Doing Time In Texas, Book 3

by James E Ferrell

  “Go round him up. We need to talk. Keep what I told you quiet,” Lightfoot requested.

  Deciding he had spent enough time at the fire, Bart eased his car up alongside Lightfoot. “Ranger Lightfoot, what brings you out this way?” Bart asked.

  “I’m out here collecting a junior ranger that has a gal out this way. Like everyone else, I just followed the pillar of smoke in the sky. That is one spectacular fire,” Lightfoot said.

  Bart accepted the explanation and acknowledged Annie with a hand to the brim of his hat. “Have you seen the folks that live here?” Bart asked.

  “I haven’t seen Bonnie since early this morning. They spend the weekends in Bryan sometimes, taking in a movie and shopping,” Annie said.

  “I don’t see there is much I can do out here. When they show up, have them give me a call,” With that said, Bart headed back to town.

  “Listen you three. I pulled the Bakers out of that barn after the mob had set it on fire. They are in the cabin back there in the woods. Willy has been shot. Bonnie is okay. Annie, you get Bonnie’s family settled. Tell them the Bakers are in Bryan for the weekend and I will send Cage back to get you after this crowd disperses,” Lightfoot said.

  The four watched Bart driving down the dirt road headed for town. “Bonnie can’t identify him as one of the men in the barn, but I would bet my next paycheck he was there,” Lightfoot said.

  “He was there. He smelled of smoke when he drove up,” Cage said.

  “I haven’t time to explain now. We still have to sort this mess out. No one knows the whereabouts of the Bakers and no one must know,” Lightfoot said.

  Annie gasps, “They were going to burn them alive?”

  “Yes, that is about the truth of the matter. Annie, inform Bonnie’s family and get them settled, so they won’t expect them home tonight,” said Lightfoot.

  Doc washed his hands in the basin and drying his hands on a clean towel moved to stand by the rangers. Doc stated sadly, “Well, I had no choice. I opened him up right here in the cabin. If I had waited any longer, he would be dead by now. He’s hanging on. I have done all that is medically possible. The rest is in the Lord’s hands. If he makes the next three days, he has a chance.”

  “Doc, you think he will make it?” Lightfoot asked.

  “Lightfoot, I will be surprised if he makes it three more hours much less three days. His chances are slim to none. He was shot early this morning plus when he fell, he hit his head hard,” Dr. Mueller said. “It was a long-range shot…had it been at close range he would be dead. Here is the bullet. If you find the casing you will have it all.”

  Bonnie walked out of the cabin to join the men and asked, “Do you rangers need to talk to me?”

  “Bonnie, can you tell us where he was laying when you found him?” Mike asked.

  “There was a bloody spot by the barn door, and it looked as if he had been dragged into the interior of the barn before I was brought in,” she said.

  “There is a hill across the road from where the barn stood. Let’s check it out, Mike. We will need some flashlights; it is getting dark,” Cage said. Fire light from the burning barn lit up the hillside giving them light to make the long upward climb. The hill gave a downward trajectory for a long shot and a group of trees gave the only good place to observe what was going on at the ranch with binoculars.

  “If I was going to sit up here and watch this place, I would settle in those trees over there,” Mike said. Cage and Mike climbed their way across the hill side looking around the scene.

  “That would be one long-range shot. I don’t think it would be possible,” Cage said.

  Standing in the dim light of the cabin, Doc Mueller said, “Lightfoot, I need to get back to town. You better tell me what is going on! This man is probably going to die from a very serious wound and that makes another killed in this area in just a few months. I suspect the heat is on your captain and this will fuel the fire.”

  Taking Doc’s pipe and tobacco from his front pocket, Lightfoot packed the bowl and stuck it in doc’s mouth. Lighting a match, he held the flame above the tobacco as Doc puffed on the pipe. Their eyes met through the smoke and Lightfoot said, “Sawbones, you are about to become privy to some highly classified information as we military types say. Come on. I will walk you back to your car and fill you in. I would drive you back, but I need to be here.”

  “Chief, you took away fifteen years of my life coming out here. I will drive myself back and you owe me a hubcap!” Doc said with a grin.

