Forty-five
Sheriff Gene Packerson returned to his office and
phoned the number he had been given for one Lieutenant Charles Marlin,
Oregon State Police, assigned as his department's liaison. He briefly
explained John Hartman's standing in the investigation and announced his
intention of bringing him and his son in for medical treatment. "I need
some cooperation with this. There may be warrants out for his arrest. I
don't want them served until he's under medical care."
"Let me check it out." Marlin sounded mildly
confused by his call and more than a little disinterested. "I don't see
his name here. We have no outstanding warrants."
Kahl hadn't filed charges? Jim Langton and Ben
Reeves had not included John's name in their reports and implicated John
in the disappearances?
It meant that that Kahl was planning on using his own
resources to deal with John and that the state had yet to get to first
base with their own investigation into the disappearances of six people in
the county. Gene considered filing a token charge of his own to bring in
John beneath the protective cover of the law.
"Is there something more we should know about this
man?" Marlin said.
"I'll take care of it."
"Debrief me when you're finished with him," Marlin
said curtly.
Gene hung up, thankful for petty victories. The way
seemed clear to bring John and David in to County Central Hospital. An
underhanded move by Kahl was the only wild card to guard against.
He withdrew three deputies from assignments elsewhere
in the county and headed back out onto the slope to retrieve John and
David. He stationed one deputy along the highway just outside town, the
second at the bottom of the slope, and the third on the edge of the
residential area of the Ridge, giving each orders to barricade or turn
back traffic entering the area. He drove alone to the treeline
overlooking the valley, parked the car and selected the channel for the
radio he had given John.
He paused with the car’s mike in his hand, puzzled by
a strange wind blowing from the clear sky of early afternoon.
Intensifying by the moment, it blew straight down, flattening the grass in
an area thirty feet in front of his car. Gene put the mike back on the
radio when the sudden rattle of a descending helicopter blades resolved
the mystery.
He stepped from the car to watch a flat-black,
unmarked helicopter touch down fifty yards away in a shrill whine and
deafening roar. He shielded his face from the wind blown dust, his vision
obscured until Sheila Davies reached his position.
"Let's talk inside!" she cried over the noise.
Gene climbed back inside his car. Sheila slipped in
at his side and slammed her door shut, isolating them from the wind and
swirling dust.
"You were going to make a deal with the state before
consulting with me," she said with mock disappointment.
"John's boy is sick. I'm bringing them in."
Sheila leaned back in her seat looking oddly calm and
relaxed. "John Hartman seems to be causing Orville Kahl major problems."
"John Hartman is kicking Kahl's ass."
"Do you approve?"
"Kahl has yet to file a complaint."
"It will be to Kahl's advantage if you bring John in
now."
"I know, but the boy is dying."
"I'm not discounting that, but you should hear me
out. The people who financed the microprocessor plant have been keeping a
close eye on Kahl. They have inside contacts, in fact. John has
undermined their faith in Kahl. They’re on their way to have a look at
the situation first hand.”
"Is there a problem with the factory?" Gene said
hopefully.
"The identity of certain people involved in
negotiations with Mr. Kahl's management team lead us to believe that the
plant is being financed by the Japanese equivalent of the Mafia. I've
seen more than one financial analysis that states the plant can never hope
to compete with similar manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, or the
Philippines. If that's the case, then the plant is probably a front, a
money-laundering scheme, and perhaps a safe house for white collar
criminals in need of refuge from their native law enforcement agencies.”
"Boil it all down to twenty-five words or less," Gene
said.
"Kahl is a pawn of foreign interests. The abduction
of his daughter and the raid on his estate has rendered him a liability.
Someone is on their way from Japan to check out the extent of the damage.
The identity of those men will point in the direction of Kahl's
investors. We want that information rather desperately."
Gene eye Sheila in growing displeasure. "At John and
David's expense?"
"I'll have medical help standing by. If John can
help us bring Kahl down, David will get the best of everything he needs at
our expense. That's an unconditional offer. Hartman is the break we've
been looking for. All he needs to do is to hold out against Kahl until
those Japanese representatives arrive, and they’re on their way now. We
have men on hand to ID them when they arrive."
"It's not my decision, Sheila."
"Mediate for me."
"I'll relay the offer."
Sheila reached for the door handle. "Leave a message
for me at the substation. I'll check back within the hour."
"Are you still my dispatcher?"
She smiled. "Sure I am. I applied for my personal
days. It's on your desk. Will you sign it for me? We’ll spend one
together before I leave."
"You can bet your little pink booties I will."
Dust and noise filled the car briefly. Gene watched
her vanish into the maelstrom with an ache in his heart. She was a
transient in his life. He was going to lose her.
The chopper ascended, nosed forward, and rushed
across the skies of a late summer afternoon.
Gene put the radio mike to his lips. "I'm on the
Ridge, John. There's been a new development." He relayed Sheila Davies
offer, continue to undermine Orville Kahl in exchange for medical help for
David.
John took a moment to answer. "Is she on the level?"
"I'm certain of it."
"I didn't hurt Lucas Chambers much last night. Are
you still holding him?"
"Treated and released last night.
Kahl's work."
"Then it shouldn't take long for him to find me. I
need a word with Chambers. If I survive that, I’ll pay Kahl a visit and
make life difficult.”
"What about David?"
"There’s no help for him locally, Gene. There might
be more at some bigger hospital, if someone’s offering to pay for it.
It's not just the better of two evils. It’s probably the only chance he
has.”
Gene mulled over John's decision and the courage it
took to make it. "I'll stay within radio range."
"If you don't hear from me within three hours," John
said, "come down and get David."
The radio clicked and hissed
empty static.
