Paradise Ranch (Jack and Ashley detective series Book 2) Read online

  “Um, Jack,” Ashley called back. “You may want to come look at this.”

  “Look at what?” Jack protested as he turned and walked back to where Ashley was standing. “We’re smack dab in the middle of nowhere, honey. What’s there to see?”

  “That,” Ashley replied, pointing to a large circle in the sand, left behind by the wake of the helicopter’s rotor.

  Suddenly the two were wide awake. They had dis-covered the source of their “crop circles” at the scenes where both bodies had been found. They had been made by a helicopter.

  “So our killer, or killers, have a helicopter?” Jack rubbed his head, looking at the unmistakable evidence before him.

  “I didn’t see a helicopter or a helipad at Paradise Ranch,” Ashley noted. “Although there’s a lot of area we didn’t see that’s off the beaten path.”

  “Maybe it’s not from Paradise - the chopper that is,” Jack replied, snapping a shot of the circle with his cell-phone. “Anyway, I’m getting some sleep. Maybe it’ll make more sense later. Gun fights wear me out.”

  The trip back to the Halfway Inn was a silent one. Ashley was true to her word, falling asleep almost immediately after getting into the car. She roused just once when Jack hit the rumble strips on the side of the highway after momentarily dozing himself. He could force little more than a faint wave at Jessica as she stood leaning against the front door of the office with a cup of coffee.

  “How about a cup?” Jessica held up her mug of steaming Joe as he pulled into the parking lot.

  “Sleep first,” Jack replied as he kept driving to their room. “Put a do not disturb sign on my door, sugar. We’ll do dinner.”

  Jack stumbled into the room and hit the bed face down, muttering something incoherently into the mat-tress as Ashley fell onto the bed beside him. It had been a long three days in New Hope.

  “Jack!” Ashley’s excited voice woke him from a deep sleep hours later. “Wake up!”

  Jack forced his eyes open, confused as to where he even was. Ashley stood over him, her eyes wide, waving a piece of paper.

  “I’m awake. I’m awake,” Jack grumbled, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “What time is it?”

  “Four in the afternoon but that doesn’t matter right now,” Ashley said, still waving the piece of paper. “The case is solved.”

  Jack looked at Ashley and then the piece of paper before grabbing the pillow and pulling it over his head.

  “Good,” he said laying back down. “Tell me about it in the morning.”

  Ashley pulled the pillow off his head and threw it across the room. “I’m serious. You’ve got to read this.”

  “Is it a confession?” Jack reluctantly sat up.

  “I found it in my jeans, doing laundry just now,” Ashley replied. “He must have snuck it in my pocket.”

  “What?” Jack wondered. “Laundry? Whose laundry and how does that solve the case?”

  Ashley sighed. “I got up a few minutes ago since I wasn’t about to sleep the day away like some people do.”

  Jack rolled his eyes at her snide remark. She had slept on the way back in the car and had no room to talk.

  “So I decided to do some laundry,” Ashley continued. “Since someone decided to whisk me away before I had a chance to even unpack from Quantico, most of my clothes were dirty.”

  “Okay, so you did laundry, darlin’. Good for you,” Jack rolled back over. “You’ll make some lucky man a great wife … or maid.”

  Ashley delivered a swift slap to Jack’s thigh. “Would you read this? Please?”

  Ashley thrust the note under Jack’s nose as he sat up in bed. Jack rubbed his eyes as he focused on the crudely-written note, scribbled on yellow, lined paper and showing the fold marks from where it had been in Ash-ley’s pocket.

  “My name is Earl,” Jack read aloud, shooting Ashley a look after reading the first words. “I’m the one who contacted your agent about what was going on here.”

  “What’s he mean by ‘agent’?” Ashley interrupted, her question quashed by Jack as he continued reading.

  “I have all the answers you need but you have to get me out of here. There is a witch hunt going on here to find out who the source is and it is only a matter of time until they figure it out. Once that happens I am a dead man.

