Aunt Betty’s had become the perfect place to push away death and disaster, even if it was only for an hour. She bit into her burger. The flavor ran over her tastebuds. She sighed in delight and noticed the smiles of everyone around the table. Great food and good company and the horrors of the morning melted away for a few precious moments.
EIGHTEEN
Ellie McBride waved goodbye to Father Derry and made her way along the snowy paths to the school entrance. It seemed strange arriving at school when the day was almost over, but being one of few who could make it to the school due to the blizzard, she assisted the other teachers’ students. They’d all sent work and she would email it to the children. It was unnecessary to risk the children’s lives on the slippery frozen roads, so the winter vacation had started early. Those that lived in outlying areas could be isolated for months at a time when the snowfall became so deep and treacherous. During this time if they were stuck at home, Ellie and the other teachers would prepare lessons and send them by email. They would follow this up with conference calls so all the outlying children actually had a day at school. As she headed toward her classroom, she noticed five snow angels scattered in the playground. The one in the middle had four others surrounding it. The pattern appeared oddly symmetrical. Most times if children made snow angels they would flop down anywhere.
The position of the snow angels intrigued her and as she stepped onto the walkway to the classrooms, she noticedsomething fluttering in the wind in the middle of the largest snow angel. Curiosity got the better of her and she went back down the steps and carefully walked across the snow. The fluttering piece of paper resembled a photograph. She bent to pick it up and gasped, stepping back in horror. A photograph of her sleeping dropped from her fingers. Was this some kind of a sick joke? She bent and snatched it up and headed back to the classroom, closing the door softly behind her and leaning against it. Her breathing sounded loud, and without the students, the eerily quiet classroom closed in on her. Heart pounding, she scanned the room, searching every corner, and then her gaze settled on the whiteboard. Red writing scrawled across the middle.I’ve had my fun. Your purse is in the boiler room.
Anger shimmered through her. How dare this person do this to her? Her life had been turned upside down since the kidnapping. The sheriff hadn’t found who had taken her and told her that they had absolutely no leads whatsoever apart from the fact the vehicle was the same make and model as her own. She wanted to go home and had played enough of this person’s games. Marching up to the whiteboard, she picked up the eraser and wiped out the message. Doing so made her feel powerful and in control. She went to her classroom door and walked straight to the office and got the attention of the administrator. “I need to go down to the boiler room. Apparently, someone is having a joke with me and has taken my purse there. Can you call one of the maintenance people on duty and ask them to escort me?”
“Yes, of course.” The woman gave her a curious look and pressed a button on her phone. “I wonder who is acting the fool.”
Ellie shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s probably one of the kids.”
She waited as the woman spoke to one of the maintenance people. She recalled the boiler room at the opposite side of thebuilding, on the end of the grounds and very rarely visited by staff. A slightly familiar young man of about eighteen or twenty with a shock of red hair and a wide grin met her at the office store. She smiled at him. “Thank you for escorting me.”
“It’s not locked but it’s so out of the way nobody goes there unless one of the boilers needs maintaining. I hear someone is playing a joke on you.” He grinned. “It’s not me. You lived near my family home before you worked here. I remember seeing you walking your dog. I’m Jesse Holland.”
Memories slid into place of a family of red-haired kids with freckles and she smiled. “Yes, I do recall your family.”
She followed him through the school and down a set of stairs to the basement. The door swung open. The dimly lit interior and the noise of the machinery made her pause. Heat spewed from the room carrying a thick miasma of oil. The smell sucked all the pristine winter air from her lungs. The young man’s phone startled her with its loud ringtone and she turned to look at him as he accepted the call.
“Sorry, it’s the boss.” The young man listened for a few seconds and then disconnected. “I gotta go. There’s another burst pipe. Will you be okay finding your way back? The light switch is on the right by the door.”
As they hadn’t passed a soul since they started off from the office, Ellie nodded. “I’ll be fine, thank you.”
As the young man hurried away, Ellie ran her hand down the inside of the wall, found the light switch, and flicked it on. Strip lighting flickered and filled the room with a yellowish glow. She scanned the room, but if someone was hiding here, she wouldn’t have seen them for the huge furnaces, each making strange noises. Her gaze rested on a chair some way inside the room. She had no doubt the small lump she could see on it was her purse. She hoped her house keys, phone, and driver’s license were inside. The credit cards didn’t matter because she’d canceled them on the first day. Lifting herchin, she walked straight to the chair. The contents of her purse were scattered as if someone had emptied it and then pawed through it. As she got closer, lines of red writing on one of the boilers caught her attention. She stopped and gaped at the message:
You never escaped me. I released you.
