Stalking Ground (27 page)

Mattie waited, her breaths coming in short bursts despite her trying to slow them.

“Carmen Santiago!” Brody shouted from off to her left.

Carmen pivoted, training her bow in his direction. But she didn’t fire. She crouched and sidestepped behind a boulder at the base of the cliff—still armed.

The boulder sheltered Carmen from Mattie’s vision.
Does she have a gun?
A gun would be a huge factor.

“Lay down your weapon!” Brody called. “Come out with both hands raised where I can see them.”

Robo tried to surge forward, but Mattie held him back. “Heel,” she whispered. “Steady.” She felt it critical that Carmen didn’t know she and her partner were there. Surprise on their part would make all the difference. Robo settled beside her.

“Why are you threatening me?” Carmen called out.

“I’m here to arrest you for the murder of Adrienne Howard,” Brody shouted.

Mattie looked for him, but still couldn’t see him. Evidently Carmen couldn’t either.

Carmen gave a sharp laugh. “I had nothing to do with that. You should talk to my hired man, Juan Fiero.”

“Well . . .” Brody said, drawing out the syllable. “I’ve done that already. He’s alive and talking.”

Silence fell over the clearing, and Mattie wished she could see the woman. Then Carmen backed cautiously, crossbow held ready, keeping the boulder between herself and Brody but coming into Mattie’s view. She could see the camouflage pattern and black scope on the bow. She couldn’t count on Robo’s Kevlar to protect him from the deadly bolt. She waited, Robo straining against his vest. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep him from barking.

Evidently Brody grew tired of the wait. He stepped out from behind the trees, showing himself at the edge of the clearing. He held his rifle pointed at the sky.

“Come out and let’s talk,” he said. “We’ll both put down our weapons.”

Carmen rounded the boulder, sighting through her scope as she came. A heavy clunk vibrated through the clearing as she shot the bolt. Brody fell.

Heart racing, Mattie sent her dog. “Robo, take her.”

Robo streaked across the thirty-foot clearing like unleashed fury. Carmen turned, while he leaped at the arm that held the bow and clasped it in his jaws. His momentum sent them both tumbling down into the rocky shale, Robo on top. Without releasing his bite, he leapt off the woman and stretched her out, dragging her away from the crossbow. Carmen’s screams and Robo’s terrible snarls echoed off the cliff.

Mattie charged toward the two of them. She pounced on Carmen’s back, feeling satisfaction when she heard the wind whoosh out of her. Robo continued to tug while she grasped Carmen’s free hand and pulled it behind her back.

“Surrender,” she told Carmen, “and I’ll call off the dog.”

With a curse, Carmen quit struggling.

“Robo, out!” She waited for Robo to drop her captive’s arm. “Guard!”

Robo loomed over Carmen’s head, saliva dripping from his jaws.

“Don’t move, or he’ll go after you again,” Mattie said as she secured Carmen’s other arm behind her back.

She started to reach for the cuffs that were secured to her utility belt, but Brody came up from behind with his. Mattie snapped the steel cuffs into place, looking up with relief at Brody but seeing the blood trickling down his forehead. “You’re hit,” she said.

“Shit,” he muttered, gingerly touching a wound on his forehead. “More like I hit the ground.”

Mattie shook her head.
You’re crazy
, she thought, but kept the words to herself. Letting Robo stay in guard position, she stood and stepped away from her captive. The woman was no longer struggling. “You ready?” she asked Brody.

“Yup.”

She released Robo and called him to her side.

Brody bent and grasped Carmen’s upper arm, his firm grip apparent even to Mattie. “On your knees,” he told her in a gruff voice.

“I have political asylum,” she said, struggling to get up on her knees. “You can’t arrest me.”

“Watch me. Stand up now,” Brody growled as he pulled her up. He proceeded to arrest her for Adrienne’s murder and read her the Miranda rights.

Mattie wondered why the woman thought she’d have immunity and hoped there’d be no problem prosecuting her. The only proof they had that Carmen Santiago had killed Adrienne was the word of a migrant worker. She hoped Adrienne’s laptop contained something even more damning.

Mattie took her first aid kit from her utility belt and handed Brody a sterile gauze pad. “Will you be okay?” she asked. “I need to find Cole Walker.”

“I’m fine,” he said, pressing the gauze to his wound. “Go ahead and track him. I’ll take her down to the barn. Call on the walkie-talkie if you need help.”

Mattie gave him a short salute and turned to go, patting Robo and telling him he was a good boy. “But we’re not done yet,” she said, withdrawing Cole’s hat from the utility belt and giving Robo a sniff. She lowered her hand and used a sweeping gesture to indicate the ground.

