Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Dianne Harman

  She decided to drive past the driveway and park the minivan behind a stand of trees so Mike wouldn’t be able to see her van. When she got to the stand of trees in front of the BLM land she noticed a silver colored car already parked there. She pulled in next to it and got out. A few moments earlier, she’d turned off the lights on her minivan so she wouldn’t attract attention, but in the moonlight she could clearly make out the bumper sticker on the rear bumper of the car that read “Oregon Needs Lumber.”

  If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, that’s got to be Gabe’s car. It’s the exact same bumper sticker I saw on his car when he and Marcy came out of the hotel in Portland and when the car was parked in her driveway. If it’s his car, why would he park here and not in Marcy’s driveway? That’s really odd.

  She took the gun out of her purse and put it in her jacket pocket along with the keys to the van. “Rebel, come,” she whispered, opening her door and motioning for Rebel to get out of the car on her side. I know Gabe’s desperate and if he’s parking here and not in Marcy’s driveway that concerns me. I’m glad I thought to bring a gun. I don’t trust that man. I wish I knew if Marcy has given him any of the money from the insurance proceeds, but with Carlos coming, I’d think she’d have to keep half of it to pay him off. Kelly carefully walked up to the silver colored car, gun drawn, and looked inside. There was no one in it.

  The stand of trees was next to the gate that led to the Bureau of Land Management property. She’d slipped around that gate several days earlier when she’d found the abandoned shack.

  There can only be one reason why Gabe’s car would be parked here, Kelly thought. He must have entered the BLM property and if he knows about the shack, I’d bet anything Gabe is the one who killed Jeff. Gabe’s a hunter and Jeff was killed by a bullet from a hunting rifle. It all makes sense now, but why would he come back here tonight? I hope he doesn’t plan on doing something to Marcy.

  She motioned for Rebel to follow her as she slipped around the gate and started to walk along the narrow path that led to the abandoned shack. I’m so glad I changed into tennis shoes when I got home. At least I’m not making any noise while I’m walking. It was deathly quiet on the path and even the night animals were silent.

  This is really odd. Animals seem to have an uncanny sense regarding danger and I’ll bet if Gabe’s out at the abandoned shack, they sense something is wrong. Maybe that’s why I don’t hear any sounds. If he’s there, and I bet he is, he must have scared them off.

  After walking quietly about a hundred yards along the dark narrow path, she came to a spot where she could just make out the old dilapidated shack ahead of her in the moonlight. She was about twenty feet from it when she heard a loud gunshot come from the shack. She jumped behind a tree and pulled on Rebel’s collar, motioning for him to stay behind her. She stood and waited for whoever was in the shack to come out, her gun aimed at the shack’s door. At the far end of the cove she could clearly see a woman who appeared to be Marcy come out of the ranch house. Seconds later she ran back into the house and Kelly heard the front door slam with a loud bang. Sounds of a man’s voice swearing came from the shack. A few moments later she recognized Gabe as he ran out the door holding a rifle.

  “Drop it or I’ll shoot,” Kelly yelled. “Rebel, go!”

  Gabe dropped his rifle while Rebel stood next to him, growling and waiting for Kelly to give him the command for attack.

  “Gabe, one move and that dog will have you on the ground and I won’t be responsible for what he’s going to do to you,” Kelly said. “I know you killed Jeff with that rifle. You’re a hunter. It all makes sense now.”

  “Not only will Rebel take you to the ground, but I’ll shoot to kill. Understand me?” Mike said in a loud commanding voice as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He swiftly walked over to where Gabe was standing and said, “Kelly, keep me covered while I handcuff him.” When he was finished he got out his phone and made a call. “Rich, what’s happening at the ranch house?” He paused. “Carlos has been shot and killed? Is Marcy okay?” He listened to Rich. “Call the coroner and then drive north about two hundred feet. You’ll see my car. Got someone who needs to go to jail.”

  “Mike, what are you doing here? How did you know I’d be here?” Kelly asked, her voice beginning to break from stress and tension.

