Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep

by Colleen Coble

  16

  Kade rode his horse along the trail to Big Frog Falls. He lifted his face to the patch of sunlight streaming through the trees. Those who lived in the U.P. relished the summers with the long days of sunshine. There was a special quality of light to the north woods, a golden glow that lifted his spirits. The late afternoon rays of sun threw long shadows in the woods.

  Moses snorted and tossed his head, chewing at the bit occasionally as he ambled among the wildflowers, the blooms nearly to his belly in some places. Kade kept a sharp eye out for wolves. The report of the wolf that had tried to attack Davy was troubling. Wolves usually avoided contact with humans, and luckily there had been no more reports in recent weeks.

  He passed a campsite, dismounted, and checked the ashes. Cold. Satisfied, he started to get back on his horse when he heard voices in the ravine farther to his left. He tied Moses to a tree and trod through the thick forest in the direction of the sounds. He heard something whimper. Not human, maybe a pup. Kade couldn’t tell. But the distress in the animal’s voice quickened Kade’s steps.

  He broke through the tree line and looked down into a clearing in the ravine. Three young men crouched around a white Chihuahua in a pen. They poked it with sticks and laughed when it whimpered again. Kade started to shout at them then decided to first get a better look at what they were doing. He burned to charge them with something. If there was one thing he hated, it was to see an animal mistreated.

  He didn’t recognize any of the men. They were all in their twenties, as near as he could tell. One was Hispanic, the other two Caucasian. The two light-skinned men looked like brothers, both with thin noses and scraggly beards. They were so bony, they looked unhealthy. The Hispanic looked younger than the other two, and he seemed uneasy with the poking and laughter of the other men. He saw two more dogs in cages facing a pit made out of plywood. The dogs—both pit bulls and nasty looking—snarled and paced in their cages, obviously eager to get at the little white dog.

  “Let’s get this over with,” the Hispanic man said.

  “You’re too soft, Manuel,” one of the other men said. “We need to savage this guy up a little if he stands a chance against the dogs. We want them to be ready to fight when they meet up with Bruck.”

  “They don’t stand no chance against Bruck anyway, and you know it.” The one they called Manuel shuffled his feet and looked around.

  “We get their bloodlust up with a fresh kill, and they might,” the other man said. He jabbed at the white dog. It cowered with a yelp.

  Dogfights. Kade would like to throw these three in with this “Bruck” they were talking about and see how they liked his teeth. Even though it was a felony in most states, dogfights had been on the upswing all over the country in recent months. He thought of Samson, and the reality facing Kade now made him feel sick.

  He would need to call for backup. He couldn’t handle three men by himself. But if he waited, the little dog would be dead in a few minutes, for both of the Caucasian men started toward the cages to release the pit bulls. Kade grabbed his cell phone and keyed it on quickly.

  “Send backup,” he whispered, giving his coordinates. “And call Mason.” He clipped his phone back in place and checked to make sure he could pull his gun easily. The men had reached the cages and had their hands on the cage doors. “Park Security. Stop right where you are,” he ordered.

  The men froze. One uttered a string of obscenities and pawed for his gun. Manuel took off running for the pickup parked at the top of the ravine. “Hold it!” Kade barked. As the other man’s gun swung up, Kade pulled his own gun. He fired a shot over the fleeing man’s head for good measure. “Hands in the air!”

  All three turned slowly to face him as they raised their hands over their heads. Kade had only two sets of handcuffs with him, but they were in his saddlebag. “Over here, now!” The men shuffled through the brush toward him.

  “Hey, man, we wasn’t doing anything,” one man whined.

  “What’s your name?” Kade asked.

  “Bart Sommerville. This here’s my brother Brandon.”

  “Shut up,” Brandon hissed. He glared at Kade. “You got no call to hold us. These is our dogs.”

  “Looks to me like you were about to have a dogfight. That’s a felony in Michigan.”

  “Hey, come on, Ranger, you can look the other way. No one cares about a little friendly dogfight.” Brandon’s eyes gleamed. “I got money in my pocket. I’ll give you a thousand bucks to let us go.”

