The men were still in Monty’s room, sorting through what they knew about the grounds of the Chambers’ estate.
“Now, I’ve only been there a few times to meet with Dr. Chambers. I know the house is a good distance from the lab, as Ross said.”
“Is anyone in the house?”
“Just Chambers and his son, but I know they have a staff of people in there.”
Wade looked around. “Rachel needs to record this. Dane and Drake, go see what’s keeping her.”
Drake nodded as he sniffed the air. “You smell that, SuzieMae is downstairs cooking. I bet that has something to do with Rachel …”
Before he could finish, they heard a gun blast. And then another.
Lil Joe looked out the window to see Clem and Bart on the rooftop across the street. The men rushed from the room towards the steps, with the exception of Wade. He burst through the door of his room to see Rachel standing in the middle of the room, cursing. He looked down to see two men on the floor, squirming around, holding their asses with their hands, screaming in pain.
Wade reached for Rachel, pulling her into his arms. “Are you alright?”
Dane and Drake were next to enter the room, followed by Monty, Joe, and Winston.
“That man tried to stick me with a needle. Then someone shot both of them through the window,” A pissed-off Rachel yelled. Pushing away from Wade, she yelled down at one of the men, “I ought to kick you in the ass for scaring the hell out of me.”
Clem and Bart showed up at the door. Both held guns in their hands. “Look a there, Clem,” Bart said placing the rifle over his shoulder. “I got him in the ass, just like I did you.”
“Yeah, you did, Bart. And I got the other varmint.”
SuzieMae and Redbone show up behind the men with cast-iron frying pans in their hands. “Who in the hell are they?” Redbone asked.
“I suspect they are two of Chambers’ men,” Joe said as he was checking the men out. “You better call the Doc.” He stood, “I’ll let the sheriff in. I’m sure he is going to have some questions. Margie’s going to be pissed you got blood all over her rug.”
Wade picked up the needle, then looked at Rachel. “Don’t mention the needle.” He looked around the room. “No one mention the needle.”
They all looked up at him. “The what?” SuzieMae asked, then turned and walked away.
The emergency vehicles took the men away, with the deputy holding them for attempted assault.
“Every time them city folks come into town, things get a little exciting,” the deputy stated.
“The last time, Judge Becker was taken away. I wonder if it’s going to be Chambers this time?” The Doc speculated as he walked out with the EMTs.
“We could use a little excitement every now and again,” Margie said as she walked the men to the door. She turned back to Lil Joe. “Well. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m just an innocent bystander in this one, darling,” he smiled.
They looked on as the sheriff questioned Clem and Bart in the diner.
“You fittin to tell me you shot those two fellas from across the street?” the sheriff asked.
“We weren’t technically across the street,” Clem stated. “You see, Bart was on the roof of the truck gettin a touch of sun when he saw the varmints walk into the room after the little lady. Now, he couldn’t let them harm her. What kind of reputation would that give our town, Sheriff?”
“Clem, Bart can’t see as far as he can throw a stick, and you expect me to believe he could see up in that room well enough to shoot two men?”
“I’m just tellin you what I saw,” Clem reiterated.
The sheriff frowned, then turned to Bart. “Bart, now you look me in the eye and tell me the truth. Did you shoot those two men?”
“Well, he ain’t gonna talk to you, Sheriff,” Clem stated.
Sheriff McConnell looked at Clem. “Why not? Because it’s not the truth?”
“Naw, that ain’t the reason why,” Clem said. “He ain’t gonna say nothing cause Bart don’t like you. Never has, never will.”
Wade and Rachel cleared their throats, trying not to laugh, but that seemed to piss the sheriff off more.
“Oh, come on, Sheriff,” Rachel huffed. “We all told you what happened. Bart and Clem saved my life. You can’t just arrest them.”
“Yes, I can. They fired a weapon in my jurisdiction, injuring two people,” the sheriff huffed back. “Not only can I arrest them, but I can take you in as a material witness.”
“No, you will not,” Wade stated.
The tone must have been one that registered with the sheriff. He held Wade’s glare for a long moment, then stared at Rachel. “I read all about you and your investigative reporting. I want you to handle your business, then get the hell out of my town. We don’t need your kind here.”
“Last I heard, this was a free country,” Rachel replied. “I’ll leave once I get the story I came for.”
The sheriff huffed, then stood. “Excuse me. These two are going to jail.”
“Don’t you worry none, little lady, it ain’t like we ain’t been there before. Come on, Bart,” Clem stood. Bart did the same, and they followed the sheriff out the door.
“I think I better go with them,” Monty offered. “They shouldn’t be in jail for this.”
Margie waved him off. “They will be back at the table before suppertime. The sheriff would be run out of town if he tried to keep those two behind bars for more than an hour. Besides, it looks like Agent Anderson just pulled up.”
Joe held the door open. “Agent Anderson.” He nodded.
“Joe,” Agent Anderson greeted then turned to Monty.
“You need me?”
“Let’s talk in the other room,” Monty said then walked into the lounge area.
Monty and Wade shared the events of the morning with Agent Anderson, then they told him about the laboratory on the Chambers’ estate and what they believe was happening there.
“You think people are being held against their will?” Agent Anderson asked.
“I can’t say it’s against their will, Agent Anderson,” Wade stated as he reached into his pocket. “But I bet if you have the contents of this syringe analyzed, you are going to find it has memory suppression substances inside. I’m also willing to bet if you run the findings against the autopsy report on the deaths of Star and Godwin Bond, they will match to some extent.”
Agent Anderson took the syringe and placed it inside a plastic bag. “Where did this come from?”
“One of the men tried to stick me with it,” Rachel responded.
“Mmm, I had not mentioned this because I did not thing it was connected to what you were investigating. But there was a stretch of children bodies being found in the river a few years back. We never identified the children, but we did find a substance in each of the bodies recovered that we could not break down to analyze. We never found a match for it in our database.” He held up the bag. “If this matches the components we did identify, we may be looking at multiple murders.” He stood. “That will be enough for us to at the very least get a search warrant.”
“If these men are proven to be connected to Chambers,” Wade added.
“They are,” Lil Joe stated.
“Do you mind if I ride with you on this?” Monty asked. “If you are right, I have a story I need to tell you.”
“Do you mind if I ride along?” Winston asked. “This could be four years of investigation coming to a final conclusion.”
“Do you mind?” Agent Anderson asked Monty.
“Not at all,” Monty turned to Wade. “Be safe. That place is dangerous.”
Wade nodded. “We will find an answer for all of us, tonight.”