Chapter 24
Jaxon and Keisha woke later in the morning, and he quickly organized a quick meal for them. Then they headed to Timber’s place, Harley and Homer happily seated in the back seat.
When they got there, Timber stepped out on the front steps. “Hey, you two. I’ve already talked to Richard this morning. Sounds as if you had one hell of a night. And Kelly remains safe at the hospital.”
“Oh, good,” Keisha exclaimed. “I was about to call to check on her.”
Jaxon shook his head. “It’s been a hell of a couple days.”
“I hear that. Are you back to visit?” Timber asked.
“Back to visit, to keep working, and to sort out what’s going on that we don’t already know,” he shared, waving his hands awkwardly, trying hard to stay off his leg that was chaffing him.
“I’m still planning on showing up every day.
” He could see the unmistakable relief on Timber’s face.
“I’m not bailing on you, so don’t worry about that. ”
“Hey, everybody needs to bail when they need to bail,” Timber said easily.
“It’s just hard when everything is related to the assholes in this world instead of progress around here.
And, man oh man, will my project manager be on our case if she thinks we’re about to lose people.
Prioritizing and staying on schedule is huge, apparently. ”
Jaxon grinned. “You and I both know Shirley is doing an amazing job keeping you organized. You wouldn’t know your ass from your foot.”
Timber sighed. “Yeah, I know it. It never occurred to me that I needed a professional organizer. Or a Project Manager, according to her.” He grinned at that. “But apparently, once things blew up, they blew up in a bad way.”
“But for all the right reasons,” he pointed out.
Timber waved him in. “Come on inside. Get some coffee,” he offered.
Keisha interjected, “We have a bunch of llamas that I’m hoping to check over today.”
“I’ve got a paddock ready for them, and they’re still separate from the horses. Once you check them out, then we’ll see how they do with the horses.”
“They generally do quite well with horses,” Keisha offered, “but it often depends on the horses.”
“So far, there doesn’t seem to be anything untoward happening across the fence, but you don’t know for sure until you try to mix them together,” Timber noted. “So we’ll keep the alpacas separate for a day or two more. Meanwhile, come give us your best guess with the llamas.”
“Will do,” she said. “Are we taking coffee with us, or coming back for it afterward? Not to mention I have feed for the llamas that needs to be unloaded too.”
“I’ll get one of the guys to unload the feed. And if you need a coffee, go grab a mug,” he offered. “I guess you haven’t had a whole lot of sleep, have you?”
“No, I sure haven’t,” she admitted. “I’ll go until I can’t go anymore, and then I’ve already threatened to drop onto a hay bale and have a nap, if need be. We do what we have to.”
He burst out laughing at that. “I’m pretty sure we have more comfortable accommodations around there. There’s a couch, plus a spare bed upstairs,” he shared, with a grin. “So, if you find you need a nap, by all means, take one.”
“Is Tiffany here?”
“Nope, she’s at the clinic.”
Keisha nodded, and they headed over to the paddocks with the llamas. As soon as she walked up, several of the llamas walked over, looking for attention. She smiled, noting that they seemed to be adjusting well to the temperatures, since they’d been shorn. They were all looking quite a bit better.
She checked several hooves, took their temperatures, and, with a nod, indicated her satisfaction with their condition.
“They’re all good.” And, with that, Timber opened up one of the side gates, and the llamas, though hesitant at first, quickly gained confidence and raced out into the much bigger space.
They all laughed as the animals kicked up their heels and thundered around and around the pasture.
She looked over at Timber. “I was speaking to one of my suppliers yesterday, and they’re interested in giving you a hand with feed.”
Timber raised his eyebrows at her and smiled. “I’ll never say no to that. Hopefully it’s a different one than we’re already connected with. Keeping these guys fed will be an interesting challenge moving forward.”
“Exactly, particularly if you want to do any advertising for this group.”
“What kind of advertising?” he asked warily.
She shrugged. “No clue, but possibly a sticker on your truck won’t be a problem, is it?”
“No, I can handle that much,” he said, waving his hands. “However, I sure won’t get into that social media crap,” he declared, with a snort.
“I don’t think that’s required,” she added, with a chuckle. “Definitely not your thing, huh?”
“No. … It’ll never be my thing,” he snapped, with another snort. “So, if they are looking for that, they can go find somebody else.”
“Nope, that’s not their thing either, but they’re happy to help. When I explained what you had going on here, they were pretty impressed at the scope of what you’re working with. They just know that you’ll need a hand.”
“I’ll take all the help I can get,” he admitted, “so thank you for that.”
And, with that, she smiled. They were just getting ready to head back to the main cabin for more coffee when her phone rang. She glanced at it, then looked back at Jaxon. “It’s Richard.”
“Good,” He stepped up closer, and she put it on Speaker. “I’m here with Jaxon and Timber,” Keisha shared, looking back and forth between them. “So, what’s the update?”
“Kelly says that she did give them the address, but then realized they were getting more and more aggressive about it and got scared, but she never really thought they would come and hurt you. When I told her that you survived the shooting, she broke down into tears again, saying she was the worst person ever. She did say that it seemed as if, once she started down the road with this group, it just snowballed. Yet she was so full of anger and hurt that she didn’t know how to get out of it or even see that she needed to. ”
“So, she was sucked in, with no way out. Is that what’s she claiming?” Jaxon asked hotly.
Richard replied, “Do I think that she thought Keisha would be injured or killed? No, … I don’t. Do I think that she thought they would hassle you guys some more? … Yes, and she was all for it.”
“So, it’s not a defense on her part.”
