The Severed Pines Read online

  “I’m a park ranger,” Ben said. “Just checking out where the construction is going to be.”

  “I don’t care who you are.”

  Ben shrugged, feeling irritated and tired. “That’s fine. We don’t have to be friends.”

  Now, the rest of the workers took notice. A few of them gathered behind the spokesman for the group, like a roving pack of animals formed up into a more powerful version of a single creature. Together, they took a few steps toward Ben.

  “I already told you once,” the short worker said. “Are you going to make me say it again? This area is off-limits, and I don’t care what right you think you have to be here.”

  Ben knew he should have lifted his hands in surrender and walked away right then, but something stirred inside him. After everything that had happened to him in the last few days, he was tired. Tired of being chased and beaten and made to cower to more powerful people.

  “I don’t think so. This is federal land and I work here, so I’ll walk around the area if I feel like it. I don’t see how you have any right to tell me what to do.”

  This made a few of the workers pause and cock their heads. Eyes narrowed among the group.

  “Excuse me?” said the short worker.

  “You heard me,” Ben said.

  All of them advanced. One in the back slipped on a pair of brass knuckles, shiny things topped with little markings to make a crisscrossed pattern. He held his clenched fist to the side, making sure Ben could see it.

  His heart rate escalated a little, but something still told him to hold firm. Not today. Not by these assholes.

  “I just want to look around,” Ben said. “Give me a hard hat or whatever, but I’m not leaving.”

  “Not going to happen,” said the short leader, and then he dipped a hand into his pocket and withdrew a switchblade. He flicked it open, the blade gleaming, even under the cloudy sky above.

  And that was enough for Ben. Maybe before, he thought he could win a battle of the wills, but this gesture made him reconsider. No way could he take on all of these guys.

  He took a step back and held his hands out, showing his palms. “Okay, guys. I think there’s been some misunderstanding here. I didn’t know I needed permission. If I’m not welcome, I’ll go. Maybe I’ll come back later.”

  “You won’t come back at all,” said the short worker.

  The group continued to advance, so Ben retreated a few steps toward his car and whipped his keys out. “I’ll go,” he said, showing them the keys. “No trouble. I’ll get in the car and go.”

  They stopped, and Ben didn’t wait for any additional weapons to make an appearance. He opened his car and jumped inside, then started it up. As soon as he’d backed up a few feet, most of the workers ceased their menacing march. They didn’t stop staring, however.

  As Ben drove away, a series of realizations and conclusions landed like baseballs smacking him against the side of his head. The pieces were there now. The final picture was still a bit blurry, but he was starting to realize what he’d been thrust into.

  The whole conspiracy came together. Money laundering. Shady guys watching the construction. William’s murder.

  As Ben left the parking lot, he could still feel those eyes on him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ben stared at his phone, awaiting a response. For the last fifteen minutes, Reese hadn’t returned his texts. He’d tried exclamation points, all caps, and emojis, but nothing made Reese type back. Then, he drove over to the backcountry office and checked the assignment sheet. Reese had been sent out to Verna lake on the west side of the park this morning and wouldn’t be back until late. Earlier when they’d texted, Ben must’ve caught him right before he left.

  Without Reese, Ben was an island. Not a good feeling right now.

  Ben had to tell someone about the confrontation at the construction site and his suspicions about the money laundering. But who to trust? Aside from Reese, there was no one in the park service he felt comfortable outlining his theories to.

  They’d excused him from his regular privy-cleaning duties for the foreseeable future, because of being attacked multiple times. But, he wondered if he might not feel better if he had something to do. This was like being suspended-with-pay. The thought of spending the day hanging out in his trailer or going out on some random hiking trail he’d already done three or four times held zero interest.

  And, he figured if he drove down to Denver, he’d miss something important.

  As the morning dragged on, Ben became restless. He tried napping at the trailer, but it wasn’t working. He ended up staring at the ceiling, listening to the breeze swish through the windows. The civilian campsites nearby bustled with activity. Children playing, gravel crunching as cars arrived and left. Tents zipping and unzipping.

  As morning bled into lunchtime, he gave up and drove back to the park entrance. There he decided to loiter around the visitor center, maybe to leech the higher-quality WiFi and find inspiration for something else to do.

  Now perched outside of the Beaver Meadows visitor center, he thumped his foot on the ground and drummed his hands against the outside of the building.

  And then Avery Krafft piloted into the lot and cruised into a parking spot only a few feet away. A light blinked on above Ben’s head. Avery was the perfect person to hear about these recent developments. He and Ben didn’t have any complicated history between the two of them, aside from the witch hunt with Kathryn’s harassment complaint. And that wasn’t Avery’s fault. He was just doing his job.

  And especially because Avery said he wouldn’t mention it to Taylor. We all know how he can overreact sometimes, Avery had said.

  Avery was on Ben’s side. Or, at least, a neutral third party. As long as Ben didn’t mention the break-in from last night.

  If Ben wanted to figure a way out of this mess and prove that Taylor killed William, he needed allies. Powerful allies. Not just Reese. Avery had the authority to go above Taylor’s head and involve… well, Ben wasn’t sure who outranked Taylor. But Avery would know.