  “Dogfighting and bribery; you’re working yourself in deeper and deeper,” Kade said through gritted teeth. It was all he could do not to bury his fist in the man’s mouth. He glanced toward the dogs, hoping they weren’t so far gone they were unable to be rehabilitated. As long as they weren’t aggressive to humans, they could often be saved. He would check with Bree. She would know what to do.

  Kade held the white Chihuahua—Lacy, the tag said—in one arm while he drove along the road toward the SAR center with the other. Mason had taken the men into custody and transported them to town. He passed Lauri going the opposite direction and waved, but she didn’t see him. Her face seemed set and strained.

  He told himself he wasn’t taking the dog to Bree just to score some points with her. It made sense she’d know if a dog was missing. Her team found more than people; they found pets and possessions as well. Bree had her fingers on the pulse of most everything that went on in the county. It was nearly time for the team to meet her for the daily search for Samson. He pulled in behind Bree’s Jeep and got out.

  Charley bounded to meet him, and he knelt and petted the dog for a minute. Lacy touched noses with Charley and whimpered, reminding Kade of his mission. Charley followed him to the building.

  The building seemed deserted when he stepped inside. The lights were off in the big training room, and his boots echoed on the painted concrete floor. Charley padded with him through the dim room, illuminated only by late afternoon sun sifting through the building’s two small windows.

  The door to Bree’s office was closed, and he tapped on it lightly. Lacy whimpered again. Her experience with the pit bulls had obviously unnerved her. Of course, the Chihuahua breed wasn’t known for its bravery, he thought with a grin. He patted the small dog on the head. “It’s okay, girl.”

  “I’m in here,” Bree called.

  He pushed open the door and found her filing papers in a cabinet. The way her face lit up when she saw him warmed his insides.

  “What do you have there?” Her gaze settled on the white dog.

  “I found this little girl about to be fed to some pit bulls.” He described the scene and how he’d rescued her, then turned the men over to Mason. He loved watching the expressions change on her face, from curiosity to horror to admiration. If he had a hundred years to sit and watch her face, it wouldn’t be enough time. Like most redheads, she burned instead of tanned, and her nose was peeling. Her green eyes watched him with an intensity he’d always found invigorating. Bree never did anything halfway. When she finally committed herself, it would be with her whole heart. He found he was willing to wait and to work for that day, if she would only look at him like this all the rest of their lives.

  Bree got up and came toward him. She put her palms on the sides of his face and kissed him. “Thank you,” she said, her eyes grave. “You have a heart like Samson’s.”

  Kade’s own ears grew warm. “High praise I’m not sure I deserve,” he said, depositing Lacy in her arms. “I was just doing my job.”

  “We both know that’s not true,” she said. She ran her hands over Lacy’s body. “She seems okay.”

  “The dogs hadn’t gotten to her yet. But she would have been toast in about thirty seconds, if she lasted that long. The pit bulls were vicious.”

  “Where are they now? Maybe they know something about Samson!” Hope lit her eyes.

  “In custody. Mason said he was taking the dogs to the animal shelter, but he was talking about having them put down.�
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  “No! Is he sure that’s necessary?” She grabbed the phone and dialed.

  Kade listened to her tell Mason not to do anything until she evaluated the dogs. All the time she talked, her long fingers rubbed Lacy’s ears, and the little dog relaxed under her ministrations. “What about Lacy?” he asked when she hung up.

  “I think I know who she belongs to.” She reminded him about the woman she and Davy had met out at the lakeside campground several weeks ago. “That has to be the owner.” She flipped Lacy’s tag over and found a number on the back. “I’ll call and tell her you’ve found her dog. She’ll be thrilled. Lacy seemed very important to her.”

  He waited while Bree notified Lacy’s owner, and then followed her outside. “How about dinner tonight after the search?”

  She hesitated, then shook her head. “I think you’d better get home to Lauri. She’s pretty upset. Besides, I want to talk to those men.”

