Army Ranger Redemption

by Carol Ericson

  Jim swiped the back of his hand across his tingling nose.

  He went out the back way and hopped in the running car. “You didn’t see anything unusual?”

  “No.” She backed the car out of the driveway. “Unless you count stillness as unusual. The forest seems hushed today, like it’s holding its breath.”

  “That’s your hypersensitivity kicking in. Let’s just hope you’re off base this time and there’s no impending tragedy waiting for Timberline.”

  “If there is, we’re on the path to divert it.”

  Scarlett drove to the reservation as if the answer was waiting for them there, but Jim didn’t think it was going to be that easy.

  He tapped her thigh. “Slow down, lead foot.”

  “I actually have my foot on the brake. It’s speeding up downhill.”

  Scarlett waved to Prudence and her grandmother on the way into the reservation and then pulled up in front of Granny’s house.

  Scarlett called out as she opened the unlocked front door. Sitting in the same chair as before, Evelyn raised her head from her knitting, her dark eyes glowing in her lined face.

  Scarlett crossed the room and dropped to her knees at her grandmother’s side. “Are you okay, Granny? You look tired.”

  The old woman rested her hand on top of Scarlett’s head as her gaze met Jim’s. “Your brother was attacked.”

  “He was. The news spread already?”

  “Is he going to live?”

  “The doctors don’t know yet. Fifty-fifty, they’re telling me.”

  “Get him out of Timberline as soon as you can.”

  Scarlett touched Evelyn’s knee. “What do you know, Granny? We think more kidnappings are planned, and there are drugs—missing drugs. As soon as those drugs get into the hands of the wrong people, the kidnappings will start.”

  Her knitting needles paused and she closed her eyes. “I don’t know why he kidnapped those children.”

  “But you know who? Was it Uncle Danny?”

  “Not then.” Evelyn combed the yarn in her lap with trembling fingers. “Danny wasn’t the leader, but he followed him and did his bidding as part of the Q-gang.”

  “Who, Evelyn? Who ordered the kidnappings and why?”

  “Do you remember him, Scarlett? Rocky Whitecotton?”

  A furrow formed between Scarlett’s eyebrows. “Whitecotton? Tommy’s family?”

  “Yes, a cousin or something, a big man, a force in the tribe, but one that fomented dissent and hatred. He tried to recruit your father, but he had better luck with Danny.”

  “Are you saying Rocky Whitecotton was behind the kidnappings, Granny?”

  “Everyone thought so.”

  “But nobody told the sheriff’s department or the FBI?” Jim ground his teeth together. The Quileute were no better than the Lords of Chaos—protecting their own at the expense of others.

  “We didn’t know for sure, Jim. He terrified the rest of us, threatened us. Nobody ever had any proof, just our suspicions.”

  Scarlett hopped to her feet, running a hand through her hair. “Rocky’s been gone for years.”

  Evelyn nodded. “Just about twenty-five years.”

  “Why?” Scarlett flung her arms out to her sides like wings. “Why would Rocky Whitecotton kidnap three children from Timberline?”

  “That I can’t tell you, Scarlett. I can only give you the long-held suspicions of an old woman, but I know Rocky had some criminal organization going and he recruited Danny and tried to recruit your father.”

  A sharp pain lanced her temple and Scarlett sucked in a breath. “The accident that snatched away my family happened before the kidnappings.”

  “Yes.” Granny’s eyes dropped to the discarded knitting in her lap.

  “Do you think...?” Scarlett took a turn around the room, the pain in her head turning into a dull throbbing. “Could my father have been punished for refusing to go along with Rocky?”

  Granny placed a thin hand to her forehead. “You don’t think that didn’t occur to me all these years?”

  Jim put his arm around her waist and drew her close. “And now Danny is back to do more of Rocky’s bidding. I think it’s time we call Agent Harper and tell him everything we know.”

  “But if Chewy or any of the other Lords get their hands on those drugs, they’ll be ready and willing to carry out Danny’s plans.”

  “We won’t stop looking for the drugs, but we need the full resources of law enforcement to stop Danny, and there’s no way we can count on Sheriff Musgrove.”

  Granny shook her head. “Danny may already have Musgrove in his back pocket. Don’t trust him.”

  Her lips touched Jim’s ear and she whispered, “Should we tell her about the clue?”

  “Maybe she can help.”

  “Granny, Jim’s brother left him a clue about the location of the drugs before he was attacked. It was, ‘Find the drugs, stop the kidnappings. Begin at the beginning.’ Does that mean anything to you?”

  “If your brother knows about Rocky, it could mean here at the reservation, since Rocky seems to be the start of all of this, but Danny would know that, too.”

  Jim snapped his fingers. “Dax would leave me a clue that only the two of us would understand.”

  “Which brings us back to your father’s cabin. That’s where someone tried to kidnap you.”

  “Maybe Dax didn’t mean the beginning of the Timberline Trio case or the Lords involvement in it. Dax had no way of knowing how much Scarlett and I had figured out.”

  Scarlett rubbed a circle on Jim’s back. “The beginning of something between the two of you.”

