Chapter 19
NINETEEN
“We got the search warrant for the BW Ranch.” Rio walked into the conference room waving a document.
“I’ve already contacted the FBI and we have four agents arriving as soon as the blizzard stops.
” He looked at Jenna. “Do you want me to make arrangements for them to stay over in town or have you other plans for them?”
Deep in thought, Jenna looked up from the computer screen. “Everyone is coming, including Bobby Kalo?”
“Yeah, Jo is bringing her daughter Jaime with her.” Rio handed her the warrant. “They mentioned something about spending Christmas at your place.”
“That’s right. As usual it’s open house for Christmas lunch.
Everyone is welcome. We stocked the kitchen in the cottage and have a ton of supplies for the house.
We could hold out until the melt.” Kane spun around in his office chair to look at him.
“If Carter shares a room with Kalo, there’ll be enough room in the cottage for Beth and Styles.
” He flicked a glance at Jenna. “Jo and Jaime could take one of our spare rooms. When Jo is busy working, Raya can take care of Jaime along with our kids.”
Twirling a pen in her fingers Jenna nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Now all we need is for it to stop snowing for a while. I know the choppers can fly in the snow, but not when it’s this thick.
I recall Carter mentioning the visibility being treacherous at this time of year when they come through the mountains.
” She turned her attention to Rio. “How often are the shipments coming into the BW Ranch?”
“Lately, approximately three times a week.” Rio leaned against the wall, one knee bent and his boot resting behind him. “I figure they’re stepping up production over the holidays. They probably believe we all take long vacations and they are safer distributing the drugs.”
“I’ll need to go out and get a lay of the land.” Kane turned to look at Jenna. “When this goes down, they’re going to need a sniper. I’ll look for a position where I can set up fast.”
“I figure this can go two ways.” Raven leaned back in his chair looking from one to the other. “It’s all very well waving around an AK-47, but using it to kill cops is another thing. They’re either going to scatter when we arrive or shoot it out and we won’t know until we get there.”
“They’ll try and shoot it out.” Kane’s mouth formed a thin line.
“Take a closer look at the footage we obtained from the trail cams. The guys around that truck aren’t ranch hands.
I figure they’re mercenaries that he employs as bodyguards.
I don’t believe I’ve seen any of them in town or causing trouble at any of the bars, which means they’re probably illegals and belong to the cartel Withers is working alongside.
” He shrugged. “Agent Styles cleared a fentanyl distribution ring from his beat and gave me a ton of intel. I’m glad he’s coming. He’ll have good advice.”
“I can’t believe they are still getting fentanyl across the border.” Rowley let out a long sigh. “I guess they would need to open every bag of pellets to check if anything was inside. Why can’t the dogs sniff it?”
“I know the answer to that one.” Raven leaned forward, clasping his hands before him on the desk.
“If you take a look at any of the shipments with the fentanyl, they also include sacks of urea fertilizer. This is something that’s commonly used for pasture treatment, and it wouldn’t cause any attention, but it does give off a strong smell of ammonia and that would mask the smell of the fentanyl pills from the dogs. ”
Jenna raised an eyebrow. “I’m just wondering how long this has been going on, because these guys appear to have everything covered when it comes to getting the merchandise across the border, receiving the deliveries, and sending the pills out to the suppliers.
I’ve heard absolutely nothing, not one hint about this operation before Rio tumbled into it.
Although, I can be almost certain that they aren’t spreading their drugs around Black Rock Falls or Louan.
I haven’t received reports of anyone being arrested for selling fentanyl in Blackwater either. ”
“Do you want to be involved in the takedown or would you prefer that I make the plans?” Rio pushed away from the wall and took a seat beside Kane at the conference table. “We’ll be able to hit them on the first delivery after the agents arrive. Until they get here it’s going to be a waiting game.”
Jenna tapped her pen on the table considering the implications of allowing her deputies to go it alone.
The idea didn’t make her happy. As a team, they worked closely together and knew exactly what the next person would do in a crisis.