  “Mr. Krafft,” Ben said as Avery closed his car door. Fancy shoes shuffling through the slick parking lot, a burgundy scarf around his neck.

  “Afternoon, Ben,” Avery said, bright smile lighting up his face. “I’m a little surprised to see you here.”

  “Can I talk to you? It’s important.”

  Avery checked his watch. “Sure. In my office?”

  Ben nodded and followed the Assistant Superintendent inside. A lump formed in his throat, threatening to choke him. Saying the words out loud was committing Ben to a certain course of action. Serious, point-of-no-return kind of action. Accusing someone in a position of authority of serious crimes that would change all of their lives.

  But it needed to happen. William needed justice.

  They entered the office and Avery spent a few seconds unspooling the scarf around his neck. He plopped his messenger bag and coat on hooks by the door, then sat with his hands folded. Finally, he gestured to the open seat across from his desk.

  As Ben sat, Avery said, “if this is about the complaint from yesterday, I want you to know I’ve kept my word, and I intend to…”

  Ben lifted a hand. “No, this is something serious. Something you’re not going to want to hear, but I have to do it, anyway.”

  Avery frowned, but he turned his palms up to the ceiling and raised his eyebrows. “I’m listening.”

  And then he spilled his guts. Told him about the money laundering through the construction site, how William must have found out about it, and how Taylor must have had him killed, and then twice sent goons to assault him to keep him quiet.

  During the three or four minutes Ben outlined his theory, Avery sat, his mouth slowly dropping open by further degrees with each new and salacious detail.

  When Ben finished, Avery sat back and let out a massive breath. Fists clenched, he rolled his shoulders a few times. “These are not insignificant accusations, Ben. We’re talk
ing about very serious crimes.”

  “I know. I wouldn’t be here unless I was sure.”

  “You’re positive about what you saw?”

  Ben nodded and then he offered his proof. Pictures taken of the invoices from the desk at Taylor’s house — of course, he didn’t tell Avery the pictures had been taken at Taylor’s house. Avery’s eyes flicked over Ben’s phone as he swiped back and forth between the pictures. Avery handed the phone back and then picked up a pad of paper. He scribbled some text, tore off the page, and then offered it to Ben. “This is the number of a detective I know in Denver. If you need an objective ally, he’s someone you can trust.”

  Ben stared at the slip of paper. The edges of his vision blurred. Spewing all the details had made him lightheaded. Part of him wondered if he hadn’t made a huge mistake, letting Avery into the inner circle of this big mess.

  Avery leaned down to meet his eyes. “Ben?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m going to look into this. I’ll call in people if I have to. Whatever’s going on here, we’re going to get to the bottom of it. I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

  “What do I do?”

  Avery sat back. “Your job. Just act like normal and cooperate with the police about the assault yesterday.”

  “I can do that.”

  “By the way, I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s not right, what they did. I consider myself responsible.”

  “This isn’t your fault.”

  Avery frowned. “This happened on my watch. You work for me and for the park service, and we both let you down. I want to offer you my apology.”

  Something strange happened, and Ben was suddenly overcome with a flood of emotion. For the first time since this had all happened, someone had offered him real empathy. For the first time, someone with power was on his side.

  Avery might not be so accommodating if he knew Ben had broken into Taylor’s house to get this evidence, so he didn’t mention that part.

  Avery stood up and shook Ben’s hand. As draining as it was to recount the whole tale, Ben did now feel a little better. Now, it was a shared burden.

  He bid goodbye to the Assistant Superintendent and left the older man’s office. And, on his way out, he spied Taylor scoping him from between the blinds in his office window.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Ben went about his day. He met up with Reese later, and they drove into town for a beer. They settled on Rock Cut Brewing Company since there was no line out the door to get in. After the server set down a pint in front of each of them, Ben fiddled with the zipper on his jacket while he recounted the day’s events.

  Reese wiped foam from his upper lip once Ben had finished. “You sure telling Avery about this is a smart idea?”

  “Why?”

  “I always thought he was kind of an uppity dick.”

  Ben considered this as he drew a napkin from the dispenser and proceeded to tear it into little strips. “He is, but I had to take the next step. The cops aren’t going to do anything.”

  “No?”

  “How are they going to find those guys who attacked us? No descriptions, no make and model of their vehicle—”

  “You don’t know that,” Reese said. “The vehicle part. Maybe they’re not releasing that info. Top secret, you know.”

  Ben shrugged. “I just don’t feel like leaving this in their hands is going to end up with it all solved. They still don’t believe me about William.”

  “That’s sort of where we are with everything, right? We have to hope, when something goes wrong, that the people who are supposed to fix it will actually gets off their butts and fix it.”

  “Hoping for good things to happen sucks,” Ben said. “That’s not enough for me when it comes to this.” He leaned over the table and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I saw him. William. His throat cut. It’s like it’s there, every single time I close my eyes. I have to do something.”

  “You going to call that detective Avery told you about?”

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking about it.”

  Reese shook his head. “I wouldn’t do it.”

  “No? Why not?”