  “We were never close, Dax and I. There was a big age gap between us, and he started following in Dad’s footsteps pretty early on.”

  “So, it wouldn’t be the beginning of the Lords of Chaos, since that wouldn’t mean much to you.”

  Granny tapped her needles together. “The beginning—every birth is a beginning.”

  “We were even born in different hospitals.”

  “Even before that, then. The beginning for the two of you. The beginning of the Kennedy family. Something just the brothers would know.”

  Jim’s body stiffened.

  “You know? You remember something?”

  “Dax was older than I was when our mom left. He always had a soft spot for her, never blamed her for leaving. He used to tell me that Mom said the only happy memory she had of our father was the day he proposed.”

  “The beginning.” Scarlett squeezed his hand. “Was there someplace special he proposed?”

  “Under the Kennedy Christmas tree.”

  “In the cabin?” Scarlett tilted her head.

  “In the forest, by the old mine, where Carson stashed the kids he kidnapped a few months ago. My parents used to hang out at that mine—smoke cigarettes, do whatever teenagers do. There’s a pine tree there and that’s where my father proposed to her. For some reason, Dax loved that story, probably because it was the only softness in his life and reminded him of Mom.”

  “Do you think he’d bury the drugs there?”

  “It’s a place only he and I would know about.”

  “Then let’s go. If we have some concrete proof in the form of drugs, the FBI is going to have to take a closer look.”

  “Let’s go back to my place to get some shovels and tools. I’m going to call Duke Harper on the way.”

  Scarlett broke away from Jim and kissed Granny on the cheek. “Thanks for the information, Granny. Don’t worry. We’ll be okay.”

  Jim squeezed Granny’s hands. “I’ll take care of her, Evelyn.”

  When they got outside, Jim held out his hand. “Do you want me to drive?”

  “I got this. I’m the one with th
e lead foot, remember?” She pulled away from Granny’s house and made the right turn out of the reservation just as the skies opened and rain hit the windshield faster than the wipers could keep up.

  The car crested the hill and started its descent, and Scarlett hunched forward in her seat to peer through the water sloshing across her windshield. The car picked up speed.

  “I wasn’t joking about the lead foot, Scarlett. Slow down.”

  “I—I can’t.” Scarlett pumped the brakes again and heard the sickening sound of metal on metal as the car lurched to the right.

  Her entire family had died in a car crash on this road, and it looked like she was about to meet the same fate.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jim gripped the edge of his seat as the car skimmed the shoulder of the road, wet leaves and branches slapping his window. The greenery flew past him in a blur, and his heart thundered in his chest.

  Scarlett had both hands on the steering wheel in a life-and-death struggle with the car, her knuckles white.

  He shouted, “The parking brake. Put on the parking brake.”

  Scarlett stomped her left foot on the parking brake and the car shuddered and weaved. The back wheels fishtailed on the slick surface of the road and they started traveling sideways.

  The car bucked and slowed down, but the tires were moving independently of anything Scarlett was doing with the steering wheel. The forest on the right side of the road was rushing at them as the car shook and coughed. A large tree trunk loomed out his window, and Jim yelled, “Step on the gas.”

  Scarlett didn’t hesitate. The car jumped forward one last time before the back end hit the tree so hard his teeth rattled.

  It heaved to a stop, and this time Jim didn’t hesitate. “Open your door, Scarlett. We’re getting out.”

  A tree was blocking his exit, so Jim clambered over the console almost into Scarlett’s lap. The airbag hadn’t deployed, which eased their escape from the car. Scarlett had opened the driver’s-side door, and he pushed and prodded her ahead of him and out of the car.

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her across the road just as the demolished car started emitting black puffs of smoke.

  He parked Scarlett safely next to a tree on the other side of the burning car, shielding her body. He held his breath, waiting for an explosion.

  Instead, the fire burned itself out on the metal of the car with the help of the pounding rain, leaving a smoking hulk at the side of the road.

  Jim brushed a wisp of hair from Scarlett’s wet cheek. “Are you okay? Your back? Your neck?”

  She blinked. “I think so. You?”

  “Rattled but not broken.”

  “Oh, my God.” She covered her face with her hands. “Danny tried to do the same thing to us as he did to my family.”

  “He must’ve tampered with your car at the hospital or when it was at the reservation.”

  “He’s serious, Jim. He wants to get rid of us so we’ll stop meddling in his business.”

  “Once we find the drugs and get Harper involved, we can put a stop to this insanity. There’s no way Chewy or any other Lord is going to do Danny’s dirty work without getting paid in drugs first. Dax knew this.”

  A big rig loaded with lumber rumbled into view at the top of the hill. As the truck descended, the driver honked and slowed down. He yelled out his window. “You folks okay?”

  “We’re fine, but the car’s totaled.”

  “Do you need me to make a phone call?”

  Jim held up his cell. “I got it, thanks.”

  As the truck started moving, Jim called 911 to report the accident. Then he draped his jacket over Scarlett’s head to protect her from the rain—at least he could protect her from that. She should’ve been back in San Francisco by now.

