“What beautiful countryside.”
She was jolted awake and saw they were out of the city and very much in the country. “How long was I asleep?”
“Long enough for me to hear three different kinds of snoring.”
She put a hand over her face. “Really? I was snoring?”
“Only in the most polite way.”
She pushed herself up into the seat. “That’s dreadful. I’m sorry.”
He took a deep breath. “I should do this more often. I need to take more breaks.”
“It’s not a vacation, though. It’s work.”
“Allow me a moment to pretend I’m off to have a weekend of R&R. Even when I take vacations they aren’t really vacations. I’m always thinking about the job. More often than not, I’m called back in. There’s no real time that’s ‘off duty.’”
“It’s not so much a job then, it’s a lifestyle.”
“You got it.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
“I do. I like fitting the pieces together and there’s no greater sense of satisfaction than a job well done and getting a bad guy off the streets at the same time.” He glanced over at her. “Or a bad gal.”
“That’s okay. I took guy to include females. Like when the Bible says man, it often refers to man and woman, but not always.” She smoothed down her hair. “So, you don’t take time off until you wrap up a case?”
“If the case demands it I don’t.”
“That can’t be good for you.”
“That’s just the way things are. Life’s never perfect. We humans are always striving for something. When we reach one goal, there’s always another one that captures our attention.”
She knew what he meant. Over the last few years she’d done about fifteen ‘last’ jobs. It wasn’t that she needed the money, and she knew each time she stole there was the risk of getting caught. There was nothing so enticing as a new job, though, and no words to describe the euphoria that came when she found out she’d gotten away with it. “That was my last job, the one that I did where Ryan Castle played a part. Only job if anyone wants to know. The only one I’m officially admitting to.”
“Did you enjoy stealing? You must have plenty of money by now.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, if that’s okay. It’s all in the past.”
“Fair enough.”
“I was caught because I trusted someone.”
“Yes, that was a bad decision.” He seemed amused. “The man you loved double-crossed you.”
She had to agree, but did he have to rub it in? “Enough about me. Are you married?” She glanced at his finger—no wedding ring, as she'd already noted. “I see you don’t wear a ring. And your wife would have to be pretty understanding since you’re never home.”
“Never been married.”
She waited for more, but nothing came. “No long story to entertain me? Why has no woman ever trapped you in her web? Come on, you know everything about me, and I know nothing about you.”
He glanced over at her. “I very much doubt I know everything about you.” He looked at the car’s dashboard. “According to the GPS it’s only five miles away.”
“Get your gun ready.”
“Always is.”
Two miles further along, he turned up a dirt track. “It’s rough, and they had rain a few hours ago which would’ve washed away any tracks.”
When the cabin finally came into view, there was no sign of life and no car in sight.
“I’ll knock. You stay in the car. I’ll leave the keys in the ignition. There’s a gun in the glove box, but it’s strictly for emergencies.”
“I don’t know how to use it.”
“Remind me to show you. It's a good skill to have, just in case.”
When he was halfway to the house, she scooted over into the driver’s seat and then leaned back to the passenger side and carefully took the gun out of the glove box. It was heavier than she thought it would be. After she turned it over and had a good look at it, she placed it on the seat beside her in case she needed it.
From the car, Gretel watched Jack knock on the door and when there was no answer, he moved to look in the windows. He walked around the back and when he was out of sight, she became nervous. What if he was shot and they came after her? She looked down at the gun. Did she just need to pull the trigger or was there some kind of lock on it? It might be better if she drove away, but no, she couldn’t leave Jack alone unless he’d been killed. She shook her head hoping none of what she’d thought about would happen. This place was giving her the chills.
A few minutes later he was back. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
She opened the car door and got out. “Yes. This is it. Should we go in?”
“Not yet. We have to wait for the warrant.”
“What warrant?” She stared at Jack. Surprises of any kind weren’t good.
Chapter 16
“Didn’t I mention it?”
“You said nothing about a warrant.” She had thought it was going to be just the two of them and if a warrant was coming from somewhere, someone had to be bringing it.
“I’ve got the local police coming soon and I had the email I got earlier today from Judge Wryner emailed to them.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize.”
He took a step closer. “Gretel, if we don’t do things by the book there’s no point. If we find the diamonds on the premises and we have no warrant it won’t go down well in court. It won’t count if it’s unlawful entry. In my career I’ve seen too many criminals walk because of improper procedure.”
“Got it.” She nodded. “I don’t think of all those things. I just want him to be found with the diamonds.” In her mind, things had played out differently. She’d brought her lock picking tools and then she thought she’d break in after they’d argued about it, that he’d finally agree to her picking the lock, and then they’d search every inch of the place. “How long will they take to get here?”
He glanced at his watch. “They should be here any time now.”
