It's Just A Ranch

by Misty Malone

  Chapter Nineteen

  Garrett ran outside and saw Sheriff Drolan running toward one of the barns. Wyatt and the other ranch hands were all heading for the animals, both in a nearby pasture and in the horse barn. He was sure they were going to try to calm them down. He hoped they were able to get them calm before they spooked. Just to be sure, he found his dad, who was talking to Harold. He enlisted their help, asking them to be sure everyone knew they were welcome to go in the house or on the porch, and told them to watch the animals. If any of them spooked and broke out of the fence, please get everyone in the house. He didn’t want to have to worry about anyone getting hurt.

  Once that was done, he took off after Sheriff Drolan, who was up flat against the side of the barn, peeking around the corner. Garrett noticed he had a gun drawn. He wondered if he carried that all the time, or had it hidden today, just in case, because of the events of the last week. Either way, he ran up behind him on the side of the barn.

  The sheriff was looking the situation over carefully, and stepped out, motioning for Garrett to follow. They didn’t see anyone around, but there was smoke. Both men ran toward it, and realized simultaneously what it was. “Firecrackers,” Garrett said. “Was someone trying to scare us?”

  “That or it was a diversion,” the sheriff said quickly. “Where’s Mindy?”

  “In the house,” Garrett said as he took off for the house on a dead run, with the sheriff right behind him. He went in the front door and straight to the bathroom, which was open, but Mindy wasn’t anywhere around. He called, but got no answer. While he ran to the kitchen, still calling for her, the sheriff looked in the bathroom.

  “Garrett, someone jimmied the lock. The fireworks were a diversion for someone to take Mindy.”

  “Why? What would they want her for?”

  “I’m not real sure, but I have a feeling when we find her we’ll have our third, unidentified man.”

  Garrett’s face paled. “I was afraid you’d say that. Do you think they’re after revenge for getting them in trouble?”

  “I won’t lie to you, Garrett. That may be the motive, but I don’t think so. Again, if it is the third man, why would he do this? He has to know we’ll be looking for him now, and he’ll just be adding charges on. A kidnapping charge is nothing to laugh about. If he laid low, he had a much better chance of not being caught.” Sheriff Drolan shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it. Let me get some deputies on this, and I’ll call in the state police. This is a kidnapping in progress, so I can elicit their help. They have a helicopter, and I’ll see if they can get it in the air quickly.”

  They ran back out to the sheriff’s cruiser, and he called dispatch. He ordered four deputies be sent to the ranch, and then asked to be connected with the state police.

  While he talked to them, Garrett went to find his dad and filled him in, then asked if he’d let Helen, and Harold and Linda know what was happening. Then he went to find Wyatt and check on the animals. Luckily, Wyatt and the men had the animals calmed down, and none had spooked. Some of the men were staying with them to be sure nothing else riled them up. Garrett quickly told Wyatt that Mindy was gone, and what the sheriff suspected.

  Wyatt and Garrett both went back to the sheriff, and were quickly joined by Harold and Max, just as the sheriff finished his call. “They’re getting a chopper in the air over the ranch as quickly as they can. In the meantime, Wyatt, Max, and Harold, can I get you to stay here and make sure no one leaves before the deputies get here? They’ll need to talk to all of them, to make sure no one saw or heard anything that might help us. If you would, I’d like the three of you to spread out and talk to everyone. Go ahead and explain what’s going on. That way they’ll be more willing to stay and talk to the deputies. It will also give them some time to think back and see if they remember seeing or hearing anything unusual at all.”

  “No problem,” Wyatt said. Max and Harold nodded their agreement, as well.

  The sheriff turned to Garrett next. “If I can borrow a horse, we need to go out looking. I’m not the best at tracking, but I need to see if I can find any prints or anything to show us which direction they may have gone in and how. I don’t know if they’re on foot, or if he had horses stashed, or maybe even a four wheeler.”

  “Coy, one of my hands, is pretty good at tracking. Should we get him to help us with that?”

  “That would be great,” Sheriff Drolan said.

  “I’ll get Coy and get some horses saddled,” Wyatt said, and he took off toward the barn.

  Garrett and the sheriff headed there, as well, but were talking on their way. “I’m sure some of the other men will want to do what they can,” Garrett said. “Do you want them out looking for them, as well?”

  The sheriff took a moment to ponder the question. “My first instinct is to say yes, of course. But now that I think about it, maybe not. If whoever took her is out there and sees men out looking, he might panic. If they do run onto them, they could all be in trouble. If he panics he’s apt to shoot the man who came up on them, and it’s hard telling what he’ll do with Mindy. I think it’s better if it’s just us and Coy out there looking until the deputies get here. They’re trained for this, and we’ll send them out looking when they get here.”

  They’d reached the barn, where Coy, Wyatt, and Trace were saddling horses. Garrett thanked them, and he and Coy and the sheriff mounted the horses and were off. They stopped at the house and looked for any signs of which way they may have gone. Coy walked off to an area not too far from the house that was shaded, and the ground wasn’t as hard. He found footprints which looked like a man’s boot, and smaller prints next to them that appeared to be a lady in heels.

