The Dark Under The Trees Ch.33

BJ leapt from the chair and came around the desk, her face a thunderhead of angry outrage at this man’s audacity. She stopped before Captain Tyler, her eyes ablaze with barely suppressed rage.1

“As far as arresting my duly appointed Deputy for following my direct orders,” BJ moved closer to the captain and stared him in the eye. “That’s not going to happen,” she said surprised at the steadiness of her voice. “Nor do you have the authority to suspend anyone in this office from duty.” 2

“A regrettable technicality and fortuitous for you people,” Tyler said with a sneer, as he raked BJ, Al, and Richie with his steely gaze. “Or you’d all be up on charges. Be that as it may, I believe my rank and years of experience mandate my assuming command here and directing this operation.”3

“That’s your opinion Captain,” BJ said, holding her ground. “And it will be noted in my report, I assure you. However, the way things stand at the moment, I’m the Sheriff of Chewelah County.” She walked back behind her desk and sat down.4

“These are my people and this is my operation,” BJ said and needlessly shuffled some of the paperwork littering the desk before speaking again. 5

“If you and your troopers can deal with taking orders from me, then welcome aboard,” she paused and looked at Tyler a small smile on her face. “If not, thanks for mobilizing the resources, we owe you one, and have a safe trip back to Towerton.”6

“Oh, you can count on me remaining,” Tyler said. He leaned forward and placed his palms on the desk. His eyes glittered with anger and his sneer had been replaced by a nasty smile. “It will give me great pleasure to watch you bring your career in law enforcement to an end.” He straightened up still holding BJ’s gaze. 7

“As far as your orders are concerned, I’ll decide when you issue them whether or not my men will carry them out,” he said curtly and turned on his heel heading for the door. 8

“I’ll bring the others in and you can unveil your grand plan,” he threw back over his shoulder, his tone heavy with derision.9

“Son-of-a-bitch!” Al said his voice quiet but filled with heat and pushed himself from his chair.10

“Sit down Al,” BJ said catching his arm as he started past the desk. “I’ve got enough aggravation without you adding to it. That guy isn’t our problem right now. How to get our people back safe and sound is what we need concentrate on.” BJ squeezed his arm. “I’m going to need your help to get through this.”11

Al nodded in acquiescence as several men filed into the office, a smiling Tyler in the lead.12

“Deputy Miller will be…”13

“God Damn it BJ,” Dave Rankin said, interrupting the Captain and pushing by the taller man, a scowl on his bewhiskered face. “Did you get us down here to go look for somebody, or sit around on the doorstep all morning like a bunch of poor relations?”14

“Good morning Mr. Rankin,” BJ said. Being employed by the Sheriff’s Office in such a small mountain community surrounded by wilderness, they’d worked together on search and rescues often enough to be fairly well acquainted. BJ’s smile was somewhat indulgent, being familiar with the man’s temperament. Also his unasked for acknowledgement of her as the person in charge, eased some of the trepidation engendered by her confrontation with Tyler. She had been afraid that the other men would also react adversely to her in the leadership role. 15

“I’m sorry about the wait,” she said, her eyes darting to Tyler momentarily. “But we had to lay out a few ground rules.” 16

“No doubt,” Rankin said dryly, casting a baleful eye on Tyler who had bellied up to the counter next to him. “Where do you want us to start?”17

“The Purcell place is where it all began, so that’s where we’ll start,” BJ said walking to the large topographical map of the county that nearly covered one wall. 18

“It’s out on Old Orchard Road.” She indicated the location with a finger as Rankin and a couple of other men walked past the counter and gathered around her. 19

“The last time the Sheriff checked in they were headed out toward Crow Canyon.” BJ indicated the deep, wide defile that stretched from north to south on the map before she turned to face the men.20

“As soon as it’s light enough the chopper can take a look around the canyon. They’ll be coming in from the west so they can fly north up Jenkins Ridge to the head of the canyon and then search the valley floor to the south. We should let them know that there are twenty men from the Klamath Reservation out there searching too. Any questions?”21

Before anyone could speak the door opened and two Troopers ushered a couple of handcuffed men into the office.22

“Right this way gentlemen,” one Trooper said holding the portal wide. He addressed his remarks to Captain Tyler after the others entered and he closed the door.23

“It was just like you figured sir, that phone company van was a fake. Those two,” the Trooped said, “were tied into the trunk line interrupting phone service and they also had a transmitter sending out interference so the radios wouldn’t work.”24

“Good work Murphy,” Tyler said. “Transport them to headquarters and lock them up. I’ll question them after I’ve taken care of the situation here.”25

“I need to question these men before they’re taken anywhere,” BJ said.26

“Tampering with the phone lines is a federal crime,” Tyler said. “And it was committed on a state highway, which is my jurisdiction. Take them away Murphy.”27

“They weren’t exactly on the highway sir. They were actually parked on Reservoir Road.”28

“That’s a county road Captain, my jurisdiction,” BJ said, a note of triumph in her voice. “Al take the prisoners back and lock them up.” She turned away from a fuming Tyler and addressed her next remarks to the search team.29

“You guys have your instructions,” BJ said. “So you can head on out. And now that the radios are working, I expect hourly reports.”30

“You boys heard the Sheriff,” Rankin said, making shooing motions with his hands. “Let’s get on out there and find those folks.”31

“Mr. Rankin,” BJ called after the man. When he turned there was a questioning look on his grizzled face, she said. “Don’t you guys get lost too.”32

Rankin smiled and nodded his head. “We’ll try not to lose our way.”33

“Captain Tyler,” BJ said turning back to face the tall man again. “I’ve come to the conclusion that we can handle this quite well by ourselves from here on. Thank you for your assistance and have a safe trip back to Towerton.”34

“Let me show you gentlemen out,” Al said stepping past BJ, a broad smile on his face as he extended his hand toward the door. “Right this way.”35

Tyler stared angrily at the woman for a minute. “You haven’t heard the last of this Deputy Miller.” He spun on his heel and stormed across the office and out the door, his troopers following in his wake.36

“Go get one of those guys out of the cell Al,” BJ said. “Let’s see what he can tell us.”37