by C. M. Sutter
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Okay, can you switch it to street view so we can take a look?”
“Sure can.”
“Hmm… the house is white and the barn is red. How often does Google update these images?”
“I think it’s every five years, and they’re doing it this year. They may not have gotten to the rural areas yet. There is a white fence out front, though,” Todd said.
“Uh-huh, I see that. The house could have been painted since this street view was taken.”
“Yeah, it definitely could have been. Is that it, Jade?”
“Yep, that should do it. Thanks a lot.” I patted Todd’s shoulder and walked out through the glass doors. I went back upstairs and worked on my desk disaster while I waited for Silver and Donnelly to arrive.
“What did Todd know?” Jack asked. He passed the garbage can to me.
“Neither of the guys our meth rats mentioned have sheets, and the farmhouse is a maybe. It looks like the right description except the house is white.”
“Maybe the street view hasn’t been updated lately.”
“Yeah, we thought the same thing. We got the okay from Clark to check it out—surveillance only, though—just to make sure they’re actually cooking.”
“I agree. Donnelly called while you were downstairs. They’re just a few minutes out.”
I nodded, pushed back from my desk, and got up. I rapped on the lieutenant’s half-opened door and peeked through. “We’re heading out, boss. The lead could be legit.”
“Okay, update me when you get there.”
Chapter 36
I explained the situation to Donnelly and Silver as the four of us walked to the unmarked cruisers.
“When we get close to the farm, we’ll surveil the layout and situation first. According to Google’s satellite image, there’s a long dirt path leading in from a neighboring road. I’m sure it was a tractor path from days gone by. Anyway, let’s drive by the house first, make sure it’s the right place, and see if we notice any activity. We’ll enter from the dirt path if everything’s a go and walk the final quarter mile in.” I popped the trunk with the key fob. “We’re wearing vests just in case, so check your trunk and make sure there are two vests inside.”
Jack checked our trunk, and Silver checked theirs. I climbed into the cruiser that was parked next to the one Donnelly and Silver had. I lowered the passenger side window.
“Just follow my lead. We’re using a different channel frequency today in case they have scanners. I’ll let dispatch know, and keep your cell phones handy too. I’ll call you, Silver, when we’re close.”
Donnelly nodded and climbed in behind the wheel of their car. They followed us out of the parking lot, and we headed east. The farm was about fifteen minutes away.
My cell phone rang as Jack drove. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the screen—Charlene Orth was calling back.
“Mrs. Orth, hello.”
“Sergeant Monroe. I spoke to the funeral home, and they told me they have next Saturday open. Most of Reanne’s friends and our family are local, so there’s no need to delay the service. I’m sure Saturday will work out, so I told them okay. The funeral director is meeting with me later today to go over the details.”
“That sounds fine. I’ll have our ME arrange for Reanne’s transport. She should arrive at the funeral home no later than Wednesday. If you wouldn’t mind, Mrs. Orth, I’d appreciate it if you’d just text me the name, phone number, and address of the funeral home. I’m not at my desk right now.”
“Okay. Please give me a call when you have it arranged.”
“Will do. It should be sometime later today. Thank you for calling. Goodbye.”
I hung up and looked to my left at Jack as he drove.
He turned toward me. “What?”
“Just thinking. Today is Monday. Wouldn’t it be nice to have these cases wrapped up by the weekend? What would you do with a weekend to call your own?” I could almost see his wheels turning.
“Hmm… wow, that sounds nice. I’d probably get my brothers on board and head to our cabin in Hudson. Maybe we’d do a little fishing and probably a lot of drinking.”
I laughed. “Sounds like fun. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later. We’ll start knocking on doors tomorrow. Four girls are missing for sure, and I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.”
Jack gave me a concerned look. “That’s if they’re still alive. This looks like Granville Road coming up.” Jack slowed the cruiser.
“Okay, turn left. I think we have about half a mile before we intersect with Linden. From there, we continue north on Granville until we see the place. According to Google Maps, the farm that fits the description is on the right side of the road.”
