Unexpected Love (White Oak-Mafia #2) (13 page)

They carried Grams to her bed and settled her on top of the cover. Then Tess called the county sheriff. “Sheriff Cobbs, this is Tess Campbell. My great grandmother was recently diagnosed with liver cancer.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Cobbs replied.

“Yes, well she um…had a good life and wished to have a good death, so sometime this morning or last night, she left the house and went into her woods and consumed a bottle of painkillers.”

Tess unexpectedly burst into tears. She thought she could make this call and remain strong.

“I’ll be there in a half-hour. Don’t touch anything until then.”

“I’m sorry. We brought her in. I couldn’t leave her outside.”

“I see. Well, don’t do anything else.”

“Okay.”

The moment Tess hung up the phone, Steel pulled her into his arms and led her to the couch. She remained in his arms until the light flashed, alerting them of a visitor upstairs.

“You want me to go?” he asked.

“No, I’m okay. Someone gave me a half-hour of good hugging.”

He smiled and followed her upstairs.

The sheriff turned out to be older than he’d sounded on the phone. He looked eighty, at least. As his eyes scanned the cabin kitchen, she sensed a bit of outrage.

“Did you know my Grams?” she asked.

Instead of answering her, he eyed Steel. “And you are?”

“Alastair Castile. I’m the new forest manager. Helen graciously offered me a room here.”

If the furrows of his brow were any indication, the sheriff didn’t like that answer at all.

Tess led him down into the main house. He stopped the moment they entered the living room. “Whoa. How long has this been here?”

“I’m not sure. None of the family knew about it except for Jonas…and he evidently didn’t feel compelled to share that with my father.”

“And where is the body?” Sheriff Cobbs asked.

Tess led him back to Grams’ room. He inspected her hands closely, then her arms and neck. When he pried Grams’ eyes open, Tess had to run from the room.

Steel followed her and held her to him as they waited on the couch.

A half-hour later, the sheriff entered the living room. “May I see where you found her?”

Tess and Steel took him to the spot near the cabin.

The sheriff questioned them on how they had moved Grams. Tess explained the carrier to him. He bagged the pill container. “Did you touch this?”

Tess grimaced and nodded.

“Why?”

“I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted it away from her.”

He sighed heavily and nodded. “If it’s any consolation, this looks to have been a gentle death.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Steel stroked her back.

“So you picked her up and moved her onto this carrier,” Sheriff Cobbs said. “Which direction was her head?”

They both pointed south.

He stood and followed them back to the house where he asked to see the carrier.

Tess brought it out, and he inspected it thoroughly. “Never seen one like this before. For rough terrain, it could be useful.”

“Grams and I designed and made it.”

“Really? So you two were close?”

She nodded. “As close as two people can be.”

“And yet she never told you she planned to do this?”

Tess rubbed her runny nose and met his intense eyes. “She told me last week she had cancer and she wanted a better death than fate had planned for her. She wanted to die in her woods. I just didn’t know she planned to do it today.”

“Sure you didn’t help her?”

Tess stared at him a long moment. “I’m sorry. I got the impression you knew her.”

“A little.”

“Grams loved me with all her heart. She would never involve me in something that could get me into trouble with the law. She was here in that chair when I went to sleep last night.”

“And what time was that?”

“A little after three.”

“In the morning?” His eyes widened as if challenging her claim.

Steel replied at once. “We were brainstorming on the plan for this park.”

The sheriff eyed him. “So you were awake at three as well?”

“Yes. We went to our rooms around 3:15 I think. I couldn’t sleep, so I called Tom Barkman around four and talked to him about hiring issues.”

“The head of Parks?”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t he be asleep at four in the morning?”

“Yes, but he was good-natured about my call, and we talked for almost an hour. Then I finally got to sleep, and what seemed like a few seconds later, Tess woke me and said Helen was missing.”

“It was around eight-thirty. I’d overslept,” Tess said.

Steel met the Sheriff’s hard gaze. “I began my own search, beginning with Helen’s room where I found a note for Tess.”

“You found a note?” the sheriff repeated.

They both nodded.

He rubbed his temple. “May I see it?”

Tess rose and retrieved it. However, she stopped and held it to her chest. “There’s some personal stuff in here that could cause serious trouble if my father heard about it. Can I just read the parts about her dying?”