  “I saw her tearing out of here. I figured Zorro hadn’t done well.”

  “No, it’s not that. She asked me again about taking her baby. I had to tell her there was no way I could do that. A baby needs a mother and a father both.”

  Kade’s high spirits deflated immediately. Did that mean she wanted nothing to do with Lauri’s baby? “Naomi’s decision really rattled her.” He sighed and leaned against the doorjamb.

  “I know. I felt bad for her. But Naomi’s life is in total turmoil right now.”

  “I’m not blaming her, but I know how much it meant to Lauri. I’ll have to see what our options are. I wouldn’t mind keeping the baby. Actually, it’s hard to think about giving away part of our family to strangers. It wasn’t so bad when I thought Naomi would raise it.”

  “I have an idea, but I can’t talk about it yet,” Bree said.

  Kade raised an eyebrow. He was curious but knew better than to try to press her. “We’d better get to town and talk to Mason.”

  “I’ll call the team and tell them to get started looking for Samson without me.” Her smile faltered at the mention of her dog.

  Mason’s cruiser was parked in front of the Suomi Café, and Bree pulled her Jeep in beside it. Kade jumped out of his truck with Lacy and followed Bree inside. Mason had a cup of black coffee in his hand. His eyebrows winged up at the expression on her face.

  “Have you interrogated those men yet?” Bree asked.

  “I did. They confessed to fighting dogs.” Mason set his coffee on the table and invited Bree to sit. He glanced up at Kade. “You find that dog’s owner?”

  “Yeah, Bree called her. She’s coming to get Lacy and should be here soon. We told her to come to your office, so I’d better get over there.”

  Mason nodded. “I’ll be along in a few minutes. Let me talk to Bree first and I’ll join you. Don’t let the owner leave if she shows up before I get there. I want to ask her some questions.”

  Kade nodded and turned to Bree. “Call me later, okay?” he said softly. “I’ll be praying for you. Want to meet me for breakfast in the morning?”

  She nodded, and he pressed his lips against her forehead. She clung to him for a minute, feeling a bit like a swimmer clinging to a rock amid deep waves. Kade always made her feel so safe. When he and Lacy were gone, she asked Molly for a cup of coffee.

  “Did they mention Samson?” she asked.

  Mason shook his head. “They’re not talking about the bigger fish out there. I offered them a deal, but they just clammed up.”

  “Could I talk to them?”

  “Sure. But I don’t think you’ll get anywhere.”

  Bree exhaled, then nodded. “It’s worth a try. How’s the investigation going on Phil’s death and Cassie’s change in prescription?”

  “Slow, though I did hear from the computer expert about Cassie’s drug scare. Seems the pharmacy computer was definitely broken into. The scrip was changed.”

  “That sounds really scary, Mason. How can any of us know we’re getting what we should be taking?”

  “I’m having the paper run a warning tonight. Everyone needs to examine their prescriptions carefully, know what they’re prescribed, and make sure what they get is what they’ve been taking. And for the near future at least, Terry will be comparing all the refills to the original written orders.”

  Bree shivered. “Scary stuff.”

  Mason nodded. “It’s going to be hard figuring out who changed that scrip. About as hard as figuring out who killed Phil Taylor.”

  “No clues yet?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing really. Forensics went over the kitchen again, but they still haven’t found anything unusual. They dusted the living room to see if there were any prints left there when the perp took the file, but it had been wiped clean except for Denise’s prints and the kids’.”

  “You don’t suspect Denise, do you?”

  Mason shrugged. “I’m not ruling her out.”

  “I can’t imagine her being capable of hurting anyone.”

  Molly put Bree’s coffee on the table. “I couldn’t help overhearing,” she said. “I’m thinking you would want to know what happened here a couple of days before Phil died, eh?”

  “What did you see?” Mason asked.

  “I try to stay out of our customers’ business, but sometimes you just can’t, eh? Phil and Denise have been coming in several times a week ever since they moved to Rock Harbor. They didn’t get along real well, but they had a lot of pressures with the babies and all. But a couple of days before he died, they really got into it here.” Molly shuffled, distress on her face.

