Kidnapped in Montana, page 7
Catherine cleared her throat. “Do you think Victoria is still close?”
“I don’t know what she is thinking or planning. She’s afraid enough of that guy to run and leave behind her things. Maybe she’ll leave the area.”
He turned onto the road feeling a rising sense of frustration. With Victoria having vanished, the investigation was stalled out. The only lead now was the two men who were after her. He pulled his phone from his pocket. “We know what the guy looks like and what he drives. I need to get in touch with some local agents. With some help, maybe we can take the man with the curly hair in and question him. I assume he’ll stick around and keep looking for you.” The nearest field office was miles away in Bozeman since this area was nothing but small towns. It would take at least an hour for any agents to show up.
He drove a short distance while still looking to see if they were followed. He pulled over on the shoulder. “I have to make a call.” To make sure they were not going to be followed, he wanted a chance to watch the road some more anyway.
He called and apprised the agent who answered the phone of the situation. He identified himself as Agent Evan Martin.
After Ryan summarized the situation, Agent Martin responded. “You’re saying the guy knocked on the door and then followed you, but he wasn’t violent toward you in any way?”
“No, he was, it sounded like he was trying to break in, and he did tap my car bumper before we shook him. According to Victoria Stevenson’s friend, Victoria saw him as enough of a threat that she left town without stopping to pick up her possessions, some of which are evidence that I need to turn over to you.”
“All our agents are engaged in a drug investigation at the moment, but we will try to get someone over to your area as fast as we can.”
The guy didn’t seem to think it was as urgent as Ryan did. “Can you at least let highway patrol in this area know in case they see either the car or the man I gave you a description of? The one we can’t identify drives a tan sedan and the other is in a dark blue SUV.”
“Yes, we can do that. Do you plan on staying in the area?”
“We need to get away from Lewisville.” Staying here was too dangerous for Catherine. Victoria could be miles from here by now. “Actually, I need to talk to you about setting up a safe house for the woman who is being mistaken for Victoria Stevenson.”
Catherine shifted in her seat at the mention of a safe house. As if picking up on her irritation, the dogs whined from the back seat.
“That too will take some time,” said the agent on the phone. “We’ll get to it as fast as we can.”
Ryan gritted his teeth. “I’ll be back in touch soon.”
“I’ll call you. I understand your need for help,” said the other agent. “We’ve been in the middle of a drug-related case that has taken all our personnel. Maybe I can pull some agents from there.”
“Or maybe I can get some support from local law enforcement.” A note of irritation entered his voice. His preference would be to work with other agents, but he didn’t like dealing with this alone. It put Catherine in that much more danger.
“I get what you’re saying. I will put maximum effort into getting backup to you as quick as possible,” said Agent Martin.
“Thank you.”
He turned off the phone. While he was glad Agent Martin finally seemed to understand his situation, he felt no less frustrated. He pulled back onto the road. They passed a billboard that advertised a roadside café five miles away.
He hadn’t eaten since breakfast before he’d rented the ATV. Would it be safe to stop? Only if he was sure they weren’t followed.
“I’m hungry too,” said Catherine, as if she had read his mind. “The dogs need to eat as well.”
Dealing with their hunger was the least of their problems. Maybe by the time they were done eating, an FBI agent would be in touch and he could at least take steps to get Catherine some more protection.
Still nervous, he continued to check the rearview mirror and watch the road behind him.
* * *
Catherine picked up on Ryan’s tension. He had fallen silent as he drove with only their headlights providing illumination on the dark lonely highway. Even though one car zoomed past going in the opposite direction and none came up behind them, she felt on edge. The day had almost been too much and her stomach was growling.
By the time they stopped at the roadside café, they’d be miles from where they’d last encountered the man with the brown curly hair.
“So who do you think those men are exactly?”
“Like I said, there is a turf war going on for control of the illegal diamond trade. I didn’t recognize the one with the curly hair, but Victoria did. The man we encountered in the wilderness seemed most interested in finding the diamonds.”
She laced her fingers together trying to quell some of the rising fear she felt when she thought about everything that had happened. “And the curly-haired man seemed to want to come after us, maybe to kill us?”
Ryan kept his eyes on the road. “I saw that he had a gun, so yes, maybe. I hope he doesn’t go back to Andrea’s house and that she let the police know the situation.”
“I’m sure she will,” she said.
“Once I get some support from other agents, we can keep eyes on Andrea’s house to see if the curly-haired man returns. Then we might be able to catch him. Maybe the local cops will be able to take him into custody even sooner assuming Andrea called them.”
“I don’t want to go to a safe house. I’ve never been very good at staying inside.”
“I get that, but they think you’re Victoria. I’ll work with the other agents to try to track down those two men. I can’t do that with you out in the open. Those two men are the only lead I have right now. But I don’t want to drag you into that kind of danger.”
