Chapter 8

Saturday, May 8^th, 2023

“What in the hell are you doing here, Fraiser?!”

Ron Fraiser spun around to face, of all people, Brandy Coleridge. “Whaddya mean, Agent Coleridge?”

They were standing in the barn of the Chatham Farm. Right beside the former policeman was Chet Chatham, the owner of the farm.

“You’re interfering with a murder investigation,” she snapped.

“Oh!” Chet exclaimed. “Is my barn part of your investigation?”

“No,” said French from the wide open door behind Coleridge. “In fact, the only thing that’s part of any investigation around here is Mr. Huff’s trailer. We’re here to retrieve that, and I’ve got a warrant for it.” He held out the paper to show Chet, who walked to where the agent stood.

Chet looked over the paper, and invited Ron to look it over too.

“He has no right to see that!” shouted Coleridge as she hurried back to where French was standing.

“Sure he does,” Chet said easily. “He’s working in place of Bruce right now.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to see that warrant!” Coleridge seemed ready to explode, and Chet was starting to wonder if this was some type of cycle for her.

“Mr. Fraiser is my assistant when it comes to legal stuff and police procedure,” Chet explained.

“He is?” Coleridge questioned.

Chet turned his head to Fraiser. “You want the job?” he asked.

“Sure, I can do that,” Fraiser answered.

Chet turned back to Coleridge and said, “See?”

French simply snorted with laughter, and the woman turned a glare on him, but there wasn’t much she could say. She did try, however. “You’d be better getting an attorney.”

“Why?” Chet asked. “I think Ron knows police procedure pretty well.”

“He didn’t know to stop an investigation when he was told to,” Coleridge gloated.

“Really?” Chet asked. “I’d say you didn’t know enough to listen to someone else, from what Mr. Fraiser and Mr. Jenkins have both told me.”

“Ya know, Boss,” Fraiser said laconically, “Agent Coleridge entered the barn without reason.” He paused dramatically. “I believe those law enforcement people call that…. Oh, shoot. What is it again?” Another pause as if he was thinking, then he said, “Trespassin’. That’s it! Trespassin’.”

Chet nodded, and said, “You’re right! I don’t remember asking her to come in here. There’s a lot of dangerous stuff in here, and I don’t want my insurance to have to pay for her getting injured.”

“No, boss. That wouldn’t be good at all.”

“Would you like to press charges?” French asked easily, as he pulled out a notebook.

Coleridge looked at her partner like he was crazy, then blanched when she guessed he wasn’t kidding, and ran back to their car like she had just startled a cow moose and her calves.

French shook his head, laughing, then turned to Fraiser. “You’re really startin’ to piss her off, Fraiser.”

“Am I?” Fraiser was trying hard to keep a straight face as he watched Coleridge climb into the driver’s side of the Blazer the two FBI agents arrived in. “She’s done pissed me off completely,” He told the agent. “I thought you were gonna get her pulled.”

“I tried,” French told the two. “Apparently, the judge who gave her the authority to remove you is some kinda relation of hers.”

“Wow,” Chet said. “Everyone is related to everyone in this case.”

French nodded, and turned as they heard a diesel engine chugging down the lane to the house. “Well, gentlemen, I’d better go direct these guys before Coleridge has them pick up your fuel oil tank.”

“Not a bad idea,” Chet told him. “At this point, I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

Before French walked away, however, he turned to Fraiser. “We got off on the wrong foot a couple of days ago, but I promise you; I’ll make sure this investigation is done properly, Ron.”

“Thank you, Greg.”

The FBI man walked back to supervise the retrieval of Bruce’s trailer.

-=#=-

Marcia was doing some paperwork for the farm when she heard someone at the door to the house. Not wanting to stop, she listened for a moment to see if anyone answered it, and heard Mage walking down the hall from the living room to the front door, and felt safe to work again, but then she heard the abrasive tones of Brandy Coleridge.

Wondering what the agent wanted this time, she made her way into the living room, and then to the head of the hallway. She watched with pleasure as her sister-in-law put the presumptive woman in her place.

“You don’t have a cell phone?” Mage asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Then use it,” Mage said and started to close the door.

Coleridge, however, stopped the door with her foot. “You’re interfering with a murder investigation.”

“Really? Your investigation is centered around Bruce Huff. He isn’t here, and you are already taking his home.”

“There may be evidence in this house!”

“I can’t believe this,” Mage muttered, then pointedly told the woman, “Two things, Coleridge. Number one, you told me you wanted to use the phone, not that you were searching the house, and number two, you have shown no warrant to search the house.”

She paused, and Marcia could hear that her sister-in-law was furious.

“I’m telling you right now, that I have no intention of interfering with a murder investigation. I do, however, have an intention of interfering with you. You have been incredibly rude, made insinuations about other law enforcement, and you have now lied to me as to what you intend to do once in my house. You are not investigating a murder. You are on a witch hunt.” Mage paused and took a breath, and as Coleridge started to speak, Marcia’s phone rang.

She answered it, and listened for a moment, then she raised an eyebrow and stepped to her sister’s side.

Coleridge was speaking quickly and forcefully, and Marcia took great joy in yelling at the top of her lungs, “SHUT UP!”

The agent reacted like she’d been slapped, and had pure fury on her face.

“Mage,” Marcia said sweetly, “Chet just told me that Coleridge has already trespassed in the barn. I suppose we’re going to have to add attempting to bully her way into the house and office without a warrant?”

