Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) (24 page)

“I
won’t,” Jason promised. He didn’t know for sure if Big Jack was really innocent
but, given the unfair treatment and false accusations that Jason himself had
received, Big Jack being innocent was a definite possibility.

Jason
paused in the lobby and retrieved his personal items. “Sorry Susan,” he said as
he turned to his sister-in-law. “I didn’t get a chance for introductions before
I sent you chasing after this guy.” He pointed his thumb up towards Tyler. “So,
Susan this is my climbing trainer, Tyler. Pretty much whatever he tells me to
do, I
gotta
do it. Tyler,” he said directing his
attention to the tall horseman, “this is my sister-in-law, Susan.”

“Nice
to meet you ma’am,” the horseman said as he removed his hat. Judging by the
look on his face, his words were sincere.

“Likewise,”
Susan said with a nod, not revealing whether or not she had picked up on
Tyler’s admiring looks.

With
all that uncomfortable greeting stuff behind him, Jason just turned away from
the two and began making his way in the direction of Jenny’s office.

“Jason,
we’re you headed?” Tyler asked, sounding a bit confused. “This is the way out,”
he explained while pointing towards the exit sign above the door.

“I’ll
be back at the ranch as soon as I can,” Jason replied. “I’ve
gotta
go see someone.”

“Alright,
that’s fine,” Tyler answered. “We’ll see you when you get back.”

“
Y’all
can come with me if you want,” Jason offered.

“
Naw
, I
gotta
get back to the
ranch,” Tyler replied. “Don’t let ‘
em
lock you back
up, now. If they do, I’ll form a posse and come back and tear this place apart.”

Jason
laughed in response. It felt good to know someone had his back.

“I’ll
catch up with you,” Susan called out to Jason as he turned away and again
headed off towards Jenny’s office. He made a slight detour and retrieved his
personal belongings from the front desk then glanced back to where Susan was
talking to Tyler – probably inviting him to church. Jason smiled and headed off
to find Jenny.

“Jason!”
Jenny exclaimed as he walked into her office. Judging by the expression on her
face, he was the last person she had expected to come through her door. 
“The sheriff let you go?”

“I
wouldn’t say he
let
me go,” Jason replied. “A friend of mine had a nice,
friendly little chat with him about the letter of the law.”

“Sounds
interesting,” Jenny said with a smile. Jason could see in her eye that she
wanted to ask questions about the cause of his release, but he offered no more
information and she didn’t pry. After a moment, her attention shifted to
someone behind Jason. “Oh, hi Susan,” she beamed. “I see we got our hero turned
loose.”

Jason
turned his head and glanced at Susan. “I don’t know about the whole hero
thing,” he said addressing both ladies. “I’m just doing what I’ve
gotta
do to get my wife back.”

“And
that is what makes you a hero,” Jenny said with a kind smile, and Susan nodded
her head in agreement.

“Well,”
Jason laughed, “you two seem dead set on it, so I guess I’m a hero whether I
want to be or not.”

“Yep,”
Susan agreed. “You have no choice.”

“So,”
Jason said as he turned to Jenny, “do we have a match yet?”

“Match?”
she asked. “Oh yes, match. The prints. Right.” She bustled over to her desk.
“Let’s take a look.”

After
clicking a few pages on her computer out of the way, Jenny spoke in surprise,
“Yes, it seems that we do.” She paused for a few moments as she read. “Wow,
this guy has quite a record. A lot of theft. All pretty small time stuff,
though.”

“Does
his picture match any of the drawings?” Jason all but demanded.

“He
could be the guy in the hood,” Jenny said. “But, then again, I guess anybody
could… Here, you can see his picture,” she offered as she rolled her chair over
to make room.

Jason
didn’t have to be told twice. Susan followed him as he walked over to the
computer and looked down at the picture. It seemed as though all the air was
being vacuumed from his lungs. The rage he had felt earlier returned in full
force.