His jaw tensed, and his eyes flashed in anger as he approached her. “I’m sorry, but I have to read the whole thing. But I assure you I would never assist your father in any way.”

Trusting the anger in his eyes, she handed over the letter.

He read it several times, then walked down the hall and entered Helen’s room.

Tess stared at Steel, hoping he could make sense of the sheriff’s behavior but he only shrugged.

Sheriff Cobbs returned from the room a half-hour later. “I’ll have to keep this letter.”

“No!” Tess yelled.

He held up his hand. “Trust me. The feds are going to be all over this.” He glanced at Steel. “And if that accent is just a put-on and you’re actually from Chicago, you better fess up now.”

Steel’s eyebrows rose. “Would my British passport and work visa give you some peace of mind?”

“It would greatly.”

The moment Steel left the room, Tess spoke. “You are way off course about Steel. He’s in no way connected to the mafia.”

“Then what is he connected to?” Sheriff Cobbs demanded.

“That is his private business and nothing to do with Grams’ death.”

Steel returned and handed him his passport. “Feel free to check me out with Secret Service. While technically I believe they were required to post someone to me when I arrived, I’ve never been aware of anyone, so I’m thinking they’ve better things to do. However, they should be able to verify who I am.”

Sheriff Cobb’s forehead wrinkled. “Who exactly are you?”

“I am the forest manager of these fabulous woods until Tess gets her degree.”

Sheriff Cobbs sighed heavily and glared at him. “I’ll find out.”

Steel shrugged. “They shouldn’t disclose my private information to anyone, so I’ll be disappointed if they do.”

Cobbs placed the letter in his vest.

Tess frowned at him. “That letter can’t get to my father.”

His eyes softened. “I know, which is why I’m removing it from the house. I believe this was a suicide, and if your boyfriend here proves to be clean, then I’ll sign off on that. However, if this young man is truly not someone of your father’s choosing, then having him live here in this house with you is putting his life in grave danger.”

“I know. I plan to let the other rangers live here, too, so he won’t stand out. And I don’t plan for my father to ever know about this section of the house.”

“And the only person who knew about this was Jonas?” Sheriff Cobbs asked.

She bit her bottom lip. “He kept it a secret for Grams. If he’s still alive, I’m hoping he’ll do the same for me.”

“He’d sell you out in a second. But your father had him killed, so your secret is safe for now. You do realize without Helen’s protection that your father will try to pull you back into the family.”

“He can try, but Grams has freed me from his control. I own this house now, the woods are a state park in perpetuity, and my job and salary are guaranteed as long as I want. I am done with my family. The only decent one of them is now my guardian angel.”

That made the sheriff smile. He was no doubt laughing at her.

“You picked a damn fine one,” he stated and readjusted his cowboy hat. “We’ll need to get her body to Dubuque.

“I’ll call Rescue. I’m sure they’ll do it. They loved Grams.”

“She was special. I saw that the first time we met.” He then eyed Steel. “Would you like to show me out?”

Tess looked up. “You can’t talk upstairs. My father has the cabin bugged.”

“I’m relieved you realize that. For the time being, this area appears to be bug-free.”

She stood and approached. “How do you know?”

He pulled a small black box from his shirt pocket. “This detects hidden cameras and mics.”

“Is this something I can buy?” she asked.

“Easy to find on the Internet.” He paused. “But there are a few sites selling crap. Take this one.”

“Did it pick up the one in the living room upstairs?”

He nodded.

Tess smiled at him and wrapped her fingers around the small three-inch-long box. “Thank you.”

“Okay if we use your carrier to get Helen’s body upstairs for the helicopter?”

“Of course,” she said. “I’ll secure her.” Once she had Grams safely strapped in, and had kissed her goodbye, Tess let Steel and the Sheriff take Grams upstairs while she called for helicopter transport.

Denny answered the phone on the first ring. “Rescue.”

“Denny, Grams died last night, and I need you to take her body to the funeral home.”

“No way! What happened?” Denny asked.

She tried her hardest not to cry, but failed miserably. Still, she managed to share Gram’s death between sniffles.

“I’m so sorry, Tess. I’ll come get her right away,” Denny promised.

Tess hung up and collapsed to the floor. How would she survive without the only person who had truly loved her?

