Within seconds they were battling like two modern day Knights of the Round Table.
Two mismatched, oddball Knights of the Round Table.
Drake watched with bemused detachment for a few moments before sliding over next to Ella. Between the volume of the game and the yelling from its combatants, he never would have heard her otherwise.
"Can we talk for a few minutes?"
Ella made a face that relayed she knew it was coming and was dreading it. She nodded her head in the affirmative anyway.
Drake motioned with his head towards an open door in the back of the living room.
Inside was the spare bedroom they'd demanded when choosing a place. If anybody asked it was for "out-of-town visitors," but the truth was it was so Sage or Kade could stay whenever they wanted.
And they often did.
The only difference between them was when Sage stayed, it was because it was late and she didn't feel like driving home. When Kade stayed, it was because he'd been out late and couldn't drive home.
Even still, the room was spotless. Smelled like vanilla candles.
Despite being two young males with a dog, Ajax and Drake were both meticulously clean. Some might even accuse them of being OCD about it.
Didn't seem to bother either one in the slightest.
Ella dropped down onto the pillow top mattress and laid back on the bed. She pressed a hand against her bloated stomach.
"I ate too much."
Drake smirked and settled into a rocking chair in the corner. "You've been out for basically three days now. Your body can't handle that much at once."
"It just tasted so damn good."
Drake couldn't help but laugh. She had stolen Beth’s line without realizing it.
"Aside from food misery, how are you feeling?"
Ella raised the hand from her stomach to her temple. "Disoriented."
"That would be the sedative," Drake said.
"Explains why everything is so blurry," Ella said.
Drake leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "I know you don't feel well, so I apologize in advance for asking, but what do you remember?"
Heavy sigh. "Not a lot. Rink filled me in on most of it. I remember coming home a couple of days ago like always. I pulled my car into the garage and came in through the side door.
"When I went inside, there was this guy sitting there."
"What guy?"
"I don't know. I'd never seen him before. Believe me, I'd remember if I had."
Drake paused a moment. Wondered if he should be writing this down. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, he was out there, even for Missoula. Looked like a cross between a mountain man and a Grateful Dead fan. Dressed in outdoor gear. Long hair. Vacant smile. Hollow eyes."
"Damn," Drake whispered.
"That's what I thought," Ella said. "Scared me so bad I couldn't move. What made it worse was he seemed to be enjoying it so much, he didn't even do anything. Just stood there and watched me."
"Did he say anything?"
"Not really. Told me to put my cell-phone on the table. Gave a couple of evasive answers to my mumbled questions. Nothing serious. Bastard just seemed to love seeing me squirm."
"Then what happened?"
Ella shrugged against the mattress. "He just kind of sat there. Waited until I tried to make a move back into the garage for my car.
"He was on me before I even reached the door."
Drake could hear cracks starting to ebb into her voice.
"Just a couple more questions, I promise," Drake said.
Ella sniffed. Nodded her head. They'd removed as many of her bandages as they could before coming over. Even still, she resembled a mummy lying there against the dark comforter on the bed.
"How did he know where to find you?"
Ella raised a hand to her cheek. Let a tear soak into the gauze. "I guess they followed Beth when she came over at some point. I don't know."
Drake nodded. He'd figured as much. If they were watching as much as Beth seemed to believe, they no doubt knew who Ella was.
Just from one lunch meeting they'd somehow spotted him and had the Sheriff tailing him around town.
"Did you leave the house unlocked? The front door was open when I went to check on you Saturday afternoon."
Ella sat up. What could be seen of her face was wet and blotchy. Heavy bags belied her eyes. Hair hung lank around her face.
She needed a bath, but it would have to wait until Sage could come by to reapply the bandages afterward.
"Never. I moved here from Denver, where we always lock everything. Habit."
Drake set his jaw. Nodded again. So whoever this was blended with the locals and knew what he was doing.
Neither thought was very comforting.
"Is there anything else? Anything at all?" Drake asked.
Ella shifted her eyes to the floor and pondered the question for several minutes.
"He said to tell Beth Notch said hi."
Chapter Forty-Four
The Double Front Café.
The very definition of a dive if there ever was one. Serving up fresh fried chicken and French fries to locals for decades.
Check that, serving up most anything fried for decades.
Pickles. Hush puppies. Corn fritters. Even macaroni and cheese. If a person has a hankering for good food with a side of angina, the Double Front has them covered.
Aside from the menu, the Double Front offers a second luxury to all patrons.
Privacy.
Long held as a local treasure, the place is spoken of in hushed whispers. Half out of respect, half out of keeping it a secret, the place is held very close to the chest by locals.
Many appreciate that there is never a line. Others find it provides the perfect place for quasi-clandestine meetings like the one taking place tonight.
Judge Tanner was the last one of the group to arrive. He made no attempt to hide his contempt at the entire affair and waved off the waitress as she waddled over to take his order.
"What the hell are we doing here?" he asked.
The dining room was empty. This time of evening, most of the guests were in the basement shooting pool or flipping cards.