Jenny
looked up at him and then her eyes got big. “Jason? Are you okay?” she asked in
surprise. “Do you know this guy?”

“He’s
my brother-in-law,” Jason hissed.

“And
my husband,” Susan added. Her voice was filled with very little emotion and no
surprise.

“Oh,
a relative,” Jenny said thoughtfully. “If
y’all
are
related to him then there could be a logical explanation for the print.”

“No,”
Jason stated flatly. “He’s never really been a part of our lives, and over the
past few years, if he’d gotten within shooting distance of my wife, she
probably would’ve killed him.”

Jenny
turned to Susan, as if asking how she felt on the matter.

Susan
sighed. “Sooner or later the actions of an evil man will catch up with him.
Justice will serve itself by simply being a byproduct of injustice. Denton will
someday pay for the bad seeds he has planted.”

“What
if he changes his life and turns to God?” Jenny asked, seemingly a bit
interested in the whole Christian thing.

“God
forgives, but most people do not,” Susan replied flatly. “When God forgives, he
puts our past away, but it does not mean that the past never happened. I am a
follower of Jesus Christ, but I wake up every morning with the results of past
mistakes still in my life… though some of them I am thankful for,” she added,
and Jason knew she was thinking of her son.

“Guys,
I hate to interrupt,” Jason said as he turned to Jenny, “but have
y’all
located him?” He indicated the computer screen.

“Um,
no,” Jenny replied, sounding like she thought he might be joking. “We just got
a match on the prints… remember?”

Jason
felt his face turn a little red. He wished he could make it seem like he had
been joking, but the women had already seen his embarrassment. “Sorry,” he
muttered quietly. “I’m just a little anxious, I guess.”

“That’s
okay,” Susan said kindly.

“Yeah,
we understand,” Jenny added. “Your wife has been kidnapped. I think that gives
you a license to be anxious.”

Jason
gave them each a grateful smile. “Let me give you my number,” Jason said to
Jenny. “If you get any information on him or my wife please contact me.” After
giving out his number, he turned to Susan and said, “Let me get you the ranch’s
address. I don’t have very good cell service out there and you might not be
able to…”

Susan
cut him off with a smile. “That’s okay. Tyler and you both gave me directions,
so I think I can find it.”

Why
would Tyler be giving Susan directions to the ranch? That was a question that
Jason didn’t have long to ponder over because his phone began to ring. He
pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was an unfamiliar number. He’d
better take it in private… just in case. If it was the kidnappers, one of the
main things Jason wanted was privacy to focus.

“Hello,”
he spoke anxiously into the phone as he stepped outside.

“Hi
Jason,” a woman’s voice greeted. Wait a minute, he knew that voice.

“Jenny?”
he asked in a surprised voice.

“Yep,
it’s me… Hi,” she sang. “I was just calling you so you would have my number.
Didn’t mean to run you out,” she added with a laugh.

Jason
sheepishly walked back into the room. Susan gave him a sympathetic smile and
placed her hand on his shoulder as she said, “Call me if I can help at all.”

“Okay,”
Jason replied. “I might do that.” He lifted his hand to the ladies as he said,
“
Gotta
run. See
y’all
later.” As he walked out the door, he realized that Susan was following him.

“Hey
Jason,” she said and, as he stopped and turned, he thought there was a hint of
uneasiness in her voice. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for the way
my family and I treated you when we saw each other last.”

“Ah,
that’s okay, Susan,” Jason said. He had all but forgotten the incident. “It was
mostly your parents. You didn’t really do anything.”

Susan
sighed, nodding her head in agreement. “That’s just it,” she said. “I didn’t do
anything. I should have stopped them or at least made a point to be nice to you
in front of them.”

Jason
stood silent for a moment. He wasn’t used to the Susan who asked for
forgiveness. “Well, I appreciate your sincerity,” he said after a bit. “I’m
glad we’re friends again.”

“Well,
we’ll see you later then… friend,” Susan added with a laugh.