She watched the helicopter soar over the trees and her house. Poor Steel, being out there had to bring back horrible memories for him. She pushed herself up and headed upstairs to assist, but by the time she arrived, the helicopter was lifting in the air, the sheriff’s pickup truck was gone, and Steel was locking the cabin door.

***

They remained quiet until they arrived downstairs.

Tess gripped Steel’s hand. “Sorry I didn’t make it up there to help. Were you okay?”

“I was fine. The pilot helped me get her in the helicopter, and off they went.”

“Where did Sheriff Cobbs run off to?”

“He got a call that sent him off like a bat out of hell.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t go up right away. You must have been traumatized by the helicopter.”

Steel led her to the couch, then sat beside her. “Actually, all these helicopters are desensitizing me. I didn’t break a sweat this time.” With a gentle tug, he pulled her to his chest.

After a sniff, she replied. “I can’t claim the same for me. I don’t understand why I burst into tears every time I have to tell someone Grams is dead. It’s not like she’s gone. She’s just a spirit now.”

He pressed his lips to her temple. “It’s probably because she won’t be able to share in the cooking anymore.”

She chuckled. “True, but last night I discovered my forest manager is a five-star cook.”

“Before you plan for me to cook all the meals, you need to know you’ve tasted my entire repertoire.”

She pushed off his chest and stared at him. “Seriously? You can only cook three dishes?”

“That’s it.”

“How is that even possible?”

Steel leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. This was not a particularly proud moment in his past. “When I was about eighteen, I wanted to impress an older woman. So I paid our cook to teach me how to make one meal. It took me two months to learn how to prepare it.”

She returned to his chest and squeezed him tight. “Did the woman enjoy her food?”

“I guess. She was very grateful.”

He felt her body tense, then she rose and walked to the windows, staring out.

“Sorry. I should have phrased that differently.”

She made no reply.

“I can’t change the cad I was back then. But I promise you, Tess, my feelings for you are very different than anything I’ve ever felt before.”

Without responding, she ran to the closet and grabbed her gear, including a heavy rain coat.

Tess grabbed the phone and called Rescue again. This time Kyle answered. She told him where she’d spotted smoke. “Any chance Denny’s back from dropping off Grams.”

She waited as he contacted Denny. After what seemed an eternity, he gave her the bad news. “It’ll be a half hour or longer before we can drop water.”

“Do the best you can,” she said and hung up, having no time to waste.

***

Finally, Steel understood. She wasn’t wearing a raincoat. It was fire gear. He noticed the remaining jackets in the closet. He found one that fit, donned the hard hat, and geared up.

They ran the whole way down the trail. He was beginning to question if she’d really seen smoke when he smelled burning leaves. As they ran around a bend in the trail, they met a wall of white. Tess ran into it and disappeared from sight.

Steel had no choice but to follow, but before he could, he had to secure his breather and ensure the oxygen in the tank was running.

As he entered the white cloud, he worried about Tess. Had she secured her mask? He sure as hell hadn’t seen her do so. Thus, as he slowly moved forward, his view remained on the ground, worried she’d collapsed from smoke inhalation.

How much could one girl take? The death of her grams and a fire in her woods on the same day!

His first glimpse of her was her boot, which thankfully was standing upright. He followed it up and found the vague hint of her form before him. As if sensing him, she reached back, gripped his arm, and pulled him beside her, her other arm stretched out, pointing to a flicker of red flames.

She pulled him to the left, and they circled the blaze. Seconds later, they stepped out of the smoke and could see empty beer bottles spread around what looked to be a poorly made campsite, now gone rogue.

Tess pulled out her shovel and began tossing dirt on the burning leaves. Steel retrieved his own and did the same.

A half hour into their efforts, the roar of a helicopter pounded above. Despite him knowing it was here to help, Steel grew weak in the legs and dropped to his knees to prevent from falling. Damn it, he’d thought he was getting better at dealing with helicopters. Unable to breathe, his vision began to fade…

He ripped the mask from his face and gasped in air. Then something slammed him flat on the ground. He first thought the helicopter had landed on him. Only he wasn’t dead…he was just wet.

He sat up and stared at the chaos before him. Wet, recently displaced leaves…white fog…Tess throwing soil here and there.

You’re in Iowa. The helicopter just dumped water on the fire. No one is dying.

