Ransom on the River: Deep River Inn

by Bettie Jane

  Everyone else had already heard this information. Sadie watched Oscar’s face very carefully as she delivered the news. He paled at the news and clenched his fists.

  “I’ll kill whoever did this. I mean it, Henrietta. I swear to you, I’ll kill whoever did this.”

  “How will you plan on killing yourself, Oscar?” Henrietta’s voice was a whisper that cut through the freezing air like a knife. She didn’t need a dagger to take her vengeance.

  Enoch spoke for the first time since they’d arrived at Brix House. “Why don’t we move inside the house? Mrx. Brix and Mrs. Anderson are shivering.”

  They were, although Sadie suspected that Henrietta’s vibrating form was more from fury and schock than the temperature of the air.

  Enoch walked next to Oscar, with Mr. Birnie right on their heels. It didn’t appear that Oscar was planning on making a run for it, but it seemed neither men would going to risk the possibility.

  Henrietta lagged behind and Sadie kept pace with her. She opened her flask and handed it to her.

  “Bourbon?”

  Henrietta took it without a word and took a long pull, coughing a bit as she swallowed.

  This bourbon definitely had a kick to it, which is part of the reason Sadie was so fond of it. That and it was her father’s favorite bourbon. He always kept plenty of it on hand. Every time she took a sip, she felt closer to him.

  With a low voice and the men some distance ahead of the women, Sadie spoke to Henrietta.

  “Do you believe him? That his plan went sideways and he doesn’t know where Jemmie is?”

  “I don’t know what I believe anymore, but I don’t think Oscar honestly thought the boys would be hurt. He’s a good father. I know that sounds insane given what he just confessed, but no, I don’t think he would actually hurt them on purpose. That’s worse, of course, that he doesn’t know. It means Jemmie is out there somewhere, cold, possibly injured, because of his own father, but there is nothing we can do about it.”

  Once back inside, they all moved into the sitting room. It seemed nobody was going to take their eyes off of Oscar.

  Joel and Anna, with everyone having left, had made themselves comfortable by the fire. The orange tabby that Joel played with earlier had moved on to the chesterfield and was replaced with a large dog. Joel was petting the dog nervously and looking around the room at his parents.

  Nobody was speaking.

  Sadie tried to think what to do next. She ran through what she knew in her mind. Oscar had in fact arranged the kidnapping for ransom after trying to secure a loan from his father in law with no success. His plan was to have Carl take both boys, and ransom them back to Oscar with the likely presumption that Mr. Birnie, the boys’ grandfather, would get the money for the ransom.

  Someone else must have known of this plan and killed Carl, probably to take the ransom money for themselves. Was it Olga? She was missing so she was either on the run, lying low to collect the ransom, or dead somewhere at the hands of whoever it was who killed Carl.

  With the evidence of Jemmie’s handprint at the murder scene, it seemed very likely that whoever killed Carl now had Jemmie.

  She still hadn’t told any of the others about Muriel. She didn’t really have anything to lose at this point. With Oscar essentially ruled out of everything that had happened after Carl took Jemmie, Pete seemed like the most likely suspect with Muriel dead. But she couldn’t logically come up with a reason to forcibly search Pete’s property or to forcefully interrogate him.

  Still, that seemed like her most likely best option.

  Just then, the dog jumped and started barking. He was very agitated and almost frantic.

  “Joel, it’s too late to play with your dog whistle. Save it for tomorrow, please,” Henrietta said.

  “It’s not mine, Mama. It’s Jemmie’s. I dropped mine today in the woods and…it helps me miss my brother less.”

  And just like that Sadie was pretty confident she knew where Jemmie was.

  “I think I might know where Jemmie is.”

  All eyes were on her now. “There’s something you don’t know. When we were at Olga’s, we found the body of Muriel Phillips.”

  “Pete’s wife?” Oscar bellowed.

  Sadie nodded and kept going. “Mr. Redmond and I have been trying to figure out a connection to Muriel and Olga and Carl since we saw Pete’s car at the mill and then happened upon Muriel’s body. We spoke with Pete just a few minutes ago and he seemed fine, but something about the way he reacted to news of his wife’s abandoned car being found at the scene landed strangely for me.”

