Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
C aleb met her out in front of the house. He drove a black Yukon to the rendezvous point.
Marti was dressed all in black and already sweating. Even though the sun was long gone, the heat remained. Yes, it was much cooler but seventy degrees at one AM is still hot.
The property was in the industrial district…a warehouse that was as rundown as any she’d ever seen before.
She was glad to see that Caleb had also changed into black clothing so they could sneak up and get a closer look.
Marti put her phone, set to record, in her pocket. She hoped to get some names on the recording she could add to the story. She’d have to be very careful, or she could get sued or worse…k…killed…if she was incorrect about any of them.
Caleb parked two blocks away from the warehouse, and they walked to the building across the street. It also appeared abandoned. They checked the door and found it loose, but not unlocked.
He picked the lock in nothing flat.
She wondered where a billionaire rancher had learned that skill. Did he know it because of his work with the DEA? Should she be concerned or just impressed? None of that mattered as they went inside, flashlights on, looking for stairs to the upper floors.
“We need to get to the second floor so we can see but not be seen. No flashlights or phones once we get in place. Make sure your phone is on silent. It wouldn’t do to have it go off in the middle of the operation.”
Marti nodded. “You’re right.” At this distance, I won’t be able to record anything. Might as well turn the recorder off. She reached into her pocket, pulled her phone back out, silenced it, and turned off the recorder.
They knelt by the windows that overlooked the other building. Excitement warred in her belly with anxiety. Did Caleb go on stakeouts often? Was he as nervous as she was?
She smelled his aftershave, its spicy scent pleasing to her senses and soothing at the same time. Marti had to admit, her attraction to Caleb was something she hadn’t anticipated. And yet she wondered if in the back of her mind she’d been attracted before she’d asked him to come with her. Was this just the excuse she needed to give her courage to get close to him?
Marti couldn’t picture herself doing that. She really didn’t have any attraction to the man before the meeting in his office and now the scenarios in her head were leaving her hot in all the wrong areas for an operation like this.
Concentrate Marti. This could become very dangerous, very fast if I don’t keep my head out of the ether.
At about one forty-five am, three cars pulled up in front of the other warehouse.
Two men exited each vehicle. Every man had an automatic weapon.
Marti couldn’t believe her eyes. “Holy—” What was I thinking coming here? What will happen to Sophie if I die?
“Shh,” warned Caleb in a whisper. “They’ll be looking for us if we’re not very careful and very quiet.”
“Sorry,” she whispered back.
Finally, one man from each of the three vehicles singled to someone inside. A single man emerged from each car and went inside the warehouse.The cars were identical, but the men weren’t. Each man wore a different colored suit.
The first man was in a black suit which was what she was expecting.
In the light the second man wore a brown suit. Okay, it was a dark color so that wasn’t unexpected either.
The last man wore a white suit, which was totally out of the realm of possibilities she’d contemplated.
Not that what they wore meant anything—or did it? Was it a uniform of some kind? Maybe Caleb would know.
Using binoculars, Caleb stared at the men. “Son of a?—”
“Shh. You just said we need to be quiet. What did you see?”
Enough light filtered through the dirty windows from the moon that she saw his rigid jaw. “I’ll tell you later. In the meantime, I’ve seen enough.”
She placed a hand on his arm. “Can you identify those men?”
“Yes. Let’s get out of here while we can.”
“Okay.”
They made their way down the stairs and out of the warehouse. No one was on the street, as all the men had now entered the other building.
“Let’s go.” Caleb took off at a slow trot.
Marti had to run to keep up with his long strides. When they finally reached the Yukon, she was out of breath. She didn’t speak until they were on the lonely road toward the ranch. Glancing at Caleb, she could practically see the tension rolling off his shoulders in waves. To say nothing of the fact he gripped the steering wheel so tightly, he had white knuckles.
“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”
“No.”
“Caleb. We’re in this together, and if you’re going to hold out on information, then I’ll just carry on by myself from now on.”
He cursed under his breath. “Fine. I recognized the last three men to get out of the cars. The first, in the black suit, was Enrico Cabrel.”