  “I was just getting ready to turn into the Black’s driveway when I saw something shining in the moonlight a little farther up the highway. I decided to drive up there and see what it was because I knew Rich would be at the ranch by now and could probably handle Carlos by himself. I saw your car and a car I assumed was Gabe’s from its color and the unique bumper sticker on its rear bumper. I didn’t think anything good could come from that combination, so here I am. And it looks like I may have gotten here just in the nick in time.”

  He turned to Gabe. “Want to tell me why you’re here, why you have a rifle, and why you killed Carlos? And while you’re at it, I’d like to know why you killed Jeff. Be willing to bet my sheriff’s badge that there will be a match on the bullet that killed Jeff and your rifle. Now I understand why there was no gunpowder on Jeff. You shot him from the same place where you just shot Carlos, right here from this old shack.” He turned and looked at the ranch house and Jeff’s office. “Yeah, you’ve got a clear line of fire from here. It’s only about one hundred yards. That would be an easy shot with a high-powered hunting rifle.”

  “I want my lawyer. I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

  “Gabe, I’m going to be honest with you. I’ll bet anything that your rifle was responsible for killing Carlos and Jeff. That probably means you’ll be headed to prison for life. I may be able to help get your sentence reduced if you tell me why you did it.”

  “I told you before. I’ve got nothing to say. I’m entitled to a phone call and you can talk to my lawyer from now on.”

  “Pal, from what I hear about your lumber business, I don’t think you’re even going to be able to make bail, much less hire a lawyer to defend you in a capital murder case. I’m giving you one last chance. Why were you here and why did you kill Carlos?”

  “Sheriff, maybe you need to see someone about your impaired hearing. Maybe you didn’t hear me the first two times I told you that I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

  Mike turned to Kelly. “Tell me what you saw and heard.”

  “I heard a gunshot come from the shack, then Gabe started swearing. I heard him say something like ‘Marcy, get back out there. I need that money and the only way I’m going to get it from you is when you’re dead,’ and a few moments later, he ran out of the shack. Is Marcy okay?”

  “Yes, Rich got there just in time. Gabe’s aim with his rifle was deadly accurate. Carlos died instantly from a gunshot wound to his head. From what you heard, I can only assume that Gabe was planning on killing Marcy as well, but she ran back in the house before he could get off a shot at her. He probably figured if he killed them both he could quickly drive over to the house and steal the cash Marcy was going to give to Carlos. I need to talk to her to see if Gabe threatened her. Maybe she refused to give him the money.”

  “Poor Marcy. She must be terrified.”

  “Gabe, start walking towards the car. Rebel, walk behind him. One false move, Gabe, and I shoot and the dog goes for your throat. Got it? Kelly, give Rebel the right command for that.” He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and carefully picked up Gabe’s rifle from where it was lying on the ground.

  “Rebel, follow, guard!” Kelly said. Rebel walked behind Gabe as the four of them made their way along the narrow path to where the cars were parked. Rich pulled up just as they reached the highway.

  “Get in,” Mike said opening the back door of the deputy sheriff’s car. “Rich, don’t think this will be a problem since he’s cuffed and you have the steel grate separating the two of you, but I’d feel better if you took Rebel with you. He can sit in the front seat and he’s trained to attack if Gabe tries anything when you walk him from the
car into the jail. I need to talk to Marcy. I’ll meet you at the jail in a little while. Wait until I get there to give him his phone call.”

  He turned to Kelly. “I know it wouldn’t do me any good to tell you to go home, so I’ll ask you to follow me to Marcy’s. I want to talk to her and see what happened before Rich got there.”

  “Thanks, Mike, but you have to admit, I did a pretty good job.”

  “I’ll give you that. I’m just glad we’ve spent a little time at the gun range lately. I know you didn’t fire the gun I insisted you have, but I’m glad you had the sense to bring it with you.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff Mike. I appreciate your faith in me,” she said sarcastically. “After all, I was the one who had the gun on Gabe when you walked up.”

  “Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. You’re driving me nuts. I’m not sure you’re making my job any easier with me having to constantly worry about your safety.”