“Got it. Why don’t you call Silver and tell him we’re getting close.”
I nodded, hit the phone icon next to Silver’s name, and waited for him to answer. He picked up before the second ring. “Hey, Aaron, we’re getting close. We’ll drive by slowly in front of the property. I’ll stick my arm out the window when we pass the place. Keep your eyes peeled for any activity at the location. Then we’ll go to the next intersection and pull over to discuss the situation.”
“Got it, Jade, we’ll be watching.”
Jack continued north for another three quarters of a mile.
“Okay, there’s a farm coming up on the right. Slow down a bit.”
Large trees hung over the road and cloaked the front of the house in shade. I didn’t have a good visual yet. We were almost on top of the property before I saw a white fence, then the red house. With my index finger already on the window button and waiting, I quickly pressed it and stuck my arm out. Within the short few seconds I had, I scanned the property and saw four cars parked next to the house. I didn’t see anyone outside, and then the house was in our rearview mirror. I spun in my seat, trying to see behind us for any additional details. “Did you see anything besides the cars in the driveway?” I asked, looking at Jack.
“Not really. It isn’t like we can stop and have a leisurely look around.”
I hoped Silver and Donnelly would have more to add after they passed by. We met up the road on a dead-end lane. Jack pulled over, and Donnelly slid his cruiser in behind us. I opened the passenger door and grabbed my sunglasses from the console.
“Did you guys see anything else besides the four cars?” I got out and slammed the door behind me.
“Yeah, didn’t you see the dogs?” Silver asked.
“Damn it, dogs?” I rubbed my left eyebrow. “How many?”
“I saw two for sure standing at the screen door.”
“Big or small?” I groaned.
“Unfortunately, big. Couldn’t tell the breed since they were crowded together behind the door, and I didn’t have time to study them. All I know is that they looked big and they were both black.”
“Great. They could be Labs. I hope to God they aren’t Rotties. With any luck, they’ll stay in the house. If they do, they won’t notice us coming in from the back. You didn’t happen to see any garbage cans or piles of trash, did you?” I asked.
“Nah—we only had a few seconds to see what we did. The curtains were all drawn, though,” Silver said. “The house and grounds looked unkempt. Doubt if they’re the owners. This has to be the right place. No pride in ownership because they’re renters, two large guard dogs, and curtains closed in the daytime.”
Jack spoke up. “Yeah, I saw that too. They aren’t cooking in the house according to our jailbirds, but they may be sleeping in shifts and want to keep the house dark. I did see the NO TRESPASSING and PRIVATE PROPERTY signs at the end of the driveway, though. That’s a sure indication they don’t want company. They could be armed and paranoid—the worst combination.”
“I didn’t catch a whiff of any chemicals, but the barn is set back from the road. Okay, boys, are you ready to check this out?”
Donnelly nodded. “Lead the way, boss. W
e’ll be right behind you.”
Jack and I climbed back into the cruiser and headed for the next road to the east. We’d make three right turns at each intersection until we were at the backside of the property.
We reached the tractor path that led to the long-forgotten field. From the way the layout looked from the satellite image, the path ended about a half mile in. The west side of the field had a natural rise and a row of trees and bushes, then it gradually sloped down to the barn and house beyond that. We turned in and drove slowly so we wouldn’t create a dust cloud. Our approach needed to go unnoticed. The path was bumpy and riddled with large rocks and potholes anyway. It looked as though nobody had driven on it for years.
A pile of empty chemical bottles, cans, and pill bottles, along with the smell, would definitely give this crew away if they were cooking. With any luck, we’d see something through our binoculars to substantiate the jailbirds’ claims. I’d never get our local DEA involved unless we knew for sure what was going on. This crew could possibly lead to the ringleaders of the statewide meth problem. We’d find out more once we got closer.
Jack stopped the car just at the point where we saw the roofline of the barn. That was close enough. I got out and motioned for Donnelly to stop. I made a quick call to Clark to tell him we were at the location. I’d update him again once we knew what we were dealing with.
