Rollover (22 page)

And that's when the blue Sonata roared into the yard. The driver braked hard, then just left it running as she ran toward the front steps of the mobile right through the dogs who were turning themselves inside out trying to follow. Emily. And in a hurry and not in a very good mood if Dan could judge by her demeanor and how she was pushing dogs out of the way.

“Emily. Stop. Don't go in there.” The yell came from Tim Echols who stepped from the garage door still holding the assault rifle. But he was too late.

The blinding flash, lightning-bright in intensity, was followed one nano-second later by an explosion so violent that it hurled empty propane tanks through the air in a rain of slivered glass and bits of metal. Dan was knocked against the side of the panel truck and buffeted to the ground face first—debris in his hair, dust up his nose and a trickle of blood oozing from his ear. And he knew he was the lucky one. The dogs and Emily had to have been obliterated. And the sheriff? He had been closer to the center of the blast than Dan. He could only hope he'd escaped.

But his bigger worry was Tim. Would he come looking for them? It was pretty certain that he'd escaped serious injury protected by the metal building. But now Dan could feel his skin start to blister. The heat from the fire was at a meltdown level. He had to move; he had to find the sheriff.

Pushing to a crouch, Dan stood against the truck thankful for its paneled sides. In the swirling particles of dust and ash it was difficult to see as far as the garage. But his hearing wasn't impaired. A 4 by 4 truck roared to life just beyond the drive, driven no doubt by Tim. It careened around the Sonata and bolted up and over the low ravine separating junkyard from county road.

Dan couldn't wait. He started yelling the sheriff's name and moving in the general direction where he'd last seen him. He didn't get an answer back but dropped to all fours to scramble under the smoke checking under vehicles. He tripped over the pair of legs before he saw them. The sheriff wasn't moving and Dan grabbed his ankles and pulled. If it was really true that adrenalin kicked in under adverse conditions, he needed a jolt of it now. The sheriff outweighed him by seventy-five pounds and getting him up and out of there was going to be challenging. He had the sheriff in a sitting position when two hands reached in to take one side. Dan hadn't seen the fireman but, boy, what a welcome sight.

“Got the wind knocked out of him.” Dan shouted, indicating the sheriff. “But somebody should check him out.”

The young man leaned close and yelled. “Lucky for you we train about five miles from here. We saw the fireball and thought it was an exercise. We've got a full crew here and an ambulance. We'll get the sheriff to a hospital in no time. Anyone else injured? ”

“This is it for outside. A woman on the porch was too close to the center to have survived. I doubt anyone was inside.”

The fireman nodded and between them they carried and dragged the sheriff back through the yard of trucks and junked cars to the emergency vehicle. By the time they got there, the sheriff was coughing and wheezing, taking gulps of air but definitely looking like he'd live. And against some pretty loud protests, the EMT folks were ushering him into an ambulance. He could be out of the hospital in an hour, but it was best to not take chances. The retreating wail of the siren was a welcome sound. The sheriff was on his way to help if he needed it.

The fire burned hot and several smaller explosions kept the crew at a distance. The pump truck was in place but depending on the accelerant, the fire was not going to be an easy one to control. Dan lost track of time but knew a couple hours had passed. He stayed out of their way. Finally he watched as they bagged Emily's remains and placed her in another emergency vehicle. There had been too many deaths.

He texted Elaine to say he'd been held up. Understatement, but he didn't give details. He'd left the Cherokee at the sheriff's office and would have to bum a ride. Guess it was about time to make that call to the Feds. But then again it looked like he didn't have to. He watched as four cars pulled up behind the fire tape and several officers got out. Dan walked toward the officer nearest to him. They'd want a statement and he might as well get this over with.

***

Elaine went with him in the morning. Dan had a feeling he wasn't going to get out of her sight for a while. The sheriff had been taken to Santa Fe—nearest hospital that could handle possible inhalation of toxins. More of a precaution, but a good one Dan thought. Seems they were right about Chet's place being a lab. The hospital brought back memories but he knew the sheriff would get top-notch care there.

He'd tried to make the trip to Tim's sound like it was all in a day's work but she knew better…knew that he'd put his life in danger…again. She was tired of worrying about him. And that was all right. He agreed. He was tired of worrying about himself and it kinda felt good to have someone care so much. It was time they were together without murders, threats, duplicity…just the two of them. And it might be a good thing to have her see the worst side of his business—might take the edge off of her wanting to hang that shingle, though he was beginning to think working together might have merit. Perhaps more pressing, he still hadn't made good on that promise of a ring. He needed to take Elaine to Santa Fe.

