Dark Justice bk-8

by William Bernhardt

  It took several moments before the full impact of what he was seeing hit him. His eyes slowly lowered.

  “Oh my God,” Christina said breathlessly.

  There were stumps on the ground, one after another, an endless sea of severed trunks. Ben thought about counting, but it was impossible. Hundreds upon hundreds of trees had been felled, leaving behind only stumps wider than he could reach. Acres and acres of land had been leveled, flattened. There was no cover, no plant life, no animal life. Nothing green. It was as if an invading army had marched through and destroyed everything in sight.

  Ben didn’t need to be a dendrochronologist to know that these trees had been around for hundreds of years. And now there was nothing left but broken branches and dead stumps.

  “And,” Deirdre added quietly, “this entire area was clear-cut-in three days.”

  Ben knelt down and touched the stump closest to him. “This is something I will write about,” he said. “People should know what’s happening out here.”

  “You’re right,” Deirdre said, nodding her head. A single tear dropped from her eye. “I just hope someone is listening.”

  Chapter 13

  Tess closed the magazine and tossed it onto a sleeping bag. She’d been in this tent for over an hour now, all by herself, waiting. She’d read through that issue of Outdoor magazine three times, and it hadn’t interested her the first time. She’d started talking to herself, subvocalizing animated conversations with everyone she knew. She was going stir-crazy.

  Since she’d come back to the camp with Maureen and Al, she’d been treated like a potential leper, shuffled off to the side, isolated. She could understand that they wanted to be cautious, but enough was enough already. How long did they need to get their act together and decide what to do with her? How long could she stand being cooped up in this stupid tent?

  Of course there was more at stake than just her personal discomfort. If she wasn’t allowed to circulate, if she couldn’t talk to the members of Green Rage and get to know them, earn their confidence, she was lost. She would never get the information she needed, never be able to crack this case.

  She didn’t have forever, either; she knew that. Rudy had been constantly calling her hotel room, asking where the hell she was and what she was doing and where was his story on Bigfoot, anyway? She could blow him off for a while without serious consequences, muttering vague promises about a really big scoop she was tracking, but that wouldn’t last forever. For that matter, neither would her travel advance.

  She watched the shadows as they flickered on the outside of the tent. The movement and muffled voices provided her only hint of what might be taking place outside. Some time earlier, the group had assembled and held some kind of meeting. No doubt she had been on the agenda, but she knew she wasn’t the only action item. There was another stranger in their midst, someone else whose worthiness was being judged. And Green Rage had many plans afoot; she had heard enough words like immediately and tonight to realize that some of them were imminent.

  Al had asked her to wait in the tent till he returned, but that didn’t mean she had to do it. She could rebel; it’s not like he was her father or anything. Still, she was trying to gain their trust, and she thought the best way to do that was to be cooperative. Earnest. Act as if she was desperate to please them, like she wanted to be one of them more than anything else in the world.

  And then a little voice inside her head said, Once you have their trust, you’ll betray it. You’ll take their secrets and smear them across the pages of the National Whisper. Or maybe even a real newspaper. You’ll get your Pulitzer, and they’ll get five to ten.

  Tess pushed the voice out of her consciousness. That kind of thinking would get her nowhere. She needed to focus on the task at hand. Which at the moment was waiting.

  She was preparing to plunge into Outdoor magazine for the fourth time when Al finally reappeared. He unzipped the entrance to the tent and poked his head through. “We’re ready for you,” he said.

  She couldn’t help noticing that he wasn’t smiling.

  Tess crawled out of the tent and followed Rick to the circle of stones in the center of the clearing. She saw only six Green Ragers present. The others must have gone elsewhere. Secret mission, she suspected.

  Rick introduced Tess to those present and gave her a smidgen of information about their backgrounds. “I’ve told everyone what you told Al and me in the bar about your … background. Why you’d like to join our cause.”

  “Good,” she said. She was mentally deliberating on what character she should be playing. She thought it best to seem a little timid, lacking in confidence. Perhaps even a bit in awe of them. “I appreciate that.”

  “But there’s a lot more we’d like to know.” Tess remembered that the woman speaking, the one with the curly brown hair and the round wire-frame glasses, was called Maureen.

  “Just ask,” Tess said, letting her lips tremble slightly. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  “We are of course interested in the activities of the Cabal, and intrigued by the possibility of having an inside line on what Slade might be planning next. I’m sure you anticipated that.”

  Tess decided that her character, who was after all the mistress of a paid thug, should not be too terribly bright, so she didn’t show any sign of picking up on the suggestion Maureen was making.

  “We know Slade is in Magic Valley. He’s been spotted. We were not aware he had any … associates with him.”

  “You don’t think he made those raids on your camp himself, did you?”

  “No. But hiring paid muscle is one thing. My understanding is that the man you’re having the liaison with is somewhat higher in rank.”

  “John is Slade’s right-hand man. Any time Slade wants something important done, John is the man he calls.”

  “I was not aware of John.”