  I will be expecting you Saturday evening after eleven. I cannot leave before then because I have matters to attend to that will not be finished until then. Please do not come for me any earlier because I will not go until it is time. But I must be gone from Paradise before the sun comes up Sunday morning.

  Park on the side of the administrative building when you arrive and leave your vehicle unlocked. I will be on duty at that time and will conceal myself in the back of your car. Just make sure to draw attention away from your vehicle.”

  “Sounds like a man with a plan,” Jack commented as he continued reading.

  “To show I am serious there are a couple of things that will happen between now and then that you will be interested in. First, the shipment this week goes out on Thursday night after eleven. All carriers will be loaded with cargo you should check on. This is the biggest shipment ever. Second, the supply drop will happen Friday night just before midnight at the location I’ve included at the bottom of this note. It is in the middle of nowhere. Drive without your lights. They have an eye in the sky.”

  “The helicopter,” Ashley pointed out as Jack finished the note.

  “Do not believe anything Elijah tells you. He is not who he appears to be. Also be careful of his disciples. They are all dangerous men. Be careful around the ranch. Every inch is monitored. Nothing moves without someone knowing. There is even a rumor there are land mines buried near the outer fences.

  Remember. Eleven o’clock Saturday or I am dead. See you then.”

  Jack lowered the note to find Ashley’s eyes narrowed at him.

  “What agent?” Ashley growled. “You better level with me Jack or so help me I’ll …”

  “She was one of ours,” Jack admitted. “The girl who was murdered - she was an undercover federal agent.”

  Ashley digested the revelation for a moment. They weren’t looking for someone who had killed a member of a cult, they were looking for a cop killer.

  “It was need to know, honey,” Jack threw the note down on the bed. “It wouldn’t affect our approach one bit.”

  “What was an agent doing there in the first place and what would Earl know to get her sent there?” Ashley asked, holding her gaze on Jack.

  “It’s Thursday already,” Jack hopped off the bed. “You read the note. There’s a shipment tonight.”

  “A shipment of what, Jack?” Ashley crossly asked.

  “I guess we’ll know sometime after eleven,” Jack replied, playing his cards close to the vest. “In the meantime, we’re going to need a bigger car.”

  “And how do you propose we do that?” Ashley crossed her arms, knowing she was still being kept in the dark about the whole mission.

  Jack hit the blue lights on the top of his vintage cruiser as he pulled behind the sheriff’s department SUV in the middle of the deserted downtown. The cruiser pulled over and a confused Deputy Mark Ed-wards stepped out of the vehicle.

  “Deputy Edwards, isn’t it?” Jack smiled as he walked over to the young officer.

  “Yes sir,” the deputy replied, seeing it was Jack. “Uh, what are you doing tonight sir? I mean, it’s not every night I get pulled over.”

  “Glad you asked,” Jack said as he put his arm around the deputy. “I need to borrow your vehicle for a couple of hours.”

  “You need to what?” the young officer asked in dis-belief.

  “Well, I guess since I’m a federal agent on an important mission, the actual term would be that I’m commandeering your vehicle.”

  The officer looked back at Ashley who was sitting on the hood of the old patrol car. She shrugged her shoulders.

  “Can you do that?” Mark cocked his head. “I mean, I�
�m on patrol so …”

  “No problem,” Jack interrupted. “You can drive my classic in the meantime.”

  “That?” Mark pointed to the old cruiser. “That thing has sat in front of the sheriff’s office since I was a little kid. I’m surprised it even runs.”

  “It runs great,” Jack enthusiastically said. “Now, I suppose if you have a problem with cooperation, we could call the sheriff.”

  The deputy waved off Jack’s suggestion. “He’s al-ready in bed. You don’t want to do that.”

  “Exactly,” Jack agreed. “There’s no need to wake the sheriff. I mean, we’re on the same team and every-thing. Besides, I’m sure the good sheriff has told you to cooperate in any way you can.”

  “Actually, sir, he told us to stay out of your way and that you were trouble,” Mark corrected, his comment bringing a giggle from Ashley.

  “I’ll have your vehicle back by midnight,” Jack assured, handing the officer the keys to the classic. “And I promise, there won’t be a mark on it.”