Steel forced himself up. After locating his shovel, he assisted Tess in burying the last of the flames. Once done, she jerked off her fire gear, slamming it into a pile.

He removed his gear as well. He had no idea what she planned to do next, but wanted to be ready to join her. She pulled some black plastic ties from her belt and handed them to him. “Let’s find these sons of bitches.”

He was glad he’d already dumped his fire gear because, otherwise, he could have never kept up. Honest to God, Tess had to be the fittest person in the States.

For a moment, he questioned if she knew where she was going but then realized she followed what looked like sneaker prints on the trail.

Now he understood why she’d handed him plastic ties. They made excellent handcuffs.

He moved in close behind her, trusting she was the better tracker.

They lost the tracks when they reached the marshland, but since only an idiot would leave the walkway, there was only one way to go. Unfortunately, that was up to the village site or the mounds.

“Damn it,” he cursed when he saw five teens headed up the narrow ridge trail. A different kind of panic filled his body.

He’d expected Tess to run faster. Instead, she stopped.

Steel gripped her arm. “We have to catch them before they reach the village site.”

She shook her head and faced him.

Anyone but Tess, he would have pushed aside and continued on his own.

“They’re drunk. If they see us and try to run away, some of them will fall off the ridge and die.”

He remembered all the empty cans and bottles. Tess was right. Even walking up that path could be lethal for them.

“We need to head back the way we came and go off trail. They’ll stop running once they see we aren’t following them. Then they’ll leave the trail at their first chance, which is where you believe the gardens once existed. They won’t go any farther.”

“You can’t be certain of that!”

“They’re drunk and exhausted. They’ll just want to sleep. They know Rescue dumped a ton of water on the fire. They know we put it out. If we turn around and give up chasing them, they’ll think they’ve gotten away. Trust me, when we find them, they’ll be sound asleep.”

If she was wrong, they could do tremendous damage to the only village of Paleo-Indians ever discovered. But he trusted her.

And she evidently trusted him. She passed him and headed the way they came. He wondered if she understood how hard it was for him to follow. Every instinct in his body told him to continue after the kids and stop them before they could wreck his site.

The moment they left the marshes, she headed up the steep incline to the left. A mountain goat had nothing on Tess’s skills. Steel was trained in mountain climbing, but he still struggled to keep up with her. She had clearly traveled this path before. Her hands and feet knew exactly where to find purchase.

After clearing yet another steep ridge, she stopped. Steel had no idea what she was fixated on, but his eyes went to unnaturally placed six-inch to eight-inch rocks hiding in the leaves.

Tess touched his arm, and when he tore his gaze from the rocks, she placed her finger to her lips and moved forward slowly and silently.

They came upon the sleeping bodies of four drunk teens twenty feet ahead.

Tess pointed to him and then two of the teens while she moved to the others. She slammed her foot into the back of one pressing him to the ground. “Move, and I’ll blow your damn head off,” she warned.

“And if she doesn’t, I will,” Steel added, stepping down on the back of his biggest problem.

Evidently, in Iowa, that was a very potent threat. Not one of the boys resisted being handcuffed. Even drunk, they knew they didn’t want to be shot.

Not trusting their ability to navigate the narrow trail down, Tess led them through the woods. Steel followed behind, distracted by the rocks he’d seen on the way up. There was something there. He just wasn’t sure what.

She led them back to the marsh and called Rescue. “Thanks for the assistance. I found the fire starters. Drunk teens…four… That would be great… Are you kidding me? Well, don’t pack up and leave just yet. Let me see what I can do. These woods will need you.”

She hung up the phone and glared at the boys, finally sobering up. “How’d you come in?” she demanded.

Steel studied the four and identified the leader, who oddly was not the biggest. He gripped the boy’s neck. “You and I are going to take a walk,” he declared.

He heard one of the teens ask, “Where’s that guy from?”

“You ever hear of James Bond?”

Tess’s response made him laugh. Evidently their punk leader heard the same because he groaned.

Once they were out of sight of the others. “Don’t fall off. A body could disappear for weeks in these woods.”

The kid turned and faced him. “We were just having some fun.”

“Your fun almost started a forest fire.”

He blinked several times. “I yelled at them to put it out, but the pansies got scared and ran.”

“Since when can’t one person put out a camp fire? It’s not that hard.”

“A wind gust sent embers and shit all over the place. All of a sudden there were fires everywhere.”