She remembered her research into the KT Cartel and its identifiable members of the organization. “Isn’t he the top man in the KT Cartel in Denver?”
“Yes. The second man, in the brown suit, was Mario Cortez.”
Again, she knew this from her research. “He’s the top man in the cartel out of Dallas. I don’t think they’ve been together before, at least not here in Bozeman.”
“Yes, he is. And no, I’m not aware of the three of them meeting in person before.”
“This must be something very important for them to risk meeting in person. And the last man? The one in the white suit. Who was he? From my research he might be the head of the Bozeman operations. That man, Gabriel Geilston, was killed about four months ago and I was never able to find his successor.”
Caleb was silent for a long time.
“Caleb?” She settled her left hand on his right arm.
“Fine. His name is Jamison Malone, my formerly missing brother.”
Marti sucked in a breath and pulled her hand back from him to cover her mouth. “Oh, Caleb, I’m so sorry. I…I…I don’t know what to say. Did he know you were with the DEA?”
“No, thank God.”
She watched his jaw clench and unclench in the light from the dashboard.
“What will you do now?”
He didn’t take his eyes off the road. “My job.”
They arrived back at the ranch.
Caleb drove straight into the garage. He came around to Marti’s side of the car and opened the door for her. Apparently, even though he was angry, he was still a gentleman. He didn’t, however, take time to show her all the vehicles in the garage. Instead, he trudged toward the door to the kitchen.
Bethany waited for them there, sitting at the breakfast bar, reading on her e-reader. “Well, how did it go?” She laid the e-reader on the counter, her attention totally on Caleb.
Caleb’s demeanor shifted instantly.
The angry man Marti had ridden next to all the way home was no more. “It was a bust. Must have been a bad tip. We waited, and no one ever showed up. I’m headed to bed. It’s been a long night and Danny wants to go riding in the morning.” He looked over at Marti. “That would probably be a good time to start on Sophie’s riding lessons, so you might want to get some sleep, too.”
Marti got the message loud and clear. Neither of them would mention Jamison or the night’s observations. She knew something big was being planned, but she didn’t know what, and her only information might come from Caleb, unless Rocket came through again.
“That sounds like a great idea. I was so sure of my source though. He’s never been wrong before.” And still hasn’t. “I guess there is a first time for everything.” She wondered if Rocket knew about Jamison Malone and that was the reason he’d sent her the info. He didn’t know she would go to Caleb about the meeting, though. She was missing something…something big…she knew it. But she didn’t have a clue what it was.
Caleb went to Bethany, took her by the shoulders, and kissed her forehead. “Thanks for watching the kids.”
“No problem.”
“Yes, thank you. Sophie didn’t wake, did she?”
“No. Both of them have visions of a horseback ride tomorrow. Danny mentioned he was going riding, and Sophie was morose for a bit before Danny said she could come, too.”
Marti rolled her eyes. “What happened then?” She sat a couple of stools down from Bethany.
“Well Sophie said she didn’t know how to ride, and Danny, without missing a beat, says I’ll teach you,”said Bethany.
Marti sagged. “Oh, that’s so sweet.”
Bethany got off the stool. “It appears we’ll all be up early.” She looked at her watch. “Like in two hours. I’ll see you in the morning.” She walked to the door leading from the kitchen to the foyer and then turned to face them. “You might want to get your stories straight before you talk to anyone else about last night.” She didn’t wait for a response and continued on toward the staircase.
Marti turned toward Caleb, who stood across the breakfast bar from her. “So, that didn’t go as well as I thought it had.”
He shrugged. “Bethany’s a mystery. How she manages to read everyone in the room is beyond me. But she’s right. We need to get our stories straight. Not that anyone is going to ask because, except for Bethany, no one knows we went there together.” He fixed his gaze on Marti. “No one knows I was going with you, right?”
She shook her head. “No one knows. I told Mrs. Bainbridge we were coming here so Sophie can play with Danny.”
“Martha Bainbridge?”
“Yes. She does babysitting for me. I was supposed to use her tonight.”