Just then they heard cars. A police car appeared through the trees, followed by another one.
Jack walked over to meet them when they pulled up. They introduced themselves while Gretel stood back. Then the uniformed officers moved ahead of him and knocked on the door again. They yelled out, and then they entered the premises by kicking down the door.
When the four police officers walked into the house, Jack turned to Gretel. “Are you coming?”
“Sure.” She walked past the broken lock. If they’d asked her, she could’ve got them in without destroying anything, but that clearly wasn’t the way they did things. There was a faint smell of smoke and she walked over to the fireplace. “There’s been a fire here recently.”
“Strange ... it’s not cold enough yet for that,” said Jack.
“It gets cold at night, and the fire might not have been for keeping him warm. He might have been burning something. Documents, evidence, who knows?”
“True. They’ll collect the ashes and have them sent for testing.”
She walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge and picked up a partly-consumed carton of milk. “Two days until its use-by date.” He always had milk in his coffee. “Someone has been here recently. What if he’s just gone out somewhere and he’s coming back?”
“He’ll get a big surprise. I wonder if the diamonds are stashed in here somewhere or buried outside like you suggested?” He walked closer to her. “I’ll have them look around and see if there’s any sign of anything being freshly dug.”
“Can I look around out there now?”
He nodded. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
She walked out of the cabin and unease skittered down her spine. Was she being watched? She looked around. Nothing could be seen beyond the cabin but trees. She walked around the house looking for suitable areas where he could’ve buried the diamonds. The trouble with hunting for diamonds was that they were so small—they
could’ve been hidden anywhere. Even still in the cabin, in the walls or hidden in hollowed out furniture. It was impossible to search every inch.
After twenty minutes looking around the outside area, she gave up. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. She headed back to the cabin. Jack was talking to one of the officers beside their cars. Then they looked back at the house and from Jack’s hand movements, she knew he was asking them to do a search of the surrounding area.
She waited by the house for Jack. When the police were gone, Jack walked over to her. “They came up with nothing.”
“I guessed that. He’s left nothing here. No clothing. The only sign he’s been here is the milk.”
“And the recent fire.”
“Can I have one more look inside?”
“Sure.”
Back inside, she walked around the kitchen examining the cabinetry for odd-looking joins. Then she moved to the bathroom and did the same. Lastly, she checked the furniture. There was nothing anywhere to indicate anything hidden. There were the walls, but she couldn’t really take to them with a sledgehammer. That went beyond the scope of a search warrant.
She flung herself down on the couch, defeated. “I was hoping he’d be here, and I would find him and the diamonds.”
Jack leaned against the living room wall. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Sometimes life—”
“Please don’t give me any speeches. I’ve had enough of those from my family to last a lifetime.”
He chuckled. “What about friends or relatives of Ryan?”
She sighed. “I never met any of them. He said his parents once owned this place. He told me they’re both dead, but any or all of that could be a lie.”
“That’s right.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Do you mean to tell me you didn’t know?”
“Didn’t know what?”
“This place is in a company name which we eventually traced to him.”
“Okay.” She stared at him wondering what point he was making.
“You didn’t know who Ryan Castle’s father was?”
She shrugged. “Mr. Castle I presume?”
“No, it wasn't, and Ryan Castle is not his real name.” He kept staring at her. “All the way up here I was waiting for you to say something. I can’t believe you don’t know.”
“Tell me!”
“Ryan’s father was Earl Butterworth.”
Her mouth fell open. Josephine Welch’s first husband was Earl Butterworth. Ryan was involved in the case they were working on.
Chapter 17
Gretel’s headache came back with a vengeance. She put her hand to her forehead. Kent should’ve been the one to tell her that Castle wasn’t Ryan's real name. That was the kind of information she paid him for. She dropped her hands into her lap and looked up at Jack. “Who is his father?” she asked hoping to get a different answer.
“None other than Earl Butterworth.”
“Earl Butterworth is Josephine’s first husband. So Earl was married to someone before Josephine and they had Ryan?”
“Correct.”
“So Ryan’s stepmother is Josephine?”
He nodded.
“I never knew.”
“He was in boarding school for much of his life, didn’t even come home for the holidays.”
“That was not nice.”
“You had no idea?”
“No. Why didn’t you tell me? When did you find all this out?”
“Earlier today when we were organizing the search warrant.”
Gretel sighed, looking at the floorboards. “The two cases are linked. You thought you were working on two and now it’s kind of one. I had no idea,” she repeated. “I didn’t even know that Castle wasn’t his real name. He had me completely fooled.”
“Gretel, I have to ask you this.”
“Ask me anything.” She held her breath hoping he wasn’t going to outright ask if she’d been back to the Welch mansion to look in the safe.