  “Mike, this is the last time I’ll do anything like this. I just wanted to help you and so help me, I think I did.”

  “This is not the time or place to discuss how you’re going to act in the future when it comes to my investigations. We’ll talk about it another time. Right now you can follow me in your van.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Well, I don’t care what he thinks. It was me holding the gun on Gabe when Mike walked up, not him holding the gun on Gabe when I walked up. I’ll probably have to act like I really mean it when I say I won’t get involved next time, but I’m two for two now. I found Amber’s killer and now I found Jeff’s. He can say anything he wants, but those are the facts.

  She pulled in Marcy’s driveway and parked next to Mike’s car. They both walked up to the front door. Mike knocked and said in a loud voice, “Marcy, it’s Mike. Everything’s okay now. Please open the door. Kelly’s with me and we need to talk to you.”

  The door opened and Marcy stood there, pale and trembling. She was clearly in shock. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Kelly walked past Mike and took Marcy by the arm to support her. She looked like she was about to faint. Kelly led her to the nearest chair. “Marcy, sit down. What’s your sister’s number? I’ll call her and tell her to come immediately.”

  Marcy shakily gave her the number and Kelly called it. “She’ll be here as soon as she can. Her husband had a meeting tonight and she doesn’t have anyone to watch the children, but as soon as he returns she’ll drive over from Portland.”

  “Marcy,” Mike said, “I need to know everything that’s happened out here in the last few hours. I’ve arrested Gabe Lewis for the murder of Carlos and I’m sure Gabe was the one who murdered Jeff. Tell me everything you can remember.”

  She started sobbing. “Mike, are you sure it was Gabe? I can’t believe he’d do something like that even though he was really mad at me.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks with a tissue Kelly had given her.

  “Why was he mad at you?” Mike asked.

  “Gabe came over earlier this evening and told me he’d had a meeting this afternoon with a man who handled his investments. He told me the man worked for himself and wasn’t part of a big company or anything. He said he was an investment genius. Gabe said he’d made far more money investing through him than he would have if he’d gone with some big investment firm. He told me if I’d give him the proceeds from the insurance policy, he’d make sure I got a great return on my investment.”

  Kelly and Mike didn’t say anything; they just listened to the distraught woman.

  “I got a call from Carlos late this afternoon demanding the money he said Jeff owed him. I asked him how I could be sure he wouldn’t call again, demanding more money from me. He told me he was wanted in the United States for murder and that it was very dangerous for him to even be here and that he couldn’t risk it again. He said I would have to take his word that this would be the last time I would ever hear from him or see him. I didn’t have a choice. I told him I had the cash and that I had packed it in a large suitcase. He said he would be here at 9:00 tonight, like I told you when I called you.”

  “Did Gabe know about Carlos?”

  “Yes. I told him Carlos had provided the money to build the marijuana farm Jeff built on the back of the property. I told him how Carlos told me he’d paid for the plants, the irrigation, and furnished the workers. In return, Jeff was to pay Carlos half the profits over the years. When the crop burned to the ground, Carlos demanded his money back. I told him how Carlos had threated to kill both Brandon and me if I didn’t pay him back.

  “I knew Carlos was coming tonight and I needed to have a million and a half dollars to pay him off so I told Gabe no, I wouldn’t give him the money. He couldn’t believe it when I showed him the suitcase stuffed with the cash. He screamed and yelled at me and demanded that I give him the money, telling me that if I really loved him I’d trust him with it. I told him it wasn’t that at all, I just wasn’t ready to make such a big decision on such short notice. I told him I needed some time to think about it. I said I needed to have the money to pay off Carlos before I did anything with the rest of the money. We had a big argument and when he left the house he was furious.” She started sobbing.

  Kelly turned to Mike. “Well, that explains why Gabe killed Carlos. He didn’t want him to have any of Marcy’s money. He needed it all. It also explains why he killed Jeff. It was pretty much what we’d talked about. He thought he would either gain access to the right to develop the ranch into a hotel and spa or he would get Marcy to give him the insurance money. Either way he gets out of the financial jam he was in.”

