Chapter Twenty-five
On his way back to the Home, Noel found Rory outside of his restaurant in a standoff with Ralph and another man he’d never seen before.
Pulling his car over, he quickly approached the trio. Aware that Rory was outnumbered, he had no choice but to step in. “What’s going on?”
“What the hell do you care? It’s none of your business. Just move on.” Ralph gestured at the tall man behind him who stepped in front of Noel.
Noel moved around the dude with attitude and went to stand beside his friend. “What’s up, Rory?”
“Ralph here figures I owe him money. Says if’n I don’t pay up, I might not just lose my business next time. That’s a threat, right?”
“Yep.”
Ralph started laughing, slapping his hand on his knee in a comical parody of an idiot.
“You hear that, Josh? They think we’re threatening them.
Man, I thought I’d made myself much clearer than that.
” His finger shot out and poked Rory in the chest, pushing him hard.
It took all of Noel’s strength to stop the young man from swinging.
Ralph’s face became serious, the threat obvious.
“Man, I’m out and out promising you. Either you pay up or you will be very sorry. ”
A figure stepped from the shadow of his stationary squad car onto the street behind Ralph. Wearing a police uniform, holding a gun and displaying a furious face, Deputy Justin Taylor spoke, “Is that right, Ralph? I’ve heard enough. Get up against the car. You’re under arrest.”
Ralph sneered. “You can’t arrest me. The sheriff’s going to have something to say about that.”
“Not anytime soon, he won’t. Poor man had a heart attack this morning. Doc says he’ll be out of commission for a few months, and his wife says he won’t be back. So, it looks like I’m the man now.”
Ralph’s expression soured. “Yeah, well, you need a charge to arrest someone. We were just having a bit of fun here with Rory, messing around.”
“You physically threatened him, and I heard it clearly. And you got pushy. That’s assault. I’m sure Rory will attest to that in court. From now on, folks can’t go around in this town breaking the law without there being consequences.”
Ralph snickered in his arrogant way. Even while the deputy forced him against the vehicle and put the handcuffs on him, he scoffed, “Hell, I barely touched him. This is a travesty of justice, Deputy Taylor. My friend here saw the whole thing and can attest to this being a bogus charge.” Ralph was still smirking while being pushed headfirst into the back seat.
Noel knew that Deputy Taylor had broken up what could have led to extreme violence, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Things were about to get ugly, and he had no taste for that type of hostility. On the other hand, he’d never have condoned it either.
Feeling sorry for Rory, he spoke reassuringly, “Come back to the house with me, Rory. Dinner will be soon, and we’ll have time for a beer beforehand. I have some interesting information I want to share. Trust me, this news will bring a smile to your face.”
Rory, staring down Ralph’s sidekick, Josh, who finally shrugged and sauntered away, faced Noel and unclenched his hands. “Yeah, okay. Thanks for stepping up, Noel. I’m glad the deputy came along when he did.”
“Me, too. That Ralph is one sick puppy.”
“Hey, don’t insult the canine world. He’s not their fault.”
Laughing now, Noel agreed. “Right. Excuse the reference. He’s just a bad seed.”
Within a short time, they ended up in Mary’s living room, where Mary and Maddy joined them for cocktails in celebration of Noel’s good news.
“Do you think you were able to get enough evidence against whatever is going on at the plant?” Rory’s expression glowed with hopeful excitement.
“From the files I saw that were being downloaded, I’m pretty sure there’s evidence to issue warrants so the FBI can go through their files with a fine-tooth comb. And who knows what they’ll find in the laptop.”
“Man, I sure hope you’re right.”
“While I worked there, I saw enough funny business that couldn’t have been above-board; odd shipments that weren’t accounted for, trucks loaded with cargo not on their manifests. Those were the unique shipments they had certain crews dealing with. I’m convinced they’ll be arrested—”
Before Noel could finish his sentence, the doorbell rang and Mary went to open the door.
Bill Harrison held out his hand, “You must be Mary Star. Noel has spoken about you. I’m his cousin, Bill Harrison.”
“Bill, come in.” Noel approached and possessively slipped his arm around Mary’s waist. “We were just talking about the situation at the plant.”
Bill laughed, “You’re something else, Cuz. Dale told me about your adventures.”
“Truthfully, I’m glad it’s over and thankful my normal job isn’t full of such danger and stress.” Noel beamed and added, “This is my friend, Mary.”
Bill again held out his hand and then laughed when she ignored it and moved in to hug him.
Her soft tone welcomed. “I’m thrilled to meet you. And I’m hoping from the happy look on your face, you have good news.”
“It’s the best news I’ve ever shared, and I’m beyond thrilled.” His eyes teared up, and he stepped closer to Noel as if in support. Then he gestured toward the door where a man with crutches suddenly appeared.
“Harry!” Noel’s voice rang with pure happiness. His face glowed and his voice broke. “Har-ry!” He rushed to sweep the other man into a fierce hug.
“How did this happen? I thought you were dead.”
Harry pulled back so he could look at Noel, his hand grabbing his neck as tears filled his eyes. “Nope. We didn’t die. None of us. Mom and Dad are in the hospital in Aspen and send you their love. They’ll be home on Christmas Eve. Mom’s determined, and you know she’ll make it happen.”
“But the car… In the lake. They showed me photos. The Search and Rescue took them with their powerful telescopes. It was your vehicle.”
“Yes, that’s true. But after we slid over the cliff, the car got held up on a rock formation about fifty feet from the top.
The front end wedged in just long enough for us all to tumble out and roll away before it continued to its plunge.
Lucky for us, there was a cabin above the lake where we’ve been holed up all this time, waiting for the storm to pass. ”