  Mason took out his notepad and pen. “Can you remember exactly what was said?”

  “She told him she wished she’d never married him, that he was a weasel and not a man.”

  “Could you tell what the fight was about?” Bree asked.

  “It sounded like she wanted him to loan her brother some money. He called her brother ‘shiftless and no good,’ which really got her going. He finally slammed out of the café and left her here with the kids.”

  “Did she say anything to you?” Mason was busy jotting down everything Molly said.

  “She just cried awhile, then when she got ready to leave, Phil came back in and apologized. They acted like nothing was wrong as they left, but it bothered me to see the kids crying and upset.”

  “Everyone fights sometimes,” Mason said. “But I’ll check it out. You want to come talk to the men now?” he asked Bree.

  She nodded and got up.

  But no matter how much she begged, the men turned stony faces to the wall and refused to answer any of her questions about Samson.

  17

  Cassie rubbed her burning eyes and pushed away from her microscope. The nursing home had called when Dad got fractious, and she’d arrived late last night to find him in quite a state. He’d been pitiful, dressed in three layers of clothes and carrying a packed suitcase. He hadn’t known where he was going. He was getting worse.

  She squeezed her eyes shut. Her sister had been no help. Bree didn’t seem eager to welcome her new sister with open arms, and Cassie reminded herself how much of a shock it must have been to hear the truth. At least she and Davy were coming to dinner tomorrow. Hopefully Dad would be having a good day. And if Bree never warmed up, well, Cassie had dealt with being unwanted before. It wouldn’t be anything new. Her mother hadn’t talked to her from the time Cassie was five until she’d died when Cassie was ten.

  She was just turning back to her microscope when a rumble started under her feet. It built until the beakers on the counter rattled, and one fell to the floor, shattering into sharp pieces. An earthquake? Cassie jumped up, crunching through the glass to the door. In the hall, workers were running toward the entrance. Her mouth dry, she fell into line with the rest. Maybe the mine had caved in somewhere, and they were all trapped here. She tried not to think like that as she exited into the reception area.

  “What happened?” Yancy asked. No one seemed to know.

  Yancy Coppler’s for
ehead glistened with perspiration as he went to the door. “Maybe it was just an earth tremor,” Cassie said. “We need to get out of here just in case.”

  Nora Corbit clapped her hand over her mouth and moaned. “We’re all going to die.”

  “Don’t be silly, chiquita,” Lola Marcos said. She went to the door and yanked on it. It opened easily, and she went through the air lock to the other door. It opened also, and a collective sigh of relief echoed through the reception area.

  The relief turned to consternation, however, at the sight outside the mine. Hundreds of people marched in front of the mine, most carrying signs like “No Genetically Altered Plants” and “Keep the Environment Safe.”

  The crowd saw them and charged toward the door. Cassie yanked a stunned Nora out of the way and slammed the security doors into place seconds before people began pounding the metal door with their fists. “Back inside!” she shouted, ushering the rest of the employees back into the reception area. She shut and locked the second door. “Chito, call town for help before these nuts get in here.”

  The slight-built man nodded and went to the phone. “The line’s not working,” he reported moments later.

  “Cut?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Anyone have a cell phone that works here?” Cassie looked from face to face, but everyone shook their heads. She’d forgotten to recharge her own cell phone. She fought a rising sense of panic then took a few deep breaths. “They can’t get in here, and they can’t stay out there all night. The mosquitoes will run them off.”

  “What if we tried talking to them—explaining what we’re trying to accomplish here?” Lola suggested.

  Cassie grimaced. “You ever heard of reasoning with an angry mob?”

  “It’s worth a try. We don’t have anything to lose. But be careful,” Yancy warned.

  “Go out the hidden side door,” Chito said.

  Cassie nodded and went down the hall to a small hallway that led to the left. The others followed her. When she reached the door, she held up her hand. “Listen.” From the other side of the metal door she could hear fists pounding. “They’ve found this exit too.”