  Guiding the doctor through the night with a flashlight, Lightfoot explained what happened in the barn and let the doc know what he needed to be quiet about. When they reached the car the chief asked, “Doc, does Baker have a chance at all?”

  Doc responded grimly, “I would say no. Baker has one of the worst concussions I have seen in my practice and if that is not bad enough the bullet in his chest did a lot of damage. I repaired what I could without proper light or instruments. If I had gotten to him sooner, he might have made it. After laying in the barn with the slug in him for hours, the only chance he has now is divine intervention…. He will not last through the night.”

  “Thanks, Doc. Be careful going back. Your car should run better since I blew the soot out of it,” the chief stated as he patted the doc’s car.

  “You owe me a new engine you crazy Comanche!” Doc said.

  Lightfoot chuckled. There was nothing he enjoyed better than teasing this fine old man whom he admired greatly.

  Willy Baker’s breathing was ragged. Occasionally his breathing seemed to get so shallow Bonnie thought he was gone. She would wipe his face with a cold damp towel and encourage him to hang on. Annie stood behind her with tears in her eyes. The chief made his way back to the cabin and Annie stepped out of the room wiping her eyes. “Ranger Lightfoot, I have her parents settled in. The boy has taken up with the dogs and there isn’t a happier boy in Texas,” Annie said.

  “Doc said it wouldn’t help to move him to a hospital. He wouldn’t survive the trip. If anyone finds out they are alive, they might not survive anyway,” Lightfoot said.

  “This cabin was the perfect place to bring them. Bonnie will need all the support you can give her. We have to explain to her parents sooner or later, but what will we tell them? I can’t imagine someone wanting to kill them in such a manner. How wicked can a person be?” Annie asked.

  “Well, what we have found out about him is encouraging. If he dies, we will be left with a lot of unanswered questions,” Lightfoot said.

  Sitting in the dim light, Bonnie held Willy’s hand. Dark shadows circled his eyes and his skin was pale. Outside, Cage and Mike returned carrying a bullet casing on the end of a pencil.

  “It would be nice to lift a finger print from this,” Mike said.

  “Chief, the shooter that fired that shot is the best I have ever seen. I would never have thought a shot could have been possible from that distance. I doubt Baker ever heard the shot that struck him!” Cage stated.

  Looking at the brass casing, Lightfoot said, “One of you must take that shell and casing to Austin. Get it in the crime lab and check it for prints and against any other shootings in Texas for a match.”

  Cage and Mike looked at each other. Pulling out a coin Cage said while flipping it in the air, “Heads I win, tails you lose, Mike.”

  Lightfoot caught the coin in midair. “Okay, one of you call it, heads or tails.” Not getting a response from either one, Lightfoot said, “Mike, if it's heads you go and if it's tails Cage will go.” Laying the coin on his wrist he exposed the coin to show a head. “Mike, if you hurry you can be there by first light.”

  ααααααα

  Daylight the next morning the big truck pulled into the truck stop on route fifty-five in Jackson, Mississippi. Somewhere behind was a car containing McDonald’s men. Getting out of the car they stretched and began to complain about the remaining miles to go.

  “Quit complaining. His is where we turn north for Chicago.
Paddy, go in the restaurant and get us food. I will stay with the truck. McDonald can’t be too far behind. Val, you get up in the truck and we will stay back here. If Mac don’t show up soon, we will leave.” An hour passed before McDonald's Buick pulled in to the truck stop followed by two other cars.

  “Gentlemen, it is time to get back to Chicago,” McDonald said.“We still headed for our warehouse on the east side?” Smitty asked.

  “Let’s change things up a little, Boys, just in case the late Willy Baker’s ghost has something planned for us. I don’t want a surprise like that stinking LaSalle found in his warehouse,” McDonald said.

  C6 - A Time of Despair

  Pre-dawn light brought a low fog over the country side. Smoke drifted across the fields on a light morning breeze from where the barn had stood. Occasional gusts of wind would send sparks skyward and regenerate the smoldering pile causing small whirlwinds to lift the white ashes like ghosts dancing across the hot embers.

