In the morning, she woke to a warm house and sighed with relief. She sat up in bed and checked her watch. She’d slept through to ten. It was just as well she didn’t have to go to worktoday. Laney pushed her feet into her slippers, turned to pull the blankets up over the bed, and froze. Across the pillow on the other side of the queen-size bed were written the wordsI’ve been watching you sleep.
Terrified, she took a few steps backward and then peered around the bedroom. Someone had gotten into her house and her phone was in the kitchen on the table with her purse. She searched for anything she could use as a weapon. She didn’t own a gun and the only thing she had in her bedroom was either a bedside table lamp or a hairbrush. She pulled the plug from the power outlet and carrying the lamp in front of her with both hands, edged her way through the door and along the hallway looking both ways. With trembling legs, she kept her back to the wall until she reached the kitchen. It was empty and she could see her phone sitting exactly where she’d left it.
She ran the last few steps into the kitchen, put down the lamp, and grabbed up her phone. She turned it on and her thumb went to dial 911 when a sound came from the mudroom. A shadow filled the doorway, the phone slipped from her fingers, spun across the table out of reach, and then clattered to the floor. Terrified and heart racing, Laney grabbed up the lamp and ran back along the hallway. She could lock herself in the bathroom. Why had she closed her door? Her sweaty palms slipped on the doorknob as she fought to open the door.Hurry, hurry, he’s coming.
Footsteps, slow and deliberate, came along the hallway. A scream caught in her throat at the sight of a dark figure. The door flew open and she staggered inside and ran around the bed. Too late. In seconds, something dropped over her head. The lamp slipped from her fingers as a cord tightened around her neck. She tore at the cord squeezing the breath out of her, and her fingernails dug into leather gloves. Black spots danced in front of her eyes and her lungs screamed for lack of air. Theroom blurred and the bed came up fast as she tumbled over it. Something hard pressed into her back and the pressure on her throat increased. She tore at her neck as the room around her darkened. There was no escape.
SEVEN
Sunday
Outside Jenna’s ranch house, the snow had been falling continuously all night. Patterns of swirling leaves covered the windows in ice, each one different from the next, much like snowflakes. It was a phenomenon that Jenna found extremely interesting. It was cozy inside the family room with the blazing fire and the crackle of pine cones filling the air with the smell of the forest. She sat on the rug in front of the fire with Kane, Jackson, and Tauri, wrapping Christmas gifts for their friends. The children had enjoyed trimming the tree but Pumpkin her black cat had stolen many of the decorations from the lower branches and turned them into toys. The kids had screamed with laughter watching her rush from room to room with a sparkling bow in her mouth growling like a leopard.
The family tradition of sitting down in front of the fire and wrapping the gifts had started when they had adopted Tauri. They wanted to immerse their sons in every aspect of the holiday festivities. Of course, personal family gifts would be wrapped in secret and would arrive by Santa on Christmas Eve.Jenna held out a wrapped gift for Jackson to press a bow on top. His handsome face was creased in concentration as he pressed the bow to the wrapping paper. When it had attached successfully, even though a little off center, he gave Jenna a smile like an angel.
They had quite a production line going. Kane would cut the wrapping paper, wrap the gift, and hold it out to Tauri for the tape. Jenna attached a label and held it out for Jackson. They had quite a large pile of gifts under the tree. Each Christmas they would host lunch for all the team members who could make it. During the day, most people would drop by on their way to family commitments. For Jenna, it was one of the best days of the year. When her phone chimed, she looked at Kane and they exchanged a meaningful look. Weekends were precious times with their children and phone calls usually meant they would be called into the office. The call came from Rio, her chief deputy. “Morning, Rio.”
“Morning, Sheriff. Do you recall the surveillance I’ve been doing on Bryce Withers out at the BW Ranch?”Rio’s boots tapped on tile and she assumed he was in the office.
Jenna stood and headed to the kitchen. She collected her notepad and pen. “Yeah, you mentioned you’ve been logging all the comings and goings at the ranch, looking for the horse pellet deliveries that you considered suspicious. If he is distributing drugs, it’s not happening here. There haven’t been any reports of overdoses or deaths. If there had been any increase in drug dealers in town, I’d have heard about it. Have you come to any conclusions?”
