After suffering the consequences of a physical beating from her father with a belt, Beth Culbertson decides she will not take any more abuse and runs away. Still, the father has a different story to tell until he's discovered dead.


On the other side of town, Ty lies in a hospital bed, falsely accused of drug trafficking, hijacking, and so much more. The proof of his innocence lies murdered on a dark country road.


**************


Garth hung up the phone and turned to his agents. “I got a gut feeling that someone tipped our hand and O’Shea’s on the run.”

“Are they picking him up?” Tango asked.

“Not just yet. He might lead us to someone bigger. I told them to tail him at a distance.” Garth wasn’t happy with the situation. He knew O’Shea hadn’t kept things quiet this long without running a tight operation. 

“Let’s take this guy out of his misery.” Garth, Tango and Poppa headed inside the warehouse.

“Everyone in place?” 

“Yup. Short and sweet.”

Inside, Garth immediately took the lead. His southern drawl demanded attention. “Who’s in charge?” He stared at Peter and then glanced over at Spider.

“That would be me.” Peter moved toward Garth and extended his hand. When the offer was ignored, he let his hand fall to his side. 

“Where are my drugs?” Garth snarled, his six-foot-two frame towering over Peter.

“We have them, sir. But technically, they aren’t yours until I’m paid.” Peter answered with a bit of bravado.

“Paid?” Garth turned to Tango and Poppa, “This little twerp lost my shipment, and now he wants me to pay him.” The guys looked at Peter and started chuckling.

“Wait a minute!” Peter didn’t appreciate them laughing at him. “I didn’t lose your drugs. And you aren’t getting these until I see some money.” Peter sneered at Garth, “Maybe I should find another buyer. You aren’t the only person looking to get in on this market.”

Garth grabbed Peter’s shirt and lifted him to his tiptoes. “Maybe I’ll just take the drugs and shoot you.”

“No, now let’s not get hasty. I guess I got a little nervous, that’s all.” Peter turned to Spider, “Show them the shipment.” Spider nodded and headed to the back of the van. 

Spider rounded the van doors, looked at Nate Rotello, and was happy he wasn’t in his shoes. It had to be tough to hand over your son to the FBI.

Nate Rotello walked out from behind the van toward Peter and the other men. “What’s going on here, son?”

“Dad... “ Startled, Peter’s eyes were wide, and his mouth dropped open. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

“Gentlemen, I’m Nate Rotello, and this is my son, Peter. I guess you’ve already met.”

“I …I can explain, Dad.  I got a call. These guys said they wanted their drugs, and I thought they were the hijackers. I decided to meet them and find out who they were.” Peter put some distance between him and Garth. “Jesse was hijacking our shipments and selling them to this guy. He’s the dealer.”

“No, Peter, this guy is an undercover FBI agent.” Nate Rotello shook his head in disgust.”I gave you everything.”

Garth felt sorry for Nate Rotello, but he had a job to do. “My guys will take it from here, Mr. Rotello.”

Tango put the cuffs on Peter as he screamed, “Dad, help me. Don’t let them do this.”

“Sorry, son.” Nate shook hands with Garth, “Thanks for letting me know.” He tipped his Stetson to the other guys and walked out of the warehouse without looking back.

“Read him his Miranda rights.” Garth sighed, “Now we have to find O’Shea.”

*************

“What the heck?” The SUV driver slammed on his brakes as the vehicle rounded the sharp bend on Rocky Beach Road. The vehicle’s tires squealed and skidded sideways across the pavement, coming to a jarring stop near the edge of the cliff. A semi-trailer lay jack-knifed on the curve. All seventy-two feet of the truck was lying on its side amidst some boulders. The cab was hanging precariously over the cliff. 

“Jake, two more feet, and we could have kissed our lives goodbye.” Charlie peered out the passenger side window. “It’s a good fifty-foot drop onto the rocky boulders.”

“Call it in. It looks like a landslide.” Jake climbed out of the driver’s seat.  “If the driver’s in that cab, we can’t reach him. They’ll need to get some massive tow trucks up here.”

“What about her?” Charlie pointed to the woman in the back seat. 

“She’s fine. Just an unexpected bump in the road.” Jake laughed. “But I advise you to crawl out my side of the car.”

“You think? I’ll call Dispatch while you check on the truck.” 

Two minutes later, Charlie joined Jake. “Tow trucks and ambulances are on the way. I told them we couldn’t reach the driver. ETA is about thirty minutes.”

“Charlie, what’s that noise?” 

“Sounds like some kind of heavy equipment. Where’s it coming from?” Charlie looked down the road but didn’t see anything.