The sheriff had already called him before eight, chafing at the bit to get out of Christus St. Vincent trauma unit. Tests were negative and his lungs were clear but a meeting had been arranged for nine in his room—the sheriff, Dan, Elaine and Willis Ferris, Federal Officer. Dan didn't have a choice, he'd be there. And he felt good about being included. Agent Ferris might have chosen to simply debrief the sheriff.

It seemed the meeting was the only thing detaining the sheriff. He was out of bed, fully dressed and sitting at a corner table when Dan and Elaine walked in. It was pretty obvious that he didn't plan on being there much longer.

“Guess I owe you another thank you.”

“Can't accept that alone—you were a community effort. There's a young fireman by the name of Mike who did the majority of the pushing and pulling. It's just good to see you up and around.”

It took another five minutes of small talk before Agent Ferris appeared. And to give him credit there were no slaps on the wrists for not involving him first before going to the Echols place alone. He'd fully expected a reprimand for letting the suspect escape. And then Dan found out why.

“You'll be glad to know one of your local officers stopped Mr. Echols for a non-functioning taillight. Being up-to-date on APBs he recognized Mr. Echols as being wanted for questioning. He brought him in around seven last night. After some time spent chatting with the suspect, I think I can lend a little closure to the ordeal this community has suffered.”

He certainly had everyone's attention. A quick look at his notes, then, “I know you figured out that the bank safe deposit boxes were a place for the safekeeping of contraband. Manufactured ricin was packaged and kept in a safe deposit box and the tunnel allowed for twenty-four hour access. The tunnel had been operative approximately four months. A packet of ricin had been mailed to a local senator's office in Santa Fe, and traced to a post office in Taos. I've been out this way undercover for the past two weeks. I was led in this direction after that take-down in Tupelo—”

“Mississippi?” Was ricin some new nationwide terrorist threat, Dan wondered.

“Yeah, maybe you read about the case? Elvis impersonator ordered a hundred red castor beans from eBay and processed ricin in his kitchen? It was a crude operation but he represented the Save America group and managed to get a couple envelopes to local senators. Mr. Echols' ricin was a good deal more sophisticated. And more deadly. It appears that he was recruited by Lawrence Woods.”

“I'm not sure I can get my mind around why Tim would take a chance on producing something so deadly. And Woods? He was in on all this?” This from the sheriff.

“We don't think Mr. Echols' involvement was political. But, yes, the bank president's was. Echols simply refined the stuff and made a lot of money providing both the product and the repository—with the help of Woods. There is evidence, however, that the operation was winding down—the bank's usefulness had been outlived or to be on the safe side, the group was seeking a new place for safekeeping. Anyway, as you know, Mr. Woods was relatively new to the community. What wasn't known is that he had ties to Save America and volunteered for duty out here away from any spotlight, probably to set up the ricin operation. There are always the Tim Echols who are eager to make big money doing something illegal.”

“Any idea who killed Woods? Or why?” Dan asked.

Agent Ferris cleared his throat, “Now this is where things get dicey. I have no idea what Mr. Woods was raking in by providing the bank as a receptacle, but it wasn't enough apparently. That's when Woods and the Kennedy woman—or maybe it was just Woods—decided to stage a break-in. Put the tunnel to one last good use. The two had been pilfering the stones in that necklace for a month prior to the robbery. The necklace was gravy. But with the theft of the necklace came you.” He gestured toward Dan. “Knowing this could mean trouble, Tim's grandfather was tasked with scaring you off. The results weren't quite what they had planned on. Tim had paid to have that truck built and had had a movie deal until he needed the truck elsewhere.”

“How much of all this was Penny in on?” Dan needed to know.

A shrug. “We're not sure whose idea it was to sell off the necklace piecemeal and then attempt to collect on the whole thing, but we know it was ‘found' mostly to get rid of you. But, of course, by then Ms. Linden was missing and the plot had thickened a bit.”

“Lawrence Woods was murdered, for one thing.” Dan added.

“According to Echols it seems Lawrence Woods was killed simply because he demanded more money to be quiet. But knowing the low profile Save America likes to keep, I can't imagine they were thrilled with a staged robbery involving their once-viable repository. Things would have gone more smoothly if his death had been accepted as a suicide. Don't think the killer was planning on a murder charge.”

“Tim killed him?” The sheriff asked.

“Mr. Echols is not admitting to anything. He gave us as much information as he did as part of a plea bargain—he'll be naming those from Save America that he worked for.”

“Do you know why Amber was killed? And why it was done the way it was?” Elaine asked.

