by A P Bateman
“Damn she’s smart!” The man holding on to Stone looked at his companion with the two shotguns. “Don’t you think? Now cover him while I get him inside.”
Beth bent down and reached inside. She popped the trunk and stood back up, the Glock held steadily in a two handed grip. She shot the nearest man in the forehead. Stone dropped to the ground, the dead man fell on top of him. She swung the weapon to the right and double tapped the man holding the shotguns in the face. He went down and the two shotguns clattered on the driveway.
Stone struggled out from under the dead man. Beth bent down and pulled the body off him. She helped him up and kissed him on the lips. She pulled away and smiled at him.
“For a moment you had me worried,” Stone said. “I said gun in door pocket, not I love you…”
She patted his cheek gently with the palm of her hand and smiled when he flinched a little. “You’ve got to admit it, tough guy… You love me a little more now than you did before.”
19
Stone and Beth got the two bodies loaded into the trunk of the GMC Yukon the two men had arrived in. There was a gallon can of gas, a lighter and a coil of rope in the back. Stone felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought of how it could well have played out. He rummaged through the pants pockets of both men and found the keys for the vehicle. He also took out their wallets and tucked them into his jacket pocket. They both had cell phones which Stone kept too. They were basic burners. Cash bought out of state and unregistered Stone imagined. Stone looked at the lighter. It was a stainless steel Zippo with a US Marine Corps insignia engraved into it. He wondered if one of the men had been a marine. Or had they got the lighter from Bart? He pocketed the lighter, figured he’d confront Bart Conrad with it later.
Beth kept the Glock. She wore it in a side holster on her belt, between the cuffs and retractable baton. Stone gave her the original magazine and the carton of loose bullets. She had some Glock magazines in her drawer and loaded them, tossed the empty carton in the trash bin near her desk.
Stone checked over the shotguns. There was a box of shells in the Yukon. They had twenty-five BB no 6 shot cartridges with 32g loads. Stone liked the stagecoach shotgun, he gave Beth the Remington pump-action. It held five rounds.
“How did you contact me, Beth?”
“There’s a cell signal thirty-five miles west of here. There is a signal ten miles east but it’s weak and not enough to use the web. I used my smartphone to Google you. Pulled in a few favours, managed to get your office voicemail number,” she said. “But there was no way of receiving a call from you out here. That’s why I left you so many messages trying to tie up a specific time I could call and that you would pick up. You must have thought I’d gone mad.”
“I was concerned, that’s all.”
“It’s all gone crazy.”
“Tell me about Josh.” Stone put the coffee pot under the percolator.
“Here, let me. You’re doing it all wrong,” she smiled. Stone stood back as she poured water in the top and put a new filter in. He recognised her need for a distraction. “Josh is sixteen. He was bored crazy here. It didn’t work out like I wanted it to. He talked about going to see his dad. I didn’t want him to, stopped him from going. Michael wouldn’t have wanted him anyway. He would have cramped his style, no doubt trying to get in some cheerleader’s panties. Most probably the daughter or child-bride of some VIP he’s protecting someplace,” she said bitterly, then looked forlorn. “If only I had let him go.”
“When did he go missing?”
“Three months ago. Things came to a head in town. I started laying down the law pretty hard, made a lot of arrests and transferred the prisoners to the County Police Department for processing and prosecution. Claude Conrad spoke to me about it, gave me ultimatums. I ignored him. Josh went out one day, never came back. Claude Conrad let me fret and worry, initiate a search. He even searched alongside me. It got dark and I was getting desperate. I had an emotional moment, a mother’s moment. I broke down and cried. He just smiled and gave me this.” She opened her drawer and took out a photograph. She dropped it on the desk and turned back to the coffee machine. It was brewed and she started to pour, shaking her head. “The bastard.”
Stone looked at the photo. Josh was bare chested and wearing only jeans. He had been beaten and was covered in mud and grime. Stone placed the photo carefully on the desk in front of him.
