Black Rock Guardian

by Jenna Kernan

  “You lost me,” said the agent.

  “If you get him—Usov, I mean—can Colt and Kacey come home?”

  Tinnin inhaled and glanced toward the sky, as he processed the question and implications. Finally he met Ty’s gaze. “If that’s what they want. But Colt is doing well where he is. He and Kacey are both working and Colt sees a counselor about the trauma he endured and his PTSD. He’s talking now.”

  “He can do all that here,” said Ty.

  “Yes. But it is up to them. You’d understand if after being abducted by a member of her tribe and held captive for months, Kacey was not anxious to come home.”

  “I’d disagree,” said Kee. “I saw her leaving her brothers and sisters. She wants to come home.”

  “All right. First things first. Okay?” said Forrest.

  Yes, thought Ty. First he’d find his baby sister while Jake helped the Feds close down the Russian surrogate ring. Then they’d get their little brother to come home.

  He shook his head at the chances of all that going right. Worry pressed down on him. His head began a dull ache at his temples.

  Jake appeared on the front porch carrying a battered kitchen chair. May appeared behind him, a comb and her sewing scissors in her hand. This pair of shears was used solely for fabric and hair and woe to any of her children caught using them for any other purpose.

  Jake sat and May pulled the elastic from his hair. Jake’s expression was stoic and May’s pained. She combed out the strands until they sat across Jake’s back in perfect order. Then came the snip of the scissors.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Beth sucked the last antacid in the pack, the minty flavor ruined by the taste of chalk, as Ty drove them in Jake’s Silver F-150 pickup back from Turquoise Ridge. They’d been up all night checking each member of the posse. Ty now wore Jake’s clothing and his hair was tugged back in an elastic band, smoothed with hair gel to keep the short strands in place. The red cloth tie hid most of the evidence that his hair was nowhere near as long as Jake’s had been.

  It hadn’t taken him long to figure out what she had done.

  “You came here to make a big case,” he said.

  Her stomach tightened as she anticipated where this conversation might lead.

  “Yet you chose to look for my sister, a simple kidnapping, instead of overseeing Jake’s contact with the Russian mob.”

  “This operation might lead to the apprehension of Faras Pike.” Her throat was also coated with chalk and she had to clear it to continue. “And furnish necessary information to tie this gang to the Russian crime organization.”

  “Yeah, yeah. It will get you assigned back to your desk in Oklahoma.”

  His skin glowed blue in the turquoise light from the truck’s dashboard. “Why did you do that, Beth?”

  She couldn’t look at him. “I don’t know.”

  “Bad move,” he said.

  “You don’t want me here?”

  “Forrest has more experience.” That didn’t exactly answer her question. But, then again, she had not really answered his. She couldn’t. The answer was too complicated and too close to that part of her she protected.

  “Well, I’m the best you got,” she said.

  “Fine, then let’s get to work.”

  Beth had never seen Ty so focused. It had taken the evening and much of the night, but together they had tracked down and set up surveillance on eleven members of the Wolf Posse and their vehicles. From their efforts they had determined only three were in a position to be holding a captive.

  When they pulled to a stop behind the only gas station in Koun’nde, it was officially Thursday morning, but so early even the roosters were still in bed. They parked here because there were other cars parked around and because it gave an excellent view of Oliver Boehm’s residence. The posse member lived here alone. He was inside with Vernon Dent, and all the window coverings were closed. That could mean they were sleeping or just smoking weed. But it could also mean they had Abbie.

  Beth consulted her list of the remaining gang members, furnished by Ty.

  “Chino’s too obvious,” said Ty.

  “So that leaves—” Beth consulted her pad of notes “—Oliver Boehm, Eric Goseyun and Geoffrey Corrales.”

  “Eric has been moving up in Faras’s favor. He’d expect me to have Eric on my list. Oliver is reliable, but not the brightest of his men. Geoffrey, I don’t know. He’s young. Maybe twenty-one or so. But he’s already impressed Faras with his ruthlessness. He’s the one Faras sends to hurt people when Chino isn’t available. His understudy.” Ty swallowed. Of all the three remaining possibilities, Geoffrey Corrales was the man he most hoped Abbie was not with.

  “We have to eliminate each one,” said Beth. “That means getting into their places.”

  Her phone rang and she lifted it from her pocket.

  “It’s Forrest,” she told him, and took the call. “Hoosay.” She listened. “Good. Yes. All right. Let us know.” She disconnected and turned her attention from Boehm’s residence to him. “Your tribal council gave us permission to track the phones and conversations of all the names you provided.”

  “That’s a lot of phones,” he said.

  “We might get something.”

  Ty shook his head. “I don’t think so. Faras was too damn smart.”

  “Why do you think he is using you instead of Chino?” asked Beth.

  “He needs Chino for protection.”

  “But he suspected Chino was out to take his place. Now he trusts him? And why you? Any one of his men would make a delivery, if asked.”

  “You’ve got a theory?”

  She nodded. “I think he’s going to let you make the delivery and then tip the police, throw you under the bus and make the whole mess go away.”

  “Handing me over to the police is stupid because I could turn on him.”

