by C. M. Sutter
Renz scratched his two-day stubble. “I guess it’s worth a shot.”
Once inside, I explained that we needed to see the shooter again and have a word with the sheriff. We were told he was in his office and to go ahead and give his door a knock. We did, and Burke waved us in. We told him we needed to speak to the detainee again and try to get a response. He agreed, called the guard, and asked him to take the man into the interrogation room. After hanging up, Burke gave us the good news—sort of. He’d said that all the slugs taken from Byron, Tara, and Renz appeared to be from the same gun and that the prints on the shell casings matched our unknown assailant, although they weren’t in the system.
I clenched my hands into fists. “Damn it. One step forward and five back.”
Renz patted my shoulder. “We’ll nail him soon enough, Jade. Let’s go see if we can get him to slip up.” Renz turned to the sheriff. “Do you know anyone named Jolie?”
Burke rubbed his forehead. “Jolie, huh? Nope, can’t say that I do.”
“Okay.” Renz nudged me. “Come on. Let’s see what we can get out of him.”
Five minutes later, Mr. Motorcycle was sitting in the same interview room as earlier and angrier than hell. I wondered why.
“Now what do you want?”
“We’re the FBI. We can talk to you as much as we want. Funny how you haven’t lawyered up, though.” I cocked my head and smiled. “Is it because you’d have to reveal your name?”
“Go to hell.”
“Thanks, but I’ll wait on that for a while, and so will Agent DeLeon. Apparently, you aren’t that good of a shot.”
He snickered. “I hit him, didn’t I?”
I swatted the air. “And I hit you. You’re an amateur and just taking orders from the big man. Am I right?”
He flipped me the bird.
“Good one,” Renz said. “Just so you know, we have Jolie. Everything else will come together in the next day or so.”
“What?”
Renz looked at me and shook his head. “Did I stutter?”
“I don’t think so. Agent DeLeon said we have Jolie. Did you hear it clearly now?”
“That’s impossible. She’s—”
“Impossible why?”
“I’m not saying another word.”
I laughed and slapped the table. “You don’t have to. You’ve already told us what we wanted to know.”
Renz and I stood and walked out. Back at Burke’s office, we told him what we’d learned.
“Jolie is, or was, a real person, and I’m assuming she was Jane’s sister. Also, Tara told us that the vehicle that ambushed them was a red van. Put out a BOLO for a local red van. We don’t have a plate number or a make and model, but in these parts, a red van would still warrant checking into. There can’t be many of them.”
“You got it, Agent Monroe. Anything else?”
“Not anything new. We need to find out who Malcolm, Jolie, and the man in custody are, along with the missing shooter, but most of all, we need to locate that ranch and have probable cause for going there. It’s a tall order, but with all of us working together, we can do it.”
Renz took his turn. “We’ll keep you posted. Right now, we’re going back to talk with Jane again. Hopefully, she can tell us more.”
We returned to the hospital, where Dr. Barnes gave us permission to speak with Jane. He said we could press for information but not to overdo it. Jane hadn’t met Renz yet, but I would take care of the introductions. She didn’t even know I was an FBI agent. I knocked on the door then peeked around the curtain before walking in. Jane was sitting up in bed and looked my way. I was sure I saw a slight smile of recognition.
“May we come in? I’d like to talk to you some more.” I was careful not to call her Jane. I didn’t want to confuse her even more, and I doubted that Jane was her real name anyway. I entered with Renz right behind me. “This is my friend Lorenzo. He’ll be listening to our conversation and might ask you questions too. Is that okay?” I hoped for a response, but she only nodded. “Good. You said the name Jolie earlier. Is she your sister?”
Her eyes welled up. “Jolie.”
I glanced at Renz, and he tipped his head. I needed to press her.
“Do you know why you’re here?”
She reached up and touched her bandaged head.
“That’s right. You have a head injury, but you’ll be better soon, and then you can go home.”
“No, no, no!” She squirmed.
I gave the monitors a quick look. Her heart rate was increasing again. “Okay, you don’t have to go home, but I have a very important question to ask you. I need to know if this man is familiar to you and if you know his name.” I cautiously moved closer and opened my phone to the photo of our assailant. I held it near her face. Her back arched, and her whole body went stiff.
“Donny! Bad man!” She slapped at my phone.
I quickly pulled it away. “Donny is a bad man?”
She nodded.
“Are there more bad men at the ranch?”
She nodded again. “Bart.”
That information was helpful, but without a location, first names weren’t enough. “Do you know where the ranch is?”
She stared straight ahead with a blank look on her face. I felt discouraged, but I needed to press on.
“Do you remember my name?”
“Jane.”
I smiled. “Close. It’s actually Jade. What’s your name? I don’t think we were properly introduced.”
She frowned and remained quiet. I opened my briefcase, pulled out my laptop, and placed it on the roller table that extended over her bed. After clicking on the map we’d put together earlier, I pointed at the place where Tara had found her.
“This is where Donny hurt your head.” I pointed at the red teardrop. Do you know where you came from or how long it took you to get there? Did you walk over the mountain or stay on flat ground?”