Still, he kept his voice down.
The rest of the group was arranged around a sweeping corner booth that more than housed all five of them.
How comfortable it was depended on their thoughts towards cheap vinyl.
"We're just a bunch of friends meeting after work," Dr. Schievers said. He motioned towards the baskets of fried food in the center of the table and the random assortment of water, coffee, beer between them.
None of the food or drink looked like it had been touched.
Judge Tanner rolled his eyes and looked over the rest of the group. "Why are we really here?"
"Doc's losing his nerve," Bennett said a little louder than necessary. Very matter-of-fact in his tone.
Sheriff Spore held a hand out to Bennett. "Hey now, let's not go making snap judgments. Let the man speak."
Dr. Schievers looked at the Sheriff and nodded. Tried to work down the lump in his throat. "You all remember the meeting yesterday, right?"
Judge Tanner sighed. "We were there."
"Do you know they still haven't found her yet?"
Judge Tanner opened his mouth. Paused. Closed it. "Still?"
Dr. Schievers shook his head and glanced back to the Sheriff.
"No," Sheriff Spore said. "I got a line on her today, but she fled onto the reservation."
"So?" Bennett said.
Sheriff Spore made a face. "For a lawyer, you're not very damn smart are you?"
Bennett leveled a glare back at him. "I know all about jurisdictional issues. But this isn't the sort of thing that will ever make it into a court of law, is it?"
"The baby is," Dr. Schievers retorted.
Bennett declined further comment. Sat and fumed at them both.
Judge Tanner leaned back and folded his
arms across his chest. "Again I ask, why are we here?"
Four sets of eyes stared at Dr. Schievers. His cheeks took on a pink tinge beneath the harsh overhead lighting.
"They're going to kill her you know."
The group remained silent for a moment.
"I talked to Yelena this afternoon. She all but told me they're going to cut the kid out and feed the girl to Notch."
Bennett and Judge Tanner both exchanged a look. A bit of the hostility fled from their faces.
Dr. Schievers lowered his eyes to the table and dropped his voice another decibel. "We all remember what happened last week. I can never, ever, be a part of something like that again."
Beside him, Harken's eyes slid shut. A tear rolled down her face.
"So that's why you called us here?" Bennett asked. "Try to stage some sort of coup?"
"Because in case you haven't noticed, this little arrangement has been damn good for all of us," Judge Tanner added.
"I'm not saying it hasn't," Dr. Schievers said. "And I know we've all had our transgressions that led to us being here."
Most of the group shifted in their seats. It was common knowledge that everyone had at least one red flag that had got them noticed.
Quite another to acknowledge it out loud.
"And for the last few years, we've all played our part. All of us. Nobody any more guilty than the others. But what happened last week..."
Judge Tanner and Bennett again exchanged a glance.
Dr. Schievers saw it. Looked at each of them, then the rest of the table in turn. "Look, I'm a doctor. A long time ago I took an oath to help people. For two years I've been able to wake up in the morning by telling myself that at the end of the day, we were helping these children."
"And you think the rest of us are blood sucking leeches that only care about money?" Bennett challenged.
"I didn't say that," Dr. Schievers said. "But look around the table. We have a judge. A lawyer. A Sheriff. You guys are used to seeing the worst the world was to offer.
"I won't speak for Patty, but I for one am not. This isn't what I signed up for."
Silence fell over the table.
Several uneasy glances were exchanged. There was less hostility than even a few minutes before, but still an uneasy tension remained in the air.
"So what do you want to do?" Judge Tanner said.
"I don't know," Dr. Schievers replied.
"You all know at this point, this has to be a group decision, right?" Judge Tanner said. "We're way too deep into this for anyone to walk."
"Let's just slow down a minute," Sheriff Spore said. "I don't think anybody's said anything about a decision being made. We haven't even talked about all the options yet."
Judge Tanner shook his head and kept his eyes locked on the untouched ice water in front of Dr. Schievers. "There are no options. Either we're in, or we're out."
Bennett leaned in and smacked his palm on the table. "Listen to you people, all sitting here discussing this as if there's a choice to be made. You realize what they'll do if we try to go anywhere?
"They'll send that sick bastard Notch after us. Have us all replaced by this time next week."
The air sucked away from the table once more. Just the mention of Notch's name had every one on edge.
"Just think, next time it could be one of us strung up in that barn."
Bennett leaned back in his seat. Let the words penetrate the group.
They had the intended effect.
"Is everybody in agreement that we aren't going anywhere?" Judge Tanner asked. Any edge of hostility from earlier was gone. Now, he just seemed tired.
Bennett and Harken both nodded.
"I'm not happy about it, but he's right," Sheriff Spore said.
"Same here," Dr. Schievers whispered. "The thought of looking over my shoulder for that sick son of a bitch..."
The table nodded in agreement.
Let that scenario play out in their heads.
Nodded some more.
Chapter Forty-Five
Many people pay good money to visit Western Montana.
To rise with the sun. To watch as it first appears out of the east and splashes down through the Bitterroot Valley.
