by Patricia Fry
Gladys put a hand on his. He lowered his head and said, "I watched Michael with his children this weekend and Jimmy. It hurt me to the core knowing that I probably can't ever match up to either of them. It's too big of a leap. I want my child to have that kind of father, and I don't think that's me. I can't do it." He looked up. "I have made one decision for my future, though, in case I ever get out of here. I will accept therapy or counseling or some sort of help in order to maybe become someone who should be in my child's life. Know what I mean?"
Both Gladys and Margaret nodded.
"Wow!" Margaret said. "That's huge, Jake."
Jake grinned. "What's huge, that I want to change, or that I'm going to be a father?"
"Both," Margaret said. She asked, "Jake, are drugs part of your problem?"
He blew out a breath through pursed lips. "Wow! Jumping right into the cesspool, are you, Auntie?" He chuckled. "You always were the one to go for the jugular. You still don't mince words, do you?" When he saw her staring at him, he squirmed a little and said, "Maybe partly, but I don't think that's the whole story. Just like the kid in that book—it wasn't just the fact that he was shy that caused his trouble in life. He had numerous issues and basically, as I recall, they mostly had to do with what was going on inside his head—he was using the wrong kind of vocabulary when he talked to himself." He looked at the others. "And believe me, we do talk to ourselves all the time. That much I know for sure."
Craig looked at his watch. "Jake, they'll be coming to get you soon. I think it's time to address the elephant in the room, don't you?" When Jake looked confused, Craig said, "Your current situation. The reason you're here and why you did the things you did. Don't you think your aunts would like to hear that story?"
"I don't know why they would," he said. Jake looked at Craig. "Why would they? That's my business."
Gladys frowned. "It sounds like you're carrying something around, Jake, that's causing you some pain. That's not a good way to start a new life and a new outlook. Is there something you need to deal with? Do you know what the detective is speaking of?"
Jake started to weep. Through his tears, he said, "I'm scared for you, Aunt Gladys, and for you, Aunt Maggie, and Savannah and Michael and those cute kids. I'm afraid for all of you, but also for myself."
Margaret took a deep breath. "Are we in danger, Jake? Is that what you're trying to tell us?"
Jake nodded. "All of us. Me mostly, because I saw…"
"You saw what?" Gladys asked.
Jake suddenly looked up at the women and stared for several moments, finally muttering, "You're in danger if I do nothing. I'm in danger if I do something. But if I do something, you're all free of danger." He grimaced. "I have to do the right thing. Truth is the correct answer, right, Aunt Gladys?"
"Generally, yes," she agreed.
Craig moved closer and looked into Jake's eyes. "You are absolutely right. The truth will set all of you free." When Jake looked at him suspiciously, Craig continued, "Your family will be safe, the others will be punished, and you will have a clear conscience along with a greater consideration for your part in the crimes."
"I didn't do any crimes," Jake asserted.
Craig sat back and looked at Jake, who squirmed in his seat. "Well, then why are you in jail?" Craig asked.
Margaret said, "Yeah, Jake, if you're the one who did all that stuff that caused fear and even pain the weekend of Bri's wedding, you have definitely committed crimes." She glanced at Craig, then explained to Jake, "It sounds to me like how much responsibility you'll be required to take depends on your choices from now on out."
"My choices?" he asked.
Craig nodded. "You say someone else was involved in the things you were doing to hurt or maybe scare people at Savannah's and Michael's house. You need to tell us about it. Now is the time. It's what any good father would do to set an example for his children and to clear his own burden of…"
"Guilt?" Jake said. He sneered. "Self—hate?"
Craig shrugged.
Jake sat back in his chair and looked at Craig. He then leaned forward. "Okay. I guess I really have to do this." He blurted, "The man in the trees wants you, Aunt Maggie, and you, Aunt Gladys, and Vannie's family to leave. He has hurt that older man. I heard the fight and I got close enough to see the man in the trees and another man yelling at the older man and pushing him around. The last time they pushed him, he didn't get up. I don't know if he was dead or just hurt real bad. That's when Reggie heard me in the trees." Jake began talking faster, his breath coming in small bursts. "He saw me and threatened to hurt me and all of you if I told and if I didn't do what he said."
