Dark Secrets and Dead Reckoning, A Red Pine Falls Cozy Mystery (Red Pine Falls Cozy Mysteries Book 3)

by Angela C Blackmoore

  “So you do have a scanner!” Becky said, pointing dramatically.

  John flicked his eye toward Lanie and shrugged. “I…cannot confirm that, for obvious reasons. Old habits die hard, I’m afraid. But yes, I was not kidding when I said I hoped we’d catch the Sheriff. I know a thing or two about the Sun Riders. They’re not pleasant, and honestly, he’s walking into a whole mess of trouble, no matter how many guns he has. He’s not ready for them.”

  “Why do you care?” Abby asked while Lanie nodded along. “Why do you care what happens to the Sheriff or his men?”

  Something within John’s face hardened, and he looked at Abby, Becky, and Lanie with a fierce determination. “Because I am not my father.” Brian and Reggie both mirrored John’s look, nodding behind him.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lanie said.

  “It means,” John said, taking a deep breath. “That I have a story to tell you, as long as it’s off the books.”

  Lanie looked back at Abby, who nodded at the petite deputy. She turned back to the men and lowered her gun. “Okay, Mr. Troutdale. We’re all ears.”

  Chapter 23

  “Can I sit? It might make you less nervous if I sit and I’m still very keen on not getting shot.” John asked, giving Lanie a crooked smile as he tilted his head. Abby could almost feel Lanie melt a little and she nodded, getting a relieved sigh from John as he rubbed his right arm and moved toward one of the long benches set up in the lobby. Reggie and Brian both did as well, moving slowly and keeping their hands open and in view.

  “Do you mind if I go back behind the counter? With Abby and Becky?” Lanie asked, moving toward the doors that separated the back from the front. The high pony walls connecting the doors didn’t go up to the ceiling and only served as a token separation between the lobby and the working area of the Sheriff’s office. If the men wanted to, they could probably scale them but it would take a lot of agility, and presumably there would be an angry police officer shooting at them in the process.

  John nodded and shrugged, clearly knowing it would put him and his men at a disadvantage, but not seeming to care, Lanie didn’t take her eyes off of them as she opened the door and ushered Abby and Becky through to the other side. “If anything happens,” Lanie whispered,” Duck down behind the counter. It’s bulletproof.

  Abby and Becky nodded at her, both a bit wide-eyed, but in a few moments, they all three were back behind the counter and facing the three men who hadn’t moved.

  “Okay, Mr. Troutdale,” Lanie said, with a sigh of relief. It had been a risk to take her eyes off of them for even a moment, but it had been necessary to get everyone behind the barrier. “What’s your story?”

  John nodded and cocked his head to the side. “I can’t give you the whole story, but I can give you most of it. It should give you enough of an accounting of the past seven years.”

  “Why can’t you tell us everything?” Abby asked, curiously.

  John shrugged again, his shoulders rising and falling. “Because some of what we’re still involved in is illegal, and Deputy Lanie is still a police officer. Believe me, I wish I could be done with it all for good, but for safety reasons, I have to take it slow.”

  “What kind of safety reasons?” Lanie asked sharply. Despite the easy way John was acting, she was still nervous and kept her gun out below the front desk counter. “Is this why you have protection with you?”

  John laughed and shook his head. “Actually? No. No, we really did come down here to do some Elk hunting though Reggie and Brian are both good in a fight. Reggie is head of our Asian import section, and Brian is our accountant. The safety reasons I was referring to were my wife and kids.”

  Abby shifted slightly and frowned. Wife and kids? She hadn’t even thought that this man would be someone with a wife and kids. It was a totally different perspective on the man that almost shocked her. Also, the fact that either one of the two well-built men next to John was an accountant was hard to believe. They looked nothing like what she would picture, but that was the danger of assuming.

  John took a breath, continuing. “Shocking? I know. I run around in expensive clothes and expensive cars. Most people think I spend my time at clubs or something equally inane. As if I had time. But really, I do have a wife. Her name is Samantha and my kid’s names are Ben and Sara. They are my world, and I am doing everything in my power to pull my business out of what my father put my mother and me through.” John paused for a moment, looking down sadly. “He thought it was the best thing ever that he had a son who could carry on the family business.”

