Page 34 of Caleb’s Cause (Broken Wheel Ranch #12)

The following Sunday, Caleb came out on the porch of the cabin he shared with Katherine and handed her a bottle of water, along with her tumbler full of coffee.

He settled on the step beside her. He looked around and made a mental note to look into maybe getting some outdoor furniture, but that could wait until the Spring.

It was now the first week in October, and though it was still in the low eighties, he had heard the others talking that the temps might be falling soon.

He looked out and sighed in contentment as he saw the changing colors of the leaves in the distance before he looked over at Katherine.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I don’t know if I should voice them.”

“Katherine, what did I tell you about not talking with me.”

“Sorry, it’s just that I want to do something and I don’t know if I should.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Call my mother.” She turned her head to him. “Today’s her birthday.”

“Oh, let me be cautious and call Duane to see if I can’t call my father using my phone.

Last I heard, your mother was still with my father.

” She nodded as he pulled his phone out of his shirt pocket and talked quietly.

Five minutes later he looked at her with a grin.

“We’re good to go. Do you want to dial, or do you want me to do it? ”

“Could you? You can catch up with your father, then hand the phone to me and Mom.”

“Okay,” Caleb said as he dialed, then smiled when his father answered.

“Dad, you’re on speaker and I’m not alone.”

“Oh, who are you with?”

“Katherine, Ilsa’s daughter.”

“Ilsa’s right here,” he said, and Katherine hadn’t realized she had tears streaming down her face at her mother’s first word.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom. I’m safe, what about you?”

“Bored out of my freaking mind, but I’m good. I’m safe too.”

“Mrs. Miller?” Caleb said, and nodded when he was told her to call her by her first name. “Thank you, I’m Caleb, by the way. I can attest that Katherine is safe and sound. Starting tomorrow, she’ll be busy.” He looked at her with a grin. “I’m opening my practice.”

“Oh, your Dad told me about what you’re doing. Good for you.”

“Thank you. Dad, I have a message for you, and it might help Ilsa with her boredom.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you remember Duane Manchester from when you were here briefly.”

“Yes, I’ve been in contact with him a couple of times.”

“Good. He told me to tell you to call him. But I can give you a heads up.”

“What’s that?” both Kevin and Ilsa asked.

“There will be a man by the name of Jason Black that will be reaching out to you and Ilsa in the next couple of days. I don’t know for sure when.”

“Who is he?”

“Duane has his information and will be sending it to you via e-mail in the next couple of hours. Basically, he’s a lawyer with the DOD, which is the Department of Defense in Washington DC.

He’s friends with some guys here, and also Duane.

Don’t ask me how, just that they know one another.

Because of Katherine recognizing Duane’s Director Grayson as George Babcock, he talked to this friend.

He’s an extremely high-powered lawyer and he is going to take the case. ”

“What case?” Ilsa asked. “As far as I know, no charges have been filed yet.”

“No, and again, according to Duane, they don’t want to go after Grayson/Babcock until all the legal ducks are in a row, then they’ll come after him guns blazing.”

“What about Larry Mason?”

“Who’s that?”

“He was my husband on paper only. I’ve started the divorce proceedings, and because I’m a lawyer, I know how to work the system so that I can get a divorce without him knowing of my whereabouts. I’ve worked with plenty of victims of domestic violence that I can do this.”

“Ah, I understand, and I can’t remember what exactly, but when Katherine freaked out at seeing Grayson/Babcock there was another guy with him.”

“Mom, it was Larry with George. Duane said that Larry was a high up supervisor in the FBI, and was one of the people that kicked Duane out when George was promoted to the director. Duane also believes that Larry and George are shaking down the drug dealers to line their own pockets.”

“Oh, dear Lord.”

“Yes. Do you have any papers from my trial?”

“I have the entire case with me, why?”

“I have a feeling that’s why Mr. Black will be coming to you. He wants the original files because some of the information he received is, what’s the word? It’s all blacked out.”

“Redacted. Does this Jason Black think he’s going to try you again? Because he can’t, or he would be doing double jeopardy.”

“I don’t think so,” Caleb said. “I believe he’s coming to read the original file, gather more information, get a strategy together, and then go after Babcock, or whatever his name is, and Mason, along with any other agents or local police officers that are in cahoots with them.”