Caleb slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned. “She’s the biggest gossip in Bozeman. You can bet the tongues will be wagging.” He snapped his fingers. “I think we should make sure they have something to wag about. Would you like some tea or decaf or anything to drink?”
“What? Yes, actually, hot cocoa would be nice. But what will you give them to talk about? Why does it matter?”
He walked over to the Keurig on the counter. He opened the cupboard above the machine and lifted down a cup. From the drawer directly under the coffeemaker, he took a hot cocoa pod and put it in the machine, then pressed the brew button.
“I think you should let me take you to dinner and let the tongues concentrate on us, which they will anyway, but leave the kids out of it. I want them to be as far from this situation as possible. If we don’t show ourselves, the gossips will say we’re together anyway and just using our kids. I don’t want that. I don’t want any of this to come back to hurt Danny. I’m sure you feel the same about Sophie.”
Marti swallowed hard. “I do. How will taking me to dinner stop the gossip about the kids. And where should we go?”
He set her hot cocoa on the bar in front of her and started one for himself. “Because if we are out in the open about it, the kids won’t be fodder for gossip. It has to be someplace where we’re seen by a lot of people. It will also serve to let Jamison know we’re together. I want him to be aware I know what he’s up to. If I’m dating you, he’ll know. You can bet the cartel knows you’re investigating them. They’re too well organized for it to come as a shock.”
She leaned her forearms on the breakfast bar. She thought for a minute. Then she quickly straightened and snapped her fingers. “What about The Place? It’s the hottest ticket in town since it opened six months ago. Although, it’ll be hard to get in there. They probably have a waiting list into next year.”
Caleb smiled. “That’s a great idea. Can you be ready for tomorrow night? We can leave Sophie here with Danny again. I don’t think either of them will mind. Right now, I think they’re on the way to becoming best friends. I’ll check with Bethany or Hetti and make sure one of them will be here for the kids. In all likelihood, both of them will be here, but I’ll make sure they don’t mind watching them for a few hours.”
As she thought of Sophie having a best friend in Danny, Marti smiled. Nothing would make her happier. Then she scoffed. “You can’t get in there for tomorrow night. We don’t have reservations,” her voice trailed off as she cocked an eyebrow. “But I bet you know someone or know someone who knows someone that can get us in, don’t you?”
Caleb barked out a laugh. “Something like that. What time do you see us at the restaurant?”
“Well, in this little dream world you have happening in your head, I see us with reservations for seven o’clock.”
“Seven, it is. They have dancing there too, I believe.”
Marti nodded. “They do.” She tilted her head. “Are you a dancer, Mr. Malone?”
He grinned. “I can sway to the music with the best of them, Ms. Parker.”
“I’ll get the appropriate clothing tomorrow when the kids are riding.”
Caleb frowned. “I’m going with you.”
Surprised by his suggestion, she shook her head. “Why? I won’t be gone but an hour-and-a-half or less.”
He let out a deep breath as he leaned against the bar across from her. “Because, Marti, tips can go both ways. Your man might not have given your information to anyone, but those men we saw last night are not to be taken lightly. Most likely they have all ordered people killed.” He stopped and frowned. “Probably even Jamison has. Ordering the death of a small-time investigative reporter wouldn’t even cause them to break from their morning breakfast.”
Shivers ran up Marti’s spine. “They don’t know I was there. Rocket would never give me away. He’s got too many reasons to take these people down.”
Caleb furrowed his brows. “How did you find…Rocket?”
She thought back to the first time she’d spoken to Rocket almost eight months ago. “He found me after my first article about the discrepancies at a local bank.”
Caleb nodded. “And you started looking into the drug wars then, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did.” She tilted her head and shrugged. “Well, not right away I did a few more exposés and then about eight months ago, I started delving into the drug scene in Bozeman. Rocket gave me my first tip, and it proved accurate, and so we’ve been working together ever since.”
Caleb furrowed his brow as he stared at her. “What do you know about this, Rocket person?”
She shook her head. “Not much. I don’t even know for sure if it’s a man or a woman because the voice is always disguised. I just assume he’s a man for simplicity’s sake. But he seems very eager to take down the cartel.”