  She turned back to Marcy, “I hate to tell you this, but I think you need to know that Gabe was planning on killing you so he could get the insurance money. Before Mike arrived and while I was outside the shack, right after he killed Carlos, he started swearing and I overheard him say ‘Marcy, get back out there. I need that money and the only way I’m going to get it from you is when you’re dead.’ He knew you’d packed half of the insurance settlement cash in the suitcase you were going to give to Carlos. I’m sure his plan was that after he killed you he would go to your house and steal the suitcase with the cash in it as well as all the rest of the cash from the insurance settlement. It would be easy for him to do as it would only take a couple of minutes for him to stop at the ranch house and grab the money.

  “Gabe would be free to walk out the front door with three million dollars in cash and no one would ever know he had even been here. His financial problems would be solved, just like that. The authorities, meaning Sheriff Mike, would probably think it was a professional gangland style hit aimed at Carlos by some Mexican drug cartel and you just got in the way so they took you out too. It would look like the cartel assassin grabbed the cash and was probably back in Mexico. You’re safe now. No one can hurt you. Carlos is dead and Gabe is in jail. I’ll stay with you tonight until your sister gets here,” Kelly said, putting her arm around Marcy.

  “You both must think I’m a fool,” Marcy said, sobbing. “The thing is, I really loved Gabe and I thought he loved me. I’ve loved him since we were engaged before I met Jeff. I was heartbroken when he broke up with me and married that woman in Sunset Bay. I married Jeff on the rebound. My life has become a living nightmare.”

  “Marcy, we don’t think you’re a fool at all. Please go on and tell us what happened,” Mike said.

  She took a deep breath and continued, “That’s about it. I called Gabe several times on his cell phone after he left this evening. I wanted to apologize to him, but he had his phone turned off. A few minutes before the time Carlos told me he’d be here, I heard a car pull into the driveway. A moment later I heard a gunshot, and then I opened the front door and saw Carlos lying on the ground, obviously dead. I started to go to him when your deputy yelled at me to get back in the house. The deputy knelt down behind his car. That’s just about everything.”

  “Here, Marcy. Take these aspirin. As hard as you’ve been crying, you’re going to have a horrible headache,” Kelly said, taking
a bottle of aspirin out of her purse.

  “Does Brandon have to know about this? It will kill him to think his father was dealing with a Mexican drug cartel mobster and that his mother always loved Gabe and not his father.”

  Mike was silent for a few moments before he answered her. “Marcy, it will be public knowledge that Gabe killed both Jeff and Carlos. I can’t do anything about that. It will probably come out that Carlos was trying to get money from you and that Jeff owed him some money. That’s not unusual. Often there’s bad blood when business deals don’t work out, particularly when there’s some sort of criminal enterprise involved. Hopefully, the reason Jeff owed him money can be kept sealed. There’s a good chance Gabe’s lawyer will agree to a plea bargain and the case will never proceed to a public trial. As far as you loving Gabe while you were married to Jeff, I don’t think there’s any reason for that to come out. A good case could be made that Gabe loved you and was jealous when he overheard you talking to Carlos on the phone and making an appointment to see him tonight. If the case doesn’t go to a public trial, I think we could say that Gabe was jealous and that was the reason he killed Carlos. Kelly, what do you think?”

  “I think the less Brandon has to deal with, the better. There’s no reason to call him tonight. Marcy, I can call him tomorrow for you if you’d like, or you can call him, or maybe your sister could. What happened here is not really relevant to him, other than it happened on property he now owns. Does that sound about right to both of you?”

  Mike and Marcy both nodded. Mike stood up, put on his Stetson, and walked over to the door. “Kelly, I’ve got to get the paperwork done on Gabe and oversee the call to his attorney. Rebel and I will be home later. You’re going to stay here until Marcy’s sister comes, right?”

  “Yes. I’ll see you at home.”

  “Marcy,” Mike said, “when you’ve had a little time to process everything that’s happened tonight, I think you’re going to be pretty grateful you had the presence of mind to call me earlier tonight and tell me Carlos was coming to the ranch. And remember, a fool wouldn’t have done that.”