43. Sage #2
Reed squeezed my shoulder in comfort. “We’ll find her.”
Chuck’s phone went off, buzzing against the table. We all froze seeing an unknown number scroll across the screen.
He took the call, setting it on speaker phone. “Hello?”
A throat cleared on the other end. “Did you get the fake land deed?” Junior asked. He sounded like he had a wad of cotton in his mouth from the number of times he got hit in the face.
“I’m having my lawyer draft one up right now,” Chuck replied.
“Good. Bring it to me as soon as you have it.”
“Where’s Sage?” I demanded, interrupting.
Chuck cut me an annoyed look but kept quiet.
“I’ll have her whereabouts as soon as you have the deed for me.”
“And you’ll set up a meeting with Clayton to finalize the deal? The land for Sage?” Chuck asked.
“The land for Sage. But do we still have a deal, Larsen?” Junior queried.
Chuck glanced up at all of us hesitantly. Chuck apparently was making deals without us. “You keep the money as soon as we have Sage.”
“You can’t be fucking serious right now, Uncle Chuck? You’re letting him keep the money from the pseudo-land sale?” Jude chimed in, a look of incredulity on his face.
Chuck gave him a stern look, silencing him.
“Do we have a deal?” Junior asked again, ignoring Jude’s outburst.
“We have a deal. You deliver the land deed in exchange for Sage and you can pocket the cash,” Chuck replied.
“You and Riggs come alone.”
With that Junior hung up.
“That money was supposed to help save the ranch and now Junior’s going to have it?” Jude folded his arms across his broad chest and shook his head. “You basically just handed Junior the money he would need to buy us out while we’re fucking sitting ducks.”
“But we’ll have Sage,” Chuck reminded him.
Reed was smiling. The man never smiled. Watching his lips tip up made a shiver run down my spine. A silent plan formed behind his dark brown eyes. “Junior can’t keep running. Eventually it’ll all catch up with him, money or not.”
“We’re fucking bleeding here. You just sold our heifers to pay for the property tax, and you expect us to recover the herd?” Jude scoffed, shaking his head in disappointment. “We needed that cash.”
Chuck’s eyes flicked between Reed and his nephew, a sadness to his expression.
“You don’t have to do any of this,” I told him. I knew the ranch was hurting and at this rate, they’d have to sell anyway. “I can go get her on my own.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Chuck said, his eyes landing hard on me.
“We take care of our own. We’re getting her back.
This is no longer up for debate.” He looked sternly at each one of us.
“We’ve been through hard times before. The ranch will still be there when this is over and we’ll deal with the changes then. ”
His words silenced our complaints, leaving us no choice but to wait.
The next hour felt like a lifetime, until a black Stinger drove up and parked in front of the house. I opened the door to an attractive auburn-haired woman under an umbrella, dressed in athletic wear and a bomber jacket, a green plastic folder in hand.
“Come in,” I invited, and just like I imagined most lawyers, she moved with a purpose, marching straight to the table where Chuck and the others still sat drinking coffee.
“Thank you so much, Ms. Jasper,” Chuck said, taking the folder from her.
She didn’t quite let go, staring into Chuck’s eyes.
“I just want you to know that I’m doing this for you and Hazel.
I’m not charging you. I don’t want this on the books because I could lose my license.
I’m doing this because you both have become my friends and I believe in Hazel’s case.
This has to stop somewhere and I hope it stops with you. ”
I didn’t quite know what she meant, but Chuck seemed to know, because he nodded. “You have my word.”
She released the folder, turning on her heels and heading out the door.
“That was Hazel’s lawyer?” Kale asked, his eyes wide.
“Impressive,” I commented.
“That she is,” Chuck confirmed. “And she’s going to get Hazel out of prison.”
Chuck and I sat in the truck watching dawn quickly lighting the sky while we waited for Junior at mile marker thirty on the McHenry Pass byway. My knee bounced, my fists clenching and unclenching. Rain still drizzled, the clouds moving with the approaching sunrise.
Headlights flashed as a truck slowed, pulling up behind us.
“That must be him,” Chuck said, getting his gun from beneath his seat, laying the folder on top of it. “We’ll have Junior call him on speaker phone so we know her location is accurate.”
I nodded. I couldn’t speak, too nervous to mess this up.
We waited, Junior getting out of his vehicle and coming up to the driver’s side door. He had his hood up and his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“You may want to have him keep his hands where you can see them,” I suggested.
Chuck nodded, rolling down the window a crack. “Hands out of your pockets where I can see them.”
Junior grimaced, pulling his hands out and waving them slightly to show that he was unarmed before Chuck rolled his window the rest of the way.
“Give Clayton a call and put it on speaker. We want to hear where she is for ourselves, before I give this to you,” Chuck demanded.
His hands still out, Junior said, “I’m going to need to reach into my back pocket to get my phone.”
Chuck nodded. “And I have a revolver in my lap.”
Junior cleared his throat nervously as he slowly pulled out his phone and tapped on his screen.
After the third ring, Clayton picked up. “This is Creed.”
I rolled my eyes and mouthed to Chuck, “What an asshole.”
Chuck suffered a smile.
“It’s Junior. I have the deed. Do you have Ms. Pardy?”
“I do. The exchange will be made as soon as you reach here. I’ll give you your cut, too, once I have the deed in my hand.”
“Where am I meeting you?”
“A cabin just north of where the Metolius feeds off the Deschutes, overlooking Lake Billy Chinook. You’ll want to put the address in your phone, but there are some dead spots where you’ll be out of range.”
“Okay. I’ll type it into my phone now. What is it?”
I already had my phone in my hand, ready to put it into the GPS.
“Four-three-three North Dunn Road. Dolver.”
Junior and I both typed it out on our phones.
The app immediately mapped it out, showing that it was about forty-five minutes from here.
My brows raised. They didn’t get very far last night.
I knew what he was doing. Staying close, thinking we’ll head toward the casino, while he prepared to sneak her right under our noses.
“Got it,” Junior said. “I can be there in two hours.”
“Good. I’ll be ready for you.”
Junior hung up and Chuck handed him the folder. “This doesn’t mean we’ve settled things,” Chuck said.
Junior smiled. “No, we certainly haven’t. But it appears we’ve both gotten something out of this.”
Chuck gave a slight raise of his chin. “We’ll see you at the handoff.”
Junior nodded, taking the deed, and returning to his truck. We waited for him to leave first before we rolled out.
“Okay,” I said. “What’s the plan?”