“Seen enough?”
He answered his brother with a nod. “More than.”
With slow, painstaking steps, they backtracked. For Jude, eager to get back to his truck, make some phone calls, and return to Nicole, time crawled. The return trip seemed to take twice as long. Rain began falling long before they reached the Sugar Creek Bridge access area and both men were drenched by the time they reached their vehicles. Before they parted, Jude turned to his brother. “Thanks, Adam.”
“No problem. What now?”
“I still need proof of who’s behind all of this” he said. He forgot that Adam wouldn’t have any idea. “But I’ll call the sheriff and then my boss tonight. They can get things started. Then I’m going home to Nicole.”
Adam gave him a bear-hug and departed. Jude climbed into his truck and called March.
“It’s Ryker,” he said. “I’ve got the location and it’s active.”
“About time,” Mark March said. “Good job, agent. I’ll get some of the boys out of Tulsa or Kansas City to head your way. You can brief them, then they’ll go in. You want to preserve your cover.”
“Good,” Jude said. “You might want to contact someone in Memphis, though.”
“Why?”
“I have reason to believe the brains and money of this operation is from Memphis, a state senator. By the time the agents show up, I should have it confirmed.”
“All right, Ryker. Keep me posted. I’ll call you tomorrow to tell you when I expect you in my office.”
Jude decided to phone Mitch Cole in the morning. After his four-mile round trip trek, fatigue rode him hard. No one had noticed their presence and daylight would be soon enough. Probably ought to wait for the rest of the feds, anyway. He yawned and dialed Nicole’s cell phone. When she didn’t pick up, he figured she must be asleep. Jude left a brief message, “Honey, I’m on my way home. Love you.”
En route, he kept trying but got no answer. By the time he rolled down his drive, the rain had stopped and a faint line of light hovered on the eastern horizon. Fallen leaves, knocked from the trees by the heavy downpour, covered the ground, but he could see through the tree branches that the lights were still on, both upstairs and down. Woman, where in the hell are you?
The front door didn’t open when he turned the knob. He figured she had locked it so he knocked and dug into his pocket for the key. A sharp gust of wind sent shivers through him and he hurried. “Nicole, it’s me,” he hollered when he came into the hall.
When she didn’t answer, he cocked his head to listen. Upstairs, he heard water running. Jude relaxed. She had mentioned a bath earlier. If she were in the tub, it would explain why she didn’t answer. He dashed upstairs and walked into the bathroom. Water streamed from the faucet and down the drain unchecked but Nicole wasn’t there.
Nor did he find her in the bedroom. Without stopping to change into dry clothes, he hurried downstairs. In the living room, the fire burned low on the hearth but no Nicole. Alarm rang throughout his body and he hit the kitchen at a run. “Nicole,” he shouted. “Honey, where in the hell are you?”
The back door stood open and the wind banged the screen door against the house. One of the kitchen chairs lay toppled on the floor. Nicole’s purse sat on the counter where she had tossed it when they returned from town. Beside it, her cell phone beeped. Her jacket lay midway between the table and door. Except for the jacket and the open door, everything appeared to be neat. He glanced around the room, searching for any hint. The sugar bowl had been knocked over, he noted, on the table. “Nicole!”
No answer. No woman. Fear clutched him and bit hard, with fangs. Jude walked to the open door and peered out. “Nicole!”
Jude came inside and shivered. If he didn’t change clothes, he might come down with pneumonia. At the moment he didn’t care but then he paused. He remembered all too well how hard he had coughed, the fever that burned like a fire through his body, and how his chest had ached. As he started back upstairs, he righted the spilled sugar and stopped. Tracks were visible among the granules and he bent close to inspect them. Letters, he realized, they were letters.
He traced them with a finger, a capital J and a small r. Jude hit the table with his fist when he made sense of them. J-R stood for Junior. He’d been here and taken Nicole. How or why didn’t matter. Getting her back before he hurt her did.
