The Other Side of Lone Mountain

Chapter Thirty-One

The next morning Mandy woke up still feeling troubled as she recalled the previous night’s events. Who could possibly be behind this? She wondered. I know Gill is capable of intimidating people and maybe even killing but I know he’s not smart enough to be the one calling the shots. She got up and went into the living room where she lifted the sheet Paul had placed over the message and looked at it again. She was still staring at it when Paul walked up to her and put his arms around her. “Why Paul?” she asked. “Could whatever these people are doing be worth people’s lives?”

“Sweetheart, money and greed will cause some people to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily think of doing”, replied Paul.

Paul wanted to get her away from the message so he suggested: “Come on, let’s go into the kitchen and you can make me some of your delicious coffee.” She knew what he what doing and she loved him for it, because she also knew she would not have pulled herself away from that scrawled message until it had either driven her crazy or she had figured out what it was about. Either way, it would not have been healthy for her. Before leaving for the Sheriff’s office Paul called Sarah and asked if she knew someone he could call to come do some cleaning. Sarah gave him the name of a woman she had used off and on in the past. He was glad Sarah didn’t ask him why he needed a cleaning woman because he didn’t want to lie to her nor did he want to upset her by telling her what had happened.

Sheriff Singleton was in his office when they arrived so they went directly to his office. “Good morning Mandy, Paul”, said Jeff. “Mandy, how are you feeling this morning?”

“Still a little shaken, but better, and ready to find the person who was responsible. I’m sure it has to do with whatever is going on up on Lone Mountain and I aim to find out what it is. More than ever, I’m sure that my father and husband didn’t die from an accident. I believe they were both murdered and I will find out why or die trying.”

“Mandy, I know it’s useless trying to talk you out of it so I feel I need to tell you about the new development.”

“More bad news I presume”, she responded.

“It depends on how you look at it” said Jeff. “Someone called the Department of Forestry and told them to lay off all investigations of the Hickory Logging Camp #53, Gill’s camp. The other part of that directive is that we are to continue the investigation but we are to keep everything quiet.”

“But who has that kind of clout?” asks Mandy.

“Remember I told you there was a leak in the office?”

“Yes, but what has that got to do with anything?”

“Well when I saw Anthony placing a call right after I had caught him going through the police reports, I decided to listen in on the conversation.”

“I know; you told us that.”

“ Yeh, but what I didn’t tell you, was who was on the other end. It was my brother Kevin. That’s why I wanted to talk with him before I told you who he was. I needed to know what his part in the situation was. To be honest I thought that he was a part of what was going on. But I found out that he just wanted to keep tabs on what information we had regarding the problem on the mountain.”

“You mean Senator Kevin Singleton?”, asked Paul.

“Yes. I called Kevin and demanded that he tell me what was going on. All he would tell me is that a very close friend had asked for his help. This friend didn’t want the media to get wind of trouble at the Logging Camp. He said he would tell me more later. But for now he asked that we trust him. I know my brother and if he is involved it’s important. I know it’s easy for me to trust him, but I have to ask, are you willing to trust him and go along with him.”

“Jeff, I’ve known both of you practically all my life and I trust you and your brother even though he left to pursue a political life.”

“Paul, I need to ask you, are you going to be staying with us for a while?”

“Yes, I still have to do that survey for my clients.”

“Good, because I would like to ask you to stick close to Mandy and help her in any way you can. Mainly, just to make sure she is not left alone. These people are playing for keeps.”

“That’s not a problem. I’ve kind of gotten use to being around her.”

“Great! That is one less thing I have to worry about.”

“Jeff”, said Mandy, “we’re going to go up to the camp and try to talk with Steve and Gill. Jeff, I’m taking off the kid gloves. I plan on getting to the bottom of this. I know Gill is involved but I don’t think he’s the one pulling the strings. I want to know who his boss is.”

“I figured you would want to do something like that.

“The other night when I pulled Steve in for questioning he acted like he was scared out of his wits. But he did tell me that Gill was the one giving all the orders. Please be careful, and I want you to radio in every half-hour while you’re up there. Promise me that.”

Mandy saluted him and said, “Yes Sir.”

“Mandy this is not a joking matter. Please be careful, and you take good care of her Paul.”

“I promise I will sir.”

“If I don’t hear from you after forty-five minutes I’m going to send in the troops. If you find anything don’t try to handle it by yourself, radio for backup before proceeding. No heroics from either of you.”

“Believe me I’m no hero,” said Paul “but I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Mandy.”

“Mandy, I want you to take an extra gun just in case.”

Paul and Mandy left Jeff’s office; Mandy stopped by the ammunition department and signed out a .45 caliber pistol and a box of bullets and a rifle. “Just in case.” she said to Paul. They then left the office for Lone Mountain.