Chapter 5 #2
She shrugged. “I’m sure he’s smart enough to figure it out, or he wouldn’t be your team leader. But if you want to check in with him, you can. I’d wait until tomorrow, though.” Kendra glanced around the cabin. “Maybe we’ll head into town for you to make that call. Just to be extra cautious.”
He couldn’t blame her for wanting to stay off-grid. “Okay, that works.”
Smoky rose, stretched, then trotted over to stand by the door. Kendra noticed and stood with a rueful smile. “That’s my cue to take her outside.”
He nodded, watching as she shrugged into her coat, then headed into the cold. Alone, he dropped his head into his hands.
Both his parents had been brutally murdered, and now someone wanted to make sure he was eliminated too. He appreciated Kendra’s support, but keeping her close was likely to get her killed too.
Tomorrow, he’d insist they go their separate ways.
Hunching her shoulders against the cold wind, Kendra scanned her surroundings the way Chase had taught her. The snow beyond the area around the SUV remained undisturbed. While that was reassuring, she also knew that anyone with a weapon could fire at them from the safety of the woods.
Handguns weren’t as accurate as a rifle for long distances, though. Still, she studied the foliage, searching for an intruder. She was glad she’d turned the SUV around so that the front was facing the driveway in the event they needed to get out of there quickly.
Smoky romped and played, clearly loving the snow. Shaking her head, Kendra called, “Get busy. Come on, Smoky. Get busy!”
Her K9 turned to look at her for a moment, then sniffed the ground to find the perfect spot to do her thing. When Smoky had finished, the dog ran back toward her, curvy tail wagging madly.
Normally, Kendra loved spending time outdoors with her dog, but she needed to get back inside to talk to Dom. The poor guy was still reeling from the information Raine had shared.
“Let’s go, Smoky.” Kendra turned and trudged back to the front door. “I need you to help cheer Dominic up, okay?”
Smoky brushed past her, going into the warm cabin. Then the K9 stood and shook herself to get rid of the excess snow. Dominic was still sitting in the spot where she’d left him, and he chuckled as he swiped water from his face.
Mission accomplished, she thought with a smile as she shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the hook near the door. When Dom stood, she glanced up at him. His blond hair was tousled as if he’d raked his hands through it. “I wish we had coffee.”
“Did you check the freezer?” She headed into the kitchen. “I know when my brother was here last, he left coffee behind.”
“Really?” His expression turned hopeful.
She opened the freezer and found a can of coffee. “Here we go.” She handed it to him. “Do you always drink coffee all day and into the night?”
“Pretty much.” He gratefully took the coffee and crossed to the coffeemaker. “Especially if I’m working late on a project.” He shot her a rueful glance. “I’ve never had a project as important as this, though.”
“I hear you.” She dropped into the empty chair. “It’s been a lot to process.”
“Yeah.” He filled the coffeemaker, then joined her.
“I was thinking we should start by digging into Stuart Ramsey’s last few weeks in Jackson Hole.
We know Gunther Volter was already in jail by then, and it would be nice to know who hired Ramsey.
Was it Theo Le Ruiz or someone else? Seems logical that same person is the one who hired this gunman too. ”
She nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. You mentioned exchanging contact information with the hospice nurse. Any chance we can talk to her again tomorrow?”
“We can try, but I don’t think she has anything more to add.” He turned to the computer. “I’m sure she told me everything she knows.”
“I figure it can’t hurt.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “She called you on Sunday, right? Just over a week later, a gunman is hot on your trail. If nothing else, we should make sure she’s okay.”
“True.” His eyes widened in alarm. “I hadn’t considered the fact that she might be in danger too.”
She winced, wishing she hadn’t mentioned it. “I’m sure she’s fine. For whatever reason, this guy thinks you know something you shouldn’t. Maybe he’s worried your father spoke about his time prior to being relocated into witness protection.”
“Maybe.” He rerouted his ISP address again, then pulled up his email. She leaned over to watch as he sent Helen Gingrass a message to stay safe and that he’d like to call her the following day. Dom glanced at her. “Should I call the Denver police?”
She arched a brow. “Denver? I assumed the hospice was in Billings.”
“No, Denver.” He scowled at the screen. “When the Billings police showed up on my doorstep, they mentioned being contacted by the Denver PD. And the area code of Helen’s phone was also from Denver.
I know Stuart Ramsey worked in Jackson, then sabotaged the plane in Billings six years ago, but after that, he must have taken the cash and relocated to Colorado. ”
“Or he moved to Denver from some other town after being diagnosed with cancer.” The coffeemaker stopped brewing, so she stood to fill their cups.
“I think it’s easier to disappear in a larger town than someplace smaller where everyone knows everyone else.
” Dom accepted the coffee cup with a smile of thanks.
When their fingers brushed, a tingle of awareness danced up her arm.
She worked hard to ignore it. This was the wrong time, the wrong place, and Dom was the wrong guy for her.
Just because every single one of her older siblings was now married, or in Trevor’s case engaged, didn’t mean she needed to do the same. She was only twenty-five, no reason to rush into anything.
Besides, Dominic lived and worked in Billings. Kendra couldn’t imagine leaving her family ranch.
Thinking of that, though, along with the gold Krugerrand, made her think of something. “Dom, you mentioned you found the coin in your dad’s plane hangar. You’re sure other coins aren’t hidden someplace in there?”
“I’m sure.” Dom sounded certain. “I stayed in my dad’s house after he died.
I turned the office in the plane hangar into my home office.
There’s storage in there, too, but I’ve been through those boxes.
