“Why are we letting him go?” Ashley broke the silence. “I know he’s turned over a new leaf and all but ...”
“I know, sweetness,” Jack agreed. “I’m sure he has all that money neatly deposited in accounts around the world. But, I’m also sure that he’ll see to it that it’s spent a lot better than the government would if we were to seize it. And what good would it do to leave him rot-ting away in a cell for the next decade? The money – and Paradise – is in good hands.”
“And you don’t want to do the extra paperwork,” Ashley smirked, shaking her head.
“And, there’s that too,” Jack returned her smirk. “I do hate paperwork.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a siren behind them. A sheriff’s vehicle had pulled in be-hind them from nowhere.
“Was I speeding, honey?” Jack asked with a frown. “I don’t even know if I brought my driver license with me. We may have to change seats.”
Jack pulled over and the officer rolled in behind him and began making his way to Jack’s window.
“License and registration, sir,” came a familiar voice.
“Young Kyle Ward!” Jack exclaimed as he hopped out of the car, greeting the deputy with a hearty hand-shake. “The last time I saw you, well, I thought you were …”
“Dead,” Kyle completed the agent’s sentence. “And I would have been if it weren’t for you and Earl.”
“Hey, we weren’t sure if you were dead or alive but we knew we couldn’t just leave you there to get finished off. It was a professional courtesy,” Jack said, slapping the deputy on the shoulder. “We put you in the only place we could for safe keeping – your patrol car.”
“I guess it was lucky I wore my vest or I would have been dead for sure,” Ward admitted, rubbing his chest where the bullet had hit. “Things had been so … crazy here lately that my mother insisted I wear it. She didn’t want her baby to get hurt. You know how mothers are.”
“Always listen to your mother, son,” Jack advised. “In this case, she saved your life.”
“Yes sir, she did,” the deputy agreed.
“So, you going to write me a ticket for a moving violation or did you pull me over to be social?” Jack wondered.
“Oh,” Ward remembered. “The new sheriff asked me to have you come by for a minute before you leave town. He said he would consider it an insult if you didn’t at least drop in and say hello.”
“That we can do,” Jack said. “We’ll head on over there.”
Jack got back in the vehicle and fell in behind the deputy.
“We found him on the floor outside the finishing room as Earl was showing me the back way into the lab,” Jack explained about how they had saved the young deputy’s life. “He was still breathing but unconscious. We knew if they realized he was alive they would finish him off so we had to hide him. His patrol car was a few yards outside the building so we carried him over and stuck him inside. That’s why I was late in coming to your rescue.”
“Yeah, a little later and I would’ve drowned,” Ash-ley pointed out.
“Like a knight in shining armor,” Jack winked.
“Whatever,” Ashley replied. “You almost got us both killed.”
“But I didn’t,” Jack boasted. “And they lived happily ever after.”
Jack slowed the vehicle as they approached the Halfway Inn. Jessica was standing outside the office.
“I’ve got to make a short stop,” Jack declared as he pulled into the parking lot.
Jessica’s eyes widened as Jack emerged from the car. She took a couple of steps back toward her office, obviously surprised to see him.
“I figured you’d be coming back,” Jessica said soberly. “But you’ve got to understand, I didn’t know what was going on. I swear, had I known I would have …”
Jack held up his hand. “I don’t know the slightest of what you’re carrying on about, honey.”
Jessica cocked her head, confused at the agent’s response. “You’re not here to take me away?”
Jack laughed. “I don’t know you that well, baby. I’d have to date you before making that kind of commitment. A romantic weekend away? Maybe. But not holy matrimony.”
“But, I thought you were …” Jessica began, still confused.
“I just stopped by to tell you I’m sorry about how things turned out,” Jack said. “If there was any other way …”
“I’m not in trouble?” Jessica asked. “You’re not going to arrest me?”
“Sorry, but I didn’t even bring my handcuffs,” Jack replied, patting his back pocket. “I suppose I’ll have to let you go this time, darlin’.”