“Is there anything about the case or Ryan Castle that you’re holding back?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Good.” His serious face relaxed slightly. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Their eyes locked and she wondered if he believed her. Did he think she’d say so if she was keeping something from him? There was no way she could tell him about going back to the Welch house that night to steal and seeing another man who might’ve also been there to steal.
Then they heard cars. He hurried to the window. “We’ve got company.” He drew a gun out of his back pocket.
“Who is it?” She jumped off the couch and peered out the window to see two large 4x4 vehicles.
Men poured out of the vehicles and they all had big guns. Ryan had sent people there to kill them, she was certain of it.
“Let’s go.” He pulled on her arm and they ran out the back door and into the trees. He then called for backup.
They heard one of the men yelling. “They’re on the run.”
They were going to be hunted down like prey and then killed. The men knew they were there because Jack’s car was parked outside. After they’d been running for several minutes, working their way up a rise, they stopped and turned around. They couldn’t see anyone after them.
“Who are they?” she asked, trying to catch her breath.
“Colombians, by the looks,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t mind betting this has something to do with drugs. Come on, we’ve got to keep on the move.”
Drugs and diamonds? They turned and kept running. “Where are we going?”
“Anywhere. We’re going up the hill so we can see them if they come after us.” After a while they stopped again and looked back. “Can you see anything?”
“No.”
“We need to keep going.”
“What if they’re not following us?”
“I’m not willing to take that risk.”
“The police are coming, aren’t they?”
“Hopefully.”
A bullet sounded and he pushed her to the ground. She was still alive; she looked over at him to see his shoulder bleeding. “You’ve been hit.”
He looked down, holding his arm and gritting his teeth. Then he jumped up and pulled her to her feet. “GO!”
She was too scared to leave, but he started running and she had to follow. “Aren’t you going to shoot back?”
“Not until I get a clear shot.”
A bullet zinged past them again. This was too real.
“That was close,” he said pulling on her arm and running even faster. He stopped when he saw some discarded building materials. Then he pulled her behind some corrugated iron that was wedged between a clump of trees. “I see him,” Jack said right before he took aim and fired.
Another shot was fired at them and bored straight through the iron right beside her. It sent their make-shift barrier flying. Jack pushed her to the ground and covered her with his body.
Police sirens sounded in the distance.
Would they arrive when it was too late?
“Stay still.” Jack raised himself up. “They’re leaving.”
“Are you sure?”
“They’re heading back to the cabin. I’ve got eyes on two of them.” He pulled out his cell phone. “No service.”
Gretel sat up and saw his blood-soaked shoulder. “You’ve got to get to a hospital.” He stood up, tore off his shirt, ripped it into strips and gave her a section. “Wrap this around the wound. It just needs pressure to stop the bleeding.”
She took her eyes off his abs long enough to bandage his shoulder.
Shots rang out again and he pushed her back to the ground and covered her with his body. Her face was pressing against the earth. She closed her eyes tightly.
It sounded like there was a shootout back at the cottage. After a while, the shooting subsided, and they sat up.
“What if they’ve shot all the police?”
“Then more would
be on their way and they’d know that. I’m sure that’s the end of it.”
Gretel hoped he was right.
“You stay here and hide the best you can. I’ll go down and take a look.”
“I’m coming too.”
He turned to face her and put both hands up. “Stay, Gretel.”
“No. I’ll come with you.”
“You’ll need to be prepared to run again.”
“I used to run track. I’ve got good endurance I can run all day, just don’t leave me here alone.”
He huffed. “Stay close behind me.”
When they reached the cabin, they saw the two police cars but the two SUVs were gone.
“I hope they’re not waiting for us in the cabin,” she whispered.
He turned around to face her. “You stay here.” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the keys. “If anything happens get the hell out of here.”
She grabbed the keys. “Be careful.”
He didn’t answer her; he walked ten paces and stopped still. Gretel ran up to see what he was staring at. Bodies lay there motionless, lifeless, and cold. Gretel counted them. There were eight. Four of them were the shooters and four were the police.
She covered her mouth as she cried out, and then her legs gave way beneath her.
Chapter 18
Jack rushed to her side and with an arm around her waist moved her to where she couldn’t see the bodies. “Keep calm.”
“I’m okay.”
“I need to make a call.” He pulled out his cell phone and spoke to someone. Gretel didn’t even know what was said. Then he sat on the ground with her. “They’re two minutes away. Have you seen a dead body before?”
“Once or twice, unfortunately. Were these people after Ryan or us?”
“Ryan I’d guess. They were too late, just like us. Where is Ryan Butterworth headed?” he said as though speaking his thoughts aloud. He stood up and held out his hand. “Sit in the car until the police come. It’s much more comfortable.”
Shiny Things Page 9
