Resolutions
Chapter Eleven
The weekend went by faster then anyone would have imagined. With lost skiers and ice fishermen treading on thin ice no one had any time to worry about anything other then the job at hand. Monday started off as all Jess's mornings did, in the bathroom puking her guts out. Matt made coffee and was in the kitchen when Jess finally made it downstairs.
"Morning sunshine."
"Bite me Matt." Jess smiled and poured herself a cup of coffee.
"How was your weekend? I barley saw you unless you were handing me another skier to locate."
"Lot's of answering phones. I haven't seen Cody. Did he ever make it back from Lake Jen?"
"As far as I know. You lost Cody?" Jess smiled.
"You're the boss around here. I may have sent him out but you have to check him back in." Cody came though the door. "Oh look, the prodigal son returns." Cody looked at his sister.
"Good morning to you too." He got a cup and grabbed some coffee.
"Forget to tell big brother you got home last night?" He looked at Matt.
"I left a message with…Cooper. Matt you got to get that boy some office skills if you're going to leave him alone at night. I got in about one. Royce and a few of the guys from his construction company he works for took a look at Aaron's place."
"How much is it going to take to fix?" Matt asked
"About seven grand. The walls and stuff need to be bleached to stop the mold from forming." Jess looked at Cody.
"Will they start the work when the first thaw hits?"
"Even before that if Jen wants them to." Jess made herself a piece of toast. "Feeling better little sister?"
"Yeah. This morning wasn't too bad. I only puked for an hour instead of two." Sitting down next to Cody she handed him a plate of sweet rolls. "Mom sent them up this morning. I managed to rescue a couple for you."
"Should I ask you what you want before I eat one of these and commit myself to something I may not want to do?" Jess smiled.
"I don't want anything from you. Try to do something nice for some people." Jess stood up and headed upstairs. "See you guys later." Matt looked at his brother.
"You still haven't learned have you Cody?"
"Apparently not." He took a sweet roll and stood up. "I'm in my hole if you need me." He headed to the weather room. Robin walked in.
"Hey."
"Hi. You left early this morning." She poured herself a cup of coffee.
"I had to clean the barn. It's my day."
"You could have woken me up. I would have helped." Matt smiled but didn't look up from his paper.
"Like the barn would have ever gotten cleaned."
"It might have." She sat across from him. "How's Jess?"
"Better I think. She was downstairs before lunch."
"That's something. Anything going this morning?"
"Not yet but the days still young." Matt looked up. "Why don't you come to my place tonight and I'll cook you dinner." Robin smiled.
"I'd like that."
"Good." He stood up and went around the table. He kissed Robin. "Seven."
"Okay." Matt went to his office and shut the door.
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Jess went to the barn and was brushing her stallion when Cody came in.
"He misses you." Jess looked up.
"I know I should take him out but my shoulder's still a little stiff."
"Yeah, he'll want to run like the wind the minute you saddle him." Cody went to Libby and her foal. "You think Ava will be able to ride him when he's old enough?"
"If he's anything like his father maybe not." Jess handed Cody a carrot from her pocket. "Cody…" Jess looked at her brother. "I'm sorry I've been on edge lately. I keep remembering things."
"Remembering things? What things?"
"About Lee and Hale." He looked at Jess.
"You don't have to tell me Jess, but I would really like to know."
"They never hit me. They pretty much ignored me. The summer was the only time I knew any kind of love." She turned and started brushing her horse again. "They just didn't love me."
"You know that wasn't true Jess."
"I know she didn't want me. If it wasn't for you she would have gotten rid of me. This family showed me how to love. Lee and Hale gave me nothing."
"They gave you life. They gave you to us." Cody walked behind his sister. He put his hands on her shoulders and whispered in her ear. "If it wasn't for that things around here would not be the same little sister. Just remember that." He kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the barn and hopped he could make her see that no matter how bad those first few years were, it was the years she spent with them that made her who she was today.
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Jess put a pan in the over. It was nearly six and all but Matt and Robin were in the building. Cooking for ten wasn't a fun thing for her but it kept her busy. Starting the beginning of the year they would be starting twenty four on and twenty four off shifts to see how it worked out. Maybe she should take her mother up on those cooking lessons. Cutler came in the kitchen.
"Practicing for married life I see." He grabbed a soda.