  “Not if you’re dead.”

  Ty was silent as if letting that sink in. “Yeah, maybe.”

  “I have to admit, I was certain you were tied up in this.”

  “I am tied up in this.”

  “Yes, but not the way I expected. I believe I’ve convinced Forrest of your efforts to remain neutral, but there’s a reason my boss isn’t letting you make the delivery.”

  “He doesn’t trust me.”

  “And he wants Usov. Your sister is secondary. He wouldn’t have taken this operation if I had chosen the other. He’s the boss and he goes where the action is.”

  “You get the leavings,” said Ty.

  “Exactly.”

  “But you didn’t wait to have him assign you. You volunteered.”

  “Looks better. Don’t you think?”

  His expression showed he was unconvinced with her line of logic. Well, that was the best she could do.

  Ty focused on Oliver Boehm’s current residence, such as it was. The tilting double-wide had once belonged to Oliver’s mother, who had died long ago, and it seemed very much as if neither she nor Oliver nor the tribe’s HUD offices had done anything in the way of upkeep. The yellow grass grew high enough to cover the dirty, faded paint but not the torn screens or broken windows patched with cardboard.

  “So, do you want me to try the front door to get a look inside one of those windows?”

  Beth lifted her binoculars and stared toward Oliver’s trailer. “I believe I can get inside through that back window.”

  “You mean the one covered with cardboard?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “I’ll be outside the door. You holler if you find her or if you need me.”

  She handed him a radio. Then she clicked the side button. His radio relayed the sound. “You hear that and I need you to break in.”

  “Got it.” He clipped the radio on his belt.

 
Next she offered him a pistol. He shook his head.

  He still carried no gun.

  “I need you armed,” she said.

  He gave her a sad look. “I turned in my rifle when I got stateside, Beth, and I don’t ever plan to aim a firearm at a human being again. Each one you kill takes part of your soul.”

  She motioned her head toward the trailer. “These men don’t have souls.”

  “Everyone does.”

  They made their way to the trailer. Ty boosted Beth through the window and then moved to the door, standing off to the side.

  The light was coming up and time was flying by. She returned her backup weapon to her coat pocket and left him.

  Ty waited for what seemed like a week outside that door. The fact that he heard nothing was all that kept him waiting. His gaze was on the window, but he was alert to the sound of the front door click. The door cracked open and Beth stared back at him. She lifted a finger to her full lips and then stepped out.

  “Oliver is there, passed out in the room I entered. The trailer is filthy, but empty.”

  “Cross him off the list.”

  Beth glanced up at the sky. “Jake should be making the drop soon.”

  They exchanged worried glances. Ty knew the danger of Jake’s mission. He prayed that his brother came home safe and that Forrest succeeded in striking a blow at the Russian crime organization.

  “Who next?” she asked. The clock was ticking. If any one of the Russians alerted Faras to trouble, Abbie’s situation would only become more perilous.

  “Eric Goseyun or Geoffrey Corrales?” she asked.

  “I’d choose Corrales. He’s more trustworthy and he’s been with Faras longer.”

  But as it turned out they watched Geoffrey leave his home and they followed him to the Wolf Posse headquarters. He could not be watching Abbie.

  “Goseyun,” said Ty, turning Jake’s truck back toward Piňon Forks. In a few minutes they reached his place, on a circular dirt road with five other single-family homes, all built in the 1970s, of cinder block and painted beige. The yards were littered with broken plastic toys, grills and faded lawn chairs.

  Ty slowed before making the circle. “No way to creep up on Goseyun.”

  “Also no way for his neighbors not to see him come or go.”

  “Front door?” asked Ty.

  “Fastest way in.” She drew out her badge.

  “Don’t use that. If we’re wrong, word will get out.”

  She tucked the badge beneath her shirt as Ty parked in Goseyun’s driveway behind a van. Had he taken Abbie in that vehicle? Ty’s mouth went grim and his breathing increased.

  Beth looked through the back window and then to him, shaking her head. Abbie was not inside the van.

  She remained where she was, with a clear view of the main entrance, as Ty mounted the stairs and knocked.

  Eric Goseyun appeared at the front door in a pair of sweatpants slung low on his narrow hips and a white tank top. He smiled at seeing Ty and looked completely at ease. His eyes were dull and bloodshot. There was a definite odor of weed clinging to him. His long hair hung limp and the yellowish color of his skin seemed to be the harbinger of illness.

  “Yo, bro. What’s happening?”

  “Delivering a message from Faras.” Ty did not wait to be asked in but stepped past Eric into his house. Before entering he waved Beth away. It was her turn to wait outside and wonder.

  “Why don’t he just call me, bro?” Goseyun offered his joint, thus far held behind his back.

  Ty waved away the offer. “You know that Fed, Forrest? The one supposed to be looking in to the dam collapse?”

  “Yeah, I heard about him,” said Goseyun.

  “He’s looking at Faras for the missing girls.”

  “Wow. That’s bad.”

  “So don’t call him. You got something to say, say it in person.”

  “Yeah, sure thing.”

  Ty thumbed toward the bedrooms. “Mind if I use the can?”

