Tuper and JP saddled and packed the horses while Benjamin continued and as he talked, Tuper gave Flipper some water.
“Jacob and five other men went after them in the pickup, but I don’t know if they’ll catch them.”
“Will they call the cops?” JP asked.
Tuper looked at JP and shook his head. “Not likely. They police themselves.”
***
The three men mounted their horses and headed back down the slope. Tuper reached the bottom first with his flashlight lighting the trail. JP was close behind, followed by Benjamin. The path had been traveled several times now without any new snowfall, but icy spots made it difficult for the horses to get traction. Once through the tunnel, the full moon offered more light and Tuper’s gelding picked up speed. JP moved up by his side to avoid the snow that was flying up in his face from the horse’s hind legs. Benjamin couldn’t quite keep up so he dropped back a little and let Tuper and JP go ahead, keeping back far enough to avoid getting dowsed with snow, but still able to keep them in his sights. Once they were past the trailers Tuper and JP launched into a full gallop. They encountered a few small, rolling hills; the rest was mostly flat, easy land on which to ride and they met with few obstacles. JP hardly noticed the cold air as he rode. His angst for Sabre far outweighed any concern for himself.
They returned to the Hutterite colony in half the time it took them to ride from there to the cave on the plateau. As they pulled up to the barn, two men opened the doors so they could ride inside. Tuper and JP dismounted amongst eight men and several teenage boys who were waiting for them.
“Can you unsaddle the horses?” Tuper asked.
“Of course,” one of the men said.
“I’d like to talk to Katie P.’s sister.”
One of the men turned to a teenager. “Run and get Mary P.” Then he turned to Tuper. “Jacob’s wife would like to speak to you. She’s in her apartment.”
Tuper left the group just as Benjamin rode up. The teenage boys buzzed around him asking him questions.
JP saw Mary P. coming toward the barn and went to meet her. “Please tell me everything you saw,” he said.
“Katie P. loves to explore and she runs off a lot. When she was discovered missing at the service, my father sent me to find her. I know she’s been captivated by Sabre so I went to the barn where you all meet. I thought I saw a car idling up the hill a little ways, so I walked toward it. I just got past the end of the barn, over there by the snowplow.” She pointed. “It looked like a man behind the wheel, but I couldn’t see well enough to tell for sure.”
“And you saw Sabre?”
“It looked like her getting in the front seat. I only saw her backside, but she had unser Leut clothes on and a scarf and no one else is missing from here. Another man was pointing his gun into the backseat when he slammed the front door shut. Then he got into the back and they drove away.”
“Did you see his face?”
“Not very well. He turned toward me and he looked around, but I don’t think he saw me. It was pretty dark. He was shorter than you, about Benjamin’s height, a little heavier I think. He didn’t have any facial hair.”
“Thanks, Mary,” JP said.
By the time JP got back to the barn, Tuper had returned and had started up his car. “Let’s go,” he said.
JP jumped in. “They have a helluva start on us.”
“I know, but Jacob is hopefully not too far behind them.”
“How will that help us? We don’t know where to go.”
Tuper handed him a piece of paper with just a phone number written on it. “As soon as we get to where we have enough bars, call this number. It’s the colony emergency phone. Jacob took it with him.”
JP sighed. That was the first good news he had heard all day.
Chapter 38
“Hello. This is Jacob.” He sounded uncomfortable speaking on the phone. JP imagined it was a fairly foreign experience for him.
“Jacob, this is JP. I’m here with Tuper. Where are you?”
“We are southwest of Great Falls in a small town called Ulm.”
“Are you still following the car?”
“They stopped at an old farmhouse. We’re about fifty yards from them, but we can’t see what’s going on. They’ve been in there about half an hour. The lights are on and they just lit the fireplace. We can see smoke coming out of the chimney. We are about to go confront him.”
“Don’t do that. We’re on our way. Just wait and watch. Call us if anything unusual happens.”
“I think we should go in.”