“Okay, guys, this is as far as we go with the vehicles. Let’s head to that tree line and check out the house and barn with our binoculars. With the tree cover at that ridge, they won’t see us even if they are outside.”
Jack, Donnelly, Silver, and I put on our vests, strapped on our weapons and our shoulder mics, and hung our binoculars around our necks. We crouched down and took off for the tree line. Once we were in place and had a good visual of the barn and house, we sat on the ridge behind scrub brush and surveilled the situation.
The wind caught in my hair and swirled it across my face. I pulled the elastic band off my wrist and tied it back, then I sniffed the air. “Smell that?” I whispered. “The wind is blowing this way. Somebody is up to no good. It smells like skunk.”
The guys nodded, and we settled in to watch the house and barn.
“I see a dump site,” Jack said.
“Where?” I asked.
“Look to the far right of the barn. Go beyond that for about thirty feet. You’ll see a pile of rocks then a gully. Look closely at that gully. It’s filled with chemical cans, plastic canisters, tubing, and bottles.”
We turned our binoculars in that direction. With my fingertip, I barely touched the diopter between the eyepieces to adjust the focus.
“Sure as shit, there it is. See any movement anywhere?”
“Not yet,” Silver said. “It seems awful quiet at the house.”
“Yeah, there are probably a handful of people in the barn, and the rest are likely sleeping. We need to move in and see what’s taking place in the barn. There are definitely signs of a meth lab littered about, but we have to see for ourselves if they’re actively cooking. Are you girls up for it?” I grinned at each of them.
Jack snickered. “I only see one girl here, and she’s talking a lot of smack.”
“Yeah, I tend to do that when we’re facing trouble. Jack, you and I will take the left side of the barn. Silver, you and Donnelly take the right. We need to find windows and try to get a look inside without being seen. Peeking in through the barn doors not only puts us in a vulnerable position but there’s no cover from the house either. Remember, this is surveillance only.”
“Yes, Mom, and don’t forget about the dogs,” Silver said.
“That’s right, those damn dogs. Everywhere I go, there are dogs. What’s wrong with cats?”
Jack whispered, “I don’t think cats give a crap about intruders or anything else for that matter. They just want to be left alone. You guys ready?”
I looked at Silver and Donnelly then nodded. “Let’s go.”
Jack and I scurried down the hill, trying to stay out of view of the windows on the back of the house. Donnelly and Silver did the same while they hid behind brush and rock piles. Once we reached the barn, we would lose sight of each other, and we’d have to depend solely on our shoulder mics for communication. We didn’t want anybody to hear us, so our use of them would be limited. For now we were going by hand signals. We reached the back of the barn, and so far we hadn’t been seen. I motioned that we were going ahead. We all needed to hug the sides of the building and move quietly and slowly.
I whispered to Jack as we slinked forward, “There’s a window coming up close to the front of the barn. What do you want to do?”
“I’ll take a look. I’ll go under the window then take a peek, looking back into the main part of the barn. Keep your eyes and gun pointed at the house. You never know if these people are only cookers or paranoid tweakers too.”
I nodded and kept a vigilant watch on the farmhouse. It stood about fifty yards in front of us. I whispered into my shoulder radio and asked Donnelly how it was going on their side.
“So far, so good, Jade. We haven’t seen any movement yet, and we’re approaching a window now.”
“Jack is taking a look on our side. Hold off until I get back to you.”
“Roger that. We’ll sit tight.”
Jack scurried under the window in front of us. I nodded and kept my gun drawn at the house, my eyes darting from the farthest left window to the back door. That was all I could see of the house without stepping out into the open. Jack stood alongside the rotting frame of the barn window and moved his face slowly closer to the dirty glass panes. He peeked in then quickly pulled back.
“Okay, there are a handful of people inside that I can see, and they’re definitely cooking. Chances of them having guns are slim. They’d probably blow themselves up if somebody shot a weapon.”
“Well, the same goes for us. Let’s get out of here. We have the proof we need. We’ll hand this off to the local DEA and let them close shop here and track down the big boys.”