  “No, go on. Sorry about the smell. Got a broken pipe or something.”

  Ty headed off and turned to see Goseyun reach his sagging couch and drop into the cushions, completely at ease. Then Ty searched the place.

  As he had suspected, Goseyun’s place was filthy, but Abbie was not here. Ty went back outside and, with Beth, returned to his vehicle, slipping into the driver’s seat.

  “That’s all of them,” he said, in confusion. The Wolf Posse had more members than tribal police and he had checked each one. Time was ticking away. As soon as the Russians failed to contact Faras about a successful drop, Faras would know Ty had failed. Then he would hurt Abbie. His heart now ached in his chest and his throat was tight.

  Ty grabbed his hair at each side of his temple, feeling the sticky gel as he clenched his fists.

  “What about the women?” Beth asked.

  He straightened as the fog of panic lifted from his brain. He turned to face her. Her expression was open, thoughtful. No panic, all business.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Women,” she repeated. “Female members of the gang.”

  Ty gripped the wheel and gave it a shake, bringing himself forward and then back against the seat.

  “Yes! I know where she is,” she said.

  Ty met her gaze with one of wonder. She was so smart. He’d been lost, sinking as he faced failure, and she’d just turned them in a new direction. The right direction. He knew it and now his heart pounded in anticipation.

  Ty set them in motion toward the alpha female of the Wolf Posse, certain that his sister was in the care of Jewell Tasa.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jewell had a private place between Koun’nde and Turquoise Ridge. She liked horses and Faras made sure she had several. But he couldn’t buy her what she most coveted. Jewell wanted the title of Miss Indian Rodeo Queen. She could qualify, being from a federally recognized tribe and being over the age of eighteen. She’d have no trouble raising the money to compete because Faras would hand it to her. But that did not mean she would win. She’d have to enroll in college and she’d have to impress the judges with her horsemanship, among other things.

  Ty pulled the silver pickup off the road and pointed to the ranch house with a small horse barn and new fencing corralling four fine horses. A large satellite dish on the western side of the house ensured that Jewell had internet, phone and cable.

  “That livestock belong to Jewell?” asked Beth.

  “Her pride and joy,” he answered.

  “Looks like great collateral.”

  He liked the way she thought. “You’d have to catch them first. The chestnut is her favorite. She calls him Big Red.”

  “I’ve been around horses most of my life. I can get that horse haltered and ready.”

  They discussed strategy as precious seconds leaked away. The dashboard clock told him that Jake and Forrest should be making contact with the Russians. It was going down right now.

  “We better be right,” said Ty.

  Beth gazed at the house with her binoculars. “She’s got a look-out.”

  “Where?”

  She offered the glasses and pointed. He spotted Randy, her kid brother, throwing a ball against the side of the barn. Ty glanced at the clock on the dash. It was almost nine in the morning. He should be in school. Beth was right. He already knew that Randy was a solid worker and just the right age to be inconspicuous.

  “I’ll get him clear before I go in,” said Ty. He had no interest in hurting children, but he knew how effective they were as members of the gang.

  Ty stared at the house. He no longer just wanted to rescue Abbie. He wanted the Wolf Posse eliminated. He wanted to take out those who sold their children and kidnapped his sister. Ty was done walking the line because that was not what lines were for. They were fo
r crossing.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  Beth checked her pistol and then nodded. Then she crouched down out of sight as Ty drove them the short distance to the house, parking out of view on the side of the barn. Before they were completely stopped, Beth was out of the truck and running along the side of the building. She disappeared before Randy’s reflection appeared in his side mirror.

  “Jake?” Randy called. “That you?”

  Ty’s phone rang. It was Jake. He took the call as Randy approached from the back of the truck.

  “Yeah,” Ty said.

  It was Jake’s voice. Just hearing him caused Ty to squeeze his eyes shut and blow out a breath of sweet relief.

  “We’re done. Got four members of the crime organization, all alive, and they didn’t have time to destroy their computers or cell phones. We got it all, Ty.”

  Ty couldn’t speak past the lump.

  “Do you have her? Did you find Abbie?”

  “Jake?” Randy spoke from beside Ty’s open window.

  “Not yet. I’ll call soon.” He ended the call and turned to Randy, whose eyes were now widening.

  “Ty!” he said, and backed away from the door.

  Ty slipped out to stand before him in the tall grass. Randy looked back toward the house. He’d misjudged the situation and the distance, finding himself out of sight of the house and facing Ty instead of a tribal police officer.

  “Your sister home?” he asked.

  From somewhere in the pasture, he heard the sound of a tin can being shaken with what sounded like oats. Ty was certain that Beth would soon have her pick of the horses.

  Randy redirected his attention to Ty.

  “She’s got her period. Ma sent me over to take care of her.”

  “That right?” Ty closed the distance.

  “She don’t want to see no one,” said Randy, backing up as he spoke.

  “Not smart to come up to the truck, Randy. It’s a Trojan horse.”

  “A what?”

  “See, if you were in school, you’d learn about stuff like this. Didn’t I tell you to stay in school?”

  “Yeah.” He glanced toward the house, no longer in sight. “Listen, I gotta go. My sister...”