Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
I follow her down a dirt driveway to a building with a serious lean at the back corner of the property. I envision a vintage car stored in there, but I doubt anything but junk’s filled the space in years.
The door is a side-slide, rollers above that make the wood move to the left. Sadie tugs on the handle, but I move her out of the way.
“Careful. Watch out for rusty nails and splinters.” It finally gives and opens wide. Not sure if it’ll close again, but that’s not my problem.
Old tires, a lawn mower, and roughed-up boxes fill the space. A hole in the roof in the back corner has water stains down the wood walls. The floor is dirt, and the only light is from the sunshine.
Sadie enters, lifts box lids, tosses them aside. She pulls out an old football. Some clothes. I help her rummage for a few minutes. These things are clearly her brother’s.
She lifts a stack of papers, sets them on top of an unsearched box. I move to stand beside her.
“Employment paperwork for Racehorse Hauling. A handbook.”
I take it from her when she moves on. Based out of Billings. Nothing exciting.
“Here’s a notebook. This is Joey’s handwriting.” She moves outside to get better light, flipping through the pages.
“It talks about barrels and chemicals. I’m not a chemist so I don’t know what it means. Addresses.”
I look over her shoulder. “The zip code for all those addresses is where Bridger Ranch is.”
She runs her finger down the list. “Those aren’t addresses. They’re… I don’t know. Code or something.”
I look at her. “It connects your brother to the ranch.”
“There’s a phone number scrawled in the corner.”
I pull out my cell, type in the numbers she reads off.
“Gene Chubb,” the voice says.
“I’m calling for Joseph Hopkins.”
There’s silence on the other end.
Sadie’s looking up at me.
“And you are?”
“A friend,” I reply.
“I think you have the wrong number. No one here by that name.”
“Right.” I hang up and stare at the highway fifty feet away.
“What was that about?” Sadie asks.
“If it was a wrong number, why ask me who I am first?”
“What are you thinking?”
I’m not exactly sure, but I have more pieces of this fucked up puzzle than Sadie does. “I have a hunch. Not a good one, but there are a lot of coincidences. I mean, what are the chances of me falling for you and then your brother ends up dead on my land?”
She frowns. “What are you saying, that I tracked you down?”
I shake my head. “I think that was fate or destiny or something.” It seems weird saying that, but it was the best answer I have. “But I think you ended up in Bayfield for a reason.”
She blinks. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either. Yet.”
I call Chance and set the phone to speaker mode.
“Where the fuck are you? That tractor’s not getting fixed without you,” he grumbles.
“I’ll fix anything that’s broken. Later. Listen, I’m with Sadie. Get Shankle on the horn and tell him to call the DOJ person who’s in charge of the case against Bridger Investments. Tell him it looks like Joey—Sadie’s brother—was working for some company called Racehorse Hauling.”
“Okay,” he says slowly. “What are you thinking?”
“I think he was undercover for the EPA.”
Sadie gasps, her eyes wide. “That he was working for a trucking company because—”
“Because he was trying to find dirt on Jonathan,” I explain.
“And he was killed because someone found out,” Chance adds. “It’s possible. But why does the DOJ want to freeze our assets now? Jonathan’s dead. So’s Sadie’s brother.” He pauses. “Sorry, Sadie. I’m not trying to be insensitive.”
“It’s okay. Overwhelming, but it makes sense. I didn’t know about the investigation. Peterson definitely doesn’t.”
“Have Shankle call the person on the case,” I say. “I have a feeling it might be a guy named Chubb. Maybe they’re doing this to see if something about their missing agent comes up.”
“Or a dead body,” Chance replies grimly.
I look to Sadie, cup the back of her head. “Right. Maybe there isn’t any actual case, only them trying to find a missing one of their own.”
Chance sighs. “I like your thinking. I’ll call him right now.”
“We’re on our way back. Hopefully you’ll have news for us by the time we get there.”
I hang up and lean down to meet Sadie’s eyes. “You okay?”
She nods. “Yeah. Joey being with the EPA is good. Doesn’t make him any less dead, but I always wanted him to be a good guy.”
“I’m not sure if my thinking is on track or not, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Too many flying parts for them not to be connected somehow.”
“I don’t want to share this with Peterson until…or if it pans out.”
“Only one way to find out.” I look at the house. “You want to say goodbye?”