Use your brain, Ryker. Think before you rush out in a crazy frenzy. Change clothes and then head to Junior’s. He probably has her there.
“And what if he doesn’t?” he asked aloud.
Heading to the bedroom would waste time. Jude grabbed a dry pair of jeans from on top of the dryer in the tiny laundry room adjacent to the kitchen and pulled a shirt from the pile. He stripped without bothering to towel dry and left the wet garments on the floor. He strapped on his holster and stuck another pistol into his pocket. Moments before he headed for the door, Nicole’s cell phone rang. Maybe it’s her.
“Ryker,” he answered.
“Good,” Junior said. “I hoped you’d pick up. I’ve got your bitch.”
Jude resisted the urge to call him the worst names he could muster and strove to stay calm. “Why?”
“I figured out who the fuck you are, Special Agent Ryker. I used the fucking Internet and it was so easy. The librarian helped me figure out how to Google someone. I haven’t spread the word yet, but if you don’t want me to, come over. I bet your ass Nicky would be glad to see you.”
He had to hear her voice, to know she wasn’t hurt. Junior’s snide nickname riled him but he bit down on it. “Put Nicole on the phone first.”
His lungs went on strike as he waited but after a few moments, she said, “Jude?”
Tears thickened her voice but he took a breath. “Honey, are you all right?”
“So far, so good.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I guess you didn’t get a chance to use the pistol?”
“No, I didn’t have it handy.”
Such utter calm in the face of danger impressed him. “I’m coming to get you, honey.”
“Jude, be careful,” Nicole said. Some undertone in her voice warned him she meant more than she could say.
“I’ll do my best.”
Junior’s voice, harsh as creek gravel, came over the line. “Hurry up, I’m tired of waiting.”
Without another word, Jude went.
Chapter Nineteen
He knew the way to the old Wetzel place and drove with mindless speed. The sun burst over the horizon and blinded him when he hit the last stretch driving east but Jude never faltered. Instead, he squinted as he rolled the truck to a stop in Junior’s junk-filled yard. Abandoned vehicles rested cheek to cheek with a rusted tractor and a three-legged picnic table propped up with concrete blocks on one end. Empty barrels, both metal and plastic, were scattered like a child’s toys and a rangy hound dog barked incessantly. As Jude stepped to the ground, the porch light cut into the gloom.
“So you came,” Junior said. He walked out of the doors and over the bricks which served as makeshift steps. Behind him, the square house made from cement blocks loomed in the night, appearing larger than it was. “If you want her, you’re gonna let me get away free.”
“I will if you’ll tell me one thing—the name of the guy who set up the moonshine and meth operation,” Jude told him. He sounded far calmer than he felt. “Tell me, let me take Nicole home, and we’re square.”
Junior laughed. “It’s Senator Conrad Bell. I need money, too, Jude, so I can head for Mexico or someplace. Then you can shut down the stills and the meth labs and make your bust.”
From where he stood, Jude smelled the rank liquor fumes on Junior’s breath. Early as it was, he’d been drinking. “I didn’t bring any money, Junior, but I’ll give you whatever you want after I’ve got Nicole safe.”
“No deal, no deal. Better go home and get it, Jude.”
He had no money to fetch and giving
Junior hush money went against his moral grain. But he wanted Nicole so he said, “How about I tell you where I keep ten grand in the barn and you go get it yourself?”
“I don’t know, I don’t.”
“Come on, it’s all yours. All you gotta do is fetch it, then you can head out of here and never look back.”
Greed won over Wetzel’s hesitation. “Tell me where and don’t lie or I’ll come back to slit her throat. Yours too, if you’re still alive.”
An odd sense of dread rippled through Jude’s consciousness. Why wouldn’t I be? “It’s in the last horse stall,” he said. He made up the story as he spun it. “There’s a shelf there and on it, there’s an old metal candy box. Inside, you’ll find ten thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills. Is she in the house?”
“Yeah, the bitch is there,” Junior told him as he headed for his vehicle. “Have fun.”