I never found any coins. Or anything that would indicate my father had once lived in New Jersey. ”
She nodded. “We stayed in our parents’ home after they died too.
Well, technically, my older siblings Maya, Chase, and Jessica moved back to the ranch, giving up their careers and lives to support us younger siblings.
” Mostly her, Kendra knew. She’d wrestled with guilt over that for months, until Maya and Chase had both told her they were thrilled to be working search and rescue.
That this was their life calling, not their previous careers.
Taking their words to heart, she had let go of the guilt. None of them had anticipated losing their parents at such a young age. But they’d pulled together and turned their inheritance into a way to serve their community.
A mission her parents would have been proud of.
And now her siblings were all happily married and engaged, thrilled to bring forward the next generation of Sullivans.
Joel and Trina’s son, Ben, was the oldest. Chase’s son, Eli, was next in line, with Trevor and Bailey’s new daughter, Naomi, coming in third.
But there would soon be many other Sullivan babies at the ranch.
Maya and Doug’s son was due on Christmas Day, and Chase and Wynona’s daughter was due the second week in January.
Jessica and Logan were expecting in late February, and Libby, Shane’s wife, was also newly pregnant.
Kendra knew it was silly to feel left out. She was looking forward to helping to care for the new generation of Sullivans.
“We have that in common.” Dom’s words drew her from her thoughts. “It wasn’t easy to live in the house after my dad died, but since I graduated college early and got the job at Data Intelligence Services, I figured I may as well stay.”
“We felt the same way.” She touched his arm. “I know you might not believe in God and Jesus, but we have taken great comfort in knowing our parents are watching over us in heaven.”
“I haven’t been to church in years,” Dom confessed. “I’m not even sure if my father believed, although he took me to church until I was a teenager. Once I started working, those services were less frequent until they stopped altogether.”
She wanted to point out that church alone wasn’t enough, but based on what she’d learned about Dom’s father, she was surprised he’d attended services at all.
The guy had discovered a criminal enterprise, lost his wife, and then been plucked out of New Jersey to live in Billings, Montana.
It couldn’t have been easy for him to raise a small child alone in a place where he didn’t know anyone.
“Here’s what I found out while you were outside.” Dom tapped the computer screen. “It turns out there is one main charter service in Jackson Hole. And I think it may be the place where Stuart Ramsey worked.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because it’s an exclusive, high-priced operation.
Something that would appeal to rich people.
Their planes are very plush. Check this out.
” He turned the screen so she could see better.
The interior of the plane was fancy, a far cry from what Logan’s planes offered.
Then again, Logan tended to shuttle hunters around, not rich people.
“Okay, but even if that is the place Ramsey worked, we’re not going to be able to figure out who used the service prior to our parents’ plane going down.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Dom scoffed. “I’ve already hacked into their database.” His fingers flew across the keyboard. “First of all, I found Stuart Ramsey’s name listed as a former employee.”
“Wow, you can do that?” She couldn’t help being impressed. “How long had Stuart worked there?”
“Eight years.” Dom didn’t take his eyes off the screen as he worked. “Helen mentioned Stuart had sabotaged my dad’s plane for money, and the police mentioned he had gambling debts. I’m more interested in who hired him.”
Kendra nodded. He was right, Stuart’s motive wasn’t as important as the guy who’d hired him. “Still, I’m not sure we’ll know which person is guilty just by looking at names on a roster.”
Dom shot her a quick look. “It’s a place to start. We need to know who is trying to kill me. Well, both of us now,” he amended.
She sipped her coffee, watching him work. Smoky snoozed on the floor at her feet. Dom alternated between jotting names on one tab of his computer screen and searching the database for others.
Leaving him to it, Kendra rose and added more wood to the fireplace. Smoky rose, stretched, and followed her.
Sitting around twiddling her thumbs while Dom worked wasn’t easy. Despite drinking coffee at eight in the evening, she yawned.
“Hey, why don’t you get some sleep?” Dom suggested.
She turned to face him. “Are you going to get some sleep?”
“No. Not until I have a lead on the guy who hired this gunman.” He gestured toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “There’s no reason for both of us to stay awake. Get some rest, Kendra.”
“Not yet.” It wasn’t that late. After adding one more log to the fire, she joined him back at the table. “Is there something I can do?”
“Not really.” He stopped typing for a moment, then turned the screen toward her. “Take a look at these names. Any of them look or sound familiar?”
Resting her chin in her hand, she read through the names.
There were only six, and not a single one looked familiar.
“No, sorry. What’s your thought? To see if any of them have ties to Gunther Volter?
Or to South Africa?” She doubted there was a website out there that listed the members of the Randover Royals.
“Yes, exactly.” He shrugged and turned the screen back. “I wish I had asked Raine for the name of the company my father worked for as an accountant.”
“We can follow up with Raine about that in the morning.” She stifled another yawn. “I doubt that company is still in business, though. They’d have gone down after my father testified against Gunther, right?”
“Probably.” Dom glanced at her again. “I can’t believe they killed my mother to convince my father to keep quiet.”
“Very brutal and coldhearted.” Especially since the bad guys had intended to kill an innocent three-year-old Dominic too. “I’m sorry. Maybe someday you’ll be able to meet your mother’s family.”
“Doubtful, but that’s okay.” He sighed and turned his attention back to the screen. A message popped up. “Wow, looks like Helen just got back to me.”
“What did she say?” Kendra leaned forward again.
Dom opened the message. Helen agreed to talk, then mentioned how she’d received a South African gold coin from Stuart that she discovered was worth $3,824.
Kendra blinked. Stuart had given Helen a Krugerrand? Was that small gold coin the real reason the gunman wanted to kill Dominic?