Mayor Sloan was not one of those people.
She barely noticed the orange glow that illuminated the horizon. Didn't even look at the streaks of purple that extended through the sky above her.
Instead, her eyes followed the darkened pavement in front of her. Focused atop the bright orbs her headlights threw out into the dawn.
Her hands squeezed the steering wheel so hard her knuckles went white beneath her skin.
Coming out for an early morning meeting might be easier than an afternoon one, but she was still ready for the entire situation to be over.
The sooner they found the girl, removed their property and buried her ass, the better.
The high beams on her SUV bathed the front of the house in light as she pulled up. The second she shut off the car, semi-darkness enveloped everything once more.
The only illumination was nature's pyrotechnics going on above.
The only sound a crescendo from the river nearby.
Mayor Sloan didn't bother to knock, just pushed her way through the front door and into the living room.
Stopped short as a half-dozen stares leveled on her.
Make that, leveled down on her.
Mayor Sloan drew in a sharp breath of air. Recovered just as fast and repositioned the customary scowl across her face.
In front of her were six guys. None older than early twenties, some not even looking legal.
Every one weighed at least two hundred and fifty pounds.
Down the hallway, Yelena emerged carrying a coffee mug in one hand. She tilted her head back to motion for her sister to join her.
Mayor Sloan left the young men all standing in the living room. Nobody said a word on either side.
Her squared heel shoes made a loud knocking sound against the hardwood floors as she descended the hallway and stepped into the kitchen. She wrapped her hands around a mug of coffee on the counter she assumed was hers.
"That was fast," she said. No preamble.
"Like you said, let's get this thing over with," Yelena said. Took a slurp of coffee, as casual as if they were discussing the weather.
"Hmm," Mayor Sloan said and took a drink as well. Pumpkin spice, just as she liked. "Who are they?"
"Bunch of kids from Butte," Yelena said. "I called in a favor."
Mayor Sloan's eyes flicked to her sister. "Who do we know that owed us a favor in Butte?"
"We don't know anybody," Yelena said. "But there were plenty of people all too happy when you unseated a certain mayoral incumbent. I called upon one of them."
Mayor Sloan frowned. It was no secret that her predecessor had made a lot of enemies in his four years in office. His 'Going Green' initiatives had put the squeeze on a lot of businesses in the area.
Many of them had been her biggest backers in the last election.
Still, she hated actually calling on them. Especially in a manner that might draw attention to what they were doing.
"What story did you give them?"
"Told them you were going to be doing some outreach events in the coming weeks and we were looking to put on some full-time security staff for awhile."
"And they bought it?"
"No questions asked."
Mayor Sloan grunted and took another pull on the coffee. Waited as the warm liquid traveled through her body. "Kind of ironic, seeing as how most of them don't even look old enough to vote."
Yelena snorted. "That's just because we're getting old. They're plenty old enough. Besides, we don't need them to vote."
"True," Mayor Sloan conceded. "What have you told them so far?"
"Nothing. Was waiting on you to get here."
Mayor Sloan grunted again. Finished the last of her coffee and checked her watch. "I have a breakfast meeting in forty minutes
. Let's do this."
Yelena tossed back the remainder of her drink and followed her sister down the hall.
The low sound of chatter in the living room died away as they entered. All six young men turned and looked at them.
Mayor Sloan and Yelena stood and stared back.
Of the six, three carried their bulk well. They were broad shouldered and thick through the hips. Quite capable looking.
The other three were a little sloppy. More window dressing than anything.
Still, all six were quite large. It would instill the image they were going for.
"Thank you all for being here on such short notice," Yelena said. "And for being on time this morning. Let that be a lesson too. If you're late, you're fired. Simple as that."
Nobody said anything.
"You were told you'll be working security for me," Mayor Sloan said, "which is true to a degree. You'll be security and you'll be working for me."
"All you need to know is, be where we tell you when we tell you," Yelena said. "Could be the easiest money you've ever made."
Everyone remained still, stayed silent.
Yelena tossed the top of her head towards the far wall. "You all should have seen the bunkhouses when you pulled in. You'll be in the second one.
"Go get yourselves settled in, and be quiet about it. If you guys wake up the girls, there'll be hell to pay."
A few of the young men's faces twisted up a bit.
They were wise not to voice any questions.
Mayor Sloan and Yelena stood and watched as they all filed out of the house. They kept their arms folded across their chests and said nothing until the room was empty.
"You see the ruddy cheeks on some of those boys?" Mayor Sloan asked.
"Let's hope all they have to do is stand around," Yelena said. "Remember, we have Notch to do the real work."
Notch.
Just hearing the name made Mayor Sloan feel a little better knowing she had him to clean things up if it got any messier.
"Yeah we do," Mayor Sloan said and strode from the room out towards her car.
She was back on the highway headed for breakfast three minutes later.
Chapter Forty-Six
Land Use Planning.
The study of public policy so as to regulate all government lands in an efficient and ethical manner.
The Zoo Crew (Zoo Crew series Book 1) Page 15