Jude dashed toward the house, cell phone in hand. “Adam,” he said when his brother answered. “I don’t have time to explain but can you get over to the house? Junior’s headed there, thinks he’ll find ten grand in the barn, which he won’t. He took Nicole and I’m at his place, about to get her back.”
“I’ll head over,” Adam said. “I’ll stop by on my way to work.”
No need to thank him, Jude thought, this is what family is like.
He burst through the open door and into the small, dim living room. After peering into the gloom, he spotted her, alive and apparently whole. She sat on top of a long counter that divided the space from the kitchen. Her legs dangled far above the floor. “Jude!” she cried.
Relief never tasted sweeter. “Jump down and let’s get out of here,” he said.
“I can’t.” He heard panic in her voice.
“Then I’ll come get you and carry you out of this hellhole.” He took two steps but stopped when she shrieked at him.
“Stay where you are. It’s a trap!”
“What are you talkin’ about?”
Nicole pointed toward the floor. “He let loose three rattlesnakes, Jude. They’re huge. If you come over here, you’ll get bitten.”
His first thought, that stress and fear had taken a toll on her mental state, vanished when he heard the unmistakable dry clatter of a rattlesnake’s tail. The sound repeated but from a different direction, then again. “Holy shit,” he said. “Do you know where they are? I can’t see in here. It’s too dark.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Where in hell did he get them?” Visions of Junior out catching rattlers with his bare hands filled his mind.
“He keeps them in the crisper in the fridge,” Nicole answered. “He said they’re his pets and his burglar alarm. They were pretty sluggish when he hauled them out but they got lively fast.”
“That’s just the kind of freaky, fucked-up shit I’d expect from him,” Jude said. “How did he manage not to get bitten?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He had on thigh-high boots and he went outside before they got too active. I climbed up here because every time I moved, they started rattling. If you keep coming, they’ll get you.”
Jude made up his mind. “I’m getting you out of here, Nicole, no matter what. I’ve got on boots, too.”
“Call somebody, please.” Her voice had a shrill whine he’d never heard in it before. “Get help to round up the snakes, then we can go.”
Who in hell could he call? Some snake handler from one of the local holiness churches? Animal control? One of those guys on TV who dealt with animal removal? “I wouldn’t know who to call,” he said. “And it’d take too long for them to show up if I found somebody.”
“Jude, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “I’m not. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to walk over there and turn around. You climb onto my shoulders and you can ride out of here on them. That’ll keep you out of danger and I’ll make tracks getting out. Once we’re outside, it’ll be over.”
Her voice wavered. “I want to believe it but I’m terrified.”
“Hush,” he said. “Get ready. I’m coming.”
Before he took a step, though, Jude groped along the wall and found a light switch. He flicked it on and an overhead bulb illuminated the room. Talk about squalor, he thought. Tattered drapes, dark with grime, hung at the windows. Trash littered much of the floor, empty soda bottles, discarded jars, and paper wrappers were everywhere. Dirty socks and other clothing were scattered around. He lifted his foot and spied movement. Less than a foot ahead, a huge snake slithered, then coiled. It rattled its tail with a menacing sound and although he remained calm, his guts clenched tight. God damn, it must be at least four feet long, he thought. How far can they strike? Half their length or is it twice? Either way I’m screwed, big time.
“Jude, don’t,” Nicole sobbed.
He ignored her and came forward. Move it, Ryker, go fast and be quick. You can have her outside, safe, in two minutes, tops. A second snake crawled into view and assumed attack position. Jude spotted a third serpent as it twisted into position. Although he’d dealt with snakes as long as he could recall and had killed many, some ancient fear stirred within. He had never been bitten but he had known a few people who had. Venom could be lethal. Local legends about a woman who had been struck by a copperhead while berry picking one spring were true and she had died. With effort, reminding himself that bravery only equaled action in the face of terror, Jude stepped forward.