She reached out and touched the screen.
“Go ahead and show me where you came from.”
She moved her finger over the mountain range and stopped at the previous valley. She poked the screen with her index finger. “Jolie.”
“Jolie is there?”
She nodded.
“Is Bart there too?”
She nodded again.
“How many nights were you outside before Donny found you?”
Her forehead creased, and she appeared to be thinking. “Tree.”
I shook my head and looked at Renz.
“Three? You were outside for three nights?” he asked.
She nodded.
Then I understood. She was still unsure of her words, but luckily, Renz caught what she meant.
“Does Bart have guns?”
Tears slid down her cheek, and she nodded vigorously.
“Is Bart the boss, and does he have four-wheelers too?”
She groaned.
“Were you trying to get away when you ran off?”
“Me and Jolie.”
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. It was all coming together. Donny had said it was impossible that we had Jolie, and he as much as admitted she was dead—likely at his own hand.
“Are other kids still at the ranch?”
“Lots.”
I had to pause to keep from cursing. After a few deep breaths, I continued. “Does the ranch have a name, or do you know what road it’s on?”
She shook her head.
“Do you know Donny or Bart’s last names?”
She shook her head again.
“Okay, I think this is a starting point. Do you remember seeing a lady in the woods when you were with Donny?”
She frowned and looked like she was remembering. She nodded.
“That woman saved your life, and she’s here in this same hospital. She’s very concerned about you. Would you like to share a room with her or at least meet her? Her name is Tara.”
“Cassie.”
“It’s Tara, ho
ney. Her name is Tara.”
She patted her chest. “Cassie. I’m Cassie.”
Chapter 55
“And you haven’t heard from Donny since you left the ranch?” Bart cracked his knuckles as he stared at Carson.
“No, sir. He jumped on the bike and took off. That’s the last time I saw him. He said the plans had changed.”
“Hmm… I haven’t spoken to him since this morning. He was going to take care of those nosy FBI agents and return to the ranch, but that was hours ago. Head out in the van. Look for the bike around White Sulphur Springs, mainly at the sheriff’s office impound lot. If you don’t see it, come back and get me. We’ll head down to Livingston together and see if it’s there.”
“Yes, sir. Should I take anyone with me right now?”
“Nope. It seems like the help around here is dropping like flies. I can’t afford to lose any more workers.” Bart tipped his wrist. “Be back in an hour no matter what.”
“Copy that. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Chapter 56
We finally knew her name, and I was overjoyed. With the okay from Dr. Barnes and Dr. Ramsey, we wheeled Cassie to Tara’s room. After we knocked and got permission to come in, Renz held the curtain aside while I pushed the wheelchair through. I saw what looked like a glimmer of happiness cross Tara’s face.
“Tara, this is Cassie.” I couldn’t hold back my emotions when Tara broke down.
“I’m so happy to see you and to finally know your name,” Tara said.
Cassie’s mouth turned up, forming a tiny smile.
“Would you like to share this room with Tara?” I squeezed Cassie’s hand.
She nodded.
“Good. Then let’s get you settled in.” I would have loved to stay, but we had important things to take care of. First, we needed to get Taft’s okay to move forward with only a few first names and try to find the right ranch.
Renz made the call and updated our boss, who said we needed to push Donny for more information. Without last names or a positive location of the ranch, her hands were tied as far as a warrant was concerned.
We returned to the sheriff’s office and made another attempt at interrogating Donny, that time with more information and names we could use against him.
He groaned when he saw us. “Why don’t you two keystone cops just take up residence here?”
I cocked my head. “Why, did you miss us, Donny?”
His mouth dropped open, and again he went pale.
“I guess Bart isn’t too happy that you’ve ended up here. Didn’t live up to his orders to kill us, did you? Hell, you couldn’t even kill Tara Philips. Maybe you should get that gun sighted in.”
“What? When?”
“Cut the crap,” Renz said. “Either you start talking now, or we’ll let Bart have an hour with you before we haul him in. Killing one person or a dozen probably doesn’t matter to him or the legal system. Montana is a death penalty state, regardless. Cassie told us everything. We have names, the location of the ranch, who does the killing, all of it. Either you start talking now, or we’ll release you to Bart.”
“You can’t do that!”
“We can do whatever we want with you. We can let Bart kill you, or you can die by lethal injection. And while you’re waiting on death row, we’ll make sure you’re in one of the worst prisons in the country with other murderers.”
“I want an attorney.”
We stood and walked out. Frustrated, I slapped the wall with my open hand. “So that son of a bitch is more afraid of Bart than he is of prison?”
Renz shrugged. “Our hands are tied now since he lawyered up. He probably assumes we know his last name, too, so he thinks he has nothing to lose anymore.”
We stopped by Burke’s office and told him we were going somewhere nearby for a bite to eat.
He tossed us the keys to his personal vehicle. “It’s the black SUV in the first parking space in the lot.”
Burke gave us directions to Freddy’s, a great diner on the edge of town. I gladly thanked him since we all knew it wasn’t safe or legal to drive around without a windshield. We told him we would be back in an hour or so and walked out.
