Page 20 of Slay Bells

Other than what looked to be a camera case, she was unimpeded to continue on faster. When she reached the cabin where the murder had taken place, she rushed to one of the windows and standing on tiptoes, peeked in.

Then she proceeded to go to the front steps and looked around once again. Reaching through the yellow crime scene tape, she tried the door. It was locked. Gabriela backed up, pulled out a camera and proceeded to take pictures.

While watching her continue to take shots both from the porch and then backing up, Jeremy pondered how to approach her. They’d go out to dinner later, so it would be a good excuse to talk to her about her food preferences. Then maybe find a way to kiss her.

A strange muffled sound brought him out of his musings. Gabriela was nowhere to be seen. At movement in the woods just behind the cabin, Jeremy took off at a sprint.

On the ground just a few feet away, Gabriela was scrambling to get up and took off running. Jeremy caught up with her.

“What happened?”

“Some creep took my camera.” She continued running. “It has all my pictures since arriving.” She raced after the assailant at a surprising speed.

Several minutes later, a man came into view. He ran toward a blue truck parked on the road that led away from the ranch and on through to the highway. With the camera bag in hand, he seemed to be losing steam. So was Jeremy, but he wasn’t about to let Gabriela beat him to the assailant.

Gathering a second wind, he ran past Gabriela and tackled the man to the ground.

Too winded to do more than hold the man down, Jeremy tried to tell Gabriela to call the police. It came out more like “Ca-ca-ca po-o-l”.

“On it,” she replied holding up a thumb and glaring at the man who was also too out of breath to do more than just lay on the ground.

Thankfully Williams was headed to the ranch, so it was only a matter of minutes before he along with another set of police officers showed up.

Jeremy had known better than to ask the assailant any questions. He was not part of the investigation any longer. His Captain decided it was best for Jeremy to step back since the murder was on his property. He stood by listening as Williams questioned the man.

Mark Rutledge was from nearby Missoula. Seemed there was bad blood between him and Kevin. Not only had Kevin supposedly stolen his seat on the city council, but also seduced Mark’s wife to gather intel on him.

Jeremy and Gabriela exchanged confused looks. She voiced his thoughts. “Why would someone kill over a city council seat?”

A veteran police officer, Murray lifted an eyebrow. “I bet it has more to do with the new business Rutledge’s family is building. Their permits got turned down and he’s lost a bunch of money.”

Gabriela let out a huff. “Money. That will make some people murderous.”

Rutledge babbled incoherently as they handcuffed and shoved him into the back of the patrol car.

“Bless his heart,” Gabriela said.

“What does that mean?” Jeremy asked.

“I feel bad for him,” Gabriela replied.

“Here’s your bag,” Williams told her holding the bag out. “We’ll need to see the pictures on the card.”

“Of course.” Gabriela turned to Jeremy. “I guess I’ll go with him to the station.”

“I’ll take her,” Jeremy said giving Williams a look.

Williams shrugged. “See you at the station.”

They walked back toward the snowmobile. They’d run quite a distance, which was probably the reason his thighs were so tight. “You’re a fast runner,” Jeremy said to Gabriela.

She seemed deep in thought. “I used to run all the time, but I’ve recently moved, I don’t run as much. It’s a bit dangerous since I live in downtown San Diego.”

“I don’t think I could ever live in the city.”

She eyed him. “I don’t suspect you’d like it at all. It has its good and bad like anywhere else. It’s noisy, but vibrant. There are lots of crowds, which means it’s rich in culture. Traffic is horrible. Not sure what I can say positive about that.” Gabriela smiled at him and he wanted to yank her against his chest.

Jeremy touched her arm. “What do you think about this?” He motioned with his other arm. “Country living?”