by Misty Malone
“I didn't tamper with evidence, and I sure didn't kidnap anyone,” he argued.
“You tampered with these pictures and they're going to be evidence at your trial, and you coming to me with this story that I had to check out and prove was a bunch of forgery interfered with my investigating the case. Trying to get your sister out is nothing short of attempted kidnapping. But like I said, you're fortunate enough to be the first one we've arrested. They're out there gathering the rest of them up now. You know how these things go. The first person to give us the information we need will be the one that gets their charges reduced.”
Agent Caldwell could tell he was tempted, but not quite convinced. “I'll give you a little time to think it over. I want to see how my agents are coming along gathering up the rest of them. You think about it while I go check on that. But think about it good, Ralph, because as they arrest the others and start questioning them the race is on. First one to say anything gets the deal.”
The agent got up to leave, as did the sheriff, but Ralph stopped them. “Wait. How do you know who I am? That's not what I told you.”
“I know,” the sheriff explained. “But once I looked at these papers and knew they weren't real I went back and looked at our cameras recording the lobby, and there you were. You looked up for us so we could get a nice picture of you to run on our facial recognition software. You, Ralph Larson, should be more careful. The other two that came in here never looked up when they were within camera range. They must be better at what they do.”
“They've had more experience, and they had someone to teach them,” he argued. He immediately realized he'd said too much, and stopped talking.
Agent Caldwell stepped right in, though. “And they're also going to get away with everything while you go off to prison for about twenty years for the kidnapping charge.”
“That's not right,” Ralph said.
“You're right, it's not,” the agent agreed. “But it's your choice. We can help get that kidnapping charge reduced, but we need their names and where we can find them.” The agent paused, and making a decision, went on. “As a matter of fact, let me tell you right now, before I leave for a few minutes, what I want and what I'll give you for it. Then you can decide what you want to do while I check to see how the other agents are doing.”
“What would I have to tell you?”
“I want those two men. I want their names and where I can find them. I also want the name of the veterinarian that's supplying the poison for the horses.”
“But I don't know his name.”
“Then I need what you do know about him.”
“What will I get if I give you this?”
“I'll make the kidnapping charge go away. That's the one that'll get you a long prison stay.”
“Make them all go away and I'll give you what you want,” Ralph said.
“Nope, no deal,” Agent Caldwell stated firmly. “It's a damn good deal the way it is. That kidnapping charge could send you away for twenty years, and you know it. I'm going to check and see how my agents are doing gathering the rest up. Decide what you want to do, and you better think fast. They may have a couple of them in custody already.” He left without another word.
Back in the sheriff's office he and Agent Caldwell talked. “What do you think, is he going to talk?” the sheriff asked.
“I think he is. The two guys that Janelle saw are the two I want worst. She won't be safe until those two she can identify are caught. I'd also like to find the vet who would do such a thing to horses. He has no business treating animals. The other people I'm not too worried about. There's only a couple others and frankly, I don't think they actually knew what they were doing was wrong. They were just doing what their boss told them to. I don't think they saw the whole picture or knew what the congressman was actually up to.”
“I think you're right about that,” Sheriff Hollinger agreed. “I'm not too worried about them, either. I think they'll be surprised when they hear their boss was arrested and what for.”
“They'll probably be upset to learn they played a small part in it,” Agent Caldwell chuckled.
“If this guy talks are you going to have the other six arrested right away, today?” sheriff Hollinger asked.
“I want to make sure we get the two that Janelle can identify. As soon as we have those, yes, I'll tell the agents to go ahead and pick the rest up, including the congressman.”
“Sounds good to me. How long are you going to let Ralph think?”
“I think he's had enough time. I think he's going to talk. If he has too much time he may change his mind.” The two men chuckled as they went back in to talk to him again.
“Well, what's it going to be, Ralph?” Agent Caldwell asked. “You better talk fast because the others are doing real well. They're making better time than I anticipated. Are you ready to talk, or do you like the sound of twenty years in prison?”
“I don't want to do no twenty years in prison,” he said.
“Then give me the names of the two men who were in here trying to get the girl. I want their names and where I can find them.”
“And that's all you need?”
“I need what you can tell me about the veterinarian.”
“Okay, but I don't know much about him.”
“Tell me what you know, but first I want to know about the other two men.”
Ralph gave the two officials the names and descriptions of the two men and the address of the apartment in town that they'd rented. He said they should be there now because he was to take the girl there when he left the sheriff's office. Agent Caldwell quickly made a call and sent three agents and two sheriff's deputies, including Deputy Armstrong, over to pick them up and bring them in.
He went back in to talk to Ralph again. “Okay, I got men on their way. While we wait to hear from them, tell me what you can about this veterinarian.”
“I don't know much about him, honest. All I know is he's the brother of the wife of one of the congressman's office guys.”
“Say that again. What's the connection?”
