Chapter 19
A few days later, Myrna leaned against the counter with a cup of coffee in her hand and looked around at all the boxes yet to be packed. It was only a select few kitchen items, and the beds. Everything else was loaded in the trailer.
“What now?” she asked the two agents and Pedro.
Ilsa had gone home the day after she’d arrived, but she had taken the evidence Mary had left in Myrna’s attic up to Yvonne at her office.
Yvonne had been working on getting warrants to go over the books in the factory Myrna had worked in, Godwin’s’ garage, and when the results of the samples Mary left came back from the lab, the FBI would get warrants to search Officer Mosher’s home, work, and both her vehicles.
They would also get a warrant to search Mark Griffin’s place of employment, home, and vehicles.
“Now,” Robert said as he closed the dishwasher and turned it on. “We finish packing, and get you and Pedro back to New Double. I’ll be escorting you home, help you unpack, make sure you’re safe, then I’ll be heading to my home. I’ll go back to the office tomorrow and help SSA Wilson.”
“And I,” Lela said as she picked up a box, and opened it to put last minute items inside.
“Will be staying here to see if anyone comes around, or tries to do anything once the warrants are served.” She saw Myrna’s expression and shook her head.
“With your permission, if you’re still interested in selling, I can contact several real estate agents and walk them around.
I won’t do it all at once, maybe one a day, and get three or four people here.
I can call you at night to keep you up to date. ”
Myrna didn’t respond at first. She held up a finger in a wait gesture.
She grabbed the pad of paper everyone had been making lists on, and opened one drawer, the one she had said was a junk drawer.
She withdrew a business card and wrote something on the paper, ripped the sheet off and handed them both to Lela.
“Do not, under any circumstances, allow this gentleman in this house.”
“Why?” the three of them asked as one.
“One, one day, about a week after I broke up with Randy, this guy was here when I got home from work. I caught him in my barn, which was locked when I left for work, and he said he wanted to purchase my home. I told him no, he kept returning. I threatened to call the police to trespass him, and he quickly left. I don’t know if the business card is legit or not. ”
“But?” Lela asked, and she moved it so that Robert could take a photo of it, then flipped it over, using the corners, and snapped a photo of the number written on the back of it.
“I’ll investigate this when I get back to the office.”
“You think he might be a part of this?”
Robert only shrugged, and gave her a look.
“Oh.”
“What are you not saying?”
“It might be nothing. First off, he gave me the creeps. Second, he didn’t match.”
“What’s that mean?” Pedro asked with a frown. “Not that I’m saying you did anything wrong, but what didn’t match?”
Myrna resumed her position of leaning against the counter while holding her coffee cup. “He wore a suit and tie, but it didn’t fit. Too narrow in the shoulders, so he was like hunched.” She looked at Robert, who had on a button-down shirt, and a pair of dress slacks on.
“Look at Robert, see how his pants fit. The guy that was here, his pants were short. So short that I was able to see a good four inches of his white socks, which were a dirty white. Then take into consideration that when he handed me the business card, his hands weren’t the hands of a businessman.
” She looked at Robert again, who held his out, as did Pedro.
“I mean no offense, but Robert’s hands are clean, and his nails are well trimmed.
Pedro’s are the same way, but if you look at their palms, Pedro has more callouses.
This guy had the hands of someone who used them for a living.
Dirt under the nails, chipped, jagged nails, and his entire being smelled of grease.
Not cooking grease, but garage grease. If that makes sense. ”
Her statement left everyone stunned, then Pedro swore. “Do you think it might have been someone working for Godwin’s’ and was scoping your place out for some reason? Maybe checking to see if Sally was here?”
“No clue, but he gave me the creeps, and that’s when I doubled up on my security cameras.” She shook her head on a sigh. “I didn’t bother reaching out to Mosher, she would have blown me off anyway, so I just filed that business card away and doubled my security.
Robert nodded as he walked over to the cupboards and started taking the last of the dishes down. No one said anything as they started packing. When everything was all done, Myrna looked at Lela with concern.
“Are you going to be okay here by yourself?”
“Yes, I have everything I need to stay here. I’ll be fine, just do me a favor.” She grinned at them.
“What’s that?”
“Don’t turn the utilities off while I’m here.”
Myrna laughed. “I won’t, I promise. I just don’t want you to be bored.”
“I won’t be. I don’t have to, but I’m going to scrub your floors, and get this place ready for viewing. In between doing checks on my laptop. Oh, and I’ll be driving around to see if I can see if anyone is up to anything. You know, just doing a drive by.”
“I would advise you not to do that, but I know you’re an armed federal agent, and can take care of yourself.”
“Thank you,” Lela laughed and hugged Myrna, then Pedro. She stood in the driveway as they made sure they had everything before they pulled out. With a wave, they left, and she went back into the house.
In the truck, Myrna looked at Pedro. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“But?”
He looked at her with a smirk. “But, I wish this shit was over. I can see why they want us back at New Double. No one can reach us there, and the guys will make sure of that. I don’t know if I’m mad or glad that no one attempted to come at you while we cleaned out your home.
Other than that person looking for someone else. ”
“Yeah,” she said on a sigh, and settled in for the three-hour ride back to New Double.
When they arrived back at the ranch, they slowed down when someone stepped up, and held up a hand to have them stop.
“Pedro,” the man said, and smiled at his expression. “Manny.”
“Ah, hi, how is everything going?”
“Good,” he said as he pointed over to the side, and that’s when Pedro saw a small construction crew working on a building.
“We’re building a building.” He slapped his hand on his forehead.
