Murder at Jade Cove (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Book 2) (16 page)

Oh, yes, I am too going to
go.
“Come
on, Rebel.” She grabbed the pistol from the drawer where she kept it and she
and Rebel were in her minivan in seconds.
Mike, I know you think you don’t
need my help, but you’re wrong.

Kelly was driving so fast she was
afraid she’d catch up to Mike and she knew he wouldn’t be happy if he saw her,
so as soon as she could, she pulled off onto the service road that paralleled
the highway north of town. By now it was after 8:30 at night and there was
little or no traffic on the seldom used service road.

Ranchers were the only
ones who were usually on it and then only until they could get out on the
highway. There were periodic entrances to the highway and she remembered there
was one that was just a little south of the Black’s ranch. She came to the stop
sign, looked to her left, and didn’t see Mike’s car. She doubted if Mike would
pay much attention to a car driving on the service road.

Good
.
Well, I either beat
him here or he beat me. Either way, that’s fine with me. It’s just a few
hundred yards to the driveway that leads to Black’s ranch.

She decided to drive past
the driveway and park the minivan behind a stand of trees so Mike wouldn’t be
able to see her van. When she got to the stand of trees in front of the BLM
land she noticed a silver colored car already parked there. She pulled in next
to it and got out. A few moments earlier, she’d turned off the lights on her
minivan so she wouldn’t attract attention, but in the moonlight she could
clearly make out the bumper sticker on the rear bumper of the car that read
“Oregon Needs Lumber.”

If my eyes aren’t
deceiving me, that’s got to be Gabe’s car. It’s the exact same bumper sticker I
saw on his car when he and Marcy came out of the hotel in Portland and when the
car was parked in her driveway. If it’s his car, why would he park here and not
in Marcy’s driveway? That’s really odd
.

She took the gun out of
her purse and put it in her jacket pocket along with the keys to the van.
“Rebel, come,” she whispered, opening her door and motioning for Rebel to get
out of the car on her side.
I know Gabe’s desperate and if he’s parking here
and not in Marcy’s driveway that concerns me. I’m glad I thought to bring a
gun. I don’t trust that man. I wish I knew if Marcy has given him any of the
money from the insurance proceeds, but with Carlos coming, I’d think she’d have
to keep half of it to pay him off.
 Kelly carefully walked up to the silver
colored car, gun drawn, and looked inside. There was no one in it.

The stand of trees was
next to the gate that led to the Bureau of Land Management property. She’d
slipped around that gate several days earlier when she’d found the abandoned
shack.

There can only be one
reason why Gabe’s car would be parked here,
Kelly thought
. He must have
entered the BLM property and if he knows about the shack, I’d bet anything Gabe
is the one who killed Jeff. Gabe’s a hunter and Jeff was killed by a bullet
from a hunting rifle.
It all makes sense now, but why would he come back
here tonight? I hope he doesn’t plan on doing something to Marcy
.       

She motioned for Rebel to
follow her as she slipped around the gate and started to walk along the narrow
path that led to the abandoned shack.
I’m so glad I changed into tennis
shoes when I got home. At least I’m not making any noise while I’m walking.
It was deathly quiet on the path and even the night animals were silent.

This is really odd.
Animals seem to have an uncanny sense regarding danger and I’ll bet if Gabe’s
out at the abandoned shack, they sense something is wrong. Maybe that’s why I
don’t hear any sounds. If he’s there, and I bet he is, he must have scared them
off.

After walking quietly
about a hundred yards along the dark narrow path, she came to a spot where she
could just make out the old dilapidated shack ahead of her in the moonlight.
She was about twenty feet from it when she heard a loud gunshot come from the
shack. She jumped behind a tree and pulled on Rebel’s collar, motioning for him
to stay behind her. She stood and waited for whoever was in the shack to come
out, her gun aimed at the shack’s door. At the far end of the cove she could
clearly see a woman who appeared to be Marcy come out of the ranch house.
Seconds later she ran back into the house and Kelly heard the front door slam
with a loud bang. Sounds of a man’s voice swearing came from the shack. A few
moments later she recognized Gabe as he ran out the door holding a rifle.