“One of his men that works in his office is married, and the wife's brother is a vet. I don't even know where he lives or anything. I just know the guy screwed up and the congressman was going to fire him. Then he found out his wife's brother is a vet, and he told him if he could get him to give him some medicine for the horses, the guy could keep his job.”
“So he blackmailed his employee. He told him if he wanted to keep his job he had to get his brother-in-law to give them something to give horses to poison them?”
“I don't think the guy told his brother-in-law what he was doing with it, though. I think he just told him he wanted something that would make a horse a little under the weather for a couple days. The vet sent him some stuff to use, but said be careful not to give it too much. They give the horses about twice what he said to give them.”
“So the vet may not know what actually happened?”
“I don't know about that, if he did or didn't. That's my understanding of what happened.”
“But you don't know who this vet is?”
“Nope. All I know is his sister's married to one of the men that works in his office.”
“Okay, I'll see what we can find.”
Agent Caldwell and the sheriff got up to leave. “Wait. I give you what you wanted. Are you going to reduce my charges?”
“If this stuff checks out, yes. Once we have the two men in custody I'll come back and we'll talk again.”
The men left the interrogation room and went back to the sheriff's office. “I'll get men working on this vet right away,” Agent Caldwell said. He took out his phone and called another agent. He passed on the information and suggested, “I guess you're going to have to check out all the men that work in his office. I think it's only five or six, but see if you can find one that's got a vet for a brother-in-law. Get someone to help you, we need to get this information quick. Call me as soon as you have anything.�
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As soon as the agent hung up, he got a call from the agent that went to pick up the two men in town at the rented apartment. “Talk to me, Joe,” he said. “Did you get them?” He stood up and started pacing. “What do you mean they weren't there? Did you nose around a little?” He sighed. “Okay. Leave a couple guys there to watch the place and come on back. We'll have to talk to Ralph again.”
“That didn't sound good,” the sheriff said. “They weren't there?”
“No. Someone's staying there, but they weren't there now. The one neighbor said it's two men staying there and his description of the men sounded like it's our guys. Two agents are waiting there. When they come back they'll arrest them. I wish I knew where they are now, though.”
“Why?”
“I don't know exactly. I just have a bad feeling. Let's go talk to Ralph again, see if he knows where they might be.”
Five minutes later they were back in the interrogation room. “They're not there, Ralph,” Agent Caldwell said. “Are you lying to me?”
“No,” Ralph insisted. “They should be there, honest. I'm supposed to take the girl to their place when I leave.”
“Well, they're not there. Where else would you guess they might be?”
“I don't know, unless they went to get something to eat. That shouldn't take them long, though. Honest, they should be there.”
The men went back to the sheriff's office. “I believe him,” the sheriff said.
“Yeah, me, too, and that's what worries me,” Agent Caldwell said. “I just don't feel good about this. Something's wrong. Maybe they already suspect something and they're gone.”
The sheriff looked concerned now, as well. “It's possible,” he agreed.
“They seem like professionals. If they suspected something, when Ralph went to get the girl they could have left, and gone somewhere to watch the apartment. When they saw the men go in, they would have known we're onto them. They could be long gone by now. This just doesn't feel right.”
“Maybe you'd feel better if you call Bryce and Janelle,” the sheriff suggested.
“That might not be a bad idea,” he said as he took out his phone. “I'll call both of them, unless they're together. Once I know they're both okay maybe I'll get this feeling out of my system.”
He called Janelle first. It rang longer than usual before she answered, which concerned him. “Janelle, just checking. Everything okay?”
“Yes, I'm fine. You worry too much. Is it okay with you if we have pizza for supper tonight?”
Agent Caldwell was on his feet immediately and headed for the door. He motioned for the sheriff to follow. “Are you sure that's what you want?”
“Yep, I'm positive. I'm really, really hungry for pizza.”
“Okay, if you're that hungry for it I'll try to be there a little earlier than usual. Is anyone there with you?”
“Nope.”
“Okay. I'll try to be early.”
“Thanks. Bye.”
Agent Caldwell hung up and took off running, the sheriff right behind him. He met his two officers and Deputy Armstrong as they were coming into the sheriff's office. “Follow us to the ranch. Something's wrong.”
On their way to the ranch the sheriff called the officers in the cruiser behind them and told them of the pizza alert. He then called Bryce and told him what was going on. He warned him against trying to do anything before they arrived, and hoped they got there soon because he knew Bryce would step in and do something if he knew Janelle was in trouble, no matter how many times they warned him not to.
Bryce worked hard to calm down after he got the phone call from the sheriff. Janelle had used the pizza code word, and he was sure it was not by accident. He rode Thunder hard from the hay field where he'd been working. He stopped short of the ranch hospital so he could get close without being noticed.
He went to the shop first and found Clay working on a piece of equipment that had broken. He put his finger to his mouth to keep Clay from greeting him and got close enough to whisper. “Clay, I got a call from the sheriff. He had a bad feeling today and called Janelle to check on her. She said she wanted pizza for supper.”