It took only a few seconds for Robo to pick up the trail, and he followed it across the slope. She heard Brody tell Carmen to walk as she hurried to keep up with her dog. Robo appeared confident, tail waving and happy, while he led Mattie through the forest. Soon, she realized that Cole must be headed for the main road. After about fifteen minutes, she came to the edge of a small clearing and caught a glimpse
of him disappearing into the trees on the other side. A large black dog walked beside him. The Doberman.

Such a great sense of relief flowed through her that it was almost overpowering. Breaking into a run, she shouted. “Cole! Cole, it’s Mattie.”

He reappeared through the pine, and the exuberant grin that she’d grown so fond of lit his face. He dropped the branch he was using for a walking stick and limped toward her, his arms extended. “Mattie! Thank goodness you found me.”

She stepped into his arms, and he wrapped her in a hug so tight it took her breath away. Her face came to the level of his chest, and her cheek pressed against the stiff fabric of his coverall. When she inhaled, he smelled of mud and horse and sweat. She held him in a firm embrace and realized that she never wanted to let go. He pressed his lips to the top of her head.

She tried to pull away, but Cole tightened his grip. She let him hold her while she fought the tumult their closeness triggered. When Cole gradually released her, she took a step back and glanced around, looking anywhere but at this man she now knew she loved.

Cole touched her face with a gentle finger, his gaze showing his concern. “What happened to your eye, Mattie?”

She gave him a fleeting glance. “It’s nothing. I got in the way of a flying elbow.”

He opened his mouth to continue, but the Doberman she’d last seen chained in front of the barn was bouncing at their feet, bowing into a “let’s play” position for Robo who was trying his best to ignore him.

Cole laughed. “You wouldn’t happen to have a dog treat on you? I owe this guy a few.”

On their way down the mountain, the sun sank behind the westward mountains, and the elk began to bugle—a high, melodious whistle that slid up multiple tones and echoed through the hills. The sound heralded crisp autumn air and usually nourished Mattie’s spirit, but this time it resonated with loneliness, taunting her.

While she led Cole back to the stable in the waning light, she stuffed her feelings back into a dark, deep place. His limp slowed their progress, but he insisted he could make it down from the mountain on his own two feet rather than waiting for a four-legged ride to be organized by the sheriff and rescue volunteers. He told her about how Juan Fiero saved his life and accused Carmen of murdering Adrienne, and Mattie told him how she and the others had found the injured man in the hay room.

“So he was still alive. Can we find out how he’s doing?” Cole asked, gesturing toward Mattie’s walkie-talkie.

Mattie keyed on her remote, connecting with Sheriff McCoy, who had evidently arrived at the property and taken charge. She asked him about Fiero’s condition.

“He was alive when he left in the ambulance. Over,” McCoy said.

“Copy,” Mattie replied before signing off.

“Good,” Cole said. “He must have been too afraid of something to report Carmen to the police.”

“He said Carmen’s uncle has control of his family, and he feared for their lives.”

“Good grief. What will happen to him?”

“Essentially, he’s an accessory to murder,” Mattie said. “But he’s also a witness. We’ll just have to see if he pulls through.”

After that, they were silent as they labored tediously downslope through timber and rocky terrain. Cole appeared to be concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, while Mattie focused on trying to take the shortest but smoothest route to the barn. Bruno and Robo stayed close despite the slow pace.

When they entered the glow from the yard light, Mattie could see the relief on Cole’s face. He hobbled onward, using his walking stick for support. Brody was standing out by the patrol vehicles, and he apparently spotted them. He walked out to meet them, giving Mattie a sweeping once-over before focusing in on her face.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice gruff.

His concern surprised her. “Sure. You?”

“I’ll live.” Brody shifted his attention to Cole and offered a shoulder. “Can I help you, Dr. Walker?”

“I’ll be all right. I need to get to my truck, so I can wrap this ankle. Then I need to check on Diablo and that other horse.”

“Detective LoSasso will want a statement from you before you leave. Someone cut your battery cable, but I patched it.” Glancing at Mattie, Brody added, “LoSasso and McCoy are searching inside the house now. They want you there ASAP.”

Mattie nodded. She’d hoped they would wait for her before starting the search, but she could understand their eagerness. “I’ll go now.”

Cole reached to take her hand, causing Mattie’s cheeks to flush. She was thankful for the limited light.

“Do you need my help?” she asked.

“No. It’s just, well, I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you found me and helped me out of that mess.” He touched her cheek, and a wave of tenderness built inside her. “You look exhausted, Mattie. I wish you could go home and take care of yourself.”

