“I hate the idea of you in such pain,” he said, his gaze soft. She tried not to melt under the warmth of his stare, knowing they had to keep their distance from one another, but it was hard, particularly when they were being so open with one another.
“Well, I’m much better now,” she said, forcing a smile to break the connection pulling them together. “Once I had Talen I knew I couldn’t chance hooking up with another loser like Johnny, so I kept my distance from commitment of any kind in order to protect Talen.”
“Sacrificing yourself for the sake of your child sounds noble, but in the end, it’s really you finding a different packaging for your own issues,” he said quietly. “Trust me, I know a lot about justifying.”
“You’re right but I was also right. You see, so many kids have to deal with a revolving door of people in their lives and it hurts them. I never wanted my son to suffer from my mistakes. And I know I make plenty of them. Yes, I was protecting myself but I was also protecting Talen.”
“You’re a good mother,” Jeremiah said. “Talen is a lucky kid.”
She smiled, warming at his compliment. “Thank you. I try really hard. It’s not something that came naturally to me but when I look at his face each morning he gives me reason to be better than I was the day before.” She laughed a little in embarrassment at her own comment. She cast a quick glance his way. “Sappy, right?”
“Not at all. Never apologize for being a good parent. The world needs more parents who care as much as you do about your boy.”
Miranda accepted his advice and a moment stretched between them until she asked, “Where’s your ex-wife?”
At the mention of his former wife, Jeremiah’s mouth twisted in a sardonic smile that had little to do with anything joyful. “Josie is back in Wyoming, living in our former house with our former dog and her new husband.”
“Ouch.”
Jeremiah shrugged. “It is what it is. Giving her the house seemed the least I could do. Besides, I didn’t want it. Too many memories. I would’ve gone insane in that house.”
“You know it wasn’t your fault, right?”
“Yeah,” he acknowledged, but his answer rang hollow. He blamed himself as deeply as she blamed herself for her sister’s death. He shook himself free from his melancholy and a crooked smile followed. “New rule—no more serious personal stuff at the office. Brings everyone down.” He winked and pushed away from the doorframe. “I’ll let you know when those warrants come in,” he said, and he walked away with an air of sadness clinging to him like smoke.
Miranda watched him go and her heart ached for him. Sometimes life was a coldhearted bitch who didn’t play by any rules but her own and it plain sucked to land on the losing end.
When did either one of the players get to reset and start over?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
MIRANDA AND JEREMIAH pulled a late night as they pored over the financial records of both Big Game Trophy and Vivid Adventures. None of the other outfits were big enough to warrant a deeper look, and thus they were stuck focusing on the two rival companies.
“Are you sure you can stay?” Jeremiah asked, as he passed her a slice of pepperoni pizza and a soda. “I could probably do this myself.”
“Mamu is watching Talen for me so I’m good to stay. Besides, it would take you until tomorrow morning to sift through both financial records and I’d rather just do it together so we can get it done.”
Jeremiah nodded, and after shoveling two pieces of pizza down his gullet, he dived into the dizzying number of Excel spreadsheets that detailed every penny spent by either operation.
It was about an hour later that Miranda made a startling realization. “Rhett Fowler is going broke,” she said with a catch in her voice. “His reserve is practically gone.” She looked to Jeremiah, stricken. “This is why he didn’t want us to see his financials.... It wasn’t because he was doing anything he shouldn’t. He’s embarrassed. Here—” she handed him the paperwork “—take a look.”
Jeremiah studied the spreadsheet and balances. “It appears he’s living way beyond his means. He’s got more going out than he has coming in.”
“And no big deposits, either. If he’s running a poaching operation, he sucks at it because he’s drowning in debt.”
“This gives him motive,” Jeremiah warned. “He could have offshore accounts to hide the money.”
“I don’t believe that. You can see where his money is going. For ridiculous purchases.” Miranda had an idea who was authorizing credit-card purchases for Louis Vuitton handbags and Gucci shoes. “That Swiss miss is sucking up all his cash.”
“The price of a young wife,” Jeremiah said. “He has to know that he’s overextended.”
“Oh, Rhett...you dumb ox,” Miranda muttered, irritated at Rhett for being so stupid with his money and thinking with a different part of his anatomy. “He’s not guilty of anything but being led around by his—”
“That may be true,” Jeremiah interjected with a frown. “But we still need to talk to him about our findings.”
“He’s going to be mortified.”
“They say the lessons that stick with us are the ones that embarrass us or cost us money. Maybe he’ll use it as a learning experience.”
Miranda cut Jeremiah a short look. “Yeah, that’ll happen,” she said derisively, then sighed. “All right...I want to take another look at his employee list and make sure no one is siphoning from his accounts.”
They spent another hour combing through names and cross-referencing them through the federal database to ensure no one was working under an assumed name, and when Miranda did a double take on one particular name, she had to check again to make sure her eyes weren’t simply crossing from fatigue. “Can you hand me the list from Vivid?”