“Yeah, tell Silver and Donnelly we’re moving out.”
We knelt down along the barn, and I called Donnelly again on my shoulder mic. “Jack saw a handful of people in the barn, and they were definitely cooking. Are you guys able to get a few shots of the dump site with your cell phones?”
“Yeah, I think so,” he whispered. “It’s just past the pile of rocks, I’d say not more than thirty feet from us.”
“Be careful. There isn’t any cover between the barn and the house. Get a few images if you can for proof, then head up the hill. It’s time to go.”
“Okay, that works for us. See you in a few minutes.”
Jack and I stood and began backing up, still hugging the side of the barn. A noise came from the house. Jack raised his hand for me to hang tight. He inched forward to take a peek around the corner. I heard the screen door open and slam closed.
“Shit, somebody must have seen us. They let the dogs out, and they’re coming this way.”
I heard the barking getting closer to where we stood. “What should we do? There’s no place to hide.”
“Run for the milk house, Jade. It’s the only place to take cover.”
“We can’t. The safest place is here against the barn. If the people inside the house are armed, we’d be sitting ducks out in the open like that. They won’t take the chance of shooting up their meth lab. If the dogs attack, we’ll have to give them a hard kick. That might scare them off. If not, they’re going to get one between the eyes. Come on. Let’s make a run for it. Try to stay behind the barn.”
We ran as fast as we could. We stayed low and zigzagged when the gunfire started. The rise and tree line were still fifty yards away. I looked up and saw Donnelly and Silver cresting the hill. I knew they were safe. Gunshots sounded behind and around us. They were dangerously close. Donnelly and Silver returned fire, trying to give us a chance to reach cover.
The sudden pressure threw me forward and knocked me to
the ground. I grunted as my face slammed into the dirt.
“Jade! Son of a bitch, you’re hit.”
I couldn’t speak for a minute. The wind was knocked out of me. Jack crouched low and ran to my side.
“Thank God, they only hit your vest! Holy shit, brace yourself.”
My lungs finally filled with air, and I screamed out when one of the dogs reached me and grabbed my ankle. It sank its teeth into my leg and shook it violently. Jack leaped up and gave the dog a strong kick to the head. It yelped and backed off, giving Jack just enough time to pull me away. He shot at the ground next to it, and both dogs ran back toward the house.
“Jade, can you stand? We have to run. We’ve got to get to that ridge.”
I was still writhing in pain but nodded.
Bullets sprayed around us and hit the ground not more than a few feet away. Dirt clods exploded like land mines. The shots were likely from multiple shooters, but the return fire from Donnelly and Silver was even more intense. We needed to get over the rise and behind the tree cover to safety.
I saw Silver crouch and run toward us. We were only twenty yards from the ridge. Donnelly continued the rapid-fire shots at the house. Aaron grabbed my right arm, Jack had my left, and they pulled me over the hill.
Jack ran for our cruiser parked back on the path and pulled it closer to where we were stationed. He jumped out and helped me as I hopped to the car, blood dripping off my foot. Jack found the first aid kit, then he pulled my shoe and sock off to assess the damage. He shook his head and wrapped my bleeding ankle tightly with gauze and an ACE bandage.
“Jade, I want you to lie down in the backseat and stay put. Call for backup. I have to help Donnelly and Silver.” The radio crackled as he handed it to me. “Tell Clark we need assistance ASAP. Let him know you’re injured and we’re taking on gunfire.”
“Jack, wait. Take my gun. You’ll need it.”
He grabbed it and nodded a thanks. I watched as Jack ducked down and ran back to the ridge. I made the call to dispatch. “Jan, we’re taking on live rounds, and we don’t have much ammo left. I was hit in the back of the vest, my ribs may be injured, and a dog got my ankle pretty good. Tell the boss we need backup, now. I think teargas is the only way to get those people out of the house and barn. I have no idea how many individuals we’re dealing with. Clark knows the location on Granville. We’re in the field on a ridge behind the barn.”