  “If this money laundering conspiracy goes as deep as you think it does, there’ll be cops and other authority figures in on it. This could be some far-reaching conspiracy, and you’re only at the tip of the iceberg.”

  Ben collected his strips of torn napkin into a pile. “That’s a grim thought.”

  “When you don’t know who to trust, keep the circle as small as possible.”

  “You think I should trust the local cops to do their jobs?”

  Reese sipped his beer and leaned forward to make his point. “No. I’m saying you shouldn’t trust anyone. About anything.”

  As Ben lay in bed that night, he debated the merits of contacting the detective. Ultimately, he decided Reese had been right. Better to dig into the situation more on his own before involving the law. Or, let Avery do it.

  But, did Ben want to cede control over to Avery?

  Everything about this was confusing.

  In the morning, Ben dressed and spent a couple minutes staring at his reflection in the mirror.

  “Is this going to blow up in my face?” he asked the Harvey Bennett staring back at him.

  His copy had no reply, so Ben leaned forward until his forehead touched. He enjoyed a moment of the sensation of the cool mirror against his skin, then he straightened up and gave himself a good slap across the face.

  “Think, Ben. Be on your game. Someone is lying to you and keeping you from the truth. Stay away from Taylor until you have something solid.”

  He thought of the pictures of the invoices in his pocket. Obtained by breaking into Taylor’s house. Breaking and entering wasn’t as serious as money laundering and murder, but Ben carried a lot of liability around in his pocket with him.

  He drove to Beaver meadows to get his assignment for the day. He was still technically off-duty, but he was going to request to be put back on. One day of mind-numbing boredom and reflection was enough. He’d rather clean literal shit-holes in the ground than do that again.

  When he pulled into the parking lot, he was greeted with a strange sight. Avery Krafft, carrying both a briefcase and a messenger bag from the building, to his car. He opened the trunk and dropped both in.

  Ben parked and hurried to cross the lot. “Avery, what’s going on? Where are you going?”

  With a dour expression, Avery glanced around before speaking. “Taylor is sending me to Washington.”

  “What? Like, one of the parks in the northwest?”

  “No, no. To DC, to act as his surrogate for some meetings over the next couple days.”

  Ben crossed his arms. “Is that unusual?”

  “Yes, it is. I have a feeling Taylor knows something is up.”

  “He did see me coming out of your office yesterday.”

  Avery pursed his lips, nodding. “That makes sense.”

  Ben hadn’t thought much about what Taylor had seen or knew based on that meeting yesterday. But, if Taylor was willing to send Avery away to disrupt any investigation, then maybe Taylor knew everything. Maybe he knew about Ben’s visit to the construction site. Maybe he knew about the late-night break-in into Taylor’s home and snapping pictures of those invoices.

  Maybe he knew Ben had been confiding in Reese.

  “Whatever you do,” Avery said, “don’t arouse any suspicion. And, don’t do anything until you have hard evidence. Not pictures of invoices, which can be faked.” Avery paused, then he grimaced. “I recognized the desk those invoices were sitting on, Ben. You were in Taylor’s house when you took those pictures.”

  He felt like a six-year-old caught trying to play with matches. “Yeah. I broke in.”

  Avery shook his head. “You tell the cops about that, you’ll be the one leaving in handcuffs. You need real, hard evidence—obtained legally—and then we go to them.”

  “What do I do? Do I
need to delete the pictures?”

  “No, don’t do that. You may have to use them as a last resort, even if it does get you in trouble. For now, keep investigating. But do it quietly.”

  Avery shook Ben’s hand and then slipped into his car. Then, he rolled down the window. “I have to head out if I want to make my flight. Please, Ben, be careful. If anyone comes to you, claiming to be someone who can help, you need to be very careful about what you share with that person.”

  He rolled up the window and backed out. Ben watched the car leave, now unsure what to do about anything.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ben woke from his nap to an eerie sound outside his trailer window. He sat up and lifted the blinds to peek out. A marmot was sitting in the parking lot, barking at nothing. Its little, fluffy body vibrated with each yipping bark. Tail swishing like a feather duster.

  “Weird,” he said. Marmots almost never came down to this elevation. Whatever this little guy wanted, he probably wasn’t going to find it here. After a few seconds, the marmot shuffled off, away from the parking lot, and into the grass.

  Ben checked his watch. 9:30 am. He’d been denied a work assignment for the day, so he’d come back for a nap, since he’d been sleeping so poorly all week. Just a couple hours to catch up. And he did feel a bit refreshed, but he had to attend a 10 am all-staff meeting at Beaver Meadows. As much as he wanted to ignore the day and hide, there was too much to do.

  Hard evidence against Taylor. That was the top priority. Especially now that the park superintendent had sent Avery Krafft away, Ben had to be on his guard. Taylor knew something was up. Any move Ben made, he had to assume Taylor would expect it. Ben would have to pretend to be a more clever person and do whatever that sort of ultra-clever person would do.

  Reese’s words about trusting no one rattled around in Ben’s brain like a rock in a water bottle. He thought of Kathryn the odd volunteer and how she might fit into all this. Her pained love notes to William had made her seem like a good candidate for the murder, but lately, all signs pointed to Taylor.