  The young officer reluctantly traded keys with Jack. “I sure hope not. We’re running out of cars.”

  Jack nodded for Ashley to get in the SUV, nodding at the nervous deputy. “There’s nothing to worry about. Meet us at the Halfway Inn in a couple of hours.”

  Jack wasted no time peeling out, the young deputy watching helplessly as he stood alone by the old cruiser.

  “Care to tell me now why we needed a bigger vehicle?” Ashley asked.

  “You’ll see,” Jack said as he raced past Halfway Inn and into the vast area of nothingness toward Paradise Ranch.

  A minute later Jack pulled to the side of the road and turned off his lights. “Get behind the wheel.”

  “What?” Ashley asked with surprise. “Since when do you want me to drive?”

  “You’re going to make a traffic stop,” Jack announced. “In a few minutes a truck is coming over that hill. You’re going to pull it over. They did teach you how to make a traffic stop at Quantico didn’t they?”

  “I was a Texas ranger for a few years, Jack,” Ashley huffed. “I know how to make a traffic stop. By the way, where will you be while I’m doing this?”

  “Inspecting,” Jack replied. “You just pull behind them and let me out and then pull in front of the truck. Keep the driver occupied for a few minutes and then I’ll text you when it’s clear.”

  “And how do you recommend I keep them occupied?” Ashley wondered.

  “You’re a smart girl,” Jack grinned. “You’ll think of something.”

  Lights appeared over the hill minutes later. A tractor trailer topped the rise. Hidden in the darkness, Ashley allowed the eighteen wheeler to go by before pulling in behind it and activating the blue lights on the borrowed sheriff’s SUV. The truck driver immediately pulled to the side of the road and Ashley tucked in behind him.

  “Give me about ten minutes,” Jack directed before hopping out of the SUV.

  Ashley immediately did as instructed and pulled in front of the tractor trailer, parking the sheriff’s vehicle directly in front of the truck. She looked momentarily in the rear view at the trucker who was moving around inside the cab, no doubt trying to find his log books which showed the hours he had been on the road.

  In Ashley’s experience, most truckers maintained two sets of books, one for their own record keeping and one for law enforcement. The demands of the trucking profession, she had learned during her time as a ranger, meant they had to fudge on bookkeeping.

  Ashley killed a couple of minutes, watching the trucker scramble before she got out of her vehicle and slowly made her way back to the truck. She climbed the boarding step to the door and was greeted by a squirrelly-looking man in a dirty trucker hat.

  “I wasn’t speeding; was I ma’am?” he stuttered. His hand shook as he pushed his license under Ashley’s nose. Gary Lutz.

  “No,” Ashley replied. “This is a routine stop to check registration, manifest and log books,” Ashley said, putting an authoritative tenor in her voice. “I’m going to need you to gather up those documents and join me in my vehicle.”

  Gary breathed a sigh of relief. Another ticket would have put him precariously close to having his commercial driving license suspended. Unknown to Ashley, the driver she had pulled over had a lead foot and had amassed more tickets in the past year than most truckers get in a career.

  “Yes ma’am,” Gary said with relief. “I’ll get those and I’ll be right with you.”

  Ashley hopped off the step and looked toward the rear of the truck to see if there was any movement. She saw nothing.

  She grabbed the side-view mirror and hoisted herself back up the step. “Oh, by the way, bring both your log books.”

  Gary looked like a deer in headlights, hearing Ash-ley’s demand. “Both books, ma’am?”

  “You heard me,” Ashley confirmed. “I know you have a second set of books, so bring ‘em.”

  Ashley stepped back off the stoop and started walking back to her vehicle. Gary swung opened his door and called after her. “Ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Ashley stopped in her tracks, doing an about-face and giving Gary a stern look. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  Gary stood looking back at Ashley, not knowing what to say. She detected the weakness.

  “This will go a lot faster if you’ll just cooperate,” Ashley recommended. “Now, if you want me to, I can call and get a warrant to search your truck but that might take half the night. I assume you’re on a schedule.”

  Gary stood on the top step trying to decide what to do.