“A nasty love triangle if there ever was one. Amber and Emily had been best friends until Amber made a move on Tim. Yes, he was divorced, but Emily still seemed to feel she owned the territory. Tim and Emily decided to kill Amber after Amber found a bag of white powder in the glove box of Tim's car. It seems she tasted it. Yes, you heard me correctly. I think Amber assumed that the powder was some kind of narcotic and just dipped a finger in. Tim saw her do it and knowing that she would in all probability die and possibly lead authorities their way, he and Emily decided to kill her and dispose of her body by fire—destroying any evidence.”

“When he found out she was already showing symptoms, Tim lured Amber away from work early and he and Emily met her at the ranch. Tim seems to think that because she had been exposed anyway, killing her was humane, not a crime. I'm afraid our laws say otherwise. By the way it was Emily and Tim who put you in the walk-in freezer. They assumed you saw them with Amber. They did a pretty good job of covering their trail. I'm betting Amber's car was sitting in that junk pile outside the trailer.”

Willis paused, “Blowing up his grandfather's house was a last ditch effort to get rid of evidence and kill anyone who snooped. The mobile had been converted into a lab and was pretty toxic. He and Emily had been on the outs and Tim thought she was looking for money. Didn't count on her showing up yesterday.” A turn of a page and, “That's about all I can share at the moment. You'll each get a copy of my report.” He turned to Dan. “If your office needs more, let me know. Any questions?”

The group was silent. Funny, Dan thought, how things fell into place so easily. Made sense even in retrospect. He stood, shook hands with Willis and the sheriff, handed Willis a card with the home office address, and they were out of there.

When he checked his phone, he was a little surprised to see a message from Gert Kennedy. Could he meet her and her lawyer at Ortega's in Santa Fe? At one?

Damn. Just when he thought everything was all wrapped up. Must be some glitch in the policy, something she disagrees with. But having her lawyer there? Could there be a problem they'd all overlooked? There was just enough time to get from the hospital to the Santa Café for lunch before one. He even splurged on a glass of wine to go with the fried Calamari with cilantro oil dip.

Elaine opted not to go in when they got to the jeweler. She said she needed downtime. Dan thought she'd had enough cloak and dagger for the time being. And he didn't blame her. It was a lot to digest. He promised not to be long and she just looked at him. He had some work to do in the trust department. Note to self, he really had to get some brownie points back.

Chapter Twenty-one

“Please, sit here beside me.” Gert pulled out the chair next to her. “Rueben has something he wants to show us.” Gert was beaming and had just taken the liberty of patting his knee. What was going on here? Her lawyer, a Mr. Anthony Padilla, stood just behind her chair. Had they discovered another problem with the necklace?

“I suppose I should make a disclaimer of sorts. I want you to know the decision has been made and I won't take no for an answer. I've spent the last few days coming to terms with all that has happened. “

She paused and looked around the table. “My daughter may be incarcerated for her part in the duplicity involving the necklace. I am, however, being assured that a good lawyer will be able to present a strong case that Penny was duped by a man in authority and be dealt with leniently. It would appear that moving the money through the bank to offshore holdings was not something Penny either initiated or was aware of.” Here she glanced back at her lawyer. “The money from the sale of the stones already taken from the necklace will provide for representation. I will sell the house here and join my niece in Boca Raton, Florida. I've always wanted to live by the ocean and, frankly, now's my chance. I cannot think that Penny would want to stay in this town but that will be her decision. I am no longer responsible for her choices.”

Gert reached for the glass of water Mr. Padilla had set in front of her before continuing. “And I've decided to sell the necklace—the stones that are left. Tiffany has bid on the setting and quite generously, too. I think mother would agree with my decision…under the circumstances. But I know she would support what I want you to see now. Rueben?”

Dan watched as the gemologist emptied a small velvet bag over the black cloth in front of him on the table and a ring tumbled out. Not just any ring, Dan recognized the center cushion-cut, heart-shaped sapphire from the necklace only now it was outlined with diamonds that also dotted the band—tasteful, spell-binding, probably set in platinum.

“You want UL&C to insure this ring for you?”

“Oh my darling man, no. I want you to give this ring designed by Rueben to your lovely fiancée.”

“But I can't—couldn't—” Dan was speechless.

“Of course you can. Nothing would make me happier. It would go a long way in alleviating my feelings of responsibility for all that has happened. And what better way to pass on a legacy—or perhaps begin a new one. It will look exquisite on Elaine and would work quite nicely as an engagement ring, don't you think?”

Dan could only nod.