  The ranch hands, Silas and Ellis, had come early to eliminate as much of the charred wood as possible. Walking around the fire they rekindled it with the remains of walls and burnable debris that lay about. Their efforts would eliminate anything burnable; leaving only nails, tin and metal farm implements that would have to be disposed of. The barn was one long and wide smoldering pile of hay and tin. A large pile on the east side of the barn slowly began to take an odd shape. As the wood burned, the skeletal remains of the Baker’s car began to emerge. Silas stood petrified at what he saw. Slowly he looked over at Ellis who had caught the sight at the same time. Raising his hand, Silas signaled for Ellis to meet him around on the east side where they could get a better look. Glancing around to make sure they were alone, Ellis wiped his sweaty face with the tail of his shirt.

  “Silas, is that what I think it is?” Ellis asked.

  “Ellis, we may now know where the Bakers have gotten off to,” Silas said. “Put our tool box over there by that old oak and let’s take a ride.”

  “Where are we going?” asked Ellis.

  “I don’t know what to do except maybe go to town and find Cage, or at the least go see Doc Mueller,” Silas stated.

  A hundred yards away Ben Wilkerson stood on the back porch surveying the country side and liked what he saw. The fields were green from the recent rains and the cows were fat. Down where the barn had stood a couple of men were getting in an old pickup and headed down the dirt road. The fire was burning high again, rekindled with wood they had thrown into the ashes. The barn was a terrible loss and the auto in the rubble looked to be a recent model. Shrugging it off, he went back in the house where Ginny was frying up bacon and eggs. “We couldn’t see it yesterday but there is a car in the ashes of the barn,” Ben said as he entered the kitchen. “I’m really getting worried about Bonnie and her husband!”

  Turning from the stove Ginny said, “Her letters all seem as if they are doing well. Don’t worry! They will be showing up sometime this weekend.” Ginny could see the remains of the barn from the kitchen window and her voice had a hint of uneasiness. She too had spotted the car in the embers.

  Stepping back on the porch, Ben surveyed the ranch. This place is a dream come true. Most people these days were leaving the farms for the good paying jobs in the city. He had done the same thing, which had been a big mistake for him. Looking for an easier life, he had left the bac- breaking work the farm required for the high paying jobs in the city. After the hardships of the last two years, the ranch work would be a dose of medicine.

  “Come eat, Dear. Breakfast is ready,” Ginny said.

  Ben’s eyes kept drifting out the kitchen window to the burning pile with the car in the middle. He kept shaking it off, but he had a bad feeling about that car. After breakfast he stepped from the porch and scooped up a handful of earth; it was good soil. “Ginny, I think I will have a look around,” he said.

  “Ok. After I get the house work done, I want to take a walk with you,” Susie and her pup lay on the back porch and Ben patted her head as he stepped into the yard. Looking across the pastures he noticed a lone figure headed across the field. The dogs noticed the figure and trotted off in that direction. They evidently knew the man, because they were in no big hurry. Ben thought, ‘Where would he be headed this early in the morning crossing my daughter’s pasture?’ Looking in the direction the man was headed, Ben made out the faint trail of smoke lifting from the trees. There must be a cabin in the woods he reasoned. The dogs made their way down a well-worn trail in that direction. Curiosity got the best of Ben and he headed out after the dogs.

  ααααααα

  A Time of Despair...The sound of cows and the chirping of birds filled the morning air for the weary people gathered at the cabin. The quiet mornings on the ranch had always brought Bonnie peace, but not this morning. This morning brought more grief and a sense of despair. Willy’s condition had not improved. He still lingered near death, the prognosis was not good. The violence of the previous day had shattered her hopes and dreams. She had not recognized the depth of wickedness in people before now. Annie stepped out of the cabin with a tray of steaming coffee cups and walked up to the men standing around, in time to hear the Comanche Ranger say, “So what is our plan of action, Captain”?

  Daniel took a cup of coffee and thought for a minute then said, “Chief, we have two eyewitnesses to attempted murder. We must not let word get out they are alive. Baker cannot be moved and until his situation improves all we can do is play the quiet game. If the sheriff was in the barn, Baker is the only one who can place him there. In the mean time we will try and sort out the events of yesterday and see what evidence we have. Bonnie is our star witness, but she has no idea as to what was going on with her husband. If she did, we couldn’t make her testify against him. Her testimony can put the mobster on the hot seat for attempted murder at least. I intend to relay the information to Burkett and the feds can take care of McDonald and his men!”