“Drop it or I’ll shoot,”
Kelly yelled. “Rebel, go!”

Gabe dropped his rifle
while Rebel stood next to him, growling and waiting for Kelly to give him the
command for attack.

“Gabe, one move and that
dog will have you on the ground and I won’t be responsible for what he’s going
to do to you,” Kelly said. “I know you killed Jeff with that rifle. You’re a
hunter. It all makes sense now.”

“Not only will Rebel take
you to the ground, but I’ll shoot to kill. Understand me?” Mike said in a loud
commanding voice as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He swiftly walked
over to where Gabe was standing and said, “Kelly, keep me covered while I
handcuff him.” When he was finished he got out his phone and made a call.
“Rich, what’s happening at the ranch house?” He paused. “Carlos has been shot
and killed? Is Marcy okay?” He listened to Rich. “Call the coroner and then
drive north about two hundred feet. You’ll see my car. Got someone who needs to
go to jail.”

“Mike, what are you doing
here? How did you know I’d be here?” Kelly asked, her voice beginning to break
from stress and tension.

“I was just getting ready
to turn into the Black’s driveway when I saw something shining in the moonlight
a little farther up the highway. I decided to drive up there and see what it
was because I knew Rich would be at the ranch by now and could probably handle
Carlos by himself. I saw your car and a car I assumed was Gabe’s from its color
and the unique bumper sticker on its rear bumper. I didn’t think anything good
could come from that combination, so here I am. And it looks like I may have
gotten here just in the nick in time.”

He turned to Gabe. “Want
to tell me why you’re here, why you have a rifle, and why you killed Carlos?
And while you’re at it, I’d like to know why you killed Jeff. Be willing to bet
my sheriff’s badge that there will be a match on the bullet that killed Jeff
and your rifle. Now I understand why there was no gunpowder on Jeff. You shot
him from the same place where you just shot Carlos, right here from this old
shack.” He turned and looked at the ranch house and Jeff’s office. “Yeah,
you’ve got a clear line of fire from here. It’s only about one hundred yards.
That would be an easy shot with a high-powered hunting rifle.”

“I want my lawyer. I’ve
got nothing to say to you.”

“Gabe, I’m going to be
honest with you. I’ll bet anything that your rifle was responsible for killing
Carlos and Jeff. That probably means you’ll be headed to prison for life. I may
be able to help get your sentence reduced if you tell me why you did it.”

“I told you before. I’ve
got nothing to say. I’m entitled to a phone call and you can talk to my lawyer
from now on.”

“Pal, from what I hear
about your lumber business, I don’t think you’re even going to be able to make
bail, much less hire a lawyer to defend you in a capital murder case. I’m
giving you one last chance. Why were you here and why did you kill Carlos?”

“Sheriff, maybe you need
to see someone about your impaired hearing. Maybe you didn’t hear me the first
two times I told you that I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

Mike turned to Kelly.
“Tell me what you saw and heard.”

“I heard a gunshot come
from the shack, then Gabe started swearing. I heard him say something like
‘Marcy, get back out there. I need that money and the only way I’m going to get
it from you is when you’re dead,’ and a few moments later, he ran out of the
shack. Is Marcy okay?”

“Yes, Rich got there just
in time. Gabe’s aim with his rifle was deadly accurate. Carlos died instantly
from a gunshot wound to his head. From what you heard, I can only assume that
Gabe was planning on killing Marcy as well, but she ran back in the house
before he could get off a shot at her. He probably figured if he killed them
both he could quickly drive over to the house and steal the cash Marcy was
going to give to Carlos. I need to talk to her to see if Gabe threatened her.
Maybe she refused to give him the money.”

“Poor Marcy. She must be
terrified.”

“Gabe, start walking
towards the car. Rebel, walk behind him. One false move, Gabe, and I shoot and
the dog goes for your throat. Got it? Kelly, give Rebel the right command for
that.” He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and carefully picked up Gabe’s
rifle from where it was lying on the ground.

“Rebel, follow, guard!”
Kelly said. Rebel walked behind Gabe as the four of them made their way along
the narrow path to where the cars were parked. Rich pulled up just as they
reached the highway.