“Yes and no,” Richard clarified. “Kelly was up to her neck in it, but they crossed the line, … a line she didn’t even see coming.”
Keisha closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Dear God, what a shitshow.”
“I know,” Richard noted. “It’s a bit much to take in.
Because of all that and the suicide attempt, Kelly won’t be free anytime soon.
She’ll go to an institute to be evaluated, based on what she’s done to herself and to you.
Meanwhile, I’ll talk to my captain and the district attorney to see just what we’re looking at with the fraud issue. ”
“Good, she needs all the help she can get too,” Jaxon stated, as Keisha busily pushed back her tears.
Richard added, “On a positive note, we were able to get some information from the man you guys captured in your house last night. We’ve located several other men involved, including the ringleader.”
“That’s great news.”
“He’s not in the state, but he is in the country, so we have a warrant out for his arrest right now. Last I heard, the feds would head right out and try to pick him up at his home, which would effectively shut down this online Chat group.”
“Now that is good news,” Keisha exclaimed in delight. “I would absolutely love to think that he could be in custody and shut down.”
“Oh, it’ll be more than shut down. There will also be a very large investigation, specifically looking into the deaths of people who were part of the group.
This guy specializes in pushing people to kill themselves,” Richard explained, “and, while that’s a concept many of us just can’t comprehend, for him, it’s become a way of life and is how he gains power over his situation.
He’s apparently also in a wheelchair but loves to power-trip.
Also, if you were dead, then Kelly would get everything, which she would then be pressured to share with the group, as she has already been doing. ”
“Good God, that’s awful.”
“I know,” Richard agreed. “Another one for the psychologists to study but not your problem anymore. You guys are free and clear, so maybe you should take some time and just relax a bit. As far as Kelly, I don’t know what will end up happening, but she won’t be going anywhere for quite a while.”
“No, I understand that …”
“Also, it’s probably not what you want to hear, but she doesn’t want to see you.”
“No, of course not, and I can respect that. At the same time, it would be nice if I could see her one more time before she goes.”
“She has not agreed to that,” Richard stated firmly, “so please don’t ask because I can’t allow it. She’s not in the right state of mind for you to be confronting her.”
“Right, and that’s fine,” she agreed. “I can honor that request. It doesn’t matter, and I guess I can see where she’s coming from. If that’s what she wants, then that’s what she wants.”
“She’ll probably do some healing and be able to talk to you later,” Richard offered, “but, for the moment, I highly suggest you just move forward and heal your own life. And sort out your funds. She gave away a lot of your money, so that needs replacing. I can see about the total figures on all that, see what the credit card companies have decided to do, and, if she’s charged, it will be easier for them to write it off. ”
“Right,” Keisha replied, rolling her eyes.
“We do need you to come in and sign your statements.”
“Sometime tomorrow, maybe?” she asked, with a questioning look over at Jaxon. “I have the clinic open all day tomorrow, but I can run over on my lunch hour. Eva and Tania can cover for me a bit, if need be.”
“That’ll be good,” Richard said. “We’ll have it all written up. I just want to confirm that it’s all clear and what you want to say.”
“Can you email it to me?” she asked. “That way, we can make any edits needed, then come in just to sign.”
“Sounds good,” he said.
With that, she disconnected and looked over at the other two men. “I can’t even imagine,” she muttered, “and right now my sister has got to be feeling terrible.”
“I’m sure she is,” Jaxon agreed, with a nod. “Yet …”
“I know,” she said, holding up a hand.
Timber nodded. “She brought this on herself, but you can’t overlook her mental state, so thankfully she’ll be getting the help that she needs now,” Timber stated.
“There will be a future for her—though we don’t know what that’ll look like.
It doesn’t even matter right now, but hopefully she’ll turn a corner and begin to heal. ”
“I hope so,” Keisha whispered.
“Timber is right, as usual,” Jaxon declared. “Always the voice of reason. It seems she got herself on such a rough road, but she put herself there, and now she’ll have the opportunity to do the work to get herself out.”
Keisha frowned. “Richard never mentioned anything about any charges related to the car accident.”
“The weather conditions still played a huge role, so they’ll probably leave it at that,” Jaxon guessed, looking at her. “She admitted it herself. The weather conditions were terrible, and she didn’t have the experience to handle them. Apparently, a lot of accidents happened that night.”
“Right,” she muttered. “That would be a blessing if they just left it alone.”
“Not so much for the other family though.”
She winced. “The expanding circles of people affected by everything in life are always there, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” Jaxon stated, as Timber nodded. “You know that theory about six degrees of separation?”
“Yeah,” she replied, “but you don’t really think about it until something like this happens.”
“And now you don’t need to think about it all,” Jaxon declared. He turned her so she was looking back at the llamas, who were still racing around the pasture, kicking up their heels. “This is what we get to focus on now. Helping other animals and people find the life they deserve.”
She looked over at Timber and nodded. “You’ve really created an absolutely beautiful sanctuary here, and the Haven is a perfect name. The animals will appreciate it so much.”
Timber walked over, slung an arm over her shoulders, and gave her a quick hug. “It’s not just for animals, you know? You’re welcome anytime.”
“Wait until you meet Big Mike,” Jaxon teased, with a chuckle.
“Who is that?” she asked.
Timber smiled and looked out at the acres that surrounded him. “Big Mike is a very old, very tired, very worn-out bear that comes and goes as he pleases. And you haven’t seen the huge owl named Gibraltar yet. Or the bobcat. … There is so much more to see here if you hang around long enough.”
Jaxon and Timber both grinned from ear to ear.
She smiled broadly. “I can’t wait.”