Craig grimaced. "Great," he said angrily. "Blackmail someone else into doing what they'd planned to do all along. Their hands are clean." He looked at Jake. "What do they want?"
"The land," Jake said.
"Why?" Margaret asked, frowning.
Jake shrugged. "I don't know. They didn't tell me that." He looked at Craig. "So now that I've done my civic duty, do you think you can protect me from those cockroaches?"
"Yes, I think you've given us enough to get a search warrant. Maggie, do you have the note you found at your place?'
"Maybe. I'm not sure. Max might have kept it. Why?"
"Evidence. We need as much evidence as we can get before any judge will issue a warrant. I want to be able to search the entire premises." He put his hand on Jake's shoulder. "Thank you, guy. I believe you've saved your family a lot of heartache and harm. If we can get the goods on Reggie and his friend…" Craig started. Then he asked, "By the way, Jake, do you know who his friend is?"
"Reggie called him Sauce or Suess or something like that."
"Ring a bell?" Craig asked the women.
"I don't think so," Margaret said.
Gladys shook her head.
What do these guys look like?" Craig asked.
"Oh," Jake said, "well, Reggie's round. You know, too fat to be doing any ranching or anything. But he can sure pack a wallop."
"He hit you?" Margaret asked.
Jake lowered his head. "A couple of times, when all I did was talk back to him."
"So you talked to these guys more than once?" Craig asked.
"Yes, I had to meet them in the trees. Oh," he said, "and when I told them the cat kept interfering with my jobs, that other guy said he wanted me to kill the cat."
Gladys gasped.
"I thought about it," Jake said, "but I couldn't figure out how to do it and get away with it. One night I took the cat out there to the trees, but he escaped and ran back to the house. Another time I tried to feed him something I thought might kill him, but he wouldn't eat it. Finally, I just told that fat guy that the cat was dead. I never mentioned him again after that."
Craig stared at Jake. "What did the second guy look like?"
"Oh, he wore a suit and tie and drove a big, expensive SUV."
Craig made some notes, then he stood up. "Well, thank you again, Jake. I think we can take it from here, and I believe you can relax." He squeezed Jake's shoulder. "You've been a little anxious lately?"
Jake rubbed his stomach. "Yes, I'm sick a lot. I can't eat. It's awful."
"And how do you think it would have been for Savannah and her innocent family if you'd hurt the cat and allowed her family to be harmed?"
"I know. I know. I hope to be punished for that. Please tell her…" He reconsidered and said, "Never mind. I don't know if I can ever face her again. What I did was wrong. I was just thinking of my own skin."
Gladys put her hand on Jake's arm. "But you've righted all of that wrong. Craig will get those guys before they're able to hurt anyone. You've done a good thing, Jake, just remember that."
The women and Craig watched as an officer escorted Jake out of the room, then Craig took a deep breath. "Thank you, ladies. You've managed to do what the whole sheriff's unit and I were unable to do. Now we can start working on our advance against those scumbags before they seriously hurt someone."
&
nbsp; Gladys nodded. "Maybe he will be a good father after all."
"Maybe," Craig said. He stood up. "If you ladies will excuse me."
"Certainly," Margaret said, also standing up. She picked up her purse. "Thank you for inviting us down here, Craig. I think we may have made some headway."
Craig nodded. "I'm sure of it. You both deserve a giant pat on the back."
****
"Hi, Mom," Savannah said when Gladys walked into the house a while later. "How'd it go with Jake?"
Gladys placed her purse on a side table and collapsed onto the sofa. "Exhausting. I'm not cut out to be a therapist or counselor for someone in jail, or someone who's lost his way and needs a hand back to reality."
"Oh?" Savannah quizzed, sitting down nearby. "Sounds like it was brutal. I'm sorry, Mom."
"Yes, it was, but it was also successful, I think." Gladys sat up straighter. "Did you know he's going to be a father?"
"What?" Savannah cried. "Who?"