“It’s the eye that makes me look so bad, but I’m okay. Truly. You’re the one that’s beat up.”

“I’ll call the kids and then stick around for a while. Go do your work. I’ll touch base with you later.” He squeezed her hand before releasing it. “And . . . thank you.”

She nodded and turned away, not trusting her voice to speak. She struggled to switch off her emotions, something that was becoming harder and harder to do. Walking toward her vehicle, she noticed that Brody seemed to be on guard beside his. She realized that Carmen Santiago sat in the back of it. She diverted her route and approached Brody, signaling that she wanted to speak with him. He met her half way.

“Has Stella questioned Santiago yet?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“She refuses to speak without an attorney. I’ll take her to the station after the search.”

“Okay.”

“But Stella said the hired man talked plenty before the ambulance took him away. Briefing later.”

Mattie nodded, went to her SUV, and loaded Robo into his compartment. After taking off his Kevlar vest, she checked
his wound, was relieved to see the staples were still intact, and gave him some water. She drove to the fork in the lane and took the one that led to the house. Lights blazed through the large windowpanes, and she could see Stella and McCoy coming down the staircase from the upper level. Taking a deep breath to fortify herself against her fatigue, she slid from the driver’s seat and went around back to unload Robo. Time to get back to work.

Before letting him jump down, she put on the collar he wore to search for dope. From the amount of money the property represented, she assumed that would be her purpose. She began talking to Robo in high-pitched patter. Together they entered the house, Robo dancing beside her, tail waving. His unlimited fount of energy never failed to amaze her. For him, his work was a never-ending source of play. She found the sheriff and Stella in the great room.

McCoy greeted her with a question. “How’s the doctor doing?”

“He made it down on his own, but his ankle looks pretty bad. He’s going to take care of it himself with his vet supplies and then check on the horses.”

McCoy nodded.

“Can you and Robo sweep this house for drugs?” Stella asked.

“Sure.” Mattie focused her attention on Robo, patting him and holding him against her leg while he shifted his weight between his front feet. “You want to find some dope? Huh, do ya?”

Mattie used the leash and her free hand to guide Robo in a sweep of the house, starting with the downstairs. After receiving no alerts from him there, she led him up the staircase and started in the room that looked like Carmen’s home
office. Nothing. She’d felt certain that they’d find something in the office, so she was about to give up hope of uncovering a drug stash in the house.
Maybe in the barn or one of the other outbuildings
.

She came to the master bedroom, appointed with heavy walnut furniture—headboard and footboard, dressers and nightstands, a settee near the fireplace—and lush, olive-colored bedding. Directing Robo forward, he made a beeline for the bed. At first he tried to crawl under it, but when he was too big to go all the way, he backed out and scratched at the floor. Then he sat. He looked straight into Mattie’s eyes.

Full alert
. “He’s indicating something under the bed,” she told the others.

“We checked there,” Stella said. “There’s nothing, not even a dust bunny.”

“Let’s move the bed,” McCoy said, crossing over to the far side of the footboard and trying to drag the heavy piece of furniture to one side. Mattie and Stella hurried to help, and soon they’d moved it away from its place.

“Looks like nothing but flooring,” Stella said, getting down on her hands and knees and smoothing her hand over the floor. Excited, Robo joined her, giving each board a sniff. He fixated on a small dent in the floorboard, gave it one scratch with his foot, and then sat and stared at Mattie as if to say he’d done all that he could.

“Thanks, Robo,” Stella said, probing the dent with her finger. “What are you trying to tell me about this divot right here?”

With a delicate whisper of well-maintained gears, a three-foot square section opened up by sliding down and then under the rest of the floor. Startled, both Stella and Robo jumped away from the widening hole while Mattie and McCoy moved closer.

Stella chortled. “Well, look what we have here!”

Mattie knelt beside Robo and hugged him close, taking her eyes off the glorious sight and burying her nose in the fur at his neck for a brief moment. Looking back at the stacks and stacks of plastic-wrapped bags that could only contain drugs, she watched Stella reach down with a latex-gloved hand to take out one of the wads of banded cash and rifle through it.

“All one hundred dollar bills.” Stella took a moment to count them. “Looks like it’s sorted into ten thousand dollar bundles. My God, there must be close to a million dollars here.”

McCoy stared into the vault, obviously thinking. “This organization reaches far beyond this one property in Timber Creek County. I need to call the CBI on this,” he said, referring to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. “And I’m sure they’ll bring in the Feds.”

“Mattie,” Stella said, looking up at her with a gleam in her eye. “That dog has one helluva nose.”