Mary said, giving her another sly smile. “We’ve perfected the best communication among folks who live in this valley. Word will be passed. Silver Creek Valley is a place where people pull together as one when there’s a crisis of any kind. We’re neighbors and we help each other out. So, don’t you worry about this. All right? I want our focus on saving our poor honeybees and then creating a plan for the future. I did my research on the best expert in the field of commercial honey operations, and you’re at the top. No,” she said, her voice turning gruff, “we want you here. You’re going nowhere.” She cracked a grin. “We’ll have a meeting with our employees here on the ranch as well. I’m positive, once they hear everything, that they’ll vote to keep you here at Three Bars, as well.”
Feeling invisible tons of worry dissolving around her, Cari gave the elder a kind look of thanks. “I’ll do everything in my power to give you a beautiful facility. That’s a promise, Mary.”
“I know you will. Now, I’m sure you’re tired and stressed by the travel and worry, so why don’t you call it a night? Chase will take you to the sheriff’s office tomorrow and we’ll get that piece in place. Then”—Mary raised her brows, giving Chase a merry look—“you might take her out to the wildlife center to meet Jenny. She needs a nice, positive lift and welcome to our valley. I’m sure after she spends some time at Jenny’s amazing facility, that she will realize staying here is a good thing.”
Chase nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan, Mary.”
Cari excused herself and set the napkin on the table. “Well, you have made my day, week, month, and year,” she whispered, her voice emotional and grateful. “You’re right, Mary, I am absolutely exhausted.”
“Then,” Mary said, waving her toward the living room, “take a nice hot bath in your suite, and then hit the sack. A good night’s sleep always makes the next day look positive and hopeful.”
May 27
Cari sat stiffly in the chair in front of Sheriff Dan Seabert’s office at nine a.m. the next morning. She told her story, gave him several photos of her stepbrother, and his prison information. She liked the man, who was in his early thirties, with reddish-brown hair that hinted he might have Irish or Scottish blood in him, his green eyes reminding her of a raptor’s pinpointed, focused gaze. He was not a handsome man, his square face unreadable, his cheekbones wide, a hint of freckles faint shadows across his cheeks and nose, again hinting of Irish or Scottish bloodlines.
Chase and he were all business and they talked military jargon, alphabet soup that she was not familiar with, although they both would stop and explain to her what it meant. She liked being seen as part of the team, not some unimportant addendum to their planning session.
Dan had a large desktop computer and he would turn the screen toward her from time to time. And he gave her the latest information from law enforcement in California on their efforts to track down Dirk. She appreciated his care, even though he was gruff and his sentences short and to the point. He wore a tan uniform, the sheriff ’s badge above his left breast pocket, his hair military short. He was clean shaven and had many small scars across his long, strong-looking hands, as well as here and there on his face. He missed nothing. Truly, Seabert was an eagle in disguise and she felt some of her worry melt away.
“So, here’s the plan, Cari,” Seabert said, turning the desktop screen toward her. “I’ll be actively, daily, in alignment and receiving any intel from California law enforcement in their efforts to locate your stepbrother. They’ll be sending me a lot of photos of him, plus other smaller details. I’ll work with our local television station, put out the word and show Dirk’s face to the public. We’ll do this every week to keep it fresh in the minds of our residents. No one will know you are here, and your name will never be mentioned. People will think that this is a county-wide alert on an escaped prisoner, but that’s all. We’re going to give you a fake identification, a different name, so while Dirk is loose, he won’t be drawn here because he heard his stepsister’s name through the convict communication grapevine that’s in every state. He’s part