  Sadie looked at Joel. “Joel, I mean, Junior Deputy Brix, is it possible that Jemmie would have picked up your whistle today out in the woods?”

  Joel nodded, his big eyes sat like saucers in his pale little face. “He is always picking up after me and watching out for me.” His eyes pooled with tears.

  Sadie spoke to the rest of the group again. “When we were talking with Pete, his dog reacted very similarly to yours just now when Joel blew the whistle. I think Jemmie might be in Pete’s barn. Would anyone care to come with me to check? Anyone with a loaded gun?”

  Oscar and Mr. Birnie jolted into action. “Fred, the weapons?”

  “Yes, come with me, Oscar.”

  Henrietta was already up and putting her coat on. If there was any possibility that only a few miles of desolate road separated her from her son, she was clearly set to remove that obstacle.

  “We need to think quickly about how to approach Pete’s house. If he did this, and it’s looking more and more likely, he might hurt the boy if he sees us coming and along with us the disappearance of the ransom money,” Sadie said.

  Enoch nodded. “I agree. We should catch him by surprise, just in case.”

  While they waited for Oscar Brix and Fred Birnie to return, they set about planning Jemmie’s rescue.

  Sadie willed Jemmie to be in that barn. If he wasn’t with Pete, she was at a complete loss for where to look for him.

  Olga was the only other person that might know what was going on, but she was likely in the wind after Carl and Muriel were killed in her cabin. Gone or dead, either way, she was of no help to Jemmie.

  17

  Before Oscar and Fred were back, Gus and William arrived back at Brix House.

  William briefed Sadie on the results of their search.

  “Nobody saw anything. We spoke with every resident within 5 miles of the logging camp. Nothing.”

  They looked exhausted and it was no surprise. They’d been searching the backwoods of the Elochoman Valley for hours.

  “We think we know where Jemmie might be. Oscar and Frederick are gathering some weapons.”

  “Can I get you men some coffee, maybe some dinner to feed your belly? I can whip some sandwiches together for you.”

  Anna smiled, specifically at Gus and Sadie wondered if there was something between the the two of them.

  Gus nodded at Anna. “We’ll pass on the food, but some hot coffee would warm our bones. Thank you.”

  “I’ll catch you up while you drink your coffee. We aren’t ready to go anyway.”

  Sadie caught the men up, letting them know she thought Jemmie might be at the Phillips farm on the island and that she and Enoch had discovered Muriel Phillips dead at Olgas’s house and that Olga was nowhere to be found.

  Their faces tensed a little at the mention of the child-sized bloody handprint on the bathroom wall.

  “Here’s what I’me considering when we get to the Phillips farm.”

  She told them what she was thinking and they offered feedback.

  Together they brainstormed ideas for approaching the farm while they waited for Mr. Brix and Mr. Birnie.

  Oscar and Fred returned with a cache of weapons and what seemed like at least a temporary truce between them in the name of rescuing Jemmie. She didn’t want to be in Oscar’s shoes once the dust settled from today’s events.

  “Now that we’re all here, I’ll ca
tch everyone up on the plan. We want to catch Pete off guard, as much as possible. Since I had contact with him before, I’m going to have Enoch drop me at the edge of his driveway and I’ll cover the rest of the ground on foot. I don’t want him to know anyone is coming until it’s too late for him to do anything about it.

  “Once Enoch has dropped me, if you would all give me five minutes to get up the drive, the rest of you can hustle up his driveway and overwhelm him with the volume of automobiles. That will block any escape he might try to make in a vehicle.

  “I’m not going to knock on his door. I’m going straight for the barn to see if Jemmie is in there. Jemmie doesn’t know me and will likely be frightened—if he is in there—so I’d like Henrietta and Gus to come with me. It will be good for Jemmie to see a familiar face.”

