AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay.” Styles nodded. “Thanks for the vehicle. We’ll have it back in a couple of hours.”
“The vehicle is the department’s SUV and is parked right outside. If we’re gone for the day, leave it at the hospital parking lot and the keys at the counter.” Bowman frowned. “Watch your backs at the mining camp. Those roughnecks don’t take too kindly to law enforcement.”
Pulling up her collar against the sleet, Beth glanced at Styles as they headed out into the cold. “Oh, this day just gets better by the second.” She handed him the keys. “You drive. I’ll navigate.”
After adding the address of the mining camp to the GPS, they headed out of town. The GPS sent them along a highway for a time and then onto dirt roads heading into the mountains and then down toward a valley. The scenery had been destroyed. Large bare patches of soil and mounds of rubble littered the once picturesque mountain landscape. It was a hive of activity. Men in hard hats, rubber boots, and slickers moved around intent on their work. The noise was deafening. Beth shook her head. Noise and land pollution wasn’t something she appreciated. “Oh, this is terrible.”
“I never took you for a nature lover, being a city girl and all.” Styles maneuvered the truck around a wet, uneven rut in the track. “Ah, yeah, but you paint landscapes, so I guess you appreciate beautiful scenery.” He sighed. “Don’t worry, there’splenty more to see around Rattlesnake Creek. The town has boundaries to preserve the area from mining.”
She shook her head, gaping at the gush of dirty water spilling from a soil-rinsing machine and into a once pristine stream. Heavy machinery sat beside mounds of dirt, spilling fumes into the air. The entire scene horrified her. How could this mess ever be returned back to its natural state? “I figured this was a gold mine, like underground.”
“Nah, these days most of the miners go over old timers’ claims.” Styles stared at the sky. “Miners collect their overburden, the piles of waste from the mines, and process it. There are usually gold fragments left behind, as in millions of dollars of gold, and they extract it from the waste. It’s not the tailings. That’s waste that has been processed using mercury, which is too dangerous to work.” He smiled at her. “This might look bad to you, but the old timers left toxic waste and did nothing to clean up afterward. These miners at least have to return the site to its original condition.”
Snorting, Beth looked at him. “What, mounds of what did you call them? Ah yes,overburdenand toxic dumps. That sounds like a solid plan. Maybe it needs to be looked into by the Forest Service, and get them to insist they plant trees and shrubs and smooth down the mounds of rubble.”
“Put it to the next council meeting.” Styles smiled at her. “You’ll have support. Although miners are the town’s lifeblood, no one wants the environment damaged.” He looked ahead. “Ah, there’s the office. I’ll stop there and ask where deliveries are dropped.” He pulled up alongside the front door and climbed out. “You might as well wait here. Pointless both of us getting wet.”
He was back in a few seconds, and they headed down a wide dirt road covered in gravel. She turned to him. “Did you ask about the suspects?”
“Nope, just about the deliveries.” Styles kept his attention on the road. “They don’t need to know why we’re here.”
They drove to the back of what looked like a cookhouse and beside it was a small store, a place when the miners could purchase a few necessities. Beth noticed it opened early in the morning and at six at night. “So the miners sleep and eat here?”
“Yeah.” Styles pulled up beside one of two delivery vans. “There are many different types of companies. Some are owned by partners, or a group of guys all put in cash to buy a lease and work it, split the profits. Others work for a company. There are many different gold mines all through this area. The gems are usually mined by companies. They’re underground and dangerous. The miners need to know what they’re doing down in the mines.” He indicated to the vans backed up to an opening in the building. “I figure those vans belong to our suspects. They beat us to it, and it looks like they’re almost finished unloading. I hope we can detain them both for questioning.”
Beth reached for the door handle. “That’s what I use my badge for and it usually works. Not many people will leave if the FBI needs to talk to them.” She looked at him. “I figure we split up and take the men away from each other for questioning.”
“That will sure save time.” Styles pulled up his collar and turned to Bear. “Wait here, Bear. It’s freezing and wet outside.”