  “Most people aren’t. Slade is the sort of man who likes to take credit for everything himself. At the same time, he doesn’t want any trails leading back to him. So whenever he needs something done that’s … less than legal, he talks to John.”

  “And John talks to you?”

  Tess allowed herself a slight smile. “He does have a habit of gabbing on when he’s”-she giggled-“excited. And after.”

  Maureen stared at her with a near-stony visage Tess found difficult to read. Was she doubting Tess, or appalled by this nonfeminist dinosaur? Or just trying to figure how best to use her? “So,” Maureen said, “you’ve known about some of the Cabal’s activities even before they happened.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Such as?”

  “Well, I know they raided your camp twice, even though I don’t believe you reported it to the police.”

  “There’s been a lot of talk about the raids in town,” Al said abruptly. “She could’ve picked that up from anyone.”

  “But she also knows about that Cabal,” Maureen said. “And Slade. And that is not common knowledge.”

  “Not common, but not unknown, either,” Al insisted. “If she did some serious research, she could have found some of the articles other environmental groups have written about it.”

  “Please believe me,” Tess said, plastering on her most earnest smile. “I wouldn’t even know how to do this … research. All I know is what I’ve been told by John.” She took a deep breath. “And it horrifies me. That’s why I want to join you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Al said, “but we can’t afford to take the risk. She could be a cop.”

  “She isn’t a cop,” Maureen said. “I’m certain of that.” She peered directly at Tess. “Are you?”

  “No,” Tess said firmly. “I’m not.”

  “Or worse,” Al continued, “she could be a Cabal plant. That would explain how she knows so much about them.”

  “It’s possible,” Maureen said, batting her finger against her lip. “But I just don’t think so.” She glanced at Rick. “Do you?”

  �
�No, I don’t.” Rick leaned toward Maureen and whispered a few words in her ear. Maureen nodded. “I’m more concerned about your level of commitment.”

  Tess frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you may feel all dedicated to the cause now. It may seem like a cool, exciting thing to do, in a dilettante-ish way. But when the heat is on, and it doesn’t seem so fun and exciting anymore, you may wither. It’s one thing to talk the talk, but quite another to actually walk the walk. We can’t use someone who’s going to crack up and run the first time she sees something dangerous or illegal happen.”

  “I’ll do whatever you want me to.”

  He peered down at her. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes,” she said, without hesitation. “Absolutely.”

  “All right,” Rick continued, “here’s what we’re going to do. We’ve got a little … activity planned for tonight. We considered postponing it, but the group consensus is to proceed.”

  “And?”

  “And you’ll come with us. If you follow through on this and still want to be part of Green Rage, then I think you’ll be in for the long haul. More to the point, if you’ve participated in an illegal act, then you have as much to lose as the rest of us-if someone talks to the cops or the Freddies.”

  “I understand. Security in shared risk.”

  “That’s exactly right. Will you do it?”

  Tess never let her eyes break from his. “I will.”

  Al rose abruptly and threw his hat onto the ground. “Not again! This is insane!”

  “I’ve made my decision,” Rick said.

  Al muttered a few words Tess didn’t understand, then stomped off into the forest.

  “First, I’ll fill you in,” Rick said. “Then I’ll take you back into town so you can get whatever gear you’ll need to spend the night in the forest. If you have to make some excuses to John, you can do it. At any rate, you need to meet me at Bunyan’s by nine. I’ll pick you up and bring you back out here.”

  “Got it,” Tess said, trying to suppress her excitement. “Can you tell me the plan?”

  It looked like she’d succeeded. He was going to take her into his confidence.

  “Yeah,” Rick said, leaning close to her and lowering his voice. “You’ll need to know. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

  Chapter 14

  They placed tess in the middle of the chain of four, with Maureen and Rick in front of her and Al behind her. She preferred to think it was so they could make sure she didn’t get lost. But she suspected that at least part of it was that they still simply didn’t trust her.

  It was the dead of night, well after three A.M. She was reminded how forbidding the forest could be at this time of night. Every other step she tripped over something she couldn’t see and felt something brush against her she couldn’t identify. A voice deep inside her told her to run, to flee, to get the hell out of Dodge. But she had to fight her panic down, to suppress those natural instincts.

  This was a test. They were trying to determine whether she had what it took to be part of their group. She couldn’t fail the test, not if she hoped to become a member and get the inside scoop she needed to crack the murder. She had to persevere.

  “We wait here,” Rick whispered. They hunkered down in a grove of trees on the crest of a small hill. Maureen and Al both sat, propping themselves against large tree trunks. They at least seemed to know what they were doing.

  “Where are we?” Tess asked timidly.

  “Near Northwest 14,” Rick said. He pointed toward a large section of tall trees on the opposite side of the clearing-NW14, on the surveyors’ maps.

  “I thought we were going to spike the trees,” Tess said. “It’s already after three.”

  “We wait,” Rick said firmly, and he rested himself on a large rock beside Maureen.

  Tess didn’t understand, but she saw no point in arguing. She found a soft spot in a pile of leaves, sat down, and waited.

  It was more than half an hour later when Rick rose to his feet, brushing the dirt off the back of his jeans. “I think that’s long enough.”