  “What happened to change your mind?” Abby asked softly, watching the man relive some memories. It was clear they were real, as the man’s face cracked softly around the edges. Whatever it was, must have been difficult.

  “I was about twenty-two, and my arrogant father decided to double cross some folks he shouldn’t have. He thought they wouldn’t do anything about it.” John looked up, his eyes grim. “My mother paid for that mistake, and I have a scar on my hip for the trouble as well. I was in a car with her when they took a machine pistol to it. She was in the way, and her body shielded mine.”

  Becky, Abby, and Lanie both stood there, listening quietly. Becky had grabbed Abby’s hand, squeezing it for comfort, and even Lanie was grim-faced as she watched John talk. It was clear even she was affected by his story.

  “I vowed I wouldn’t put anyone I loved through the same stupidity,” John said. “So, to make a long story short, I learned my father’s business inside and out. When the time came, I took over and have been working to extract my family from all the bad parts of what we’ve built over the decades.”

  Lanie relaxed a bit and nodded. “Which doesn’t mean your hands are clean.”

  John sighed and nodded. “Which doesn’t mean my hands are clean. I didn’t like it, but I’ve had to do some things I have to live with for the rest of my life. But it’s working. I am slowly moving us to a more legitimate set of companies, and separating ourselves from former business partners that are less than savory.”

  “Why not just ask the Feds for help?” Becky said, glancing at Lanie and Abby when they looked at her. “Hey, isn’t that how they say it on TV?”

  Abby shrugged, but Lanie smirked and rolled her eyes. “Because the Feds would only be interested in prosecuting people. They’d run him and his family over in a heartbeat if they thought it would help them.” Lanie looked back to John and raised an eyebrow. “I think he’s trying to keep his father out of prison, too.”

  John nodded and breathed out. “Yeah. That’s the hard part. He’s done a lot of bad things, but he can barely remember his name anymore. Even after all he’s done, I still don’t want to see him die in a jail cell.” John paused and shrugged sheepishly at Lanie. “No offense.”

  Lanie gave him a bland look. “None taken. But that leaves us wondering why you are here. Why did you come to town, if you’re trying to extract yourself from all these shady enterprises?”

  “Well, as you’ve probably guessed, we did run several accounts through the Red Pine Falls bank,” John answered. “The bank is small enough to not attract attention but large enough that it was a good place to launder money. At least, that’s why my father started the accounts. Most of them are legitimate now, and the insurance will cover the theft. Still, there’s a lot of history there, and I wanted to keep an eye on the situation.” John’s lips wrinkled up in distaste. “I’d forgotten that we used to do business with the Sun Riders through these accounts.”

  “Did you not sever ties with them?” Abby asked. “It didn’t seem you were too friendly with them last time you met.”

  John nodded and chuckled. “That’s putting it mildly, but yes I did sever ties with them. They were one of my early decisions and despite the trouble, its one I’ve never regretted. That’s what I wanted to warn the Sheriff about. They’re idiots, but they’re idiots with guns. This gang is so bad, some of the bigger gangs have considered taking them out,
but they always just manage to calm down enough to avoid being purged. If the Sheriff is going out to their campsite, he needs to be very careful.”

  Lanie nodded. “He is usually very careful, but I can get him on the horn and warn him. Is there anything specific you want me to tell him?”

  “Just don’t trust them,” John answered. “They have no trouble with killing cops.”

  Abby watched Lanie go white as she nodded before heading over to the two-way radio and picking up the mic.

  Chapter 24

  “Okay, boys and girls,” The Sheriff said over the radios of both the other Deputies and Gabe’s men. “We’re going to meet some of the Yamhill and Oakdale police out by mile-marker seventeen. There’s a ridge that should hide us from the camp, but that will get us close enough, so we don’t have to hike too far. Just don’t go turning your lights or sirens on.”