“Jacob, the man has a gun. You don’t. If he turned on the lights and lit the fireplace it appears he’s getting comfortable. He’s probably planning his next move.”
Jacob hesitated for a moment. “Okay, we’ll wait a little longer.”
***
Ron built the fire in the fireplace as he was instructed to do, turning his back on Gillich. Sabre stood next to Ron with Katie P. on her left. Gillich wanted them all in the same spot so he could keep an eye on them. Sabre wrapped her arm around Katie P., offering her what little comfort she could. Gillich stood about three feet from them with his gun pointed in their direction. The frightened child buried her face in Sabre’s skirt.
“What are you going to do with us?” Sabre asked.
Gillich glanced at his watch. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“Please don’t hurt Katie,” Sabre said. “We’ll go with you, do whatever you want, but you don’t need her.”
Ron took his time building the fire, using the pile of logs near the fireplace. He placed some kindling on the grate and then two large pieces of split wood. He lit the kindling. Then he picked up two small logs about three inches in diameter. He held on to them, keeping them in front of him so Gillich couldn’t see. He used one as a poker to move the wood around. Ron looked at Sabre and rolled his eyes toward the wood. She didn’t acknowledge him for fear Gillich would see.
Gillich looked at his watch and then stepped back toward the window and peeked out. Just as he did, Ron slipped one of the logs to Sabre. She folded it into the gathers of her skirt behind her back. Gillich checked the time again. At first Sabre thought he checked the window to see if they were alone, but the way he kept looking at the time, she decided he must be waiting for someone. Ron and Sabre had to do something before Gillich’s guest showed up.
Katie pulled her head out of Sabre’s skirt and glared at Gillich. “You’re a bad man,” Katie said.
“Shh, Katie,” Sabre said, pulling her closer. “Don’t talk to him.”
He stepped closer to them and leaned toward Katie, making an ugly face. “You’re right, little one. I’m a very bad man. Don’t you forget it.”
“Leave her alone,” Sabre said, stepping toward Gillich and pushing Katie further behind her.
But he leaned in a little further and Katie started to cry. Sabre saw that Gillich had dropped his hand down so the barrel of his gun was facing toward the floor. He was slightly bent over. This was her chance. She let go of Katie, grasped the log with both hands, raised her arms, and brought the log down toward his head as hard as she could. Gillich pulled up and the log hit him on the shoulder. Ron swung around and hit him with a log on the side of his arm. The gun fell to the floor and slid a few inches from Ron’s feet. Ron reached for it and then straightened back up; the image of his best friend lying on the floor with a hole through his heart flashed through his mind. For a second he froze, then he nudged the gun with his foot, pushing it about a foot away.
Gillich stumbled and fell forward, pushing Sabre against the fireplace. Ron reached his left arm out to stabilize her. She grabbed onto him. Gillich started to get up and Ron hit him again. Katie stood there with her arms jammed into her armpits, making her body as small as possible. Sabre yelled at her to run, but she seemed frozen in place. Sabre pushed Katie out in front of her just as Gillich reached for his gun. Ron kicked Gillich’s arm and Sabre snatched the gun.
“Go,” Ron yelled and hit Gillich again with the log he still had in his hand. The tip of the log hit the side of Gillich’s head and he slumped to the floor.
Sabre planted herself, raised the pistol, and pointed it directly at Gillich. “No, we go together.”
Ron took a step forward, ready to give Gillich another blow if needed.
“Is he out?”
“I’m not sure,” Ron answered. “You need to get Katie out of here.”
“Where are we going to go?” Sabre asked.
“We passed a farmhouse on the way that had lights on. Go there. I’ll catch up to you.”
Sabre turned around, swooped Katie up in her arms, opened the door, and began running toward the road. Every few steps, Sabre turned around to look to see if Ron or Gillich was following them. About twenty yards from the house, she turned for the third time and she saw Gillich come out the door and start after them. She didn’t see Ron, but she heard him yell, “Keep running, Sabre!”
