Chapter 52
Fifty-Two
E than got up early, before dawn. The sun had not yet risen, but he couldn’t sleep any longer. The lingering scent of Jane’s lavender shampoo on her pillow reminded him of holding Jane all night. She had only woken once with a nightmare, but he’d calmed her down and she went right back to sleep. And he wanted to shoot Victor again for causing her pain.
He had so many things to do today, not the least of which was getting to the station and getting updates on what went down last night.
But first, Ethan walked into the kitchen to fix coffee, only to find Savannah had already started a pot. He poured himself a cup and offered one to Savannah, who shook her head.
Savannah was sitting at the table, her brow furrowed as she sketched scenes of barns and cows on a pad of paper.
“You’re up early,” he said as he pulled up a chair and sat across from her, taking his first sip of coffee.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“I hear you,” he replied. “I think this has taken ten years off my life.”
Ethan looked at the sketchbook in front of her and admired the vibrant red barn and colorful cows in a field she was sketching. “Nice,” he said. “You’re branching out from your usual scenes of Boston?”
Savannah smiled faintly. “Yeah. I’m supposed to see Claire today and show her my new portfolio. But…” she trailed off with a sigh. “I can’t leave Jane, so it’ll have to wait for another time.”
“That’s silly,” said Ethan, leaning back in his chair. “I’m calling Bucky to come and help out. Maybe Jane will feel better if she goes out. It’ll get her mind off everything that happened.”
Savannah glanced at him over her sketchbook. “Well, she might enjoy it. That is, if she’s feeling better.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. The scent of freshly brewed coffee and the warm room relaxed Ethan. “Actually, while I have you here, there’s something I wanted to ask you.” He proceeded to describe what he wanted and asked if Savannah could do that for him.
“Are you kidding?” Her eyes lit up with excitement. “I’d be thrilled.”
With that settled, Ethan’s mind shifted to the tasks ahead for the day. He wanted to talk to the two men Adam apprehended. They were likely connected to Victor’s gang, but so far, they hadn’t given up much information.
Victor would be dealt with. No doubt the state police or even the FBI would step in to take charge. Their crimes stretched way beyond Beaver Creek. Sean would be thrilled to hear the news, and Ethan planned to call him later to get updates.
He also needed to go down to the barn and find this metal box Jane couldn’t reach. Perhaps it held clues to what Victor or David Thornton were up to. Or maybe it was nothing at all. He wouldn’t know until he got his hands on it.
An hour later, Ethan was showered, dressed, and on his way to the station. The early morning frost had melted in the warmth of the rising sun.
He had pulled out a locked metal box from under the feed bin, the one Jane couldn’t reach. It was heavy, and Ethan had a hunch about the contents. He remembered that he and Adam had found those small keys at David Thornton’s place. He bet one of those keys would fit.
Parking in front of the station, he grabbed the box, said hello to a couple of firefighters who were out in front of the fire station washing a truck.
Nora wasn’t in yet, so Ross was sitting at her desk, his feet propped on the edge. The air smelled faintly of almost freshly made coffee.
“You missed a fun time last night,” Ross said, swinging his feet down to the floor. “The wagon came for Maggie’s body. They took Ruggerio to the hospital, and he’s out of surgery with guards at the door, and the two wiseguys are locked up.”
“Have they said anything?” asked Ethan, setting the box down as he shrugged off his jacket.
“Nah.” Ross looked at the box. “Whatcha got there?”
“Don’t know yet.” Ethan’s eyes searched the bullpen. “Adam, grab those keys we found at Thornton’s place, will you?”
A minute later, Adam walked in holding the keys and tossed them on Ethan’s desk.
“What do you think is in there?” Adam asked.
Ethan reached for one of the larger keys and inserted it into the box. He turned it in the lock. It clicked open easily. The box creaked as he lifted the lid. Both men paused, looking inside.
“Damn, look at that,” exclaimed Adam.
Ethan pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills and counted nine more piles neatly bundled. “There must be a hundred thousand dollars here.”
He pulled out the cash and pulled out an old leather-bound ledger.
The pages were yellow with age, and the ink was faded and still legible. As Ethan flipped through, it was all there—names, dates, transactions.
“Wanna bet there’s enough evidence in this ledger to put Victor and his friends away for life?” Ethan said to Adam.
Adam whistled softly. “What a catch. Victor is a fool if he thought Thornton wasn’t writing everything down.”
He closed the ledger. This needed to be in the hands of a higher authority. He’d call the FBI soon.
As they stood there, staring at the cash, Nora came in, took one look, and her eyes widened. “Should I even ask?”
Ethan shook his head. “This is going to be a long day, for sure.”
Ruggerio and his men were locked up for now, but they still had pieces of the puzzle to connect. But with the cash and ledger, they had a real shot at taking down the illegal operation Ruggerio was running.