Jeremiah fished out the employee list from Vivid Adventures and Miranda scanned it, looking for one name in particular. “Hmm, that’s odd,” she said under her breath when she’d found what she was looking for. She looked up and found Jeremiah waiting. “Vivid and Big Game share an employee.”
Jeremiah frowned. “Is that normal?”
“Between friendly companies, yes. But between two companies whose owners can barely stand one another? No.”
“Who is it?”
“Mack James and James Mack.”
Jeremiah scanned the paperwork again and compared. “Someone is using an alias at one of the businesses. Who is he?”
“Helicopter pilot. I remember Rhett saying he needed a new pilot because his former pilot, someone who had worked for him for years, had relocated to Oregon. I guess this guy is the replacement pilot,” she added.
Miranda stared at Jeremiah. “We need to schedule a meeting.”
“Who should we call first?”
“Both. I want them both in the room when they hear they are employing the same guy. I’m betting there’s bound to be some fireworks.”
“Sounds good to me.” Jeremiah cracked a large yawn. “Thank God. I’m exhausted. Can we go home now?”
Miranda laughed wearily and nodded. “Gladly. Let’s get this mess cleaned up and go. I’m about to fall face-first into Excel spreadsheets.”
* * *
JEREMIAH THOUGHT IT would be best if he had both Vee and Rhett meet at the fish-and-game office to declare it neutral ground. When Rhett and Vee showed up at the exact same time, the stony glares and stubborn jaws were nearly identical.
Jeremiah took them into his office and shut the door for privacy. Miranda started the meeting by handing them each a copy of their employee list with the man in question circled in red as well as information they’d managed to pull from the other outfits who’d also used his services as a pilot.
“What is this?” Rhett asked gruffly, looking in confusion at the information.
Vee caught o
n quickly and swore under her breath. “That rotten little pisser. I’ll skin him alive.”
“What’s going on?” Rhett asked, looking for someone to clear up the confusion.
“Someone has been using us,” Vee explained impatiently. “James Mack is Mack James.”
Understanding hit Rhett and his face colored as his anger blew up. “I’ll kill him. When I hired him I told him no freelancing.”
“There’s a bigger issue at stake here,” Jeremiah said. “We believe James Mack, or whoever he is, has been using the legitimate cover as a freelance helicopter pilot to have a reason to be in the areas where the kills have occurred. He’s in and out before anyone is the wiser and no one thinks to question the helicopter pilot. Think about it...what does your pilot do while your clients are hunting their quarry?” he asked.
“Either they wait at the designated landing or they return to base and return later. It all depends on the job,” Rhett said.
“Which means, he has plenty of time to get the job done and split before anyone notices he’s gone.”
“But what about the blood? I think someone would notice if the helicopter pilot is covered in blood,” Vee pointed out, frowning.
“I suspect he’s wearing some sort of suit, like a bio-contamination suit that he slips on when everyone is gone, which is why we’ve found no tracks at the scene, and then after his kill, he only takes specific parts, which he likely stores in a small cooler that no one is going to notice.”
Rhett cast Vee an accusatory stare. “Do you know about this?”
Vee glared. “You idiot. He’s been using me, too. I thought I was helping the kid out but I should have known he was too good to be true. He was subsidizing his piloting fee by using our legitimate jobs to cover his tracks.”
“I knew his rate was too low,” Rhett agreed with a growl. “I knew it.”
They both looked to Jeremiah and Miranda. “What are we going to do about it?” Rhett asked.
“Unfortunately, at this point our evidence is speculative. We need proof.”
“And how are we supposed to get that? I doubt he’s going to simply throw his hands up and admit his guilt,” Rhett groused. “Maybe I could beat a confession out of him.”
“Old man, you’d likely throw your back out before you landed a hit. I’ll take care of him,” Vee said.
“And how do you plan to do that? Hurl harsh words at the kid and kill him with sarcasm?” Rhett jeered, equally ticked off.
“No one is going to beat or kill anyone.” Miranda stood. “We need to catch him in the act. So that means you two need to work together and act as if nothing has changed. So in other words, keep being completely awful to one another.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Vee sniped, shooting a look at Rhett. “I just received word that I’m being audited. My bet is that this oaf had something to do with it.”
“If your books are clean, you have nothing to worry about,” Rhett countered, not the least bit apologetic.
Miranda snapped her fingers at them both as if they were quarreling children. “Focus, please,” she said, ignoring their glares. “If James is tipped off to anything being different it’ll spook him and he’ll bolt. I’ve been tracking this guy for two years and I’m not about to lose him this time. I need your help, so please put your differences aside just this once and agree to work together.”
Rhett and Vee shared a look and a reluctant truce followed. Rhett nodded and grudgingly agreed. “Sounds good to me. I want to nail this SOB to the ground.”
Vee also agreed. “That makes two of us. I’ll play along.”
Miranda smiled. “I knew I could count on you.” She handed them both a new set of papers. “Here’s the plan. Please follow it to the letter. No deviating from the instructions.” She looked purposefully to Rhett and he grunted in acceptance. “The Fish and Game is going to book a trip at both Vivid Adventures and Big Game Trophy. They will be near the areas where he’s been known to trap bears. We don’t know which area he’s going to choose, so that’s why we’re booking with both outfits. Whichever gig he takes is the one where he’s already looked and set his traps. What he doesn’t know is every single person on that expedition will be law enforcement ready to take him down.”
