Page 60 of Chasing a Kidnapper

West kicked himself for not thinking of that possibility sooner. Especially after discovering Bryan Little had been murdered. He stepped in front of Trisha and Gabriel while sliding his hand in his pocket to grab the key. Getting the old man inside the building and away from Trisha and Gabriel would be the first step. If things went south, he would gladly sacrifice himself to protect them.

“Where did you get the gold?” Trisha asked.

“None of your business,” the old cowboy growled. “Hand over that key! Then escort me inside, got it?”

West pulled the key from his pocket, holding it up where the old man could see it. “Here’s the key.” Then he abruptly tossed it in the air off to the right.

The old man’s gaze greedily followed the path of the key, giving West just enough time to rush the older man, slamming his gun hand upward. The old guy pulled the trigger, firing several rounds up into the sky.

Ears ringing, he brought his knee up into the old man’s gut and held his wrist with an iron grip, squeezing until the old man dropped the gun.

“I don’t know who you are,” he said, grabbing the guy’s other hand and holding it tightly. “But you’re under arrest for attempting to murder a police officer. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” He continued reciting the Miranda warning.

The old cowboy’s eyes glittered with anger. “That gold is mine!” he shouted. “I deserve it! It’s mine!”

West sincerely doubted that, otherwise why hadn’t he reported it stolen months ago? Now that the old man was no longer a threat, he glanced over his shoulder to where Trisha stood with Gabriel. Her face was pale, but she nodded, as if to reassure him they were fine. Then she pulled out her phone to call this in. “Dispatch, this is Patrol Officer Trisha McCord. We need backup at the Waterville Bank as we have a man in custody for holding two police officers at gunpoint and threatening to kill us.”

Her statement only reminded him of their close call. He lifted his heart in prayer, thanking God for keeping them safe. And for giving him the strength and wisdom he needed to disarm this guy.

It was over for real this time. Although he still needed to find the rightful owner of the gold bars. Watley had hired someone to try to kill Trisha and to kidnap Gabriel. An extreme move to get loot that was rightfully his.

“Trish, can you grab the flex-cuffs from my pocket?” He’d used his handcuffs to secure Edward Watley. “I want to check this guy’s ID.”

She stepped forward to grab the plastic zip ties. She opened the back door of the SUV to place Gabriel inside, then used the cuffs to secure the old cowboy’s wrists. When that was done, he removed the guy’s wallet from his back pocket.

“Aaron Klinger?” He frowned. “You’re the owner of the Rocking K Ranch?”

“Yeah. So?” Klinger scowled defiantly.

“Bryan worked for you, didn’t he?” Trisha asked. “Is that when he stole the gold?”

Klinger averted his gaze, then reluctantly nodded. “Yeah. But it’s mine, and you can’t legally keep it from me.” The old man’s eyes brightened. “I have a right to defend myself and my property!”

West snorted. “Nice try, but you don’t get to point a gun and threaten to shoot and kill two police officers and an innocent baby. And if that gold is yours, why didn’t you report it stolen?”

Klinger shrugged. “I didn’t want people coming to the Rocking K, thinking there was more gold to be had.”

That sounded plausible, but West wasn’t convinced. “I guess we’ll see about that.”

Klinger fell silent, as if sensing he’d already said too much.

The two squads arrived a few minutes later. He filled the officers in on the situation, including the gold bars they’d found in the safety deposit box and the impending charges he intended to file against Aaron Klinger.

“I heard something about missing gold a few years ago,” one of the officers said. “I think it was taken from a ranch in Montana.”

“Montana? Really?” West wondered why he hadn’t heard about it. Then again, Montana was hardly his jurisdiction.

“I think so.” The officer shrugged. “I honestly didn’t pay that much attention, but I was seeing a girl who lived there and it was all the news for a while.”

West glanced at Aaron Klinger, who stared off in the distance with a mulish expression. “Thanks for that information. We’ll follow up on that missing gold in Montana.”

Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought a look of resignation crossed Aaron Klinger’s features. Yeah, he thought. The jig is up.

Once the officers had taken Aaron Klinger away, he turned to Trish. “I’m a lousy detective,” he said. “I didn’t anticipate your ex-husband’s phone had been used to track yours since he’d been out of the picture for so long.”

“Hey, that possibility never occurred to me, either,” she protested. “I never set up that find your phone feature with Bryan. He must have done that without me realizing it. Likely the same time he planted that key in the house.”

“I was so scared,” he admitted stepping closer. Gabriel appeared fine in the SUV, so he quickly drew her into his arms for a hug. “I was worried he’d shoot you or Gabriel.”

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