Jessica stood looking at Jack, trying to figure out if he was being straight with her. She had figured she would be arrested any day for her assistance, as limited as it was, with her brothers’ illegal enterprise.
“I really didn’t know what they were doing. I hadn’t the slightest until that night in your room when you showed me the evidence of what was going on out there,” Jessica spoke up. “I wouldn’t have supported it, brothers or not.”
Jessica paused and looked off into the distance, re-calling her time growing up with the pair of half-brothers.
“Elijah was always a snake oil salesman, a real smooth talker. He left New Hope right after high school to seek his fortune in the big city,” Jessica reflected. “Then he came back a few years ago, after more than twenty years with hardly any word of where he had been, and set up shop out at the ranch. I figured it was some kind of grandiose money-making scheme. The Elijah I knew was never big on religion. He was always about getting rich quick.
“Now Franklin, he was the opposite. His life was New Hope. He stayed here, ran for sheriff and was the only law here for more than two decades. I never would have dreamed he would be a part of anything so awful as trafficking drugs. Elijah and Franklin were like night and day, one grounded and one with his head in the clouds. But then, it wasn’t like we were ever close. They were both more than ten years older than me so they were pretty well grown while I was a kid.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at Jessica, recalling some-thing he had noticed during their conversations.
“But you had doubts about the sheriff when it came to what happened to Leland Whitaker. I could tell by the way you acted,” Jack declared. “You thought your brother had something to do with his disappearance. Didn’t you?”
Jessica nodded. “He had a temper and I worried that if he thought Mr. Whitaker threatened the way things were, that maybe … well, he may have crossed the line. I never had the guts to ask him though. I guess I didn’t really want to know.”
Jack gave Jessica a faint smile, realizing for the first time that Ashley was leaning against the passenger door of the car, listening to their conversation.
“I guess I better get going,” Jack spoke up. “I’ve got FBI stuff to do, you know. I just thought I’d stop by and … say hi”
Jessica returned his smile. “I’m very glad you did.”
“So am I,” Jack replied. “I’ll see you around.”
Jack turned to walk away but was stopped by Jessica.
“Jack!” she called after him, stepping forward as he turned back around to face her.
With that, she grabbed his tie, pulled him close and gave him a passionate kiss, her arms moving to embrace his neck as he returned the kiss.
“Now, I’m very glad I stopped,” Jack laughed, noticing Ashley shaking her head as she climbed back into the car.
“If you’re ever in the neighborhood …” Jessica said, biting her lip as Jack turned to leave.
“I’ll be sure to look you up,” Jack said, waving over his shoulder.
“Oh Jack, my hero,” Ashley said in a mocking voice, rolling her eyes.
“Jealous?” Jack shot back, looking in the rear view mirror for any lipstick smears on his face.
“Uh, not hardly,” Ashley replied. “It’s just not very professional to be kissing suspects. And Jack, we know she
was a suspect.”
“You need to get your facts straight, honey,” Jack shot back. “She kissed me, I didn’t kiss her. I can’t be held accountable for the actions of my adoring public. Plus, she’s officially off the suspect list.”
“She knew, Jack,” Ashley disagreed.
“I don’t think she did, about the meth that is,” Jack said. “Besides, the only two that could testify against her are dead so arresting her would be a waste of time anyway.”
“You’re probably right,” Ashley agreed as Jack pulled back on the highway, heading toward downtown New Hope.
Ashley sat deep in thought for a minute before giving Jack a long look.
“So, what happened the night I was in the hospital?” Ashley asked in a suspicious tone.
“Um, what do you mean?” Jack said, not taking his eyes off the road.
“Well, it’s no secret, from what I just saw, that Jessica had a thing for you and you were doing quite a bit of flirting,” Ashley continued. “And, the last time I saw her that night, she was wearing a sexy little nightie.”