Sabre ran faster, Katie bobbing in her arms. She wanted to go back and make sure Ron was all right, but she had to save Katie. Sabre was restricted by her skirt, which slowed her down. Gillich came closer and closer, gaining ground with every step. When he got too close, Sabre stopped, put Katie down, and pointed the gun at Gillich while yelling, “Stop, or I’ll shoot!” He kept coming. Sabre tried to steady her shaking hand. All she could think of was to try to hit the biggest part of the target. She aimed for his stomach.
Crack! The sound of a shot echoed through the air. Gillich dropped to the ground and the snow started to turn dark around him. She was sure it was blood, but it was too dark to see the color.
Sabre thought she heard the sound of a motorcycle coming from near a shed. She looked around but didn’t see any vehicle. She turned to Katie and pulled her into her skirt. Half a dozen male figures were running towards them. She couldn’t see their faces, but she knew by the way they were dressed that they were Hutterites.
As she looked back at the lump in the snow, she saw Ron running toward her.
“You shot him!” Ron said, grabbing Katie up in his arms and covering her face so she couldn’t see the body.
Sabre shook her head, but for a second she couldn’t speak. She forced herself to take some deep breaths. “What happened in the house?”
“Gillich jumped me. He hit me and knocked my head against the wall. I yelled to warn you, but I was dizzy and it took me a bit to get moving.”
“And then?”
“And then I came out and I heard the gunshot and saw Gillich fall to the ground.”
Neither of them walked toward Gillich. She looked again at the men approaching her and realized one of them was Jacob. “Take Katie to Jacob,” she ordered Ron.
He turned and they walked briskly toward an approaching car’s headlights. It didn’t take long for Sabre to realize it was Tuper’s car. Tuper drove toward Sabre. JP jumped out before Tuper could come to a complete stop. The lights from the car shone across Gillich’s body with a red puddle around his head. Sabre was still holding the gun.
“Are you okay?” JP asked. Then he looked toward the body. “Is that Gillich?”
“Yes.”
He looked from the gun to the body and back at Sabre. “Sabre, are you okay?” he asked again.
Sabre slowly scanned the group. Her eyes went from JP to Tuper, to the Hutterite men, and then to Ron. “Who shot him?” she asked.
Chapter 39
“You didn’t shoot him?” JP asked.
“No, it wasn’t me,” Sabre said.
JP took the gun she was holding, handling it as carefully as he could to avoid adding more fingerprints. He laid the barrel against the back of his hand. It felt cold. Then he opened the chamber. It was full. “This hasn’t been fired.”
“I know.”
“So, who did it?”
“I heard a noise coming from over there.” She pointed toward a shed to the right of them but closer to the house. “It sounded like an engine, but not like a car, more like a motorcycle. I didn’t see anything, though. I was too worried about Katie,” Sabre said.
JP ran in the direction of the shed. Tuper grabbed his rifle and a flashlight out of the car and ran after him.
Sabre and three of the Hutterite men walked over to Gillich. His blood soaked into the snow like a cherry snow cone. Sabre checked for a pulse. There was none.
The partially opened door of the small shed was on the side of the building facing the house. The door could not be seen from where Sabre and the others were gathered. JP pushed his boot against it. It creaked as it opened further. Tuper pointed his rifle inside while JP shined the flashlight. The shed contained only a couple of shovels and a pile of wood. JP flashed the light throughout the small shed checking the walls, ceiling, and corners, but he saw nothing of interest. They stepped back and JP pointed the flashlight at the ground around and near the shed. The light revealed footprints near a set of parallel tracks in the snow.
“Those are from a snowmobile and they’re fresh,” Tuper said.
They followed the tracks for a ways until they led off across the fields.
“Whoever was here is long gone,” JP said. They turned around and walked back to Sabre.
“We need to call the cops,” Sabre said. “We have to report this before someone else does.”
“People aren’t too quick to report a gunshot around here, even in the middle of the night,” Tuper said.