  Tess was startled by the sound of his voice. There had been no conversation during the waiting period-for security reasons, she assumed. And given the lateness of the hour and the length of time she’d been hiking, she had all but fallen asleep.

  Tess pushed herself up, wiping her eyes. “Mind telling me what’s going on? You told me we were going to spike trees. Said we would start around three. Wasn’t that the plan?”

  “That’s what we told you,” Rick said. “But that wasn’t the plan.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way,” Maureen said gently. “But we had to be sure we could trust you.”

  “So you lied to me?”

  “We gave you false information about our plans,” Al explained. “Then we took you back to town and made sure you had a chance to report, if that was your intent.”

  “You thought I was working for the cops?”

  “Or worse, the Cabal.” Maureen laid her hand gently on Tess’s shoulder. “You have to understand-we know the Cabal has tried to infiltrate our group. And we feel certain they’ll try again. We had to be cautious.”

  “So you fed me false information.”

  Rick nodded. “And then we came out here, near the place where we told you we would spike, and waited. There’s really only one practical way into Northwest 14, and I could watch it perfectly from here. If there had been any cops or loggers or Cabal thugs coming to catch us in the act, I would’ve seen them.”

  Tess’s lips parted. “You laid a trap.”

  “Correction. I waited to see if there was a trap. There wasn’t. You didn’t talk.”

  “I could’ve told you I wouldn’t.” She frowned. “But I guess you had to see it for yourselves. You had to be cautious.”

  “But no longer,” Maureen said. “You’ve passed this test, and there won’t be any more. You’re a member of Green Rage now.” She squeezed Tess’s shoulder affectionately. “Welcome to the club.”

  “Swell,” Tess said. “Do I get the secret decoder ring now?”

  They laughed.

  “Even better,” Al said. “You get to be a real-life terrorist.”

  Maureen slapped his shoulder. “Stop that. You’re worse than the press. We are not terrorists.”

  “I’m not interested in semantic games,” Al said. “We blow things up for political reasons. You choose your own label.”

  “So,” Tess asked, “are we going to spike those trees now?”

  “Nah,” Rick answered. “That was never on the agenda. Those trees in Northwest 14 aren’t old growth, and besides, we spike only before clear-cutting begins, when there’s still time to back the loggers off. No, we have a different plan. We need to walk a little more.”

  “Not as much as before, I hope,” Tess said.

  “Just about ten minutes.”

  Tess followed Rick as he led them on another hike through the dense dark forestland. When he finally stopped, she could see they had reached the site of an ongoing logging operation. Fallen trees lined the perimeter. Heavy machinery dotted the landscape.

  “I thought the current logging was taking place south of here,” Tess said. “Near the river.”

  “It’s supposed to be,” Rick said. “These are old-growth trees, four and five hundred years old. The trees lining the perimeter have been marked by the Freddies with a blue X-that means do not cut.”

  “So why is all this equipment out here?”

  “Why do you think? They’re cutting the trees, anyway-even though it’s against the law and contrary to their own press-release BS. Al found out about it last night while he was scouting. It’s a renegade operation. They send a small team out here while the main team stays where they’re supposed to be. Acting as cover.”

  “But why? When they have the other trees?”

  “Because they want them all,” Al answer
ed.

  “It’s more than that,” Maureen added. “When loggers work the smaller trees, they may have to cut all day before they make their quota. When they work these huge old-growth trees, one tree alone may be sufficient to fill a huge eighteen-wheel transport truck. They get more done in less time. Which translates to higher profits.”

  “You should call the police,” Tess said. “Or maybe the Forest Service.”

  “We’ve tried that route before,” Al said. “By the time any of those so-called officials take action, this forest will be leveled. The logging company will be fined-maybe-and perhaps reprimanded. But they won’t care, because they’ll still have their grossly inflated profits, which will far exceed any fine levied. And the trees will be gone.”

  “That’s just horrible,” Tess said. “Someone has to do something.”

  “Our thoughts exactly,” Al replied. “Someone has to speak for the trees, but no one in officialdom is doing it. So we’ve elected ourselves.”

  “What are you planning to do?”

  Al crouched down and pointed. “See that huge piece of machinery down there?”

  Tess followed his finger. She saw a large metal machine, five wheels on each side, with a cab in the center, and two great robot arms at the front with sharp pincer blades at each tip.

  “That’s a tree cutter. One of the great myths the logging companies like to perpetuate is that trees are felled by stouthearted manly men. But the truth is, today, most trees are felled by big machines like that one. They’re much more efficient. That thing can take down a twelve-inch tree all by itself. It grips it with one claw arm, cuts it with the built-in saws in the other, and carries it to the transport truck. No crash. No Tim-berrrrrr! And no manly men. Unless you count the one sitting in the air-conditioned cab with the FM radio.”

  “That’s the real reason there are fewer loggers working every year,” Maureen explained. “That monster can outwork twenty men with chain saws. And it doesn’t get tired. And it doesn’t require Social Security payments or health care coverage. Guess which the big logging companies prefer?”