  “I’m guessing it’s either under your seat or under the sleeper in the back of your cab,” Ashley stated before turning and walking to the SUV.

  A couple of minutes later, Gary rapped on the passenger window of the sheriff’s vehicle. Ashley motioned him in. He sheepishly handed her what she had directed, including two log books.

  “It was under the sleeper,” Gary bowed his head.

  “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it … Mr. Lutz?” Ashley read his license.

  She scanned the manifest. His run was actually not too far. His delivery was in Albuquerque. His registration was to the Prime Trucking Company. Most of the trucks Ashley had seen during their stay in New Hope were from the line. She figured they did most of the carrying for the Paradise brand.

  She next turned her attention to the log book as Gary looked on nervously. The differences were glaring. A cursory scan of the books revealed Gary had logged way too many hours in the driver’s seat. Federal law requires drivers to limit themselves to a certain amount of hours behind the wheel for safety sake. Violation of the law could lead to revocation of commercial driving privileges which, in turn, would leave a trucker like Gary unemployed. He realized that when he grudgingly brought her his second log book.

  Gary had watched Ashley comparing the two books. He knew he was in trouble.

  I know it looks bad,” Gary stammered. “But I can explain.”

  Ashley didn’t look up as she kept looking at the books, trying to buy time for Jack and his secret mission.

  “My wife and I are having some … problems,” Gary revealed with Ashley still acting like she was ignoring him. “I’ve been trying to do some extra runs, you know, so I can do something nice for her.”

  Ashley didn’t respond to his excuse for breaking the law.

  “I thought maybe a diamond or even a cruise,” Gary volunteered, looking for any sign of pity from the officer in the light of the patrol car console. “I usually go by the law, ma’am. I really do. I’ve been doing this all my adult life. It’s the only job I know. Please. Can you give me a break? This once? I promise I won’t do it again.”

  Gary crossed his heart as he made the pledge. Ash-ley’s pocket vibrated at that instant. She knew it was Jack’s signal without looking.

  “Flowers,” Ashley said, looking into Gary’s puppy dog eyes.

  “Ma’am?” he asked.<
br />
  “Get her flowers,” Ashley replied, handing Gary back his books. “You don’t have to take a woman on a big trip or buy her expensive stuff. Just get her some flowers and tell her you’ve been thinking about her constantly since you’ve been gone.”

  “Really?” Gary asked.

  “Hey. I ought to know. I’m a woman,” Ashley pointed out.

  “Yes ma’am. I noticed,” Gary stammered before catching himself, his face flushing with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean anything by that. I just meant that, well, you know.”

  Ashley couldn’t help but smile at the squirrely trucker as he fell all over himself.

  “It’s okay. I get what you mean,” Ashley chuckled.

  “About the books,” Gary began nervously. “I really can’t have another ticket. Another one and I’m …”

  “We’ll just treat this as a warning,” Ashley winked.

  Gary caught his breath. His face lit up like the Fourth of July. He was legitimately stunned the officer was going to let him off with a warning.

  “Oh. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that,” Gary blared. “You don’t know what it means to me. I owe you a big one.”

  “You can repay me by not driving when you’re tired,” Ashley replied. “The laws are there to keep you, and everyone else on the road, safe. Understand?”

  “Yes,” Gary said. “I promise I won’t ever do it again.”

  “Good. Now get out of here,” Ashley nodded for him to leave.

  Gary flung open the door and stopped just before heading back to his truck. “And I’m going to take your advice, you know, about the wife and everything - you being a woman and all.”

  “You do that,” Ashley grinned as Gary ran back to his truck and wasted no time firing the engine and driving away into the night.

  She waited until the taillights disappeared over the hill, then turned off the blue lights and pulled a flash-light from the patrol car.

  “Jack?” Ashley yelled as she shined the beam toward where the truck had been sitting. “Jack? Where are you?”

  Ashley ventured several yards off the road and into the darkness until her beam hit something that made her rub her eyes. It was Jack, sitting at a dining table in the middle of the desert, his feet propped up and the seat pushed back.