“That was nice of him,” I said as we crossed the lot to his vehicle. I helped Renz in, and as I rounded the front bumper, a red van passed slowly on the other side of the chain-link fence that surrounded crashed, abandoned, and impounded cars that the owners hadn’t yet paid storage on. I ducked and opened the door.
Renz looked at me and frowned. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Believe it or not, there’s a red van driving by just outside the impound lot like he’s looking for something.”
“Get in! We have to follow him.”
I climbed in, quietly closed the door, and waited for the van to pass before turning the key in the ignition. “Shouldn’t we tell Burke what we’re up to?”
“First, we have to see where that guy goes, then we’ll find out everything we can about the place. We make the mistake of jumping the gun and we won’t get a second chance. Pull out but stay a good distance behind him.”
“Copy that.”
After the van headed east, I turned onto the street. I followed a quarter mile behind him, then the vehicle merged onto Highway 12 East. “He’s going in the right direction if he’s headed near where Cassie was found.”
Renz smiled. “We may get lucky after all.”
The van went east for fifteen minutes then cut left on an unnamed paved road. We made sure to keep our distance. A mile in, that road turned into a dirt road and skirted the foothills. The van went over a rise and disappeared.
“Step on it, Jade. We need to speed up, or we’ll lose him.”
“But he’ll see the dust in the sky if he looks back through the mirrors.”
Renz waved me off. “Those guys aren’t rocket scientists. He’d probably think it’s his own dust trail.”
I stepped on the gas and barreled down the road until I got to that same rise he’d gone over. I didn’t want a surprise if the ranch was just over that hill. What I saw surprised not only me but, apparently, Renz as well. In the distance was an enormous valley that transitioned into foothills then mountains. Dead center in that valley was a cattle ranch, and the van was headed right for it. I slowed to a stop and backed away until we couldn’t see the house, but one other building was visible.
“Damn it. My binos are in my briefcase in the trunk of our car.”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s the only ranch back here, and we should be able to find it in the plat book.”
I shook my head. “I wonder how much of that land is his?”
“If it’s owned by an offshore corporation, it could be hundreds of thousands of acres.”
“No shit?”
“Yep, no shit. I’m pretty sure of one thing.”
I turned. “Yeah, what’s that?”
“This is likely the only road in and out. Let’s head back and tell Burke what we’ve found. We need to set up a coordinated plan, get a warrant, and make a middle-of-the-night ambush on the ranch.”
I rubbed my hands together. “I’ve been waiting for this day all week long.”
Chapter 57
After several unsuccessful attempts to eat that day, I made a quick turn into a drive-through on our way to the sheriff’s office. “Sorry, but we don’t have time for anything else.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Renz said. “I’m good with a couple of burgers.”
I ordered four burgers, two large fries, and two iced teas. It would hold us over until breakfast tomorrow, and my mind wasn’t on food anyway. I mindlessly ate as I drove, and my thoughts were on the kids who might still be on that property.
It was late in the day, and I didn’t know how quickly the sheriff could get a warrant for access to the ranch. Renz called Burke, explained where the ranch was, and asked him to look in the plat book to see whose name or entity was listed as owner. He said we were on our way back and needed a warrant
as fast as humanly possible.
At ten till five, I squealed to a stop in the sheriff’s office parking lot. Most government offices closed at five p.m., so I hoped the sheriff was successful in his attempt at getting through to a judge. I ran around the SUV, helped Renz out, and handed him the keys.
He frowned. “Why are you giving these to me?”
“Because I’m going to Cassie’s room to see if she can draw or describe the layout of the ranch.”
“Great idea. We’ll check the plat book. Call me if you need anything.”
I took off again in our windshieldless car and headed to the hospital. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow when we would have a different vehicle. Inside the building, I charged down the hallway and asked if I could speak to Cassie. I’d told the staff earlier that they could stop calling her Jane Doe, but we still didn’t have a last name for her. I was told to go ahead.
At Tara’s room, I knocked before entering. She said to come in, and they both smiled when they saw me.
“Agent Monroe. I was just telling Cassie how hard you and Agent DeLeon are working to bring those criminals to justice.”
“I am, but now I need your help, Cassie. It’s really important, honey. Do you think you can help the FBI?”
Her eyes widened. “If I can.”
She was beginning to string words into sentences and that was an improvement.
“Good.” I opened my briefcase and smiled. I was thankful that years ago, Kate had instilled in me how important it was to always carry drawing paper and pencils with me, and now was the time I needed them. I took a seat next to Cassie’s bed and pressed the button to raise the back higher for her. “What I need you to do is draw the exact layout of the ranch, however you remember it looking, as viewed from the road.”
She frowned. “I don’t know a road.”
“Okay. You climbed the mountain when you got away, right?”
She nodded.
“Do you know how the ranch looked from the mountain?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Can you draw it for me, or if you want to point and tell me, I’ll draw it.”
She took the paper and pencil from me and with a shaky hand began to draw. The buildings weren’t pretty or even shaped right, but as long as I knew which building was which, that was good enough. The first building was large and oblong. Near it was another but smaller building.
