice. Mother-fucking bottom-feeder..." Gus was struggling to rein in his rage, knowing he had to keep a tight control or this situation would get completely out of hand. "What is it you want, Corbin? What was Ralph Murphy doing with the likes of you?"

  "Ah... poor Ralph, I'm afraid the promise of the almighty dollar proved to be too much for him. You know, it is surprising how easy it is to find a weak link in every chain. Ralph's was his ailing mother and his increasing gambling debt. Living so close to the reservation does have its drawbacks. He served his purpose."

  Keeping a close eye on Emma, Gus thought he could see her eyelids twitch a few times. He hoped to god she would keep them closed, even if she was awake. Having to look her in the eye would make him completely lose his cool.

  "Ah yes, what I needed from the lovely Emma here, is some information. You see, I know she copied my files to somewhere... but she has been too... let's say, indisposed, to inform me of the where and how. I need those files." Corbin finished with an angry shake to Emma's neck, causing Gus to clench every muscle in his body in an attempt to stay still.

  "But now, Mr. Flemming, unfortunately the game has changed a bit. Unless you can provide me with the information I need, I will have to..." He didn't get any further. As he had begun to suspect, Emma was awake. She chose that moment to throw her entire weight sideways, away from the hand that held her by the throat. At the same time trying to knock the hand with the gun out of the way. Gus reacted and moved forward instantly. He tried to get to Corbin before he was able to lift up his gun to aim at either Emma or him. He wasn't fast enough.

  Two shots rang out, one followed on top of the other.

  Chapter 16

  Once again, Emma found herself waking up with a massive headache at Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez. This time however, she was surprised by who was at her bedside.

  "Kara!"

  "Hey mom." Her beautiful daughter was there, in the flesh, but with an angry frown on her face.

  "Honey, what's wrong? What... How come you're here?" Her voice was raspy, throat still sore from the pressure that bastard put on it.

  In one terrifying wave all recollection came flooding back. Emma struggled to sit upright in her bed, panic clutching at her chest.

  "Mom! What are you doing? Lay back down, you have a head injury, please!" Kara begged, trying to hold her down in her bed.

  With the sound of gunshots still vivid in her mind, deep sobs tore through her body and tears streamed down her face unchecked. Kara tried to wipe them away, and kept asking her what was wrong. She couldn't seem to form any words, so overcome with fear of the loss she would have to face. Rolling on her side, she curled in a fetal position, her back to her daughter, who resorted to stroking her back. "Mom, I'm going to get the doctor, okay? I'll be right back, I promise."

  Not responding, Emma couldn't help but let the last few seconds she remembered play out again and again, hoping against hope to come up with a different conclusion. But each time the outcome was the same. She had managed to get away from Corbin, but as a result, he shot Gus. Two shots, that's what she heard before she passed out again. She was sure of it.

  In the next moment, someone was rubbing her back. She hadn't heard anyone come in. A warm breath skimmed blew on the shell of her ear, and she heard a familiar deep voice rumble: "It's over, Peach. He's dead, won't be hurting you any more. No need to cry, darlin'."

  Her body tensed up completely. It took her a minute to register, before she turned in her bed to find Gus leaning in on her. Totally overwhelmed with relief, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him on top of her, sobbing loudly.

  "Hey, hey, hey. What's all this?" He asked chuckling.

  Barely able to draw proper breath, she hiccupped: "I...I... though you we...were gone."

  "Right here, babe. Right here." Gus mumbled into her hair, while hanging half in half off her bed; trying not to put any weight on her. He was drawing big soothing circles with his hand on her back. "Shhh. I'm not going anywhere, Peach. There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be."

  "It may be a little too early for this kind of activity, folks." Dr. Waters said, walking into the room followed closely by Kara. She looked on with her eyebrows up in her hairline. "And Emma, we really have to stop meeting like this." The doctor quipped, smiling at her. "Your daughter tells me you were in near hysterics, are you in pain? Although you do seem better now..."
>
  Slightly embarrassed, her face buried in Gus' shoulder, Emma was not quite sure how to respond with the doc's inquiring eyes and her daughter's piercing ones focused on her. Luckily Gus decided to take the lead. "It seems Emma had limited recollection of the events. She was under the impression that I didn't survive our, erm... encounter." He looked down at her with warm eyes. "As you can see, I was able to set her mind at ease."

  "Thank goodness for that. You folks are keeping our little hospital busy enough. While I'm here, let me check your vitals. Unfortunately, this time you are not going to go home so soon. You have now had two head injuries in the span of a few days, and have about twenty or so cool stitches keeping your scalp together. We'd like to hang on to you for a bit. But don't worry, you'll have company." A small smirk formed on Naomi Waters face.

  "What do you mean, I'll have company?" Emma wanted to know.

  "Oh, I guess Gus here will have to fill you in on all the details, but Chief Deputy Morris will be our guest for a few days as well."

  *****

  As Gus ended up telling her and Kara after Dr. Waters had left, Katie was in Durango in serious but stable condition. She had undergone surgery to remove a piece of her damaged skull that had caused substantial bleeding to her brain. Apparently she had drains placed to keep the pressure off. Caleb was holding vigil there now, along side Dana and Neil.

  As far as the events by the Anasazi ruins; The initial shot had been Corbin shooting at Joe, when the two of them were approaching from opposite ends. Joe had the bad fortune of disturbing one of the Ute wild horses that tend to roam in the area. Drew the unwanted attention of Corbin, and ended up shot in the stomach as a result. Then as Gus had faced down with Corbin inside what she now knew, were the remains of an Anasazi pit-house, Caleb had caught up with them. Managing to come up just outside of the door opening. He had listened to what was going on inside, and had waited for an appropriate moment to intervene. When the first shot from Corbin's gun, narrowly missed Gus, Caleb hadn't hesitated. The second shot had been from his gun and hadn't missed its target.