"Your cousin, that's who. Marla's pregnant. Jake wants to be a good father, like Michael."
"Wait, Mom," Savannah pleaded. "My head's spinning. Give it to me more slowly."
"Well, after Jake and Marla split up, she discovered that she's pregnant. She told him about it just recently and he's actually been thinking about things. He wants to become a better man and raise his child."
"Jake?" Savannah squealed.
Gladys nodded. "Yes, and we got him to tell us why he did all that stuff to us."
"Why?" Savannah insisted.
"In order to save his own skin."
"Now, that sounds more like Jake. So why did hurting us help him? That's a pretty big leap, don't you think so?"
"Yes, until you get the whole picture," Gladys said. "You see, there really was a man in the trees—actually two men. Jake saw them hurting someone. When they discovered they'd been seen, they roughed Jake up and blackmailed him into causing problems for us here at the house. Those men evidently want to scare you and Maggie and Max out of your homes. That was the goal. They told Jake that if he did what he was told, they wouldn't hurt him, so he did it. They also swore him to secrecy. He actually believed they would kill him if he talked. He got to thinking about that and decided that keeping quiet was the wrong thing to do. Oh, and he's quite certain that the original Mr. Randolph has met with foul play at the hands of those people. The sheriff will be applying for a warrant to thoroughly search the Randolphs' ranch."
Chapter Eight
"Have you had any more trouble out there?" Craig asked when he called Savannah later that afternoon.
"No, but I'm holding my breath. It's unnerving to know that someone has targeted you and that they could come out of the woodwork at just about any moment from any direction. It's frightening."
"Of course it is, which is why we have someone out there watching your place and Maggie's." He paused for a moment and said, "We're going in early tomorrow. Just thought I should let you know in case you hear anything. I want you to lock yourself inside your house. I mean it! Lock all the doors and windows and watch for any unusual activity in your yard. Can you do that?"
"Sure." She hesitated, then asked, "How early? Maybe Michael can stay home from work."
"Great," Craig said, "but you probably won't need to stay holed up for long. I imagine we'll have the mess cleaned up shortly after breakfast."
Savannah shuddered. "I hope that's the case. So all we need to do is lock the doors and windows and stay inside?"
"Yes," Craig said, "unless you want to leave for a while and stay gone until we've finished our work. That would be okay, too."
"We'll think about it," Savannah said, "but Michael will probably want to stay with our property. Anyway, thanks for the heads up. Do you have any idea what to expect? Will you go in with guns? Do they have guns?"
"They probably do, but we like to plan these things with the idea of a peaceful takeover."
"Let's hope so," she said. "Okay, good luck with that. I hope you can find Mr. and Mrs. Randolph."
After ending the call, Savannah decided to call Michael. "Hi," she said, when he answered, "are you having another busy day?"
"Yes, actually. What's up?"
"Well, Craig called and he said they're going to raid or maybe just visit the Randolph place tomorrow morning. He has a warrant and he wants us to either go someplace or lock the house up and stay inside. I wondered if you could maybe go in to work a little late tomorrow morning. He thinks they'll be finished over there fairly early."
"Heck yes," Michael said. "Thanks for letting me know. We have a few hospital patients here. I'll have Bud tend to them tomorrow. What time are they going over there to the Randolph Ranch?"
"All Craig said was early."
"So probably sun—up," Michael muttered. "I'll be ready."
"For what?" Savannah asked. "He didn't invite you to the raid."
"I'll be ready to defend our property if it comes to that."
"With what? You don't have any weapons," Savannah said.
"Yes, I do," he said. "A baseball bat, a shovel, an axe…"
"Oh, Michael that sounds gruesome."
"War is gruesome, hon."
****
"Someone's at the door, Michael," Savannah said Friday morning when she was fixing breakfast.
Michael broke away from a game of darts with Teddy and trotted into the kitchen. "It's Craig," he said, unlocking and opening the door to let him in. "How's it going?" he asked.
Craig chuckled. "What are you, a target?"
Michael looked down to see two of Teddy's sponge darts stuck to his pajama shirt. "Sure am. Teddy's been getting the best of me this morning. So is it over?" he asked.