“And how could you have prevented that?”

“We could have never started a fire,” he suggested.

“That’s right. But let’s say you were stupid and did start a fire. How else could you have prevented it?”

“I could have…built a pit with walls?”

“That would have been better. What else?”

“Not built it in a leafy area.”

“So you’re saying building a campfire under trees is probably not a good idea?”

The boy hesitantly nodded.

“What about beer cans and bottles. Were you planning to cart those out?”

“Yeah, sure…”

“Bullshit.”

“No really, we were.”

“Then why weren’t they in a pile, or better yet in a backpack? And why would you break the bottles if you intended to pick your mess up and take it with you?” He gripped the boy by the front of his T-shirt. “Lies piss me off.”

“All right! We were drunk and stupid, okay? I planned to take the stuff out, but those idiots started throwing them at the trees…and then the fire started…” The boy burst into tears. “I’m really sorry, man. Please don’t kill me.”

“So tell me how you came in.”

“By boat. It’s tied up at that tree line.” The boy tossed his head in the direction of the trees by the marsh.

Steel stopped at the sound of a helicopter. Damn it! He needed to get the kid back before he lost his James Bond image.

“Let’s see how your story jives with your pack.”

He returned the boy to Tess. “I’m going to check and verify their boat is where he says.”

***

Tess nodded, understanding Steel’s need to escape the sound of a helicopter. How was he going to take it when she suggested they hire the rescue team for the park?

Rather than sending the teens up the narrow ridge trail, Tess led the boys to the area that still held six bundles of white oak lumber waiting to be used to curve the marshland trail into a loop. It made a perfect landing site for the helicopter to land. Denny, who was piloting, remained inside while Kyle hopped out, focused on one of the kids. “Jason! What the hell!”

The kid that Steel had dubbed the leader of the group hung his head in shame.

Kyle grabbed him by his shirt and threw him headfirst in the helicopter. The others stared at him in fear. “Get in the damn copter, morons,” he yelled. Once the last boy scampered into the helicopter without the use of their hands, Kyle approached her. His face scrunched in pain. “How much damage did they do?”

“Minimal. Just some broken bottles. You guys saved the day with the water.”

He breathed out. “One of those morons is my kid brother.”

She chuckled. “I hope it was the first one because I was worried about that kid suing you for rough handling.”

“It was. And once Dad hears about this, my handling will seem like gentle love pats.”

Tess recalled young Steve’s punishments and frowned. “May I suggest a different solution?”

“Sure.”

“Bring them back tomorrow morning when they are sober, and they can spend the day picking up their broken bottles and cans. Then when they’re done, they can take their boat back home.”

Kyle grinned. “That’s a perfect solution. Honestly, I didn’t know how I was going to tell Dad he’d lost his fishing boat in this nonsense.”

“Tell him we’ll pull it off the water so no one takes it.”

“You shouldn’t have to do that,” Kyle objected. “Let’s cut the boys loose and make them do it.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but the boys are very drunk.”

“Then let me do it.”

Tess was about to object the rescue squad had more important things to do, but shrugged. They probably didn’t if their boss had declared they were going to be fired.

They arrived to find Steel cursing a blue streak at the boat. Kyle ran forward and took over trying to get the engine to tilt up and out of the water. When he couldn’t do it, he jumped into the waist deep water and felt about the prop.

“Any chance you got a knife?” he asked Tess. Before she could bring him her knife, Steel handed him his.

A few minutes later, with Jason being cursed every third second, the engine finally tilted up. By the amount of fishing line wrapped in the prop, the boys must have reeled in half a mile of someone’s line.

She pondered how they’d even managed to make land.

Steel offered Kyle a hand out of the water. Together, the two men easily pulled the boat onto land and carried it deeper into the woods.

Kyle was red-faced angry now. Tess suspected him being soaking wet didn’t improve his state of mind. When they arrived at the helicopter, Kyle took a moment to sit on the stack of oak lumber, remove his boots, and pour brown, muddy water out of them. He then leaned into the helicopter and hit his brother with both boots before climbing in and closing the door.

Denny was struggling not to laugh as he raised his hand and motioned her back.

Tess turned, planning to move Steel away from the helicopter, but he was gone.

She headed to the woods figuring that’s where he’d be waiting. To her surprise, he wasn’t there.