"Yeah taking care of you ingrates I should be training for the circus." She turned and put the potato's to boil.
"If you need to talk more about…you know what we talked about the other night. I'm here Jess." She looked at him.
"Thanks. I think I'm working it all out." Jess sat across from him. "You know I never realized how much I repressed about that life till now."
"You didn't want it to interfere with what you remember. I did that a lot as a kid. I remembered the few great times so the bad times wouldn't seem so bad. If there's anything you need to talk about Jess you know you can talk to me." She smiled.
"I know. You know better then anybody you can't out run your child hood." Jess looked at one of the people who had made her childhood here worth remembering. "Thanks for being there when I needed you."
"You've always been there for me Jess." He stood up. "I'm going to take a walk. You know where to find me if you need anything." He got up and grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.
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Cody stood by the front window holding Colton. The snow started again and it was going to be a long couple of days. Ava sat at her table in the corner and colored. Cody watched her as she painstakingly colored all the flowers on the page. She looked so much like Sarah. The boys kind of looked like baby pictures of Matt. Putting his son in his playpen with his brother Cody grabbed his jacket, told Sarah he'd be back and went to the garage. Going up in the attic he found the boxes Jess had said contained Hale's journals. There were three boxes marked with 'Save for Jess'.
"Hey!" Cody jumped and turned around.
"Matt. Damn you."
"Sarah said you were out here. What there aren't enough Christmas decorations around this place?"
"Don't worry I won't make you place look any more like Scrooge lives there. I was looking to see if there was any baby pictures of Jess in her boxes that mom kept for her."
"I know she has some of the three of us in her room. From like when she was five or six and with the five of us."
"What parent doesn't take a picture of their kid? Mom must have a million of us. And I know we have tons of Jess from those summers."
"Mom always made sure she went home with some every year."
"Yeah," Cody looked at his brother. "I remember she clung to those things like they were a life line." Matt looked down.
"Maybe they were." He took the last three steps up into the attic and grabbed the closest box and opened the lid. There was a doll and some papers. Matt shuffled though them looking for the photos his brother seemed almost desperate to find. "Just papers and Hale's journals."
"Some cards and letters, no pictures." The last box was sealed. Taped shut tighter then any box he's ever seen. He took his knife off his belt and started to cut the tape.
"It's sealed for a reason Toad." He turned to look at his brother.
"I already know all her secrets."
"You think you know all her secrets." Cody cut open the top of the box.
"Whatever it is it stays in my attic." Opening the lid he pushed aside the paper. There were pictures. Lots of them. Vacations, Christmas, parties and weddings. Cody turned them over and in small petite handwriting were dates. Eighteen years of Hale and Lee McCormick. Cody looked deeper into the box. "There isn't one of her. Most of these were taken after she was born." Matt came next to him. He pulled out more and more pictures. Most dated after nineteen seventy five.
"There's not even one when she was pregnant." Matt knew that his father's favorite picture of their mother was one taken when she was pregnant with Cody. It sat on his desk for most of his career. Cody also had one of Sarah on the couch at his parents with Ava's head on her rounded belly.
"I hoped she would remember them for her baby's sake but the more I know about them the less I want that for her."
"Not even dad knows what kind of people they were." Matt found pictures of his parents with Lee and Hale. Under them was a journal. He read the front. Nineteen seventy six, the year Jess was born.
"You just going to sit there or are you going to read it." Cody looked at his brother. Matt paged thought it and stopped on the date he was looking for. August nineteenth, nineteen seventy six. He skimmed down the page. Shaking his head he looked at his brother. "Put it back, seal it and bury it under every box you can find." Cody took the book from him and turned to the page.
'She was born today. Lee wanted a boy so bad when he saw her he walked out. I don't know what to do now. I can't give her away, people would talk. What do I do with a child? I was never meant to be a mother. She's cries and fusses and she's only hours old. How can I deal with this when I need to take care of Lee and the firm? She'll only hold us back. I never should have had her. I should have taken care of her like I did the others. Now the expense of a nanny will make Lee angrier.' My God Matt these aren't the people I remember coming up here in the summer."
"I know. I don't what to tell you. I remember what you do. Kissing Jess good-bye. Telling her they would miss her." Matt sat back and leaned against the boxes. "I wonder if she ever read that one?"