“I figure he is a distributor, as in a big-scale interstate consortium. He gets the drugs sent here because we really don’t have a drug problem here. It’s a place no one would look for an operating cartel. It fits, the armed guards and the huge amount of horse pellets delivered regularly. There are other deliveries during the week as well, but it’s easy to see the sacks of horsepellets as they come in on a flatbed truck. I find it strange that they get a delivery on a Sunday.”Rio’s chair squeaked as he sat in front of his desk.“Now that we know what days the deliveries are arriving, we might be able to get enough information to the judge for a search warrant. Right now, we can’t prove Withers is doing anything illegal.”
Jenna looked up as Kane walked into the kitchen and she put her phone on speaker. “Does the surveillance you’ve been doing show that Withers has armed guards around the shipment when the pellets are being delivered? I’m assuming this doesn’t happen with any of the other shipments he receives?”
“That’s correct. I’ve been scanning his farm from a spot on the mountain. Now that we know the delivery times, it makes it easier. It’s either been me or Rowley, but Raven is out there today. Raven is going to try to get closer and get some clearer images than the ones we’ve taken previously.”
“He’s not in any danger is he?” Kane looked at Jenna and raised both eyebrows. “No matter what the case, I really don’t like anyone out doing surveillance on their own.”
Nodding, Jenna checked her watch. “Do you know exactly where he is?”
“He’s not on the ranch. He’s probably up a tree somewhere with his ultra-zoom camera.”Rio chuckled.“He has Ben with him and I don’t figure he’ll run into trouble. He knows how to survive in the forest. I doubt very much he’ll encounter a bear at this time of year with the snow on the ground.”
Unhappy with his lack of protocol, Jenna shook her head. “I like to know where deputies are at all times when they’re in the field. We don’t know what might happen, and knowing where they are means we can get to them faster if they happen to get into danger.” She sighed. “Next time, make sure you have his coordinates. If you do get proof these horse pellet deliveries are covering shipments of illegal substances, which certainly looks the case if they have armed guards around them, we need to geta search warrant ASAP. When is the next delivery due after today?”
“Wednesday at seven in the evening.”Rio tapped on his computer. “If Raven has collected enough evidence, we’ll add it to what we have and maybe get a search warrant on Monday.”
It was obvious that some solid work had gone into the case Rio had insisted on investigating. Jenna watched as Kane refilled the coffee pot. It was coming up to lunchtime and the children would be hungry. “That sounds like a plan, but please check on Raven and make sure that everything is okay.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll call him and then head home.”Rio disconnected.
Jenna drummed her fingers on the counter and looked at Kane. “I was hoping by now that Bobby Kalo had found time to look over the CCTV camera footage of Ellie McBride’s abduction. He has all types of gizmos in the FBI office to enhance the image.”
“Maybe, as it isn’t a murder case, he figured asking for overtime might be a problem?” He took a casserole out of the refrigerator and slid it into the microwave. “I figured we might need a hearty lunch today. I warmed bread rolls in the oven as well. I’m starving. Cold weather always does this to me.”
Jenna laughed. “I don’t think the weather has anything to do with it. You’re always starving hungry.” She glanced over one shoulder as giggling came from the family room. “I hope you didn’t leave any scissors or anything dangerous for the boys when you left them.”
“No, I put away everything apart from the ribbons and bows. I don’t figure they will hurt themselves with them.” Kane turned as the kids’ footsteps echoed in the hallway. He laughed. “What have you been doing, Jackson?”
Jackson and Tauri, grinning broadly, walked into the kitchen. Each had a blue sparkly bow stuck in their hair.
“We are your Christmas presents but we don’t want to situnder the tree because we’re hungry.” Tauri hugged Jackson and laughed. “Do you like your gifts, Mommy and Daddy?”
Misty, Jenna bent and hugged them, wondering how she’d get the sticky bows out of their thick hair. “That’s wonderful, thank you.” She took Jackson’s hand. “Why don’t we wash up for lunch?”
EIGHT
Raven had been keeping the BW Ranch under surveillance for many weeks. The unusual activity around the delivery of horse pellets had made him suspicious. Six armed men had surrounded the previous delivery, and as one was due within the next hour, he wanted to get as much information as possible. The deliveries came in regular intervals and were easily distinguished by the sacks of horse pellets piled up on a pallet in the back of a flatbed truck. On all the other deliveries he’d witnessed over the last few weeks, everything that arrived on a pallet had been unloaded using a forklift. The horse pellets received different attention. Two men would jump onto the back of the flatbed wearing protective gear and carrying plastic bins. Horse pellets would be moved with care. From what he could make out, the men on the back of the flatbed would count the bags, so many in and so many down in the pile, before removing the top sacks and dragging out two and placing them on the back of the flatbed.