"Not quite," Craig said. "We have two men in custody. I'm pretty sure they're the two who were communicating with Savannah's cousin, but we haven't found the Randolphs. My sense is that they're on the property someplace." He looked around. "I came to get your cat."
"Oh!" Savannah yelped. "Okay, I guess." She winced. "He's been a little whacky this morning; maybe I should go with you—that is, if you believe the danger is over."
"Yeah, the rats' nest is cleaned out. We just need to make sure we don't leave someone on the premises. In fact," he paused and looked out the window, "we might take the horses, if you don't mind. That's a big piece of property to cover on foot."
"Sure. Let me get dressed," she said, leaving the room.
"Michael," Craig said, once Savannah had walked away, "you've been on that property. Savannah said you tended to the Randolphs' cattle."
Michael nodded.
"Are you aware of any place in particular we might check out—you know, where someone could be hidden away?"
"Not offhand," Michael said. "If I remember something, I'll text you. I'll put my thinking cap on."
"Great." Craig moved toward the door. "Hey, I'll wait for her and the cat outside. I have a few calls to make. See you later, Michael."
****
"What's this?" Craig asked, when Savannah handed him a box about twenty minutes later.
"I thought you might be hungry. That's Mom's version of an egg, sausage, cheese, biscuit sandwich and there's a hot cup of coffee in there."
"Thank you!" he said, eagerly opening the box. He nodded toward the corrals. "I think Michael got the horses saddled. He said they ate half of their breakfast. They can finish when we get back. Shouldn't take us too long." When he saw the cat walking around Savannah's ankles, he greeted him. "Hi, partner. Ready for some action?"
They both chuckled when Rags looked up at him and meowed.
"Well, let's get going," Savannah said, leading the way to the corrals.
The riders arrived at the Randolph ranch house a short time later. They tied the horses to a hitching post, and Savannah followed along behind Craig with Rags on his leash.
"Bring him inside here," Craig invited, taking the steps up to the porch. "Tell him we're looking for people."
"If there are people being held captiv
e here in the house, he'll know it," Savannah said.
"I think you're right," Craig agreed. "Let's see what he does."
"A cat?" a deputy questioned.
Craig said, "You must be new. Meet Deputy Rags." He chuckled. "Savannah, we really should get him a uniform so he's more recognizable when he's on duty."
Savannah grinned at Craig. When Rags pulled her toward a long hallway, she asked, "Should I follow him?"
"Yes," Craig said. "Go with him. See where he takes you."
"Outside," she said when they reached a door at the back of the house. "He wants to go back outside."
Craig pushed the door open. "Let's go." Moments later he said, "Looks like he's leading us to—what—a washhouse? He pulled the door open for Savannah and Rags. The cat bypassed the door, and walked alongside the small building, sniffing the air. "What's he doing?" Craig asked when Rags stopped near a ground—level vent.
"Taking a break, I guess," Savannah said. Just then, Rags trotted past the washhouse toward a small shed with a tractor inside. "Now he smells something," Savannah said excitedly. "Look, he seems to be interested in something around those cabinets."
Craig opened the lower cabinets, then those above. "Nothing," he said. When Rags pushed his way into one of the cabinets and began pawing at the shelf, Craig asked, "What is it, Rags?"
"Hey Sledge," a deputy called from outside the shed. "You might want to see this."
"What is it?" Craig asked, making his way around the open shed. He saw two officers brushing dirt from a piece of plywood leaning up against the back of the shed.
"Not sure," one deputy said. He and his partner lifted the piece of wood, moved it to the side, then stood staring down at a set of cement steps that appeared to go nowhere.
Craig walked closer and scratched his head. "Hmmm," he muttered. "That cabinet the cat was interested in is just on the other side of this wall, isn't it? I wonder where those steps lead to or used to lead to." He tapped on the wall of the shed. "Does it look to you fellas like this wall has been reinforced for some reason?" When they nodded, he suggested, "Let's see if we can find something to remove the siding. I want to see where those stairs might take us." He laughed. "So does the cat."
