Page 48 of Protecting Silver
“No alleged about it, Sheriff,” Silver said from behind Patch, then made her way forward. “Eddie Alexander Freedman attacked me, and I’ll tell those Feds and will even testify in court if it comes down to it.”
“Okay then,” Amos stared at the woman before him, and realized that he had no idea who she was. “You’re Silver Roundtree?”
“I am, and I know my coloring has nothing to do with my name.” She ran a hand down her dark hair and gave a mirthless laugh. “I’m not a blonde like the name would portray.”
“I see that,” Amos said, then shook his head. “Yeah you look a hell of a lot different from when I interviewed you in the hospital. I got a call from an FBI agent in Chicago a couple weeks back. They want to interview you, but they had to clear up another case before their boss would allow them to come see you. Got a call from them late last night that they’re heading in this direction starting this morning. Said they should be here in a couple of days.”
“Unfortunately, I’ll be out of commission for the next week,” Silver said.
“May I ask where you’re going?”
It was Patch who answered. Instead of using his words, he held up his hand, walked over to his truck, then after retrieving a bundle from his pack, he came back and handed it to Amos.
“I was going to have Finn give this to you after we left. Remember the night of Silver’s attack, and I gave you the information on who hurt her? I also told you that I had contacted the guy who did the background check on that guy for Grady?”
“Yes?” Amos frowned as he took the papers handed to him. He looked down at them and began to read, then looked up in shock. “This is his report?”
“It is. I didn’t question him, but he mentioned he had contacts in the FBI as well as the Chicago PD. I only received that packet of information late last night. Finn was with me, as we read over that report you’re holding, Tex called with a warning.”
“About?” Amos frowned at the group before him.
“Freedman is on his way to Elk Junction, Montana to take care of the problem that started it all. It’s not hard to connect the dots that he’s coming for Silver. Finn suggested that until he’s caught, it would be best for Silver and me to go up to Ronnie’s Meadow for a week. We were hoping that maybe if Freedman came around asking questions, someone would contact you and you could look into it.”
“But, now that the Feds are on their way, then maybe they can arrest him before we come down out of the meadow.”
“It’s not like I’m running away permanently,” Silver spoke again. “It’s just that I don’t want to see him again. You saw the results of the last time I saw him.” They all saw the sheriff wince, and nod.
“Mind if I take this report?”
“Not at all. That’s your copy anyway. We’re going to leave our phones with Finn, but we’ll have a satellite phone with us.”
“Good, go up to the meadow, and I’m meeting with the Feds when they arrive. I’ll keep a look out for Freedman, and give them this report. Do you know when you’ll be back down?”
“Saturday.” Silver said. “Today’s Tuesday, so that’ll give us the rest of this week. I have a lot of work on my plate in the coming days, another fundraiser that I need to get off the ground. Let’s hope you and the Feds can catch the asshole before we come back down.”
“Let’s hope,” Amos said, and shook their hands. “I won’t ask any more questions, but I’m assuming you’ll be armed?” Amos looked directly at Patch as he asked that.
“I will.”
“And I’ve told Hector of the situation. We’ll have firearms strategically located around the house and the barn.” Finn told the man.
“Good, good. I’ll get out of your hair, and let you get back to packing, I’ll keep Finn abreast of any developments, and he can contact you.”
“Sounds good,” Patch said as he shook the sheriff’s hand, and nodded.
“Keep our girl safe,” Amos said, and turned on his heel and headed back to his vehicle.
They all watched him go, then Silver turned to them, and asked, “Is he always that blasé about police work?”
“No,” both Finn and Patch answered at the same time. Finn went on to explain further, “The first time I met him, I had only gotten out of the Marines a month before, same as Patch. My father and grandfather, you know them, William and Eric, had been invited to Veronica’s birthday, and dragged me with them. Unfortunately, when we came here to see where Veronica was, Sarge, her favorite horse came running down that trail.” They all turned as Finn pointed to the east of where they were currently standing. “I heard the thundering hooves and screaming, and asked what that was.”
“Surprised the shit out of me,” Hector said as he joined them. “I knew Ronnie had left here the week before to go look for Paige, another horse that had gotten out of her stall and disappeared. She was only days away from birthing her foal.”
“Did she go home?” Silver asked, in awe of the story so far.
“She did. Took Ronnie almost a week to find her, but she helped Paige birth the foal, and after she walked the baby up the hill, all hell broke loose. In the end she was kicked by a horse and thrown down a ravine.”
“You ever see the scars on her forearm?” Finn asked as he placed his hand over his right forearm.