“That was your time to go to Portland. Speak with the FBI.”
“I know. I fucked up. I was scared as a mother. The cop left me, the Secret Service agent wasn’t there anymore,” she said, wiping a tear from her cheek. “I was just a terrified mother, scared for her son’s safety.”
Stone took the coffee she handed him. He poured in some UHT creamer from a carton and spooned in a couple of sugars. Going back to black and sour was going to be hard after this, but he needed the lift.
“That’s what you are, Beth,” Stone said. “You’re his mom. Claude Conrad knew he had you the moment he gave you that photo.”
She tugged at the shock of white hair. It looked like a lightning bolt in a pitch black sky. “This practically happened overnight, was completely white within a few days. The result of trauma, no doubt about it. It won’t take hair dye either. Deborah offered to dye it for me and it didn’t work. Morticia Adams? You really can be a dick sometimes, Rob.”
“Sorry,” he said dumbly.
She shrugged. “So what do I do?”
“We,” Stone corrected her. “Well, first we need to find out what is going on. And where they are holding Josh.”
“What about the FBI?”
“We need to know more. And we need to know what we’re up against. There have been six men, heavies, taken out of the picture.”
“Six? I thought these guys made four.”
“No. I ran into trouble at the diner. One has a broken elbow and the other has a broken knee. They’re out of it.”
“Well, we haven’t even scratched the surface.” Beth drank down some coffee.
“The snake maybe long, but it still only has one head. Cut off the head and the snake is dead.”
“So we remove Claude Conrad. How legal are we doing this?”
“Oh, I think legal was off the table a long time ago.” Stone shifted in his chair. His ribs were sore. His face was swollen and he had hurt his fist on one of the guy’s faces at the timber yard. “What are your impressions of Bart Conrad?”
“He’s a Conrad,” she replied. “He’s loyal to his brothers, but he’s more worldly. He doesn’t have stakes in the town, just concentrates on his apple and cider business. But he’s still a Conrad.”
“I know. But I went to talk to him. He got the jump on me with an M4 rifle. I turned my back on him after the conversation was finished. He didn’t shoot. We were on the mountain, nobody for miles. Plenty of ground for him to bury me in.”
“He stands by his brothers,” Beth said. “But he’s never in town so much. He works all the time. He’s not as brash and bullish as Big Dave, he’s far quieter.”
“They’re usually the ones to watch,” Stone commented. “He said he borrowed off Claude to buy the orchards. Do you think he’s beholden to Claude?”
“I don’t know,” Beth replied. “Claude gets his fingers deep into things. He owns a lot of property in town. He owns the freehold on many businesses, leases them out. But now he dictates where the businesses buy their stock. He must get a cut of that as well. Big Dave hauls it in at an extra cost.”
“It’s like communism. And we all know how that turned out,” said Stone. “Who do you think sent those two heavies?”
“I’ve seen them with both Claude and Big Dave.”
“I wound up Big Dave earlier.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I beat up a couple of his guys. Nothing bad. Then he hit me, I hit him. He broke his knuckles punching that Colt in my inside pocket,” Stone smiled. “He most probably sent those men straight down to
find me.”
“But killing you? You saw the gas and the rope, and they were taking you at gunpoint. They were not here to beat you up. They were here to take you somewhere and kill you Rob.”
“Yeah, well nothing seems balanced in these parts.”
“So what do we do now?”
“I think it’s time to visit the mayor of this town.”
20
Stone drove the GMC Yukon while Beth led the way in the Dodge Challenger police cruiser. She drove rapidly and Stone was at the Yukon’s handling limits as the road narrowed and grew steadily more twisty as they made their way higher up the mountain. The light was fading on this side, and the air was cold. The sky was clear and blue, but Stone could see how the mountain affected the sunlight. How important the mountain was for both shelter and light, for growing both apples and pine. The Conrad brothers relied on the mountain as much as they did on the town below.