  While he wrapped her in his arms, the familiar sound of sirens cut through the late-afternoon air. A squad car and a fire engine came over the hill, the fire truck pulling up behind Scarlett’s car.

  As soon as Deputy Unger got out of his car, Scarlett descended on him.

  “Someone tampered with the brakes on my car. I’m almost sure of it, Cody.”

  The deputy scratched his chin. “You seem to be having a run of bad luck, that’s for sure.”

  Scarlett choked. “A run of bad luck? Is that what you’d call it?”

  “Are you accusing anyone, Scarlett? Do you know who’s behind the attacks? Because if you do, we’d sure like to talk to him about Rusty Kelly’s murder and the attempted murder of Dax Kennedy.”

  Jim shifted his weight to his other foot, just enough to touch Scarlett’s shoulder. As much as Unger didn’t respect his boss, Sheriff Musgrove was still his boss and Evelyn had just warned them against Musgrove. Jim would feel safer spilling his guts to a third party like Agent Harper.

  “I—I don’t know, but this,” she said, and waved her arm at the smoldering car, “was no accident.”

  The firefighters had made short work of the flames licking at the underbrush around the car, and Jim watched as they put out any remaining live sparks on the car.

  Unger gestured to Scarlett’s car. “You’re lucky that thing didn’t blow.”

  “Jim got us out quickly, just in case.” She put her hand through his arm.

  The fire chief approached them, asked a few questions and confirmed that the car had been totaled—as if they didn’t already know that.

  “Did the inside of the car burn up? My purse is still in there, my cell phone. Can I get them?”

  “Give it some time. There’s still some hot metal on the car, and you don’t want to get burned.” The firefighters wrapped up and took off for an accident scene with injuries.

  “What now?” Scarlett tapped the toe of her boot.

  “The tow service is on its way, and we’ll have an accident investigator from the county go over the car at the tow yard. If it’s foul play, he’ll spot it.” Unger tucked his notepad into his front pocket. “Do you want me to wait for the tow truck driver with you?”

  “How long is he going to be?” Jim peered at the setting sun. He had some digging to do.

  “This rain wreaked havoc with more than a few motorists this afternoon. When I called in, the operator said he’d be out within the hour. I can give you two a ride.”

  Scarlett checked her watch. “We’ll wait. I still want to get my purse and phone. Maybe the tow truck driver can help me get it.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  As Unger drove away, Jim dug his own phone out of his jacket pocket. “I’m calling Harper.”

  “Let me, and then I’ll hand the phone over to you.”

  He dropped his cell into her open palm.

  She tapped in the number and paused. Then she shook her head. “Hello, Agent Harper, Duke. This is Scarlett Easton. Some new information has surfaced regarding the Timberline Trio case and the connection between the Lords of Chaos and...and certain members of the Quileute tribe. Can you give me a call when you get the chance?”

  “Do you think he’ll bite?”

  “The FBI pulled Harper off the cold case just when he was starting to get somewhere. I think he’d like the chance to see it through.”

  She handed the phone back to him and he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her close. “Are you sure you’re okay? We can take a trip to the emergency room.”

  “I’m going to be feeling the pain in my neck and back tomorrow, no doubt, but I’m not injured. Besides, we have someplace to be.”

  “Now that your car is out of commission.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Do you think you can carry a couple of shovels while you’re on the back of the bike?”

  “I’m an expert biker bitch now.” She pulled back her shoulders and tossed her head.

  “If you say so
.” He rolled his eyes. “While we’re waiting for this driver, I’m going to check up on Dax.”

  He called the hospital first and left a message with Dax’s doctor. Then he called Belinda.

  “How’s Dax doing?”

  “He’s the same—no better but no worse. I had to set a couple of people here straight.”

  “What do you mean, Belinda?”

  “Some nurse tried to kick me out of his room earlier, but I wouldn’t budge. Came to find out that witch doesn’t even work over here.”

  “What?” Jim tugged on the sleeve of Scarlett’s jacket and set his phone to speaker. “What nurse?”

  “Some little bitch who barged in here and told me Dax couldn’t have any visitors right now.”

  “She wasn’t an ICU nurse?”

  “Nope.”

  “How’d you discover that?”

  “When I wouldn’t leave, she took off in a huff and I went to the nurses’ station to complain about her. Those nurses told me it was still visiting hours and asked me about the nurse who told me to get out. I didn’t get her name, but when I described her to them, she told me there was no ICU nurse like that.”

  Scarlett grabbed his arm. “Belinda, this is Scarlett. What did the nurse look like, the one who told you to get out?”

  “Tall, black hair, big, pretty eyes, but cold as hell.”

  “Belinda, do not leave Dax’s side, do you hear me?”

  “Oh, I hear you, sister, and you don’t have to tell me twice. I’m watching over him like a hawk.”

  When Jim ended the call, Scarlett kicked at the gravel on the shoulder of the road. “It’s Tiana Gokey. It has to be. Danny is telling her to keep an eye on Dax. Who knows what else he’s telling her?”

  “My God. Would she go as far as killing him?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know what she owes Danny or thinks she owes him. This has to stop, Jim.”