“Get in,” Mike said
opening the back door of the deputy sheriff’s car. “Rich, don’t think this will
be a problem since he’s cuffed and you have the steel grate separating the two
of you, but I’d feel better if you took Rebel with you. He can sit in the front
seat and he’s trained to attack if Gabe tries anything when you walk him from
the car into the jail. I need to talk to Marcy. I’ll meet you at the jail in a
little while. Wait until I get there to give him his phone call.”

He turned to Kelly. “I
know it wouldn’t do me any good to tell you to go home, so I’ll ask you to
follow me to Marcy’s. I want to talk to her and see what happened before Rich
got there.”

“Thanks, Mike, but you
have to admit, I did a pretty good job.”

“I’ll give you that. I’m
just glad we’ve spent a little time at the gun range lately. I know you didn’t
fire the gun I insisted you have, but I’m glad you had the sense to bring it
with you.”

“Thanks, Sheriff Mike. I
appreciate your faith in me,” she said sarcastically. “After all, I was the one
who had the gun on Gabe when you walked up.”

“Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.
You’re driving me nuts. I’m not sure you’re making my job any easier with me
having to constantly worry about your safety.”

“Mike, this is the last
time I’ll do anything like this. I just wanted to help you and so help me, I
think I did.”

“This is not the time or
place to discuss how you’re going to act in the future when it comes to my
investigations. We’ll talk about it another time. Right now you can follow me
in your van.”

“Yes, sir!”

Well, I don’t care what he
thinks. It was me holding the gun on Gabe when Mike walked up, not him holding
the gun on Gabe when I walked up. I’ll probably have to act like I really mean
it when I say I won’t get involved next time, but I’m two for two now. I found
Amber’s killer and now I found Jeff’s. He can say anything he wants, but those
are the facts.

She pulled in Marcy’s
driveway and parked next to Mike’s car. They both walked up to the front door.
Mike knocked and said in a loud voice, “Marcy, it’s Mike. Everything’s okay
now. Please open the door. Kelly’s with me and we need to talk to you.”

The door opened and Marcy
stood there, pale and trembling. She was clearly in shock. Tears streamed down
her cheeks. Kelly walked past Mike and took Marcy by the arm to support her.
She looked like she was about to faint. Kelly led her to the nearest chair.
“Marcy, sit down. What’s your sister’s number? I’ll call her and tell her to
come immediately.”

Marcy shakily gave her the
number and Kelly called it. “She’ll be here as soon as she can. Her husband had
a meeting tonight and she doesn’t have anyone to watch the children, but as soon
as he returns she’ll drive over from Portland.”

“Marcy,” Mike said, “I
need to know everything that’s happened out here in the last few hours. I’ve
arrested Gabe Lewis for the murder of Carlos and I’m sure Gabe was the one who
murdered Jeff. Tell me everything you can remember.”

She started sobbing.
“Mike, are you sure it was Gabe? I can’t believe he’d do something like that
even though he was really mad at me.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks with
a tissue Kelly had given her.

“Why was he mad at you?”
Mike asked.

“Gabe came over earlier
this evening and told me he’d had a meeting this afternoon with a man who
handled his investments. He told me the man worked for himself and wasn’t part
of a big company or anything. He said he was an investment genius. Gabe said
he’d made far more money investing through him than he would have if he’d gone
with some big investment firm. He told me if I’d give him the proceeds from the
insurance policy, he’d make sure I got a great return on my investment.”

Kelly and Mike didn’t say
anything; they just listened to the distraught woman.

“I got a call from Carlos
late this afternoon demanding the money he said Jeff owed him. I asked him how
I could be sure he wouldn’t call again, demanding more money from me. He told me
he was wanted in the United States for murder and that it was very dangerous
for him to even be here and that he couldn’t risk it again. He said I would
have to take his word that this would be the last time I would ever hear from
him or see him. I didn’t have a choice. I told him I had the cash and that I
had packed it in a large suitcase. He said he would be here at 9:00 tonight,
like I told you when I called you.”