The forest was thick beside this stretch of road. Thick and dark and tangled. Like an evil fairy tale Disney forest full of fear and despair, full of reasons never to step into. Stone watched it grow thicker and darker, he was usually attracted to forests, but not this one.
Beth slowed in front, indicated and pulled onto a track. The track was rough and Stone couldn’t help thinking she should have brought her 4x4. The Yukon glided over smoothly. The track was narrow, the trees growing inwards so that the vehicles were almost constantly scraped by the tips of the branches and newly sprouting buds and shoots.
After a mile Beth slowed and pulled into a clearing. Stone pulled in behind her, switched off the engine and got out.
“What’s this place?”
“Devil’s drop.”
Stone frowned. He walked through the clearing and saw the light behind the trees. He could see a mountain ahead of him, and a void out in front. Beth caught him up, walked beside him. The trees thinned and they were met by the sudden abyss. Over two-thousand feet below Stone could see an emerald body of water and a road at the base of the mountain across the valley. It dawned on him that they now stood at the top of the sheer cliff he had driven past on his way to see both Bart and Big Dave Conrad.
“Long way down.”
“And deep too,” Beth said. “Are you ready to do this?”
“Are you?” Stone asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“This is where it starts. There’s no going back. Doctor Fallon most likely has a rudimentary morgue facility. We could store the bodies there while you prepare a case.”
“And what about the bodies you left in the woods?” She shook her head. “You killed someone with their back to you. You’ll be charged with murder.”
“I could take my chances.”
“I want my town back,” she said quietly. “The Conrad brothers need shutting down. People need to get their lives back. It’s beyond legalities and case-building. I’m not risking my son’s life for the FBI to get nowhere, give Claude Conrad time to clean house.”
“So it’s just like the wild west.”
“Exactly. And I’m the sheriff. I’m taking my town back.”
“Rehearse that on the way up?”
“A little,” she smiled. “Did I overdo it?”
Stone studied her face. The smile seemed to light her up, a heart-felt glow emanating like a beacon of warmth. “Nah, it was alright.” Stone put an arm around her. “I’ll help you get your son back.”
“Whatever it takes?”
“Whatever it takes.”
Beth stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek. She felt warm and smelled slightly of vanilla. Her cheek remained close, her lips still brushing his skin. “Thank you,” she whispered into his ear, her breath hot and fresh.
Stone stepped back, his pulse quickening. He wanted to hold her, kiss her back. Hard and wet on her mouth. Beth had always been a tough habit to break, and he felt a pang of guilt. He was in a relationship.
Sort of, kind of.
Geography was a bitch.
Could he stay in his relationship with a five-hour commute and no relocation possibilities on the horizon? Doubtful. Could he push for a transfer again? The Secret Service operated all over the country, but he had the Washington posting for a reason. He was the President’s man. The go to guy for the most powerful man in the world. Each president had one, unofficially. His last task had been to investigate a CIA black operation using bio-enhanced assassins. This had led him to a bio-research facility and by chance, the director’s attempt to release a virus in order to make a fortune from the antidote with a pharmaceutical company. The Ares Virus and the need for its containment had led him to meet his sort of, kind of partner. Isobel Bartlett was a genius in her field, with a strong moral compass, and her subsequent recruitment by the World Health Organization was a pivotal moment in her career. He did not want to ask her to give it up, but nor did he feel he could leave a good man surrounded by the hyenas of Washington politics and the majority senate. The President, an honest and just politician, was Stone’s priority for the rest of his term. And then there was the strong possibility of re-election. The poles looked good for the man in the Whitehouse.
Stone felt a pang of guilt. Now using his considerable amount of built up leave to help an old friend - a former lover - instead of time spent with Isobel confounded his situation even more so.