“So, this is big?” Kevin asked.

“I don’t know for sure, but it has the potential to be.”

“Think of it like this, Mr. Lassiter,” Katherine said on a sigh.

“Someone from the FBI is accusing me of something I didn’t do.

I have already been on trial for the same thing, I was found innocent, and because of things revealed at the trial, the prosecutor pressed charges against Michael.

He was found guilty of the charges he accused me of.

It was him and Steph’s parents that accused me.

I don’t know if it was written in the papers from the trial, but at one point it was revealed that Michael said that because of his father’s position with the FBI, he could get away with murder, and no one would touch him. ”

“Are you kidding me?”

“It’s in the video tape from the accident,” Ilsa said.

“Kevin, you read the entire file, but you didn’t watch the video from the dash cameras Katherine had installed in her car.

She only did it when she felt someone was using her car without her permission.

I don’t mean to be graphic here, but while Stephanie lay on the hood of the car, naked, after flying through the windshield from the impact of the accident Michael caused, he was getting dressed, he was naked too, he was also laughing like a loon, and yelling at Katherine, telling her that he was going to have the book thrown at her because he was untouchable. ”

“Where is he now?” Caleb asked, and looked at her in shock.

“Doing life in a maximum-security prison for one count of murder, and one count of attempted murder. During his trial, the jury deemed him responsible because he was the one hitting me in the back of the head as I was driving down the road.”

“Shit,” Kevin said. “I’ll have to look at them. Like Ilsa said, I’ve read everything, I haven’t had time to watch anything.” They were silent for a good two minutes before he spoke again. “Are you sure you’re safe?”

“I am. Like I said earlier, I’m land locked.”

“What’s that mean?” Ilsa asked.

“I’m at a ranch within a ranch that has no outside access to it without going through the other ranches.”

“I’ll explain it to you,” Kevin said.

“Mom, can I say something?” Katherine looked at Caleb with a grin.

“Sure, Sweetie, what is it?”

“Happy birthday.”

“But it’s not… oh, crap, it is my birthday today, isn’t it.”

“Yep, I wish I could celebrate it with you. It isn’t every day that you turn forty-nine for the first time.”

“Me too, but as long as you’re safe, and we can do what we have to get Michael’s father and Larry behind bars, I’ll be happy to celebrate later. How about this, we’ll have a big celebration once those assholes are sentenced.”

“Deal.” They laughed and talked for a few more minutes before they hung up the phone. Katherine leaned against Caleb’s shoulder and sighed in contentment when he wrapped his arm around her.

“Thank you,” she sighed heavily. “I needed to hear her voice.”

“I understand, and you’re welcome.” They sat there for a few more minutes before Caleb cleared his throat.

“What?”

“Tomorrow I open my office, I’m kind of scared. I’ve never done something like this before. I always worked for someone else.”

“Do you have any patients?”

“Not yet, however, I did go to the local hospitals and doctor offices and talked with them. I’m on a referral system.

I know it might be out of pity, but some of the guys say they’ll stop over in the next couple of weeks to see if I can’t work some kinks out of them.

” He looked at her with a grin. “Will you be able to help in the office, I’ll hire you, if I need it, or until I get so busy I have to hire someone permanent.

I don’t know what you do for Erin and if you’ll have time for me. ”

“I can work with Naomi in the mornings, and you in the afternoons for now. This is what I do, there is a website for Broken, the rehabilitation part, and if anyone fills out an application, Duane and I go through it, he does the background check on the family, I talk with the doctors to see what type of services the clients need.” She paused and looked at him with wide eyes. “Holy shit.”

“What?”

“Naomi showed me a stack of applications that they put on hold because the client would need physical therapy while they were here. I think it never really dawned on us that that is what you do.”

“Wow, I could be their therapist, I could talk with the client’s family, get the information from them, and together we can work up a plan for the client. I don’t want to have any client rejected because of no therapist.”

“I’ll remind Naomi about it tomorrow when I go into work. Right now it’s only four potential clients. It won’t be like these people will be knocking down your door to get in. I didn’t mean to sound harsh.”

“You didn’t, and I understand.” They sat there watching the scenery until Caleb cleared his throat. He didn’t speak until she looked directly at him.

“What?”

“I want to put something on the table.”

“Oh?”