“What are you trying to say there, darlin’?” Jack asked, cutting his eyes toward Ashley.
“Not going to tell, are ya?” Ashley asked coyly.
Jack smirked. “A gentleman never tells. Ah, here we are – the sheriff’s office.”
Kyle waved them in as they pulled in front of the station. “The sheriff is excited to meet you.”
“I guess we’re just popular today,” Jack quipped as they walked in and were immediately greeted by an older man whose big grin was nearly hidden by a bushy salt and pepper mustache.
“Is that Wilfred Brimley?” Jack quietly said to Ash-ley as the man walked toward them with his hand ex-tended.
“This sure is a pleasure,” the man beamed as he shook Ashley and then Jack’s hand, the pair noticing a sheriff’s badge on his chest for the first time. “I under-stand you’re responsible for saving Liberty County.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Jack replied.
“We were just doing our duty, sir,” Ashley chimed in.
The man paused and smiled at the two agents for a moment.
“Oh, how rude of me! I’m Sheriff Leland Whitaker,” he broke the silence, again shaking their hands. “I just feel like I know you already, given the stories I’ve heard.”
“Seems like we know you, too,” Jack said, looking him up and down. “Although we figured you were coyote meat somewhere out in the desert.”
Leland laughed at his comment. “Yeah, I think that’s what a lot of people thought. But hey! Here I am – alive and well! The rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated.”
Jack shook his head. Another mystery had been solved – kind of. “Okay, care to explain where you’ve been all this time when everyone, including the FBI, thought you were dead?”
Leland brushed his mustache with his hand and gave them a sly grin. “I’ve been working, of course. Law enforcement work to be exact.”
“So you just totally dropped out of sight for a year, without a trace?” Jack asked. “Why would you do that?”
“To stay alive,” Leland shot back. “I may be semi-retired but I’m not ready to be pushing up daisies just yet.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. Leland’s explanation was answering few questions. Leland understood the look and sighed, realizing it would take a more in-depth ex-planation to placate the lawman.
“I moved to New Hope to get away from the crap,” Leland began as he continued stroking his mustache. “I’d retired after nearly forty years pounding a beat in Chicago. My wife had passed about three years before and we never had any kids so there wasn’t anything to hold me to the Windy City.”
He continued. “Anyway, it didn’t take me long to realize the sheriff here was no good. I’ve seen his type hundreds of times. He ran the place like a boss, not a public servant. So, with the encouragement of some folks here, I decided I’d come out of retirement. Of course, the sheriff didn’t like that, plus he had a lot of people loyal to him – or who owed him, at least. It was going to be a close election.”
Leland tapped his head with a grin.
“That’s when it hit me,” he said. “All those folks out at Paradise Ranch, they were prospective voters. Everyone knew the sheriff’s department never went over the hill so it was like they were forgotten citizens of our county.”
“So, you went out there?” Ashley spoke up.
“Yep,” Leland agreed. “Went right up to the gate and asked to speak to the man.”
“And they just let you in?” Jack asked.
“Yep,” Leland revealed. “Took me right to Elijah’s office and we had a good, long talk.”
“What did he say?” Ashley wondered aloud.
“He agreed with me that his people should have the right to vote,” Leland said. “The problem was that he was afraid to let his people come to town to vote. He said the people in New Hope had it in for them and didn’t want to risk something happening.”
“That’s why you tried to get a voting precinct put out there,” Ashley noted.
“Yep,” Leland said. “Of course, I didn’t realize they were playing both ends against the middle. I didn’t know the sheriff and Elijah were in cahoots.
“Nobody did,” Jack pointed out.
“Anyway, we were going to get that precinct,” Le-land continued. “I was going out there to get them to sign an affidavit to take to the state when I was bush-whacked.”
Bush whacked?” Jack asked.
“Ambushed. Bamboozled. Waylaid. Whatever you wanna call it,” Leland revealed. “Two trucks full of armed guys ran me off the road and into the desert, shooting up my car. I ended up sitting upside down in my tipped over car, left for dead I guess. You have no idea how that feels, I bet.”