Mage laughed, then asked, “How did you ever make it to the position of an FBI agent? Didn’t they teach you that you’re subject to the same laws we are? To repeat, I’m not interfering with an investigation of any kind. But now, I am going to actively interfere with you.” Mage paused for her words to sink in, and gave a somewhat malicious grin to Coloridge. “I’m going to report your conduct to your superiors, and I believe I’ll be posting information about your behavior on social media.” She gestured to the corner of the porch, where a security camera was mounted. “Now, I strongly suggest that if you don’t want more reports, you step off this property. You have the trailer, and you do not have permission to be on this property. You have no legal reason to be here, and as my husband and I own this land, free and clear, I might add, I am ordering you to leave.”

“You don’t have a clear title, and you can’t order me off.”

“Mage may not have seen the title to this farm yet,” Marcia said, “But it came in the mail today.” She giggled. “Care to try again? Also, do you have any idea what illegal trespassing is?”

“Redundant,” Mage told her sister-in-law. “Trespass kinda means illegal in and of itself.”

“I suppose it does at that,” Marcia agreed.

The agent finally seemed to realize that she was going to get nowhere with the two women, so she huffed and turned. “Tell that idiot partner of mine that he needs to find a ride. I have to get off this property, so I'll be taking my SUV” she yelled over her shoulder.

“You tell him,” Mage said. “Call him on your cell phone. You said you have one.”

“I dropped it!”

“You broke it?” Marcia asked, giggling.

“That’s terrible!” Mage offered. “How are you going to tell him you’re abandoning him?”

Coleridge stopped before opening the door to her SUV and her face was livid. She didn’t speak, but slowly, she got in and closed the door. A moment later, the two Chatham women watched as the agent slammed her hands against the steering wheel over and over. Then she slammed her head back and apparently screamed. Then she folded her arms and simply sat there.

“Marcia?” came Chet’s voice from the phone that was still connected to her brother’s cell phone.

“Yeah?” she said, putting the phone to her ear. She listened for a moment, then her eyes widened and she started to laugh. “You’re kidding!” She turned to her sister-in-law. “French has the keys for the SUV!”

Mage tried as hard as she could to hold in a laugh, but eventually, she simply couldn’t contain it. Finally, it escaped in a high-pitched explosion. She reached out and closed the door, and placed her back against the wall. Tears were streaming down her face, as she struggled to stay upright, she was laughing so hard.

“We could call a tow truck,” Marcia told her, when she finally started to settle down. The laughter started afresh, only this time, Mage couldn’t remain standing. She slid down the wall to the floor and gave herself over to the laughter.

-=#=-

6:37PM

At the dinner table, Mage and Marcia regaled Chet, Darryl, and the two former policemen with the story of Coleridge and the SUV.

Fraiser didn’t say much until they’d finished. He had been laughing along with the rest, but when they were finished, he managed to say, through tears of laughter, “That might not have been wise, you two.”

Mage nodded her head in agreement. “I know. She’ll come back with a warrant, bent on revenge, but it certainly felt good at the time.”

“Hell, Mage,” Brad enthused. “It felt good just listening to you tell the story. But you’re right. She’ll come back, bent on revenge. You can count on that.”

Mage was tempted to make a comment on revenge against Brad, but decided against it. “Well, regardless, it’s done now. If she comes back seeking revenge, there’s little I can do about it.”

“I think Agent French knows what she’s like. He’s already reported her to their superiors, and they’re keeping an eye on her investigation procedures,” Chet told them. “What happened today was reported while we were outside. French had a few more questions that he needed to ask – verify some things. Before catching up to us, he was talking to his boss. It sounded like he was making a report about what his partner had been doing.”

“It didn’t seem complementary,” Darryl added.

“How could it?” Marcia asked.

-=#=-

Sunday, May 9^th, 2023

1:20PM

After church, Darryl and Marcia walked down to the river with a picnic lunch. They were on a bank that was quite high above the water. All around them were grasses, and lush spring flowers.

It was nice to clear their minds of all that had happened in the last few days. The thought of this next week for all four of their parents was exciting. It was soon, but they were hoping that the offers they'd placed would be accepted. Marcia was supposed to start her riding classes on Thursday of the upcoming week as well, but she wasn’t sure what was going to happen with her horse. Tigger had been Lisa’s, so would the police feel that Bruce had any right to give him to her? She was certain Bruce hadn’t killed Lisa, but there was a niggling little thought that perhaps he had, and that made her uncomfortable owning the horse.

“Look!” It was a little girl’s voice. Marcia glanced over her shoulder and saw Allie hurrying toward them. Sammy was right beside her, and Amber was on the other side. Allie was pointing across the river.

Darryl and Marcia looked across the water to where a Moose cow and her calf were having a drink.

“Looks like our picnic isn’t private anymore,” Darryl murmured to her, then yelled out, “Yeah! I see them.”

“I’m not worried about the moose,” Marcia said to him. “It’s my sister and our niece and nephew that concerns me.”

Darryl laughed out loud. His laugh must have echoed across the water because mama moose looked up, swiveling her ears for a moment, then, deciding there wasn’t any danger, she went back to drinking.

The girls flopped down on the ground beside the couple and Sammy walked around, singing softly to himself, and taking in all the sights. Marcia asked the girls, “Do your parents know where you are?”

“Of course,” Allie said. “Mommy told us we could come join you out here.”

“She did?” Darryl asked. “Isn’t that sweet! I’ll have to thank her when we get back to the house!”

They called Sammy over to where they were sitting, and he hurried over and joined them on the blanket they’d brought. They watched the moose and her calf for awhile, then Amber pointed up where they saw a golden eagle soaring high above the water.

The bird was soaring lazily but all of the sudden, it dove. It folded its wings in, keeping just enough out to maintain control. It rocketed down to the other side of the river with amazing speed, and just before it hit the ground it extended its wings and talons, and grabbed something. As it rose from the ground, they could see what appeared to be a rabbit in its grasp. Allie shuddered, and Amber squealed at the sight.

The eagle rose higher and higher, and turned toward the mountains.