“Sorry, that sounded stupid. We’re putting up that building as an office for whomever Erin hires permanently as security for New Double.
” He looked at them and shook his head. “It’s not being put up because of the threat against you.
Shit, someone just shoot me now.” He shook his head.
“This had always been on the list to do, but we didn’t think we would need it this soon. ”
“I understand,” Myrna said quietly. “Does she have someone in mind for a security officer? I’m assuming they would do the same thing that Duane does over at Erin’s Way?”
“Yes, and I don’t know who, but she has a couple of people in mind.”
“Thanks, Manny.” Pedro started to drive off, but he paused and looked at him. “How are Cocoa and Sally?”
“Good,” he grinned as he looked at Myrna. “Sally acts just like Buster when he’s not running.”
“Yeah, I wonder what they will do when they meet. Are they still in the barn we left them in?”
“Yes, Ann only moved them to their own stalls, and she didn’t want to introduce them to the horses over at the track until Myrna returned. They’re out in the pasture with the others, and there haven’t been any problems.”
“Thanks, Manny,” Pedro said, and started forward. By the time he had the trailer backed in at the bunktel, he looked at her with a heavy sigh.
“What?”
“Now we have to unload.”
“Yeah,” she said with her own sigh and wrinkled her nose. “Then we’re going to have to go to town and pick up groceries.”
“Shit, I forgot about that.” He opened the door and climbed slowly out of his truck. Myrna met him at the back of the trailer and watched as he unlocked it. By the time it was opened, twenty people approached them, and they realized it was people that worked at Broken.
“Need help?” Shay asked as she led the men. In less than an hour, the trailer was emptied, and everything was taken into the bunktel. Shay even drove the truck away to go park the trailer, and when he returned, he walked in ahead of Robert. Both men had their arms full of grocery bags.
“What the hell?” Myrna asked.
“I knew you would forget about the groceries,” Robert said.
“I stopped in Fool’s Gold and picked up groceries.
” He laughed at their expressions. “I’m going to have to do this when I get back to my home.
I do it all the time when I’m called out on assignment.
It’s a pain in the ass, but it has to be done.
” He laughed. “Why do you think I cook in batches and fill my freezer?”
“Thank you, but I want the receipt,” Pedro said, and pulled out his wallet. His look brooked no argument, and the bill was quickly settled. After the guys from Broken left, the three of them sat at the table with cold water, and exhausted bodies.
“What now?” Myrna asked again, and felt like that was all she’d been asking for the last three days.
“As we discussed earlier, I’ll stay the night, then head back to Denver in the morning.
I’ll coordinate with Manchester and whomever they have at the front of New Double.
You two get on with your life. I know it’s going to be hard to do, but try not to think about what we will be doing.
If all goes according to plan, then the next time you hear from one of us, meaning SSA Wilson, Agent Gregory, or myself, then it should be able to let you know what we found. ”
“What about when Lela calls me about my house? Will she be able to give us any updates?”
“If she has them. We’re not keeping you in the dark, Myrna.
We thought by taking you back home someone would come after you, and we could get to the bottom of things.
However, we had no idea what direction we were going in when we left here.
Now we have several things to investigate, and it’s not like you see on TV. ”
“What’s that mean?” Pedro asked as he settled back in his chair after making a pot of coffee.
“On TV, the investigation takes up the allotted time of the show. They get everything done in an hour. I’ve been on cases where it’s lasted days, and weeks, sometimes months.
However, we got our guy at the end, and they are still in jail.
We will investigate every avenue, twist, and turn until there will be no stone left unturned.
The only thing you can do is live your life to the fullest, and leave the heavy lifting to us. ”
“You’ll let her know if and when she needs to go to court to testify?”
“Absolutely.” Robert rose to fill a cup of the coffee that finished brewing, and turned to them. “As I said, someone will keep you abreast of the situation.”
“I don’t mean to sound cold, but could you do it after seven at night?
” Myrna asked. At his frown, she elaborated.
“If we are to live our live normally, then I get up at five, work from six-thirty to five or six at night. Come home, shower, eat, then relax. I don’t want to be upset by something you found out while working with the horses. ”
“Oh, yeah, absolutely, I’ll make sure everyone knows that. Does Lela know about the real estate agents?”
“No, I forgot to tell her.”
“I will.” He nodded and Pedro gave him the tour of the bunktel, and Robert took one of the rooms on the other side where Pedro had been.
Instead of unpacking what they had brought, Pedro brought all of his things over to Myrna’s side, and settled into her room.
By the time they went to bed that night, they were all exhausted, and fell asleep in seconds after climbing into bed.
The next morning, Myrna was cooking breakfast when both men appeared, and Robert put his bag over by the door. They ate in silence, cleaned up, and Myrna and Pedro got ready to head to the barn, while Robert gave them last-minute instructions on doing everything normal.
“Call me if you need anything, or remember anything,” Robert said from beside his vehicle. “If we learn anything, we’ll reach out to you.”
“Thank you, Robert,” Myrna said, and reached in to hug him, while Pedro shook his hand. After he left, they looked at each other, sighed, and climbed into his truck to drive over to the barn to start work.
A couple of weeks later, Cole asked them if they would like to move into one of the cabins, not that they couldn’t stay in the bunktel, but he had heard from a couple of guys that would be starting soon, and thought they would like the bunktel, and not a cabin.
They agreed, and after work, one load of their stuff was taken to the cabin that was closest to Shay and Faith.
In a week’s time, they were settled in, and living their life like Myrna didn’t have anything hanging over her head.