  “Maybe a print on the shell casing will tell us who shot Baker,” Cage said.

  “Let’s keep them sequestered out here and keep digging; something will turn up,” Lightfoot said.

  Walking along the trail in the woods, Ben Wilkerson heard the voices long before he saw anyone. Suddenly the trail opened into a clearing in front of the cabin. The sound of a woman’s voice stopped him. He knew that voice even after all these years. A dark-haired woman stood in front of a cabin talking with several men. Stepping into the clearing he saw her standing there. All these years the image he carried in his mind of her had been different. Before him was a mature woman in a plain cotton dress. She was wholesome and beautiful, with none of the trappings of the world he had imagined would be present. The conversation stopped and all eyes turned to him. Every man in the clearing had a badge and a gun. Ben stood in utter astonishment as he fully realized it was his Bonnie. His lips silently mouthed her name. Years had changed her; she was grown. The scene became awkward as she turned and recognized her father standing frozen in place. “Daddy!” Was all she could say.

  Feeling awkward, the rangers looked for a place to move away from the scene before them. Ben Wilkerson removed his hat as tears flooded his eyes. Years of anguish fell from his shoulders. Bonnie rushed into his arms and all the bitterness, anger and hurt turned back to love as they hugged each other. Nothing can be said when in a moment of time all is forgiven and becomes new. There are no words to express the happiness freedom brings from the silent years.

  “A fine Comanche you are, Chief…an elephant could have walked in here and you would have never heard him. You are a disgrace to your heritage,” Cage whispered.

  “Well, I admit I was somewhat tired from all the people-saving and hero work I did yesterday,” Lightfoot said.

  “It looks like we have some explaining to do,” Cage said

  “Exactly what do we explain? We don’t know what is going on!” Daniel said. The three rangers had walked away from the clearing and stood in the shade of a towering bull pine.

&n
bsp; Lightfoot stated, “Facts…we have an attempted double murder we can pin on a mobster from Chicago. A couple of people dead at a cemetery with no clues. We have a suspect in a possible hijacking missing and possibly dead. Stolen trucks filled with stolen goods from around the world. The only one that can put this puzzle together is laying in the cabin with a bullet hole in his chest. It’s highly likely he will take the answers to his grave.” Shaking his head, the chief went to get a refill in his coffee cup.

  ααααααα

  Two Little Too Late...Jesse Rash handed the paper to Amy, his face a mask of worry. “The papers say a young man by the name of Thomas Taylor is missing. He’s only nineteen years old. The police think there has been foul play involved. Amy if that boy is dead…I’ll never forgive myself!” Jesse said. “When Ed started building shine cars Judd didn’t tell me the driver was so young. Then when loads were being delivered, I turned a blind eye to the young Shine Ghost who could get the job done. He was making Judd and I a fortune. Then one day I came to realize the ghost was a boy that had never held a razor to his face.”

  “Jesse. everything we do has consequences. John and I tried to tell you that,” Amy said.

  “Well, Girl, what I made out of Harlan Williams is not at all what your father had in mind. Instead of being your protector, I used the new identity to walk on the dark side. Thinking…or I should say…reasoning, the new identity had nothing to do with Jesse Rash. The names were different but the soul is one in the same. I turned greedy and was fooling myself. If that kid is dead the consequences falls back on me. Living a fantasy under another identity,” Jesse said shaking his head.

  Amy looked at the grief stricken face of her husband and muttered, “The Shine Ghost was Judd’s creation.”

  “Yes, he was but we were too late! Willy and I were trying to formulate a plan to get Thomas Taylor clear of the whole mess. Back when I realized the kid was taking dangerous steps, I had Judd hire a second driver. His name was Bart Wells but he couldn’t drive like the kid and Judd finally quit using him. Wells is now the town sheriff. Speculations in the paper say Willy Baker and his wife…whom I didn’t even know he had…may have been burned alive in a barn fire by the Chicago mob!” Jesse said.