Courage Under Fire (Silver Creek #2) - Lindsay McKenna Page 0,61

it, but wondered if a fire had started in one of the main buildings. There was no black smoke staining the bright blue sky.

He met Ginger midway. “What’s going on, Ginger?”

“Dan sent me out here to get you. No radio could reach you, even though we tried your truck radio.”

“Yeah, I know. We were too far away to hear a call. What’s up?”

Ginger said, “We need you back at the sheriff ’s office right now. Cari went into town on some business, stopped at Olive Oyle’s Restaurant, when she saw her stepbrother come in with another gent.”

His heart dropped and Chase opened his mouth, but Ginger held up her hand.

“She’s okay. She’s safe with us at the office, which is why I want you to come with me.”

“What happened?” he demanded, his voice tight.

“Cari was in the restaurant, ordering a meal. She saw her stepbrother come in with another male. She was able to get a photo of them, slipped through the kitchen and out the back door. Luckily, she’d parked on the side of the restaurant where there were no windows. She called us on 911 and headed for our office. Dan listened to her story, took the photo and put it in our facial recognition app.” Her voice turned dark. “Dirk Bannock is hooking up or running around with a white supremacist that’s trying to hide in the mountains north of Silver Creek. His name is Brock Hauptman. Right now, Dan is tailing them in our unmarked green SUV. Our helicopter has a mechanical issue and can’t get off the ground to follow them from the air, undetected. So, he’s doing his best to tail them after they left the restaurant to try and find out where they’re going.”

Cursing softly, he said, “You’re sure Cari’s okay?”

“Shaken up, but okay.”

“Was she recognized?”

“No, we don’t think so. She can tell you the details. Do you want me to take you in or do you want to drive in with your truck?”

“I’ll follow you in. Sorry you had to come out here, Ginger. Bad spot for communications, as you know.”

“I understand,” she said, moving to the door and opening it.

Shutting the door, Chase took a huge, deep breath, putting his truck into drive, turning around, following Ginger in the sheriff ’s vehicle. His heart was thrashing in his chest and he unconsciously rubbed that area before putting both hands on the steering wheel. They could only go so fast on this dirt road and Ginger was leading out, hightailing it as fast as she dared. He hung back a good half mile because the rooster tail of dust made it impossible for him to see the road. It was a long drive back, even halfway, to get cell service. He unsnapped his shirt pocket, pulling out his iPhone, setting it in a cup holder device and turning it on. As soon as it came within range, it would beep, alerting him.

His mind spun, wondering how Cari was doing and what she was going through. This was a shock! For him, her, and the valley in general. The look on Ginger’s face had been grim. He’d known about the intrusion of the white supremacist gang moving into some timber-cutting areas. The two lumber companies had been given permission by the US Forest Service to thin the timber, not clear-cut it. They were up in the mountains, usually five- to nine thousand feet, still cutting roads into the area for the trucks to haul out the chosen timber. There had been rumblings about a gang of white males up in those regions. Sometimes, the companies would find some of their tools stolen, or a portable generator went missing.

Further, ranchers who owned pastures below this activity, were finding some of their cattle shot, skinned, and the meat taken, leaving the carcass in the field. It wasn’t a good situation and now it was much worse.

No one had been able to find that racist gang of white males, but there had been plenty of sightings since mid-March, when the worst of the weather was gone for the season. The ranchers, who Chase knew, had called a valley-wide conference in late April about that gang, who were dressed in military cammo uniforms, and always carrying military weapons on them. The ranchers involved were damn well upset, losing cattle to these thieves, as well as convinced that these men were up to no good, and they feared for their families’ lives. Chase wondered, as he drove, if