“Not sure, but we sure could use it.” A Caterpillar D9, classified as a mammoth bulldozer, was idling near a pile of boulders on the cliff above them. The two agents started yelling and waving their arms, trying to attract the driver’s attention.

“Hey, down here,” Jake screamed.

“Help!” Charlie yelled. The heavy machinery backed away from the cliff’s edge.

“You think he heard us?”

Before Jake could answer, they heard a tremendous explosion from above. Tons of boulders and dirt started falling, followed by the 250,000-pound bulldozer minus its driver.

“Run, Charlie. It’s a landslide.” Terrified, both men scrambled away from the truck and ran for their lives. 

Dirt, rock, trees, plants, and huge granite boulders tumbled down the side of the cliff. Clouds of debris darkened the sky. The heavy machine scraped the rocks and the metal crunched as it made its rapid descent. It finally crashed on top of the semi-trailer, flattening it like a paper box. The semi teetered for a second and then dropped to a watery death below.

Choking on the dust, Jake dug in his pocket for his cell and called 911, reporting the landslide and probable deaths. Charlie lay beside him with a gash in his head. He ripped off his shirt and pressed it to the wound. “Hang in there, Charlie. Help's on the way.”

*************

Within ten minutes, Garth’s phone was ringing. 

“Garth Woodman, here.”

“Garth, this is Dispatch. One of the cars headed for Oakdale was involved in an accident.” 

“Where? What happened?”

“On Rocky Beach Road. One report says a semi was jackknifed. Another says a landslide pushed the vehicle over the edge.”

“Over the edge? The semi?”

“I’m not sure, sir.”

"My agents? The woman they were transporting? Are they hurt? Are they alive?”   Garth was blurting out questions faster than the dispatcher could answer.

“That’s all I have right now, sir.”

“Do you know which car it was?”

“No, sir. Everything’s pretty sketchy.”

“Okay, call me back as soon as you find out anything.”

Hank was on the phone with Bert, but she hadn’t heard anything either. The radio said the road was blocked due to a landslide with multiple vehicles involved. 

“Hank, please tell me it wasn’t Amanda?” Bert was crying. “It can’t be, Amanda.”

“I don’t know, Bert. Both cars were headed out to Oakdale. It could have been either car. Garth’s trying to find someone with information, but nothing yet.”

“Garth,” Tango called from the warehouse door. “It’s Jake.”

Garth ran towards Tango and grabbed the phone. “Jake, what’s happening? Is everyone okay?”

“Charlie’s got a gash on the side of his head. I bandaged it the best I could with my shirt.” Jake bit his lip, “Boss, our SUV got swept over the edge. It’s lying in the rocky water below with a semi on top of it.” Jake coughed and choked on the dusty air.

Garth squeezed his eyes closed, trying to push the image out of his head. “Jake, who’s the deceased? Which car were you driving?”

“It’s Nancy, sir.” Jake gasped and coughed again. “They went a different way with Amanda. Decided it was safer if we didn’t travel together. Guess they were right.”

************

A string of police cars with flashing lights and sirens flew down the highway. Dan O’Shea’s car was hidden from the roadway, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to wait long. The more distance he put between him and Columbia, the happier he would be. He’d had a nice long run, but all good things come to an end.

About fifteen minutes later, a familiar vehicle pulled into the grassy area and parked next to his car. The driver rolled down his window and handed Dan a package. 

“Hear about that landslide out on Rocky Road Beach?” 

“No, but I’ve seen a lot of police cars flying down this road headed in that direction.”

“While they’re busy, you should take advantage and get moving. There’s a new driver’s license, passport, a cell phone, and cash in the package. So go start a new life somewhere far, far away.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll be on the first flight to the Caribbean. Sitting on the beach, drinking a mai tai, and smooching on some beach babe sounds real good to me.”

“Sounds like the perfect dream.” The driver stuck the last of a brownie in his mouth. “Man, these are good.”

“Hey, you got any more of those? I haven’t eaten today.”

“Sure thing, Dan. Take the whole plate.” He handed the paper plate of brownies through the car window. “You’ll love ‘em. Freshly made this morning.”

“I’m starving.” He took a big bite. “Wow, these are delicious.” He quickly finished off the first one and reached for another one. After one bite, his face started to twitch, and he began to choke. He tried to talk, but his tongue was swollen. He felt his chest tighten. White froth mixed with chunks of brownie drooled from the corner of his mouth. He struggled to breathe one last breath.

“I always tell the wife her brownies are to die for.” Then, laughing, the man eased his car out of the picnic area and back onto the highway.