  Sadie turned the housekeeper who’d done more than her fair share in holding this distraught family togethere. “Anna, will you stay here and listen for the phone? If I’m wrong about this, the real kidnapper might call with details of the ransom demand tonight and we don’t want to miss that.”

  Anna nodded, and Mrs. Birnie said something for the the first time in a long while.

  “I’ll stay with you, Anna.” There was nothing shrill or abrasive about her voice now. Sadness and fear echoed in her words, even though she hadn’t said much at all.

  Anna smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Mrs. Birnie.”

  Sadie kept going. She was shocked, but pleased that they still seemed to be following her lead.

  “Fred, I’d like you, Oscar, Enoch, and William to approach the house. Knock on the door. Be neighborly, at least in the beginning. We don’t know for a certainty that Pete did anything besides lose his wife today. Once he answers the door, I want you to keep him in the house. I don’t want him anywhere near that barn or Jemmie. If I’m wrong about Jemmie being in the barn, then we might find Jemmie in the house. Because of that, it’s important that you not let Pete wander around without an escort. If we’ve miscalculated and he’s in the house, well, Jemmie still needs to be found unharmed. He needs a familiar face, which is why Dad and Grandfather will be there. Secure Pete, search the house for Jemmie just in case he’s not in the barn.”

  All nods, so far so good.

  Enoch cleared his throat.

  “Yes, Enoch, go ahead.”

  “Any ideas if Olga Svenson will be on the property?”

  “It’s a good question, but I just don’t know. Enoch, why don’t you search the house for Olga too once Pete’s opened the door to you. If Olga is in there, she could be hurt or she could be dangerous to any of us. We having no way of knowing which.”

  Enoch nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Sadie raised her eyebrow and he chuckled.

  “Sadie.”

  The mood was the lightest it had been since they’d discovered Jemmie was missing. They all knew they were potentially close to rescuing Jemmie and putting an end to this horrific day. That knowledge gave them the second wind they all desperately needed after nearly twelve freezing and disappointing hours of what so far had been fruitless searching.

  There was also tension in the air. Nobody knew if Jemmie was hurt or for sure what they’d find at Pete’s.

  “Please remember,” Sadie said, still in a bit of shock that they all were listening to her. “Somebody, and we can’t be sure who, killed Carl Collins and Muriel Phillips. Please assume that whoever you encounter could be capable of a ferocious violence.”

  More nods and a little bit of chattering among the group.

  She had one last thing to say. “One more thing. Will one of you, when you pull into Pete’s drive, leave your headlights on facing the barn. It’s black as pitch out there and these few lanterns leave us at a disadvantage since we don’t know what we are walking into. Oh, and please keep in mind, as I said already, Pete may be caught up in something here totally unawares. His wife may have been involved in something that had nothing to do with him. Don’t treat him like a kidnapper when you first encounter him, but assume that he might be. Everybody ready?”

  More nods and everyone walked down the front stairs and out into the street. Then they piled into the vehicles. Sadie climbed into Enoch’s truck, Gus and William into another truck, and Fred, Oscar, and Henrietta into yet another.

  Mrs. Birnie and Anna stayed back with Joel.

  And then they were on their way. Three trucks following each other turned down Main Street and onto the gravel road along the Columbia River that would lead them to Skamokawa yet again and if they were very lucky, to Jemmie.

  Enoch and Sadie were completely silent, thinking about all the things that could go wrong and hoping for the best possible outcome for Jemmie. Sadie imagined that the mood was probably much the same in the other trucks.

  Enoch slowed to an almost stop at the edge of Pete’s driveway and Sadie jumped out of the truck. She watched as he sped back up and then parked behind a stand of trees on the side of the road a few hundred feet past the driveway. The other trucks followed Enoch and they all turned their lights off.

  Sadie looked at Pete’s large home and was certain he wouldn’t be able to see the trucks from any windows in his house.

  Satisfied that they were all on the same page, she jogged slowly down the road. She opted to not carry a lantern and so it was a bit slow going. What mattered most is that Pete didn’t see anyone coming.

  Not for the first time, she was glad she bucked social etiquette and wore pants most of the time.

