Page 43 of Chasing Justice
Jenna slumped back down into the couch, crossed her arms and stared at the wall again. Carson had won. He hated it when women spoke back to him. His authority should be the final word. He’d raised Jenna that way, making sure she knew there’d be consequences if she questioned him, but it looked like right now he needed to make sure she learned that lesson again. He supported her wanting to go to college and earning a degree. She should realize that she was lucky he was willing to allow her to do that. Seemed like she was taking that for granted.
Carson turned his attention to the men in the room. He was about ready to ask where Bobbi was when she strolled in. Once she was settled, Carson started the meeting. “I’ve heard from my inside source that the investigation into the bombing is closed at least for the FBI. Looks like the Forest Service fed was to blame for the explosion. If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him for what he cost us.”
A few of the men murmured in surprise. Carson waited for them to quiet down. “I do believe, though, that we have a loose end. There’s still someone investigating us. Based on my sources he’s kept the investigation to himself, so I think we can contain the problem. That person is our sheriff, Wayne Thompson.”
Carson noticed that Jenna glanced up. Good, he had her attention too. “We need to neutralize this problem. Lana also wants someone to blame for the loss of product, so this could be a win-win for us.”
“How’s that?” one of the men asked.
“We are going to kidnap the sheriff, interrogate him and find out what he knows and if there are other agencies investigating us. Once we have the information, we’ll give him to Lana so she can do what she wants with him. We’ll make sure she knows that he’s the one who destroyed the drugs. We’ll tell her that he destroyed the lab to help his investigation. He couldn’t get enough evidence against us, so he blew up the whole operation.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Jenna said.
Carson was ready to slap her upside the head now, but he humored her. She was still his daughter, after all. “Why’s that?”
“Because when the sheriff disappears, don’t you think they’ll investigate us more? You don’t think there’s at least one other deputy that knows what’s going on?”
“Jenna, Jenna, Jenna. Haven’t you learned anything?” Carson said, bringing some snickers from the men. Jenna scowled at them, but then swiveled her head back to Carson, maintaining eye contact. “Lana has become a problem. She’s getting in the way of us making real money. If she takes the sheriff and kills him, we can make sure she’s the one arrested. But first we need to find out what he knows.”
Jenna didn’t answer.
“I agree with Jenna. You need to rethink this plan.”
Carson swung around. Bobbi. What the hell? How dare she disagree with him in front of the men? It made him look weak.
He held back the urge to go force her mouth shut. Women in the Ray family should know their place. These were the times when he missed his wife. She understood these things.
“There’s no rethinking this plan. Wayne Thompson has been a thorn in my side for a long time. He’s always wanted to arrest me. This kills two birds with one stone. It gets him out of my hair, and it means Lana will go away. Who here is tired of sharing their profits with foreigners?”
A loud chorus of agreement echoed throughout the bunker.
“That’s what I thought,” Carson said. “Now, the men and I will make plans. With the help of our insider in the sheriff’s department, I can find out when and where the sheriff will be. When he’s out alone fishing or riding as he so often does, we’ll take him.”
“If we cut Lana out, how will we get codeine?” Jenna asked. “We need that to make a good product.”
Carson smiled. “I have my sources. I’m not worried about that. We don’t need Lana anymore.”
Bobbi spoke up. “Jenna’s right. We need to be careful about cutting out Lana. She’s been good about sharing the profits. She’s treated you well.”
“Yeah?” Carson asked, feeling his face burn. “I’m tired of not making all the money. I’m tired of always having someone in charge of me. I gave her a hell of a deal when we started. She had the product, but I had Jenna, the best chemist around. I want to go into business for myself.”
“Okay,” Bobbi said with an edge of frustration in her voice.
“I’d be a better chemist if I could finish my degree,” Jenna muttered.
“Why don’t you two leave? Get to work. I have things to discuss with the men,” Carson said, barely able to contain his anger.
Bobbi shrugged and sauntered out the door, making sure Carson could see her tight behind sashaying in her blinged-out blue jeans.
Maybe he could forgive her for speaking out, but just this once. Next time, he’d have to make sure she knew no one crossed him.
Jenna stomped out, clearly pissed, but he couldn’t remember a time when his daughter wasn’t pissed.
“Jenna,” Carson said. She paused at the door but didn’t turn around. “We need more batches ASAP.”
She didn’t acknowledge him, but he watched and made sure she headed in the direction of the new lab he’d built for her. Then he turned back to the men.
“Now, let’s discuss how we can catch ourselves a sheriff.”