  After the Sheriff had stopped talking, Gabe turned and glanced at Julia who was sitting in the seat beside him. She was a tall woman with a thick jaw. She was tough, but Gabe appreciated the great way she had with people. However, nothing had prepared any of them for what they were about to undergo. He could see her nervously fidgeting, gripping and un-gripping her hand around her seat belt as she stared out the window.

  “It’ll be ok, Julia,” Gabe said. “I don’t think they’ll put us on the front lines. We have rifles so we’ll be in the back, I’m sure.”

  Julia, almost startled at the words, turned to him and nodded though it didn’t look like she was mollified. If anything, she fidgeted with her seatbelt even more. “I…yes, sir. That’s what I’d expect. But what if we need to shoot someone? I never expected to have to shoot at anyone.”

  Gabe took a deep breath. “I know. I know, we’re not the police, but we are law enforcement just the same. You and I both know there was always a chance we might run into an out of control hunter or someone poaching. Bears aren’t the only dangerous animals in the mountains.”

  “Yes, sir,” Julia answered, turning once more to the window and watching the trees flash in and out of the headlight beams. “I just-” She said and then trailed off, frowning.

  “Just what?” Gabe prompted.

  “Just that I wished we didn’t have so long to think about it. An hour ago I was sweeping the floor of the ranger station and picking up styrofoam cups. Now, I’m heading out where I might have to shoot someone. Maybe even more than one person.” She paused and then continued. “Or maybe to get shot.”

  Gabe took a deep breath. He’d been thinking the same things. At least he had the focus of driving to distract him, but things were almost assured to get dicey. Conner, who was driving the other ranger truck, was probably in worse shape. All of the other Rangers besides him were under thirty. All of them had received law enforcement training, but none of them had really thought they’d have to use it except for the occasional parking ticket.

  “Julia, if you don’t think you can do it, I am fine with you staying at the truck. None of us expected something like this to come up, and I’d be lying if I didn’t think this was going to be dangerous.”

  “No, I’m going to go with you,” Julia said, looking over at Gabe with determination. “I can do this; I just don’t think I’m going to like it.”

  “Okay,” Gabe said, patting Julia on the arm. “Just be easy and cautious, and we’ll get through this.”

  They lapsed into silence, rolling up to mile-marker seventeen with only their fog lights on. There were some other police cars waiting for them from two neighboring townships, but there were far too few men for Gabe’s liking. Taking a deep breath, both Gabe and Julia stepped out of the truck together with their borrowed rifles.

  Once they’d convened around Sheriff Pearson’s car, he laid out a map on the hood of the car and shined a flashlight down on it. It was a surreal scene, and Gabe pictured everyone wearing dark robes as they clustered around the wavering, pale-lit map.

  “Bill, Ryan,” The Sheriff said, nodding toward two older men. “Thanks for coming with your deputies. I’m sorry that I had to call on you, but without the state boys, we’re in serious trouble.”

  “No worries, Bob,” one of the men said. He was a smaller man that was heavyset, but his voice was deep and serious. “I heard what happened. Heck, who hasn’t? That idiot superintendent is in for a reckoning after this fiasco. How many bad guys are we expecting?”

  “Not sure, but I counted over twenty bikes when I rolled by here a few days ago. Maybe thirty. Either way, it’s going to be dangerous. You know the rep these Sun Riders have.”

  Everyone except for Gabe and the other Rangers nodded. They received all of the police updates but didn’t read most of them unless it pertained directly to fish and wildlife. However, he could tell they were deadly serious business.

  The Sheriff pointed down at the map, outlining the small ridge that separated them from where the bikers were currently camped. “They’re spread out just on the other side of this line. Tents here and looks like most of their bikes and cars are parked over here.” He looked up at Gabe. “Can you and your people cover the parking lot and make sure no one leaves. That should keep you out of the direct line in case a firefight breaks out, but will help us out anyway.”

  Gabe looked around, seeing the relief on the faces of Conner and Julia. It mirrored his own, and he turned his attention back to the map.