She was having a hard time accepting that being confined in a safe house was her only option.
A billboard for the roadside café came up saying it was a mile up the road. Ryan checked the rearview mirror one more time. There had been only one car behind them, and it had passed them.
“I know lots of places to hide. I’ve had some practice.” From the time she was a small child, she had preferred the outdoors and sleeping beneath an open sky. The thought of being stuck in a house with curtains drawn made it hard to get a breath. Plus, she didn’t like being reliant on Ryan.
“Catherine, don’t argue with me. I feel a responsibility for having caused this trouble in your life,” said Ryan.
“You make it worse by wanting to put me in a prison.” It wasn’t like she didn’t have experience with this. She’d hidden from her ex-husband for over a year, but it had come with the freedom of being outdoors. “I feel safer out in the wilderness anyway.”
His jaw tightened, though he didn’t say anything.
The café came into view. Several streetlamps illuminated it. Bright lights shone from within. Ryan pulled into the paved lot where several other cars were parked. None of the cars looked familiar. A stand of trees and flat land surrounded the area. She was fairly sure the lights off in the distance must be farms or houses.
The only thing she was certain of right now was that she was starving. “Let me get some food for the dogs.” Once he parked, she got out of the car and opened the trunk where she’d put the food and her other things.
Ryan watched the road while she got two bowls and poured food in each.
“Can they just eat in the car?” Ryan stepped toward her. “I don’t think we should stay here long.”
“Sure, I can do it that way.” She opened the back door and placed the bowls on the back seat, petting each dog’s head as they dug into the food. “You both were starving. I’m so sorry.”
“Hopefully they will have some food we can grab quickly.” He remained close to her as they stepped toward the entrance.
“From what I remember, I don’t think they do take-out.”
“You’ve been here before?”
“Yes.” She pushed open the door. It had been years since she stopped at this café. When she was a teenager, she and her dad had often stopped here after they’d dropped off a load of grain at a nearby town. Her father always bought her a strawberry milkshake for helping with the farm labor, though it had never felt like work to her. She had fond memories of being outside helping her dad or working with the dogs.
They stepped inside.
A waitress wiping down a table looked up at them. “Find a seat anywhere.”
Ryan glanced around. “You don’t have a take-out menu?”
“Food will be just as fast if you sit down and relax,” said the waitress.
Catherine noticed Ryan chose the seat in the booth that gave him a view of the door. He still hadn’t totally let his guard down. Or maybe it was just habit as an agent to position himself where he had a panoramic view of the room.
The waitress set two menus on their table. “Be back in just a moment.”
Ryan flipped open the menu. “What’s good to eat here?”
“It’s been years since I was in this place. The strawberry milkshake was always yummy. I think the burger or chicken basket is a pretty safe bet, and it won’t take long for them to bring it out.”
“Strawberry, you say. Sounds delicious but it might take a while to eat.” He studied the back of the menu. “Guess the mushroom burger looks alright.” He glanced toward the door when a man entered the café.
She followed the direction of Ryan’s gaze to see a man with brown hair wearing a baseball cap and clothes stained from a day’s work, probably doing something mechanical judging from the grease stains. Ryan seemed very tuned in to the movement of everyone in the room.
“There is no way he could find us here unless he followed us, right?” It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself as much as get assurances from Ryan.
“I know how jittery you must feel.” Ryan’s voice was filled with compassion. “Getting chased down for a day kind of makes a person stay on high alert.”
The waitress returned and set down two glasses of water. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have the chicken basket and an orange soda,” she said.
“Mushroom burger for me. Water is fine to drink.”
The waitress gathered the menus and turned to leave.
Ryan sat his phone on the table and kept checking it. “If the agent doesn’t get back to me soon, I’ll see if the local police or sheriff can help. Only the FBI can help us with the safehouse though.”
She took in a sharp breath when she thought about staying in a safe house. “I get to have a say in what happens in my life.” She twirled her straw in the glass of water. “I can’t stay inside for days on end. I feel the safest out in open country.”
“Maybe we can find a place with a fenced yard, but even that has some risk,” he said.
She took a sip of her water. Not wanting the disagreement to escalate, she wasn’t sure what to say. She knew the level of danger she had encountered so far, but such confinement was just a hard reality to accept. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”
“Look, I’ve seen it before where witnesses think they can deal with things alone. It never works out,” His voice intensified as he emphasized each word. “It could be that if we can catch these two men and we are sure the threat against you is neutralized, you would be free to go back to work and your old life. I just can’t take any chances right now.”
She was drawn to the warmth she saw in his blue eyes. His clear desire to protect her melted some of the distrust she felt.
