Chapter 38

THIRTY-EIGHT

Styles and Carter assisted Cash with the three men, getting them cuffed and safely into the back seat of the sheriff's vehicle. Dr. Nate Mace had bandaged the eyes of the man who'd attacked Beth and suggested he be taken with the others to County for further treatment. They'd agreed to remain with the dead body with Nate for the ambulance to arrive. The body would be transported to the local hospital morgue. Carter would go with Cash. Styles turned to Carter as he pulled open the passenger door to Cash's vehicle. "Zorro won't fit in there as well."

"He'll wait here until I return." Carter gave him a long look. "Don't try and move him. He only takes orders from me, and occasionally Deputy Dave Kane out of Black Rock Falls. This is why he's a patrol dog. I raised him from a pup, trained him in detecting explosives, and he came with me and passed all the requirements to join the SEALs. Problem is he won't eat or do anything else unless I give him the command. So if by chance I get hit by a meteorite on my way back from the sheriff's office, call Dave Kane, or Zorro will wait here for me until he dies."

Styles frowned. "Okay. Thanks for the heads-up." He turned and walked to where Beth was standing irritably as Nate checked out her throat. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Beth's voice sounded raspy and her neck was a mixture of red and blue patches. Blood splattered her face, but had missed her hair, thanks to her blue woolen cap. She met his gaze. "There's going to be a ton of paperwork again to explain why you discharged your weapon."

Styles took a packet of wipes Nate handed him with a meaningful stare and shrugged. "It's part of the job and this time Carter is going to report the incident to the director. He took a ton of crime scene images. I don't believe we'll have a problem. It was self-defense." He held up the wipes. "Do you mind if I wipe the blood from your face?"

"Thanks." Beth's gaze fixed on his face. "That's very thoughtful of you."

He went to work but Beth had this way of looking at him with a mixture of gratitude alternating with waves of fear. How often had she been offered kindness only to be hurt? He could still see the frightened child inside sometimes. Right now, she was fighting a battle between the frightened child and the grown woman. He must find a way to make her trust him. If it took baby steps, so be it. She was worth it. "It's not so bad. I'll have you good as new in a few seconds."

"I feel so dirty." Beth took a handful of wipes, removed her gloves, and rubbed them all over her hands. "I can smell blood."

With care, Styles removed the blood and then pulled off her hat. "It's gone now. Most of it was caught by your hat." He tossed the wipes and hat into a garbage can alongside the fence and searched his pockets. "Here, wear this." He handed her his black woolen hat. "One thing about these hats: they fit everyone, well, except little kids, I guess."

"Thanks. I feel so much better." Beth pulled the hat down over her ears and her gaze moved past him. "Ah, there's the ambulance."

"I'll follow the ambulance and complete the paperwork." Nate collected his bag and straightened. "The ME will need to be contacted. I'll call Dr. Wolfe. I'll contact you when I know he's coming. No doubt he'll want to speak to all of you."

Styles nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate your help, Nate."

"Seems to me the FBI is similar to delivering babies." Nate chuckled. "I usually get a call at dawn or in the middle of the night." He gave them a wave and went to meet the paramedics.

"So we wait for Carter?" Beth indicated to Zorro. "We can't just walk away and leave him here."

Styles turned to look at the Doberman, sitting straight, ears erect, watching the road. He wore a thick padded coat but every so often he shivered. He looked at Bear. His thick pelt kept him snug under his waterproof FBI jacket. "We'll go and stand with him. He looks freezing." They walked closer, but Zorro was having none of it, and when they got six feet away from him a low growl rumbled from his chest. He might as well have had a warning sign hanging around his neck. Styles flicked a glance at Beth. "Ah, maybe we'll wait here." He looked toward Main. "Here he comes now."

As Carter crossed the road, he let out a piercing whistle and Zorro took off, leaping the fence and tearing along the sidewalk. Styles raised both eyebrows. "I didn't know he could jump. I guess this means we can get breakfast."

"You're not disturbed about blowing a hole in that guy's chest?" Beth stared at him as he wiped his leather gloves with wipes.

Shaking his head, Styles tossed the wipes into the garbage and opened the gate. "Nope, he was going to kill Bear, and Bear was carrying out a legal duty in the manner he was trained to do. He was restraining the man from attacking me. Hurting him was a felony." He shrugged. "I was aiming for the arm with the knife but he moved." He gave her a long look. "I was dealing with two assailants at the same time and could have legally shot both of them for attacking a federal officer." He blew out a long breath. "I figure we all showed restraint in an attempt on our lives."

"Oh, I'm not complaining, not at all." Beth fell into step beside him as they headed toward Carter. "It's that you rarely draw your weapon. I noticed Carter is much the same. He likes to fight." She shrugged. "I stupidly left my weapon behind this morning. I figure there's a first time for everything, but I'd have drawn my weapon."

Styles nodded, wondering if she'd have shot her assailant. She had the right as a federal agent and as a local citizen if she believed her life was in danger, and there was little doubt the man had tried to kill them, but he didn't believe they'd counted on Carter or Beth being with him. He looked at Beth. "That was an attack on me again." He shook his head slowly. "I need to change my routine but it's difficult. When Bear needs to pee, I can't expect him to cross his legs for hours while I play it safe. It's never been a problem before. We must be getting close to the kingpin. The problem is, we don't know who it is, do we? I mean not for sure."

"If we had a name, it would make life easier." Beth blew out a steamy breath.

They met up with Carter and walked to TJ's Bar and Grill. After ordering breakfast of hotcakes, maple syrup, and bacon, they sat in a booth at the back away from everyone. The restaurant was surprisingly busy for breakfast. Truck drivers staying over at the local motel dropped by for a good meal and takeout before they left on their journeys. Miners in for the weekend appeared bleary-eyed from a night out at the saloons. Styles looked at Carter. "After this attack, I figure we're getting close. Beth believes it's the doctor, but we only have circumstantial evidence at best against him. His house was clean, apart from the signs he had a young girl living there."

"Yeah, Jo checked that out and he apparently adopted a kid some years back, but she'd be older." Carter grimaced. "Unless when he moves around he recycles them. If he is who we believe, it's more than a possibility." He shrugged. "Unless we catch him with a girl, we don't have a case against him strong enough." He looked at Beth. "What do you need to make a case against him stick?"

"His laptop or whatever he's using to access the dark web. It would be the evidence we need to prove he's involved." Beth's brow creased into a frown. "Finding him and Shoebridge is a priority. We go with the plan and see what happens. Once I have the information from the doctor's laptop, finding all the players involved will be easy. It will take careful planning to infiltrate and bring down the entire ring, but the FBI specializes in doing just that and all they need is someone to open the right door."

Anger shimmered under the surface as Styles envisioned someone else taking down Shoebridge. He shot a glance at Beth. "I want Shoebridge. Before you hand over the case, we need to bring him down and the doctor."

"You got it." She gave him a slow smile. "I figure I'm becoming a bad influence on you, Styles."