  “That’s got to be them,” the sheriff said. “I doubt many ladies walk around out here in heels.”

  “I can only see a couple footprints before the ground gets too hard again, but at least from the two we have we know they’re headed in this direction,” Coy said, pointing.

  The three mounted their horses again and were off. All of them kept their eyes open for any signs, footprint or otherwise, as to where they may have been headed. There was a woods ahead, and they all thought that was probably their first destination, as they could get back in among the trees and not be seen as easily. When they got to the woods, they all got down again and started looking around for more signs. They focused mainly on where they would go into the woods if they would have gone in a straight line from where the footprints they found were, but when they didn’t find anything, they expanded their search a bit.

  Coy found more footprints, very similar to the first ones they’d found, down a little further, so again, they had a direction to head. It wasn’t long before they found hoof prints. There were footprints in the same area, so they surmised the man had a horse hidden, and they were now both on one horse. The sheriff used his phone to call dispatch. He was patched into the state police, who said the helicopter was in the air and headed for the ranch. He told them they believed it was one man and they were on a horse.

  They continued in the direction of the prints, but weren’t having much luck finding more prints. They found broken twigs and things that looked like someone had been through, but they weren’t finding hoof prints. The ground was pretty hard, and, in the woods, it was hard to see.

  Garrett looked around at where they were and the direction they were heading in, and had an idea. “Sheriff, we have an old line shack up this direction. We keep it up and keep it stocked because in the spring we get flash floods pretty quickly. If one or more of my men are on that side of that large creek, I don’t want them trying to cross it. They can go to that cabin and it’s got everything they’ll need for a few days, until the creek goes down again. Do you suppose they could be headed there?”

  “It’s worth a chance to look, although I’d be more inclined to think his main interest would be getting as far away from here as possible as quickly as he can. Where is the cabin; how far fro
m here?”

  “It’s a good ways from here yet. It’s toward the far edge of my property, not too far back off of County Line Road.”

  “Can you see it from County Line Road?”

  “No. There’s a woods along the road, and it’s on the other side of the woods.”

  The sheriff called dispatch and had them patch him in with the officer in the helicopter. He relayed the information on to the pilot, and described the approximate location of the line shack. He suggested he try to locate the cabin and see if there happened to be a horse in the vicinity, probably in the woods, but near the edge, fairly close by.

  The men continued on, taking their time and trying to find any clues, or signs they may have gone that way. They routinely found broken branches, and they were hoping it was from Mindy and her kidnapper passing that way, and not an animal of some kind.

  Fifteen minutes later the helicopter pilot called the sheriff. “I found the cabin, and there is indeed a horse tied at the edge of the woods not far from it. I had to look good, but it’s tied up, inside the tree line. If you hadn’t told me to look in the woods but near the edge I would have missed it. I’m going to take a pass over the rest of the ranch, but I wanted to let you know right away that your hunch was right about the cabin.”

  “Thanks. If you find anything else on the ranch, let me know, but we’re going to go check out the cabin. Can you radio your dispatch for me?”

  “Will do. I’ll have a couple guys go out County Line Road and park in the lane just east of the cabin. They can go in through the woods and should be able to make it in without being seen. I’ll have them wait for you if they get there before you.”

  “Thank you. Are you going to stay in the area?”

  “I will. I’ll stay off to the side so I don’t draw their attention, but when things start happening, I’ll stay close. If I see anything, I’ll let the officers on the ground know.”

  The sheriff called his dispatch and had them send a couple deputies out to the area. Garrett called Wyatt, who was going to lead them down a service road, to a place they could park their cruiser in a valley not far from the woods where Garrett and the sheriff were going to wait for everyone. They could enter the woods without being seen and meet up with the sheriff, who was going to be waiting for the state police, straight in from where they were going to park their cars off of County Line Road, along the woods.

  Once they were sure everyone knew where to meet, Garrett, Coy, and the sheriff went further into the woods to avoid being seen, and moved quicker to get to the meeting spot. It didn’t take long for the rest of them to converge, and the sheriff and state police together quickly came up with a plan. Garrett wasn’t happy with having to wait in the woods with Coy and Wyatt, but he understood and didn’t want to chance being the weak link in the rescue operation.

  The men were able to get three men up close to the cabin without being seen, while the other two were standing by, one at each end, watching and ready to catch anyone who tried to flee, or assist if they needed help. They were hoping it was only one man who kidnapped her, but they didn’t really know. For all they knew, there could have been one or two more waiting in the woods. They never did find good prints to follow, so they were unsure. If there were several men, they would try to get Mindy outside the cabin, while the officers dealt with the ones inside. Once she was outside, one of the two officers waiting out there would grab her and get her safely away from the cabin.

  On the sheriff’s signal, the men stormed the cabin. It was all over rather quickly, and two deputies led a man in handcuffs out, followed by the sheriff. He was helping Mindy, who was limping. When Garrett saw her, he took off running towards her. She let go of the sheriff’s arm and quickly hobbled over to his outstretched arms. In one fluid motion he scooped her up into his arms, and their lips met. It was obvious they didn’t care who was watching.