Clay instantly stood straight up. “What can I do?”
“I'm not sure yet. Is she in the hospital?”
“As far as I know, yes. She stopped by earlier and said she was probably going to be over there all morning. She's worried about that one little calf.”
Clay walked over to the window and looked out. “I don't see a vehicle, but that doesn't mean they're not in there. They could have parked down the road and walked in.”
They both thought a few minutes. “Maybe I should go in like normal to ask about the sick calf. If I go in the front door it'll draw their attention. You could go in the back door and duck out of sight. Maybe you could make your way up to wherever they are, and we could each take one of them on.”
“Maybe,” Bryce said, “but I sure wish I knew what they're doing.” He got up and headed for the door. “Hell, we don't even know for sure she's still in there. They may have already taken her, or hurt her,” he said.
“Bryce, wait,” Clay pleaded. “I know you want to protect her, and I do, too, but if you just walk in there and they shoot you, how's that helping her? We've got to have a plan before we go in.”
Just then they heard a noise outside and saw the cruisers coming in the lane. “Quick,” Bryce said, “let's go to the back door of the barn. They'll be coming in the front. We'll sneak in the back and see if we can't get Janelle out of there.”
As they were talking in the machine shop, in the next building over the two men Janelle had overheard planning to poison a horse had her trapped. She was in a pen with a horse with a sore foot when they came in.
“Remember us, little lady?”
Janelle froze, remembering the voice immediately. “How did you find me?”
“Quite by accident, actually,” one of them laughed. “I don't think Brad knew what he was saying. But that's not what we're here to discuss.”
“What do you want?” Janelle asked.
“Who all did you talk to about what you heard us saying that day?”
“What day are you talking about,” she asked, trying to stall. Her phone rang, and she pulled it out to answer it.
“No, don't answer that,” the tall man warned.
She thought for a second and shrugged her shoulders. “Okay.”
The two men looked at each other. The tall man, who seemed to be the one in charge, asked, “Who is it?”
“It's Bryce. He calls every morning around this time.”
The short man was concerned. “Then if she don't answer it he'll know something ain't right.”
The tall man nodded. “Okay, answer it, but don't warn him we're here. Don't you say one thing, or you'll regret it. Got that?”
She nodded as she answered her phone. She was extremely thankful when it was Agent Caldwell. She quickly told him she wanted pizza for supper, and she was sure he understood. Now she just had to stall to give them time to get here.
“That was good,” the tall man said when she hung up. “It's too bad you won't be here to share that pizza with him.”
“Why not?”
“Because the boss wants to talk to you. But first we got to find out who all you talked to.”
“I didn't talk to anyone,” she said. “Who's your boss and why does he want to talk to me?”
“He wants to ask you himself who all you talked to.”
“I told you I didn't talk to anyone.”
“I know you had to talk to someone. I want to know who.”
“Think about it. If I'd told someone don't you think you'd have been arrested by now? I didn't want any trouble, and I didn't tell anyone what I heard.”
“Come on over here,” the tall man directed.
“I don't think so,” she said. “I'm good right here.”
“Listen, I don't want to have to go in that pen to get you, but if you make me
I will. But you'll regret it.”
Janelle backed up a couple steps, putting the horse between herself and the men. The horse was a large horse, but gentle as could be with her.
The taller man shoved the short man toward the pen. “Go get her and bring her over here. We've got to get going before her man comes back. He comes back for lunch every day.”
“You go get her,” the man argued. “I don't like horses.”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” the taller one complained. “It's just a horse.”
“Then you go get her.”
As they started to argue they all heard some commotion at the front of the building. “What's that?” the shorter man asked.
“It sounds like a car coming in the drive. Let's go get rid of them,” the taller man said as he pulled a gun out.
Bryce and Clay entered the back door just then, while the men were going to the front to see what the noise was. Janelle saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced back to see Bryce and Clay. She quickly slipped out of the pen and back to them. They ran out of the barn as she told them, “They have guns!”
As they left they heard the taller man yell, “Hey, get back here. Sam, go get her. Shoot her if you have to, but don't let her get away. I'll take care of this.”
Bryce steered them back into the machine shop and closed the door and locked it. He hurried them into the storage room toward the front of the building and went to the wall and got the rifle he kept for chasing off unwanted wild animals. He opened the window and put the gun out and shot up in the air. It had exactly the effect he hoped for, the officers all pulled their weapons. He yelled out the window, “I've got Janelle and Clay in here. There's one in the other building and one behind this building looking for us.”
The five law enforcement officers split up. Sheriff Hollinger stayed where he was and talked with Bryce. He told him to call all his men and have them stay away from the house and barn until he called them again, and call Lena and tell her to lock the doors and go to the far side of the house, upper floor and stay away from windows until he called her. He instructed them to stay where they are, rifle ready, and to let him know if they could hear that anyone had made it inside the building.