Jeremiah nodded. “There’s more. We think he has someone working on the inside. Possibly at both of your operations. He’s probably paying them under the table to keep their mouths shut or help them facilitate his runs. We don’t know who might be on Vee’s team but I have my suspicions on who it is on Rhett’s team.”
“Who is it?” Rhett demanded. “I won’t tolerate traitors on my team.”
Miranda looked to Rhett with compassion in her eyes. Jeremiah figured the news might come easier if it were delivered by a friend. “Rhett, I don’t know how to tell you this but I think your traitor is Ambra.”
Rhett stared. “My wife?” He shook his head. “Impossible.”
“When we were going through your financials, we found some strange purchases. And they were all made from Ambra’s account.”
“Strange how?”
“Rope, bear grease and tarp. Unless she’s working on a really weird home project, I think James was getting her to make some purchases for him so as not to raise suspicion.”
“No.” Rhett refused to believe it. “She wouldn’t do that to me.”
“She’s young and James is young. Likely they’ve been having an affair for quite a while. Because if it was just about money she can get that from you.” Miranda winced, hating the hurt she was causing her friend. Jeremiah gave her an encouraging look. Miranda took a deep breath and continued, “I’m not sure how it happened but somehow he convinced Ambra to betray you and the only way that I can think how that would’ve worked is if there were emotions involved. I’m sorry.”
Rhett’s bottom lip trembled and it was a hard sight to see. Surprisingly, Vee remained silent. Jeremiah would’ve half expected her to crow at Rhett’s misfortune but she seemed upset for her rival. “Are we finished here?” Rhett asked in a reserved tone.
Jeremiah nodded. “I know it will be hard to go home and pretend as if everything is fine. Don’t talk to Ambra. Don’t confront James. We need everything to be the same as it was. Understand?”
“Fine.” Rhett stood stiffly. “Let’s get this show on the road. I want to get it over with.”
“We’ll set the expeditions for next week. You need to both be ready.”
“We will be ready.” Vee stood next to Rhett and for a brief moment it seemed a spark of compassion blazed between them. “Let’s go, old man. We have work to do until then.”
Rhett and Vee left in their respective cars and Miranda said with mild surprise, “Was it just me or did they seem less reluctant to work with one another than before?”
Jeremiah said, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They’ve both been duped and there’s a brand of built-in camaraderie when that happens.”
“I think she really felt bad for him. Maybe they don’t actually hate one another.”
“I wouldn’t start playing matchmaker just yet,” Jeremiah warned. “Rhett is going to be bitter and angry for a while and he’ll probably start to take it out on Vee before this is all through.”
“Rhett’s not like that,” Miranda said. “He’s actually a real softie beneath that bluster. It’s why he never suspected Ambra was two-timing him right beneath his nose.” Miranda wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I never liked that woman. I bet her accent isn’t even real.”
Jeremiah chuckled. “Sheathe your claws. There’ll be plenty of time to give her a piece of your mind after we’ve managed to get the evidence we need.”
“I can’t wait.” Miranda offered a mean smile and then left the room to put the final touches into motion for the raid.
CHAPTER THIRTY
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MIRANDA COULDN’T QUELL her excitement. For the first time in two years she had real movement on the poaching case and it felt as if it were finally going to be solved. And she had Jeremiah to thank for that. He pushed her to look at evidence that she had long since discounted. If it weren’t for the laser focus required for the operation, she might’ve been downright giddy.
“Are you in position?” Jeremiah’s voice sounded over her walkie-talkie.
“Ready and waiting,” Miranda answered in a low voice. “When he touches down I’ll have a clear view of all his movements.”
“Good. We’re all set here in the group. You’ll have all the backup you need.”
The plan was simple. James had no idea that they’d faked the expedition. Of the two, James had selected Rhett’s expedition, which gave Miranda a good idea of where his hunting grounds would be. There was a water source that snaked down from the mountain, which was an excellent place to spring a trap. All she had to do was wait and he would lead her to his spot.
Right on schedule, the low whir of the helicopter filled the air. Miranda looked up from her hiding spot and saw the helicopter touching down in the meadow. She could hear laughter and shouted instructions as Rhett did his part, acting as if the group were part of a true expedition. The law-enforcement agents, an assembled group of federal cops, were outfitted like big-game hunters as they appeared excited to bag their first bear or moose.
Miranda watched from her hiding spot as they headed up the trail, leaving the helicopter pilot behind. She knew he wouldn’t leave right away just in case someone double backed. Just as she suspected, he waited a good forty-five minutes before ducking back into the helicopter and emerging in a head-to-toe white Tyvek suit, complete with soft terrain booties to cover his shoes. He checked his watch and then began sprinting down the opposite end of the trail, carrying a blue cooler.
That Reckless Night Page 22