  “The rest of us will come in on either side of where they have their bikes parked,” The Sheriff continued. “If they want to get away, they’ll have to head into the deep forest in the middle of the night. I’m not thrilled with letting any of them run, but I don’t want them to fight to the death either. Better to give them a way out. Our goal is to get Dr. Bennard back, and arresting any of the Sun Riders is secondary. We don’t have enough manpower to take them all into custody. Does anyone have any questions?”

  There were a few, but overall, most of the police were aware of the danger and weren’t inclined to make this any more difficult than they had to. When there were no more questions, the Sheriff gave them all a serious look and nodded. “Okay, let’s move into position. Once we’re within a hundred yards, keep radio silence and wait for my signal.”

  Gabe gave Julia and Conner one last reassuring glance while the other lawmen began filtering into the woods toward the biker’s camp. He just wished he felt as confident.

  Chapter 25

  When they crested the ridge, the Sheriffs and Deputies could see the flicker of the occasional campfire through the trees, but there were too many pine boughs and branches in the way to get a good look.

  “I don’t see much movement down there,” The Sheriff said, frowning as he lowered a matt-black night vision contraption that looked like a cross between a sniper scope and an old-fashioned spyglass. He smacked the side of it, then raised it to his eye one again and took a long look, but it didn’t help. He lowered it again before turning to the other two Sheriff’s that had come up with him. “Looks like most of their motorcycles are gone, too.”

  “Do you think they relocated?” said Bill, the short, tubby sheriff with the deep voice.

  “No,” said Ryan, the other Sheriff. He looked a bit like a crane to Gabe, but the man carried himself well. “Even I can see there’s someone down there and there are still a lot of tents set up. If they were going to change campsites, they’d have picked up everything.”

  The other two men nodded. There was too much down there for them all to have left. Every once in a while, the light from the campfires was also disrupted by what could only be people walking around them.

  “It might make it easier,” Sheriff Pearson drawled as he turned over the information in his head. “Hopefully wherever they went, they left Dr. Bennard here. If not, we’ll question whoever is left and see if we can find out where they went.” The sheriff pulled his mic to his shoulder and gave the signal that told everyone to move forward into position.

  Gabe, Conner, and Julia paced quietly toward their destination, slipping
down the gentle slope through the trees with little difficulty. There were trails and not a lot of underbrush in this part of the forest, so it was nominally easy to make their way down with little effort.

  As they emerged into the clearing where the motorcycles were kept, their fears slightly lessened when they found it almost empty. There were a couple of motorcycles left, parked near an old truck, but that was about it. However, they could see the faint glow of a cigarette and a figure lounging on one of the bikes. Gabe held up his hand, cautioning Conner and Julia before they began moving across the lot toward the sound.

  Slowly, they moved forward over the dirt. If it had been gravel, it would have been a different matter entirely, but the dirt was soft and yielding and let them travel soundlessly. Gabe angled so the truck would hide them from whoever was on the bike, and a moment later, he was peeking over the rear fender at one of the bikers lounging on the seat.

  Gabe watched as the man raised the cigarette to his lips, took a drag, and then lowered his hand once more. His eyes were closed, and he had earbuds in his ears. Gabe nodded toward Julia, who moved to the other side of the bike while Gabe bracketed him. Slowly, Gabe pushed the barrel of the rifle up against the man’s cheek.

  Once the cold metal touched his skin, the man’s eyes flashed open, and he yelped, falling off of the bike onto the dirt next to Julia. The three rangers quickly subdued the man, pushing his face into the dirt and muffling any noise he was making while the rest of the police officers moved past, descending on the few other figures that were lying or talking near the two campfires.

  “This is the police,” The sheriff said in a commanding, booming voice. There were audible clicks and snaps from the other officers as they chambered rounds and took their safeties off. “Freeze!”

  The few people around the campfires became stock still, their eyes wide as they looked at the barrels of weapons that emerged into the firelight. There were only six or seven people, and all of them seemed to be barely coherent as they looked around with half-focused eyes.