Stone walked back to the Yukon and got behind the wheel. His pulse raced and his loins ached, a sudden flush of unquenched passion. He had forgotten how attractive Beth was. How warm and inviting the prospect of being intimate with her really could be. Again, the guilt and confusion tore through him as he started the big SUV and drove steadily towards the cliff edge. The smaller trees and saplings twisted and broke beneath the wheels of the big SUV and sprung against the doors and windows. Stone left the engine running and put the vehicle in park. He edged his way to the precipice and looked at the drop. It was completely sheer. Vertical all the way to the emerald water below. He took a small sapling and shredded the smaller twigs off it with his hands. He reached in through the drivers-side window and slipped the gearbox into drive. There was a little forward movement, or positive creep, as the manufacturers called it. The gradual forward motion made for more efficient hill-starts. Stone reached the stick in through the window and rested it on the accelerator pedal. He glanced at Beth, more to make sure she was clear than for conformation for what he was about to do, then pressed as hard as he could. The great SUV lunged forwards, its powerful V8 revving hard and the tyres spun briefly before biting into the earth. Stone stood aside as the vehicle powered through the undergrowth and disappeared from sight. Both he and Beth walked to the edge, where there was just time to see the car, as tiny as a toy dropping into the bath, spin in the air, unbalanced by the large engine, turn over and hit the water roof first. There was an almighty echo, not dissimilar to a gunshot, which reverberated throughout the valley and almost as quickly, silence fell once more.
Stone watched the waves ripple out and break on the shoreline of the elongated lake. The waves travelled the entire length too, hundreds of them and after a full minute, the lake went still once more, enveloping its secret before them.
21
“So how do you want to play it?”
Beth shrugged. She drove the road quickly, the cruiser rolling through the turns, its tyres squealing. “We go see Claude, I guess,” she said. “Shove a gun up his ass and tell him I want my boy back.”
“And plan B?”
“What’s wrong with plan A?”
“He has a lot of help. You said yourself how many guns there are registered in this parish. I know the state of Oregon issues a great many conceal-carry permits, and this county will be no exception.”
“We should have it covered.” She said, tapping the butt of the Remington in the foot well beside her.
Stone smiled. “Well, this is the Beth I know. Never one to back out of a fight.”
“Feels good,” she replied. “I’d forgotten how good. Like a lot of things.”
She looked at him, cocked her head rather coyly. “I’ve missed you, Rob.”
“I’ve missed you too,” he said, a little lamely.
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.” He nodded ahead of them and she looked back at the road and swerved before the corner, got the vehicle back on line. “So, we just rock on up to Claude Conrad’s place and do what?”
She stared ahead, her tone changed. “Sort of, kind of girl again?”
“Beth, I’m here to help.”
“But no more than that,” she stated flatly.
Stone shrugged. “How many men does Claude have working for him?”
“A few,” she replied curtly. “He had a lot more when he was trying to get the silver mine up and running.” Her tone softened slightly. “I think he has some men helping him rebuild and develop his house. It’s Big Dave who has all the help around here. Loggers, machinists, drivers and gofers.”
“What about Bart?” Stone asked. “Apple picking time needs labour.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Beth replied sharply. “Big Dave lends some, I think.”
“Subcontracts the work?”
“Sort of.”
Stone watched her. She looked tense. He knew she was annoyed he had not reciprocated; either when she kissed him and lingered, or when she had left some openings for him in the earlier conversation. He wanted to help her, knew she was vulnerable. He would have to try and steer her away from going down that road again. “Well let’s go see the mayor and see what he has to say,” he paused. “But keep that piece holstered for the time being. Let’s go talk about your son.”
The forest was still thick and dark and tangled. As uninviting and ominous as before. The light was truly fading now; the last glimmer of golden sunlight had just dropped below the mountain. Instantly, the temperature plummeted and Stone wound up his window.
The road started to drop steadily and after a few miles the forest started to thin out. There were more pines now, growing in rows, planted with precision.
