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“I’ll help. Just give me a minute.”
“Nope, you stay right where you are. When you’re ready you can fix us some breakfast. I’ll be at least an hour.”
“But—“
“Rest. You’ve been through a lot these last couple of days.”
“Okay.”
Though she hated to admit it, he was right, and closing her eyes, she fell back into a deep sleep.
* * *
While Sherlock had been running around the barn seeking out new smells, Noah had finished feeding the horses and was halfway through mucking out the stalls when he heard the familiar sound of Cody’s truck drive into the courtyard.
“Hey, Noah, sorry I’m late,” he exclaimed as he strode into the barn. “Half the roads are closed. I tried to call but your phone went to voice mail.”
“Dammit, I forgot to turn it on,” Noah grunted, lifting it from his pocket. Powering it up, he found a text from Matt and a voice mail from David. “Cody can you finish the stalls,” he said, already marching into the feed room.
“Yeah, of course, I’ll take over from here.”
“Thanks, I’m glad you’re back,” Matt called over his shoulder, then closing the door behind him, he read the text from Matt.
I heard from my contact. There are no agents by the names you gave, and there are no operations happening in Elk Valley related to Tom Mitchell. I’m calling David and Tom to let them know. I’ll see you around ten.
Though Noah wasn’t surprised, he was amazed how quickly Matt had found out, but turning his attention to the voicemail from David, he listened intently.
“Hey, Noah, you’ve probably heard by now those agents who visited Tom in New York were frauds. When they show up here at the house they’ll be in for a shock. The real FBI are on their way to arrest them. I don’t know when this will all go down but I’ll keep you posted. Also, Tom called and said he’ll be flying in this afternoon. If anything’s happening on your end let me know.”
Sitting down on a bale of hay, Noah pondered what he’d just learned. Everything was happening at once. The phony agents were about to be taken into custody, Tom Mitchell was on his way back to Elk Valley, the briefcase had been found, and Michael Aiken was probably stuck in the snow where Matt had planted the tracker. Whether the gangster was dead or alive was anyone’s guess, but his criminal career was over—at least for immediate future.
“Damn. I guess I was right,” he muttered. “Things are comin’ to a head. Ellie needs to know all this.”
Walking quickly from the feed room, he hurried through the barn and back to the house with Sherlock darting ahead. As he entered, the tempting aroma of fried bacon was in the air.
“That sure smells good,” he declared as he stepped into the kitchen. Sherlock barked, as if agreeing, then ran over to Ellie and sat down, staring up at her expectantly.
“Noah, I’m so excited, Dad’s coming in,” Ellie exclaimed. “He’ll be here early this afternoon.”
“Yeah, I just got a voicemail from David.”
“And those agents aren’t agents at all.”
“I don’t believe this. I came back here to fill you in, but you already know everything.”
Laughing out loud, she plated scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes and bacon, and set the dish on the table.
“Thanks, hon, that looks great,” he said, settling into a chair. “I meant to tell you this earlier, but I guess with everything that’s been happenin’ I just didn’t get the chance. Matt’s comin’ over and we’re taking a ride up the mountain. We need to check—“
“I know that too, and you’re going to see if Michael Aiken followed those trackers yesterday and ended up getting stuck because of the storm.”
“Damn, girl, how…?” Noah asked, taken aback.
“I heard you two talking in the cabin before we left last night. Matt asked if you’d go up the mountain with him because he wanted to check on something. I knew he planted the trackers up there to draw Michael Aiken away from me. I just put the pieces together.”
“I guess you did. Anyway, he’ll be arrivin’ shortly.”
“Noah, I’d love to come with you,” she pleaded, sitting opposite him. “I won’t be any trouble. Please can I come with you? Pleeease?”