As he put his foot down for the second time, the first snake struck. It hit him above the knee and the sharp pain slashed his flesh like a knife. Nicole screamed. Jude pulled his revolver and shot the snake, wishing he had thought of shooting the reptiles first. He kept moving toward her and when the second snake lunged at him, he fired. It sank fangs into his thigh before it convulsed and fell to the floor, writhing. He shot the third snake before it could do any damage and reached her.
Jude turned around and she climbed onto his shoulders. Nicole wrapped her arms around his neck so tight he struggled to breathe but he hurried toward the open door. He stumbled as he crossed the threshold and almost dropped her. Once he stood on solid ground, Jude lowered her before he collapsed into a heap.
Hot, sharp pain burned his leg in two places and a pervasive weakness crept over him, impossible to fight. “I feel weird,” he told her. “My hands have gone numb and my whole body feels the way it does when your foot falls asleep, all pins and needles, prickly.”
Nicole sat down beside him. “Jude, you need to get to the hospital.”
He nodded, with effort. “I think that’s a good idea, honey. You’re gonna have to drive me, though. I don’t think I can.”
His leg had begun to swell already, increasing the already intense pain. Dizziness messed with his head and he longed to lie down. If he closed his eyes, he might feel better but he lacked energy to stretch out. Although he listened to Nicole’s voice and loved the sweet sound of it, he had to concentrate to understand what she said.
“Jude, I can’t,” she said. Her words penetrated through the thickening fog. “I never learned how to drive a truck or anything with a clutch.”
What to do, who to call presented a huge obstacle in his mind. He pondered it, then realized. “Call Adam,” he told her. “Or Noah or Elijah. But hurry honey, I don’t know how long I’m gonna last.”
Although he had struggled to hear her soft concern, her anger cut through his confusion. “You’re not going to die, Jude Ryker,” she said. “Don’t you dare even think about it. Do you hear me? You can’t die. You’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.” At least he’d managed to get her out, he thought. “But if I’m not…”
“Shut up that kind of talk,” she yelled at him. “I won’t listen to it.”
Before he could open his mouth to answer, the ground shook and something roared. “What happened?”
She stared at him, eyes wide. “The house exploded and it’s on fire. We need to move farther away, Jude. Come on, I’ll help yo
u.”
“Can’t,” he muttered.
“You have to do it.”
His stubborn woman, short and slender, managed to haul him to his feet. Jude leaned against her and struggled to move toward his truck. Thank God I parked farther back. When they reached it, he slumped against the cab. Nicole reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell.
“Adam,” she said. “It’s Nicole. Your brother’s been bitten by two rattlesnakes and he’s in bad shape. We’re at Junior Wetzel’s place and it’s on fire. Jude needs help now, so hurry.”
Jude shut his eyes as cold chills racked his body. He shivered and Nicole noticed. “I think you’re going into shock,” she said. “Oh, Jude, sweetheart, Adam’s on his way and help will get here soon.”
He tried to thank her but she shushed him. Then she wrapped her arms around him. “Do you have a blanket or anything in the truck?”
“Huh-uh, but I’m thirsty. Water…bottle…in the seat.”
When she held it to his lips, he managed a few sips but it tasted funny. “It tastes strange, almost metallic.”
“Save your strength,” she said. “I see headlights. Adam’s coming.”
With effort, he resisted succumbing to darkness. His brother’s face, features tight with concern, loomed up beside him. “How in hell did this happen?” he asked. “Never mind, tell me later. Nicole, can you tell me where he was bitten?”
“On his right leg, above the knee and in the thigh, I think.”
Adam pulled out his pocket knife and slit Jude’s jeans. “I see both places. Wait a minute.”
“What are you doing?” Jude tried to see but his vision seemed cloudy.
“I’m taking off my belt to use it for a tourniquet. I called the ambulance and it should be here any minute. They’re going to take you out to the highway and the life flight helicopter will pick you up there. God, kid, you look like shit. How do you feel?”
“Worse than that,” Jude managed.
Ryker’s Justice Page 14