“We still need to call,” Sabre said.
“Ron, why don’t you go back to the colony with Jacob? They need to get Katie back there,” JP said. “Tuper, you can stay here or go with Ron, whichever you choose, but if you go, I’d like to keep your car so we can get back to the colony, if you don’t mind.”
“I’ll stay. I may be of some help.”
“I’m staying, too,” Ron said. “I’m not going to leave this mess for Sabre.”
“No, you go,” Sabre said adamantly. “I’ll be fine. They likely have a warrant for your arrest by now. Hopefully, there hasn’t been one issued for JP or me. Even if they have one, it won’t be as serious as yours.”
Tuper walked over to Ron and put his hand on his shoulder. “Go, Son, it’s all good.”
Ron left reluctantly. As soon as Ron and Katie P. had driven off with Jacob, Tuper took his cell out of his pocket. “I’ll make the call.”
The three of them sat in Tuper’s car and waited. In the fifteen minutes or so it took for the cops to arrive, Sabre related the entire story of the abduction.
“So Ron wasn’t with you when Gillich was shot?” JP asked.
“No, he was still in the house. Gillich knocked him out.” Sabre felt her face heat up. “You think Ron shot him?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“No, it’s not,” Sabre said. “You should have seen him in the house. Ron knocked Gillich’s gun out of his hand and it fell. Ron reached for it, but he froze. He couldn’t even pick it up.”
“I’m just saying. He was alone.”
Sabre shook her head. She was too tired and drained from all that had happened and didn’t have the strength to argue. She turned away from JP and looked out the window at the sparkling stars in the big sky. The view brought her a little peace.
“Tuper, how long do you think we have before the cops get here?” JP asked.
“About seven or eight minutes.”
“Will you wait here with Sabre?”
Tuper nodded and grabbed a pair of gloves from the glove compartment. “Here,” he said, and handed them to JP.
JP took the gloves and a flashlight, jumped out of the car, and hurried toward the farmhouse. He looked around inside for a gun that Ron may have used to shoot Gillich. When he found nothing, he pointed the flashlight around the outside of the front door but found the snow had not been disturbed except right in front where the four of them had walked in and out of the house. He saw a headlight in the distance coming up the road and hastened back to the car.
&
nbsp; “Find anything?” Tuper asked as JP slipped into the front seat.
“No.”
“Because there was nothing to find,” Sabre said, her voice rising.
The lights from the vehicle drew closer.
“Give me Gillich’s gun,” Tuper said. JP handed it to him. He took it by the handle, not making any effort to keep his prints off of it. “When they get here, it’d be best if I do the talking.” Tuper wasn’t looking for a response. He raised his hat, leaned his head back against the seat, and placed his hat down over his eyes.
Sabre wasn’t sure how to take that. She was used to being in control and she certainly knew how to talk to law enforcement. She cleared her throat to speak and then decided she would wait and see what she was dealing with when they arrived. She knew better than to incriminate herself, so maybe Tuper was right.
A single cop car with the words Cascade County Sheriff across the side drove up the driveway and pulled alongside of Tuper’s car. The lights from the cruiser illuminated the dead body like a flood lamp. Two men in uniforms exited the car. Tuper, Sabre, and JP got out as well and walked to meet them.
“Hello, Tuper,” the older of the two officers said.
“Officer Johnson,” Tuper said.
As the other officer was walking over to Gillich’s body, Johnson said, “What happened?”
“This man kidnapped a little girl, a man, and this woman,” he nodded at Sabre, “from the Hutterite colony. He took them to that house over there and held them at gunpoint. This woman hit him with a log, he dropped the gun, and they managed to get away. He got up and came after them, but before he could catch them someone shot him. We think the shot came from over there by that shed.” He pointed to the right of the house.
“Were you here?” Johnson asked.
“No. I came as soon as I heard about the kidnapping.”
“Where’s the little girl?”
“She went back to the colony with her father.”
“And the man’s gun?”
The Advocate's Felony Page 18