Beth pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and ducked out of the truck, running for the open roller door in the back of the building and skirting the vans. Inside, a group of men eyed her with surprise. She took out her cred pack and held it up for them to see it. “Special Agent Beth Katz. I’m here with Agent Styles and we’d like a word with Wyatt Cody and Billy Straus. She scanned the men. Looking for any signs of apprehension.
“I’m Cody.” A slim but muscular young man strolled toward her, his gaze moved up and down her in a blatant appraisalbefore a small smile twitched the sides of his lips. “A woman FBI agent in this neck of the woods. Go figure.”
Beth stood her ground and mirrored his actions. It was good to see his expression change. Her reaction wasn’t what he’d expected, and she had turned from being the hunted to the hunter. She wondered how he felt being appraised like a prize bull. Maybe he had the delusional idea that a frank appraisal was a compliment, when in her mind it was an insult. She lifted her chin. “Is there somewhere out of the wind we can talk?”
“Sure, the canteen is out front of the cookhouse. They serve meals and coffee all day. Most of the guys here work odd hours. It depends on the conditions.” Cody indicated toward a door a few yards into the back of the area. “Through there.”
Hanging back, she glanced at Styles, who nodded. “We’ll follow you.” Behind her she could hear Styles speaking to the other driver.
As they walked into a room with tables and chairs and a long counter with various food items and pastries set behind glass display cabinets, she followed Cody to a separate table with coffee machines, cups, and fixings.
“Like I said, coffee runs twenty-four/seven here.” Cody poured a cup of coffee and smiled at her. “How do you take yours?”
“Cream and sugar, thanks.” She pulled off her gloves and reached inside her jacket for her notebook and pen.
When the coffee was ready, she followed Cody to a table a few yards away, near a woodstove. It was toasty inside, and Beth removed her coat and hung it over the back of the chair. She sat down and stared at him. “Okay, we’re trying to establish a timeline for the stop and rob out at Roaring Creek Sunday last and the previous one out at Broken Bridge on Friday.” She gave him a direct stare, watching his reaction. “You move betweentowns, and we have reason to believe you were in the areas at the times of the shootings.”
“It’s likely.” Cody leaned back in his seat, coffee in one hand, one boot resting casually on the opposite knee. “I run my own delivery business but I’m the whole deal. I do everything, so I take extra orders when they come in. It’s good for business. So, yeah, so what if I was in the local area at the time? So were many other people. What is it you want from me, Agent Katz?”
Beth looked him over. Confident and relaxed. Yet many people being confronted by an FBI agent would be on edge. All the men they’d interviewed appeared to be nonchalant. Maybe it was the relaxed way of life in the mountains? She stared at him, hoping he’d wilt in front of her eyes, but he just smiled at her. Perhaps staring at him was regarded as a come-on? As the questions slipped back into her mind, she cleared her throat. Maybe let him believe he had the upper hand. “We’re chasing down witnesses, as you were in town around the times of both incidents, the chances are high that you saw something. We have CCTV footage of you in one of the stores.” That statement was a lie to some extent. If he wasn’t the killer, it was pure fabrication, but if he was, well, they did have a video of the murders.
“I don’t recall anything unusual happening in either place.” Cody sipped his coffee and stared at the ceiling as if thinking hard. “Hmm, in Broken Bridge, when I came out of the store, I did see the man with the dog. The dog was barking, if I recall. I figure that’s the man the killer shot when he was leaving.” He dropped his gaze back to her. “I didn’t witness the shooting. I was long gone by then.”
Beth wanted more information and it was like pulling teeth from this man. “When you were in the store, do you recall seeing a girl or anyone else inside?”
“The kidnapped girl they found murdered?” Cody sipped his drink. “Yeah, she went in just before me and went to the back ofthe store. There were other people but I don’t recall anyone in particular.”
Acting casual, Beth made a few notes and lifted her gaze to him. “What vehicles did you see outside the store?”