“We have to be very careful. It’s possible this Rocket could be working on the organization’s behest.”
Could he be right? Is it possible Rocket is working for both sides, me and the cartel? No, I don’t believe it. “Why? What could possibly be the point of having an exposé written about them?”
“I don’t know, but there is something going on, and I don’t like it.”
Marti sipped her cocoa. The sweet, rich flavor rolling over her tongue as her mind whirled with possibilities. “Do you suppose your brother is behind it? Maybe he wants to be found out but doesn’t know how to get out…alive?”
Caleb stared into his coffee mug. “Maybe. I would never have thought he’d be involved in the first place. He’s had to be in the organization for some time to be the top of the chain here now.”
“True. I wouldn’t have thought he could hide something like that from you, though.”
He sipped his black coffee. “Jamison has always kept secrets from me. Even as a kid, he didn’t tell me a lot of things that I later found out.”
“Siblings are often that way with each other. I rarely told my sister, Robin, or brothers, Luke and Greg, anything I didn’t have to. Of course, the four of us might not have been as close as you are with your brothers and sister. You and Bethany seem pretty tight. Does she work around the ranch? Between modeling assignments, I mean.” She smiled up at him, hoping to get a smile back.
He barked out a laugh. “Bethany? Modeling? No, never. She’s had offers, don’t get me wrong, but that isn’t the life she wants. She likes being here on the ranch. She’s in charge of the horse training program and the kids’ programs in the summer.”
Marti sipped her hot chocolate. “I’m glad she has found something she loves to do. Not everyone can say that.”
“Some of us are called for something more.”
“Such as you with the DEA?”
Caleb looked around him. “Don’t say that too loud. None of my family knows, and I’d rather keep it that way. It’s less dangerous for them. You, of all people, can understand that. I only told you because I know you can keep a secret, and I felt it was necessary for you to know.”
Marti reached out and took his free hand with hers. “Thank you, for trusting me. I will keep your confidence. I’m a reporter, after all. I never share my sources.”
Caleb let go of his mug and covered her hand with his other. “Except for Rocket.”
She sighed. “I guess we both shared things we shouldn’t have tonight. Why is that? Why do I feel like I can trust you when, until today, I didn’t even know you except for the PTA meetings and the occasional school trip. I’m still amazed you find the time to go.”
He shrugged. “It’s important for Danny and he’s my number one priority. Always. As to why you feel you can trust me…I don’t know.”
“Mine, too, with Sophie.” She drew back her hand. “I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to her. I don’t believe I could live with myself.” She looked down into her cup. It was empty, just as her life would be without Sophie. She was suddenly exhausted. “I need to retire. I’m rapidly realizing the children will be up with the robins and probably just as noisy.” She stood and turned toward the doorway. “Thank you for coming with me. I know you didn’t find what you were hoping for.”
Caleb leaned his forearms on the breakfast bar. “No. But maybe I found something more important. Thank you for taking me.”
Marti looked over her shoulder. “Anytime. I’ll let you know when I hear from Rocket next. His intel is usually spot-on.”
“So, I found out tonight. Well, goodnight. I’ll try to keep the kids occupied until eight. That’s all I can promise.”
Marti laughed as she turned back to face him. “My dear man, I know my daughter. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If I get a couple of hours, I’ll be good to go.”
“Hopefully I can give you more than a couple of hours, but I make no guarantees. But I bet if I can get them out of the house to feed the horses, you’ll get some extra shut eye.”
“Thanks. That would be great.”
He straightened and looked down at his coffee for a moment. “Oh, I have an appointment tomorrow morning at ten, so I’ll be gone for several hours. Can you manage the kids on your own?”
“Sure, as long as they’re done with the horses by then. I can’t do anything with the horses.”
“Bethany will be here, too. I just don’t want her to think I’m using her as a babysitter all the time.”
She lifted a hand palm up. “We can swim for entertainment, unless you had something else in mind?”
“No, swimming is great, and Hetti will see that you have a pleasant lunch. Hopefully I’ll be back by that time.”
“Okay, well, goodnight.” She turned and headed to her room. What could he be doing tomorrow? Is he checking out a lead without me?