“Make the plans, by all means. You’re going to need Dave to act as your sniper backup.
I would suggest you confer with him along with the others as he is an expert in takedowns.
If we are not snowed under with the current case, we’ll be out there in the field with you.
You’ll need as many boots on the ground as you can lay hands on.
Keep me in the loop.” She sighed. “Now I would like you to concentrate on the case at hand. We need to find Laney Prescott’s next of kin.
Divide the work between you. We will also be searching social media and contacting Laney Prescott’s workmates for her close friends.
I’ll call the director of the social services department and see if I can get them to give me any information on anyone who may have put in any complaints or caused a problem for her.
It will be difficult getting them to divulge any information.
I’ll feel them out during the phone call, and if I consider they might be withholding information, I’ll get a search warrant.
I don’t believe the judge will withhold one, as we are talking murder here. ”
She glanced at the serious faces around the table.
They chatted together for a few moments and as usual worked as a competent unit.
Standing, she left the conference room and went to her office.
Once inside, she contacted the director of the social services and spent her time refilling the coffee pots in her office while she waited on hold.
She’d met Christopher Paul, the new director, when he’d arrived from Helena.
As the Her Broken Wings Foundation needed to work closely with his departments, she needed to be on his good side.
He agreed with her charity work and her passion for protecting anyone abused or bullied in the community.
When he finally came to the phone and apologized profusely for keeping her waiting, she gave him the information about Laney Prescott.
“I’m sorry to deliver this bad news over the phone but we are exceptionally busy and the weather is terrible at the moment to be driving around to see people in person. ”
“I understand completely.” A door clicked shut and Jenna heard a scrape of a chair as Paul sat down at his desk.
“I’m extremely shocked about Laney. She was a very special person.
She had a deep compassion, which after working in this profession for a long time can often become jaded.
Am I allowed to ask what happened to her? ”
Jenna thought for a beat as she didn’t usually give out any information prior to an autopsy or the next of kin being notified.
“The cause of death is undetermined at the moment. The medical examiner will be performing an autopsy in the morning and maybe then I’ll have some more information.
The reason I called you is because I need the next of kin details you have in her file.
I also want you to consider telling me if she had any particularly nasty cases that might have caused someone to strike out at her or if she’d been threatened in any way. ”
“You believe someone murdered her, don’t you?” Paul sucked in a long breath. “I can’t believe it. Poor Laney, she certainly didn’t deserve that. Do you figure it was one of her clients?”
Not expecting any assistance whatsoever, the man took her aback with his enthusiasm to help in the case.
It immediately sent up a red flag and she sat slowly in her office chair, trying very hard to compose her next sentence.
“I’m sure that information would be at your fingertips.
Do you recall her mentioning any problems she had? ”
“Laney had a few cases on the go. A couple of them concerned spousal abuse, and removing a woman from an abusive relationship can often cause repercussions. She worked a case where a child was taken into protective custody and both parents became very aggravated. We discovered a seriously neglected child who hadn’t attended school for a long period of time.
The parents made all sorts of excuses, but it was obvious when she went to view the child that he was neglected.
He had bruises all over him and we had to intervene.
It’s not something that we enjoy doing but sometimes we don’t have any choice.
” His chair squeaked as he moved around.
“I would need to access her files on her computer to see if she’d made notes about any problems with these recent clients.
One thing I do know is she didn’t come to me with a complaint.
Sometimes we just take it on the chin and keep going. ”
Unable to believe her luck, Jenna cleared her throat. “Any information you could give us would be very helpful. One other thing. Are any of her workmates close friends?”
“I’m not sure.” Paul drummed his fingers on the desk. “I’ll go and speak to them and see what I can find out for you, and then if necessary, I’ll be happy to arrange a time for you to come in and speak to them.” He sighed. “That’s all I can do for now. I have a client waiting.”
Making a few hurried notes, Jenna stood. “Thank you very much. I’ll wait to hear from you.” She disconnected, grabbed the two coffee pots and hurried back to the conference room. She smiled at Kane. “The director is going to cooperate.”