“Alright,
goodbye,” Jason said with a smile as he headed off once more.

He
had every intention of making it back to the ranch to feed at five but there
was one more person he had to see. He pulled out his phone and called Dr.
Throckmorton.

“Hello
Jason,” the doctor greeted warmly. “I have not heard from you in a while. Glad
to know you are still alive.”

“Yes
sir,” Jason replied, “still kicking. Look, I’ve got a few questions that I’d
like to pick you brain over, if I could.”

“Sure
Jason, sure,” Tomas responded kindly. “Just say when and where.”

“That
same coffee shop where we met before is fine,” Jason said. “As far as when…
it’s the sooner the better, as usual.”

“Well,
I have got a few appoints this afternoon,” the doctor said thoughtfully, “but I
will have the receptionist call them and reschedule, if this is urgent.”

Jason
didn’t want to ask the doctor for any more favors, but this was defiantly
urgent. “It is,” he spoke affirmatively into the phone.

“Well,
in that case, I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

“Okay.
Sounds good,” Jason replied, sorry to have to bother the doctor again but
grateful for the help.

A
half hour later found Jason and Dr. Throckmorton sitting across from one
another at the same little table outside of the coffee shop where they sat
before. Jason began laying out the latest developments in the kidnapping. “They
caught the ugly one. The FBI has him. Hopefully, he’ll give them some info.”

“That
would be helpful,” the doctor agreed.

“There’s
one more thing,” Jason said hesitantly. “A man named Denton is one of the
kidnappers. Likely the one running the whole show,” he added.

“Well,
whoever he is, he’s a clever fellow,” Dr. Throckmorton sighed. “He has everyone
stumped.”

“Yep,”
Jason agreed. “He is. He’s also my brother-in-law.”

“Brother-in-law?”
Dr. Throckmorton asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes,”
Jason said, nodding his head. “Just between you and me, I want to ask
something: Is there any way the information I gave you, you know, about what we
originally planned in the park, could have slipped out?”

“Well,
um, yes,” the doctor replied uneasily. “I had to give my guys the instructions
in advance. Now that I think about it, the main one said something about going
back to a bar when I told them to go home that night.”

“Did
you say
back
to a bar?” Jason asked in surprise. “Like they’d come from
there?”

“I am
afraid so,” the doctor said solemnly. “I gave them the information… all of the
information including your name, on the day that the kidnapping occurred.”

“Why
was my name necessary?” Jason demanded.

“It
wasn’t,” Dr. Throckmorton admitted. “I am sorry. It just slipped out.”

Jason
ran his fingers though his hair. Things were beginning to add up more and more.

“This
guy, your brother-in-law… Denton, that’s his name?” the doctor asked. Jason
just nodded his head. “Is he one to frequent such places as a bar or club?”

“Yes,”
Jason answered quietly. “Definitely.”

Tomas
sighed. “I was afraid of that. My guys, they probably started drinking and the
more they drank the loser their tongues got. Eventually, they may have started
bragging about the plan and the money they were going to make for just a little
pretend fight.” The doctor hung his head. “They had everything, Jason. Every
last detail. The exact time. The exact place.” He shook his head again. “What
if this guy – your brother-in-law – what if he over-heard?”

“My
thoughts exactly,” Jason said, giving a frustrated sigh. “Do you have any way
to get in touch with the guys you hired?” he asked hopefully. “Maybe they could
remember him if we showed them a photo.”

The
doctor shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid not, Jason,” he sighed. “When it was
all said and done, both parties wanted all ties to be cut. Even the guy I
called, his phone was one I bought just for him that night. He was to destroy
it and, apparently, he did. I actually tried to get ahold of him twice and
could not.”

Jason
sat quietly for a moment before breaking the silence with a sigh. “How’s
Dixie?” he asked, needing to change the subject. He had intended on stopping by
to see her, but time wasn’t going to allow for it.