Suddenly afraid, she jumped at a click behind her and turned as the door slowly closed. The heat inside the boiler room became oppressive and the pipes thumped to match her racing heartbeat. Panic gripped her and she grabbed up her things and headed for the door. The terrible feeling that someone was watching her became overwhelming and then above the noise of the furnace came the creak of leather boots on concrete. She ran for the door but as her fingers closed around the doorknob, something dropped over her head and tightened around her neck. Heavy breathing came close to her ear. Ellie tried to fight and, dropping her purse, clawed at the man’s hands, breaking her short fingernails on his thick leather gloves. She couldn’t breathe. The cord tightened, cutting into her flesh, and then relaxed for a second. She gasped in one precious breath of tainted air and from behind her the smell of cologne washed over her.It’s the kidnapper.
She rocked back trying to push him away, trying to get free, but he slammed her into the metal door and the cord slid up to under her ears. He grunted and lifted her onto her toes. Pain shot through her neck but she couldn’t cry out. Her mind became fuzzy and her lungs screamed in agony before everything slid into blackness.
NINETEEN
“We got the search warrant for the BW Ranch.” Rio walked into the conference room waving a document. “I’ve already contacted the FBI and we have four agents arriving as soon as the blizzard stops.” He looked at Jenna. “Do you want me to make arrangements for them to stay over in town or have you other plans for them?”
Deep in thought, Jenna looked up from the computer screen. “Everyone is coming, including Bobby Kalo?”
“Yeah, Jo is bringing her daughter Jaime with her.” Rio handed her the warrant. “They mentioned something about spending Christmas at your place.”
“That’s right. As usual it’s open house for Christmas lunch. Everyone is welcome. We stocked the kitchen in the cottage and have a ton of supplies for the house. We could hold out until the melt.” Kane spun around in his office chair to look at him. “If Carter shares a room with Kalo, there’ll be enough room in the cottage for Beth and Styles.” He flicked a glance at Jenna. “Jo and Jaime could take one of our spare rooms. When Jo is busy working, Raya can take care of Jaime along with our kids.”
Twirling a pen in her fingers Jenna nodded. “Yeah,that sounds like a plan. Now all we need is for it to stop snowing for a while. I know the choppers can fly in the snow, but not when it’s this thick. I recall Carter mentioning the visibility being treacherous at this time of year when they come through the mountains.” She turned her attention to Rio. “How often are the shipments coming into the BW Ranch?”
“Lately, approximately three times a week.” Rio leaned against the wall, one knee bent and his boot resting behind him. “I figure they’re stepping up production over the holidays. They probably believe we all take long vacations and they are safer distributing the drugs.”
“I’ll need to go out and get a lay of the land.” Kane turned to look at Jenna. “When this goes down, they’re going to need a sniper. I’ll look for a position where I can set up fast.”
“I figure this can go two ways.” Raven leaned back in his chair looking from one to the other. “It’s all very well waving around an AK-47, but using it to kill cops is another thing. They’re either going to scatter when we arrive or shoot it out and we won’t know until we get there.”
“They’ll try and shoot it out.” Kane’s mouth formed a thin line. “Take a closer look at the footage we obtained from the trail cams. The guys around that truck aren’t ranch hands. I figure they’re mercenaries that he employs as bodyguards. I don’t believe I’ve seen any of them in town or causing trouble at any of the bars, which means they’re probably illegals and belong to the cartel Withers is working alongside.” He shrugged. “Agent Styles cleared a fentanyl distribution ring from his beat and gave me a ton of intel. I’m glad he’s coming. He’ll have good advice.”
“I can’t believe they are still getting fentanyl across the border.” Rowley let out a long sigh. “I guess they would need to open every bag of pellets to check if anything was inside. Why can’t the dogs sniff it?”
“I know the answer to that one.” Raven leaned forward,clasping his hands before him on the desk. “If you take a look at any of the shipments with the fentanyl, they also include sacks of urea fertilizer. This is something that’s commonly used for pasture treatment, and it wouldn’t cause any attention, but it does give off a strong smell of ammonia and that would mask the smell of the fentanyl pills from the dogs.”
Jenna raised an eyebrow. “I’m just wondering how long this has been going on, because these guys appear to have everything covered when it comes to getting the merchandise across the border, receiving the deliveries, and sending the pills out to the suppliers. I’ve heard absolutely nothing, not one hint about this operation before Rio tumbled into it. Although, I can be almost certain that they aren’t spreading their drugs around Black Rock Falls or Louan. I haven’t received reports of anyone being arrested for selling fentanyl in Blackwater either.”