  The two deputies took their prisoner to one of the cruisers and left.

  Garrett carried his new bride to a fallen tree, where he sat down, helping her settle on his lap. “Honey, are you okay? I see you’re limping. Did he hurt you?”

  The sheriff and the two state patrolmen had joined them, along with Wyatt and Coy, anxious to hear her story. “I’m okay,” she assured Garrett. “My ankle is sore again, but I think I just need to let it rest another couple days now. He pulled me along with him until we got to the woods, where he had a horse. Pulling me like he was put my ankle at an awkward angle, and since I hadn’t been using it much lately, I think it just irritated it again. I really do think if I stay off of it for a couple days it’ll be fine.”

  Garrett knew it had to be hurting quite a bit for her to be willing, even suggesting she stay off of it for a couple days, but he let that go for the time being. He’d get it checked out later, but he didn’t see any need to upset her by telling her that now. There were more important things to talk about first, so he asked the question that was probably on everyone’s mind. “Do you know who he is or what he wanted; why he did this?”

  “That was the third guy, the one you couldn’t see his face in the pictures.”

  A lot of eyebrows shot up at her words. The sheriff took over the questioning. “Did he say anything; do you have any idea why he would bring attention to himself by doing this?”

  “He was kind of being blackmailed,” she answered with a hint of a smile. “The other two, the ones who are already in jail, talked to an attorney and found out they’re in big trouble. They were used to having small charges, no big deal, but when their attorney told them yesterday that they were being charged with attempted murder, and that, along with the serious charges of having the meth lab, could land them in prison for like twenty years or more, they did some serious thinking.”

  The sheriff still looked a little perplexed. “So how was kidnapping you going to help them?”

  “Because they got word to this guy that their bail was set pretty high, and they didn’t have any way of coming up with that much. They had a plan all in place. One guy’s uncle has a plane, so they planned to skip bail and fly to Alaska, where one of them has a cousin who lives off the grid. They planned on living there for a few years until this all blew over. The only problem was coming up with the bail to get out. So they told this guy that if he didn’t come up with the money to bail them out, they were going to make a deal with the police to get lighter sentences. They’d give them his name and both of them would swear it was all his idea and he bought all the stuff and sold the meth once it was done. They were going to swear that he just paid them a set amount to help him make it.”

  The sheriff and two state offices smiled. One of the officers thought out loud. “I wonder if they came up with that idea on their own. It’s not such a bad plan. It didn’t work, but it had potential.”

  “It’s more than most criminals would have come up with,” the other one said, nodding his head.

  The sheriff nodded in agreement, and turned back to Mindy. “So kidnapping you was his own decision?”

  “Yep. He planned on kidnapping me and holding me for ransom. He said as big as this ranch is he knew the owner had to have some money. He said money usually marries more money, so he figured between the two of us and our families, he could get a good ransom. He’d pay their bail to get them out, and lay low himself for a couple years, living off the rest of the ransom money.”

  The state patrolmen smiled again. “Once again, not a badly thought out plan,” one of them said.

  “No, I guess not,” the other said. “It would never have worked, but it was well thought out.”

  Mindy looked at them. “Why do you say it would never have worked? I mean, I’m glad it didn’t, but why do you say that?”

  “Kidnapping plots very, very seldom ever do work out. The only ones that have any chance of working have several kidnappers involved. One takes the person, another drives her to a hidden location, another keeps her there, and yet others collect the cash. Everyone stays out in the public when they�
��re not doing their part of it, so suspicion doesn’t fall on anyone. This guy didn’t think it through very well. He doesn’t have a land line, so he would have had to make the call on a cell phone, which, of course, is traceable. Or he would have had to send everything through the mail, which would have taken a lot longer and required him to leave the cabin. There were too many loose ends.”

  Mindy, who was leaning against her husband’s chest, nodded. “I’m glad it was an idiot who decided to kidnap me then. Thank you so much for finding me and rescuing me—again.”

  Garrett smiled and hugged her closer to him. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “You’re very welcome—again.”

  Sheriff Drolan had to smile. “Garrett, if your wedding day is any indication of how your life together is going to be, I’d say you’re going to have your hands full, but it should never be dull around here.”

  That brought smiles and chuckles from everyone. “Oh, I’m sure it won’t be dull,” Garrett agreed. “I may have to keep my new wife locked in the house, though, to make sure she’s safe.”

  “I was in the house when this happened,” Mindy pointed out. “Which reminds me, did you know the lock on the bathroom door doesn’t work?”

  Garrett and the sheriff smiled. “That’s how we figured someone kidnapped you,” Garrett explained. “When we ran back into the house to make sure you were okay, when we couldn’t find you, the sheriff looked in the bathroom and found the lock had been jimmied.”

  “But the point is,” she said a bit tentatively, “locking me in the house doesn’t make me any safer, so I guess you’ll just have to let me wander wherever I want on the ranch.”

  “Maybe,” Garrett agreed, “as long as I’m there with you. I’ve had to find and rescue you way too many times in the last seven weeks. You’re going to give me a heart attack before I’m thirty if this keeps up. I’ll have to find some way to keep you safe.”