The waitress brought their meals, and they ate in silence. When they were almost finished, a man stepped inside. He glanced around the room. Catherine’s heart beat a little faster. The man was a friend of Dave’s. He made eye contact with her and then ambled over to the counter. Now for sure, word would get back to Dave. The man spoke to the waitress, who put a coffee cup in front of him. He took out his phone and started pressing buttons.
“Everything okay?”
She took her last two bites of food. “Can we go right now?”
He placed his unfinished burger down and stood up. He reached for the jacket he placed on the seat while he looked around the room. “What’s going on?”
“The man that just came in and sat at the counter knows my ex-husband.”
“Let’s get out of here then. Where do you want to go?”
“As far away from here as possible.” The fear that she would run into Dave was more visceral than any thought of an encounter with the other two men. Her instinct always was to get away from her ex-husband.
Ryan picked up his phone.
Now the idea of a safe house seemed like a good temporary measure.
They hurried out to the car where the dogs waited. After placing his phone on the console, Ryan pulled onto the road and drove into the night.
They’d only gone about five miles when his phone rang.
“Can you answer that? It’s probably the agent I talked to.”
She picked up the phone. “Hello?”
A woman’s voice came through the line. “Catherine, is that you? I thought this was that FBI agent’s number.”
It took her a moment to realize it was Andrea on the other end.
“Yes, it’s me. He’s driving. I answered his phone. Is everything okay? Did you get in touch with the police? That man didn’t come back to your house, did he?”
“I’m fine. I told the police. They’ve been patrolling the neighborhood, and I’m staying at my neighbors,” said Andrea.
She breathed a sigh of relief to hear that Andrea was safe. “Oh, so what are you calling about?”
“You’re who I wanted to talk to anyway. I didn’t have your number.”
“I’ll text it to you.” Catherine couldn’t imagine the reason for the phone call. “Did you find something else important in Victoria’s belongings?”
“No.” Andrea took in an audible breath. “Victoria called me to find out if the man with the curly brown hair was still around. I told her he hasn’t been around since I called the police when he tried to break in. I told her about you coming to look for her.”
Catherine gripped the phone a little tighter. “What did she say?”
“She wants you to meet her at the farm,” said Andrea.
A mixture of fear and hope threaded through Catherine’s muscles. Her sister was still close by. “At the farm. Where?”
“She says you will know where to find her. Do you know what she meant by that?”
Catherine had to think for a moment. Far from the house and the outbuildings on the other side of the ranch was a tree house their father had built for them. Up until the time Victoria left to live with their mom, the tree house had been their special place. That had to be what she was talking about.
Though her cell phone was not viable when she was in the deep wilderness, Victoria had Catherine’s number. It occurred to her why her sister was being so cryptic and circuitous with each message she got to Catherine. She probably feared her phone was bugged or her mail would be intercepted. “Did she say anything else?”
“When I told her that you were with an FBI agent named Ryan, she got upset. She said that you needed to come alone.”
Once again, Catherine felt doubt about Ryan. He had seemed forthright with her. What did Victoria know that she didn’t?
When she looked at Ryan, he glanced in her direction and then gazed back at the road.
“When am I supposed to meet her?”
“She said to meet her there in an hour. She instructed me to call her back and let her know if you can. She’s calling from one of those throwaway phones. She said she would only answer if it was my number. Then she’s getting rid of the phone.”
Catherine pressed her lips together. She had no choice here. Victoria needed her help. Her sister was in trouble. “Tell her I’ll be there.”
“I’ll do that,” said Andrea.
“Thank you, I’ll text you from my phone, so you’ll have my number. You can call me directly if the plan changes.”
Catherine hung up then sent a text to Andrea from her phone.
“I take it that wasn’t the agent,” said Ryan.
“My sister called Andrea. She knows I came to Lewisville to find her. She wants to meet me on the farm. I have to go alone.”
“That’s not a good idea,” said Ryan.
“Whatever she’s done, my sister isn’t going to hurt me.” Her voice took on a darker tone. “For some reason, she doesn’t trust you.”
“I never gave her any reason to doubt me. I don’t know what’s going on with her.” Hurt permeated his words.
“All I know is my sister seems to think I am the only one she can trust. I need to go to her.”
Ryan’s jaw grew tight as he shook his head and let out a heavy breath. “I need to make contact with your sister. That’s what I came to Montana to do.”
“You mean you need to take her into custody,” said Catherine.
“Look, if she did take those diamonds, there is a level of leniency because she was an informant. I need to find out the whole story from her.”
“Please, I don’t want to scare her away. Let me just go to her and find out what she knows and what she’s done. She’s afraid and has good reason to be because of that man she saw in town,” Catherine said.
“Maybe you can convince her that I have her best interest at heart,” said Ryan.
Catherine wasn’t sure what to think about Ryan. She’d just started to trust him and then Victoria’s admonition that she come alone spun her head around. “I’m the one she wants to tell her side of the story to. I’m the one she trusts.”