  When she was almost to the barn, she heard the other trucks fire up their engines somewhere out in the distance and knew that they were very close to pulling in and shining their lights right in the direction of where she stood. She hustled up her pace until she was at the barn door.

  The door to the barn was in direct line of sight to the front door of the house. If anyone were really looking they’d be able to see her. She hoped Pete had gone back to bed and was oblivious to what was happening now.

  Once she reached the barn door, she took one more look around, listened for a moment more and then whispered.

  “Jemmie? Jemmie! Are you in there?”

  She thought she heard some sort of rustling around, maybe an errant thud, but it also could have been her ears playing tricks on her. She desperately wanted Jemmie to be in this barn, uninjured.

  The trucks were turning down the drive now and it would be only moments before their lights shone on her position. She tugged at the huge door and to her shock, it easily swung wide open.

  Pete was a very tidy person, even his bard door didn’t squeak.

  She smiled to herself. She’d never been horrified and somewhat appreciative of a person at the same time before.

  She quietly stepped inside and threw both doors completely open so the lights of the truck would light up the interior of the barn.

  As soon as the trucks came to a stop, Henrietta and Gus were by her side and the rest of the men made a beeline for Pete’s front door. Enoch left his headlights on and pointed straight at the barn. God bless Enoch Redmond.

  “Jemmie?” Sadie called out. She heard a whimper from the back of the barn. Henrietta obviously heard it as well and raced in the direction.

  “Jemmie, is that you? It’s Mama. Jemmie?”

  He hadn’t made another sound but as the three of them got closer, Sadie watched in horror as Olga Svenson stepped out of the shadows. She was pointing a gun at Jemmie’s head.

  Rage billowed inside Sadie like a furious northern wind. She thought maybe she could literally wring Olga’s neck.

  Henrietta squeaked in terror and froze in her tracks.

  Gus slowed down but kept inching discreetly toward Olga.

  Sadie stopped and observed.

  “Don’t come any closer. I got nothing to lose.”

  “Olga, he’s only a child. I’m not sure how you got mixed up in Carl’s dealings, but this little boy—you need to let him go.”

  Henrietta fell to her knees. “Please, don’t hur
t him.

  Gus was still moving toward Olga and Jemmie, but very slowly. Inching one little bit at a time.

  Sadie kept talking to hopefully distract Olga from noticing Gus’s micro-movements.

  “Jemmie. It’s okay. Your mom and dad are here, everything is going to be okay. Stay calm.”

  Then to Olga.

  “Olga, put the gun down. There’s men outside and they are well armed. If they see you in here with your gun pointed at Jemmie, I don’t think they will stop to ask questions.”

  Olga’s hand was trembling. “Stay back. I don’t want to hurt him, but I will. Give me the ransom money and I’ll leave him be.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible Olga. The banks aren’t open on a Sunday. Tomorrow morning is the earliest the Brix family can get access to the money. If you hurt the boy, nobody will pay you anything. Put the gun down, Olga. Right now.”

  Sadie was having a bit of an out of body experience at the moment. She heard herself talking, but barely recognized her own voice.

  Henrietta was mumbling what sounded like a quiet prayer, and Gus, well, he was every so patiently creeping forward, taking advantage of the shadows cast by the headlights.

  “Olga, can you tell me what happened here? When I saw you this morning, you said you had no idea what Carl had been up to or where he’d been and now I find you here holding a gun to a child’s head. What happened at your house, Olga?”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  Suddenly, a shot rang out in the direction of Pete’s house. It startled everyone in the barn.

  Olga’s eyes rolled around in her head like a terrified horse. Jemmie squeezed his eyes closed. Sadie kept her eye on the gun in Olga’s hand, and Gus, as though he’d somehow expected the shot took the opportunity to close the gap between he and Olga.

  He raced toward her, bent over and drove his shoulder through her stomach and chest, and tackled her to the ground. She grunted and released hold on the gun. It didn’t take much for Gus to overpower Olga, so she was immobile on the ground but screaming bloody murder for Gus to get off of her in a matter of seconds.