“I bet you’re wrong,” Ashley mumbled, recalling their encounter in the wilderness.
“Anyway, a few minutes later here comes some of the folks from the cult,” Leland continued. “They pulled me out of the wreckage and took me back to the ranch. That’s when Elijah told me that the sheriff was in with the Mexican Mafia and that I had upset the apple cart, running against him.”
“Wow,” Ashley mouthed.
“Elijah told me that his people had found out that the Mexican Mafia had put a price on my head and were going to rub me out,” Leland noted. “He said they intended to protect me but that I needed to do like they said.”
“So what did they tell you to do?” Jack asked.
“To leave. Get outta Dodge. Hit the trail,” Leland explained. “Elijah said they would help get me out of Liberty County. They warned me I’d have to lay low since the Mexican Mafia has folks everywhere.”
“And, you believed them?” Ashley wondered.
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” Leland said. “They’d tried to take me out earlier and I’d heard tell about the Mexican Mafia. They aren’t people you mess with. They’ve left a trail of bodies on the other side of the border. Like I said, I ain’t quite ready for the bone yard yet.”
“You took them up on their offer?” Jack asked.
“Yep,” Leland said. “They snuck me out of Liberty County, got me a plane ticket to the place of my choice and then shipped my stuff to me a week later.”
“Explaining why all your belongings were gone,” Ashley interjected.
“Elijah said he would let me know when things had died down here,” Leland said. “That call didn’t come, of course. But then why should I have suspected any-thing? As far as I knew, Elijah had been true to his word at every turn. I had no way of knowing he was trying to get rid of me. I guess I should be happy they didn’t just snuff me out in the desert.”
“Most interesting,” Jack said. “That’s quite the story.”
“It’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God,” Leland said, holding up his hand in oath. “Once I heard what happened I made some phone calls back here. One thing led to another and here I am a
gain.”
“What were you doing this whole time?” Ashley asked.
“I was a campus cop,” Leland chuckled. “I had an old friend back from the academy days. He got me a job where he was the chief of campus security. I worked there until everything happened here last month.”
Leland shook his head, losing his smile for a moment. “Poor Gus got himself killed the week after I left to come back here. Just goes to show you, a person ain’t safe anywhere.”
“That’s true,” Jack agreed as Kyle walked back into the room.
“Agent Looper,” Kyle said in an excited tone. “There’s a call for you … on the phone … it’s FBI headquarters.”
Jack waived his hand. “I’m not talking any calls. Tell them I’m not here.”
Kyle gave Jack a look of confusion, shook his head and began to leave the room. “Okay. If you say so.”
“Whoa, there, son. I’m kidding,” Jack said as he followed behind the deputy. “You take everything too seriously. I’m coming.”
Ashley stood talking to Leland for a couple of minutes before Jack came back into the room.
“We’ve got to get going,” Jack said impatiently as he took Ashley by the arm. “I hate to run but duty calls.”
“It does?” Ashley asked as she was whisked out of the sheriff’s office, the two giving a quick wave good-bye to their hosts.
“Yes it does, sugar,” Jack confirmed. “We got an-other case.”
“Where?” Ashley asked as they walked briskly to-ward the car.
“Washington D.C.,” Jack replied. “They have the crime scene waiting for us.”
“Washington?” Ashley repeated. “That’s like six or seven hours, even by plane. Will they be able to keep things secure that long?”
Jack paused before hopping into the car and gave Ash-ley a sincere look across the roof. “I’d say so. The crime scene is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Jack and Ashley will return with their next adventure.
In the meantime, find out how it all began by reading Friday Night Frights, the first in the Jack and Ashley detective series.
For more works by R.D. Sherrill, be sure to visit rdsherrillbooks.com.
Paradise Ranch (Jack and Ashley detective series Book 2) Page 23