"I don't think so. I think she would have told me if she had. "
"It took her eighteen years to tell you about the other stuff she read."
"This would have come out then too. I don't think she saw this one. It wasn't with the others."
"Let's keep it that way. Cody I know this would kill Jess even if she's over her parents crap. Hide it, burn it, do what you have to but she can't ever read that. God knows what's in the others." Cody nodded and grabbed the duct tape off the rafter and sealed as tightly as he had found it.
"Do you think dad and mom know?"
"If they do they're keeping it to themselves." Matt looked at the far wall. "Sometimes you wonder why kids like Jess get parents like Hale and Lee. They'd don't deserve to be born into that."
"Jess was feeling down about that today. She was angry because they didn't have to have her."
"What did you tell her?"
"That if they hadn't, we wouldn't have gotten her." Matt looked at his little brother.
"Our lives would have been a lot different if Jess hadn't come to live." Cody smiled.
"You would never have had a broken jaw."
"Cody, I will deny ever saying this but I wouldn't trade that broken jaw for anything if it meant not having Jess. I wouldn't trade anything for our time with her." Cody looked at Matt.
"Me either." He looked at the box. "This never leaves this attic."
"Never." They both got up and Cody piled boxes on top of the evil they had found and they headed downstairs. Jess would never know anymore about her parents other then any past medical worries, Cody, Matt and Jesse Hawkes would see to it.
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The week was busy and the box up in Cody's garage was all but forgotten. Winter break was starting and skiers from all over the world were heading to the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a white Christmas. Jen and her family would be arriving on Monday and Derek on Tuesday. The weekend looked busy for the lodge so Jess knew it would be a busy weekend for the Rangers. On Friday she was decorating the tree in the station when a call came in.
"Ranger station, how can I help you?"
"Jess its Sheriff Mac."
"Hi Sheriff, what can I do for you this blissfully cold day."
"I have a group of ice fishermen who went into Desolation three days ago. They're only six hours over due but I got Cody's weather report and if it's right, and I know your brother is always right, if they don't get out soon they won't get out alive." Jess grabbed the weather reports Cody put on her desk less then a half hour ago.
"Okay I'll get the boys on it. Just give me a point they headed to and we'll take it from there."
"Thanks Jess. It sure is a nice day to go flying." Jess laughed.
"Yes it is." Jess hung up and hit three pager buttons. Matt came in. "Mac's got a group of fishermen late in get back from Desolation. He's worried they won't get out before the storm." Cody and Izzy came up behind him.
"Have Cutler man the radio. Jess you get the chopper ready and Cody gas up the snowmobiles. Izzy grab the packs. I don't want to be stuck out there unprepared." They all moved quickly and with an efficiency of years of working together. The Rangers were in for a long week end. Jess grabbed her jacket and headed to the helicopter pad and thanked God she got all the wedding plans she could done.
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It was noon and the clouds were thick and fluffy. Jess flew at tree level checking ever little lake, stream and pond in the large wilderness area.
"Lady Hawk to Flying Tiger."
"Go Lady Hawk."
"They headed south from Loon Lake toward Chipmunk Bluff."
"Why would they head that way. Ice House Road's been closed since the last snow storm."
"Who knows what a bunch of fishermen are thinking? I'm going to heading toward Angel Creek."
"Okay. Take it slow. I don't want to miss anything. We're headed toward Ice House Road. We'll follow that and see if we can pick up any tracks."
"I'll tell you what I find when I get to Angel Creek."
"Okay. Keep in radio contact. I want to get us out of here before dark." Jess knew Matt hated Desolation in the day time but he truly despised it in the dark. Desolation was no place for armatures. Jess flew low and kept to the roads and trails. The snow was white and beautiful. Until it turned red.
"Flying Tiger we got a man down a half mile south of Angel Creek. I'm looking for a place to land."
"On our way Lady Hawk." Jess made three passes before she found a rock formation flat enough to land on. She could see the man laying a hundred yards away.
"Take it slow Matt. We don't know what you're walking into."
"You see anything when you were up?"
"Just the body."
"Okay, just keep your eyes open."
"Watch your six big brother. I don't like the feeling I'm getting."
"Damn it Jess Cody just said the same thing. I didn't plan for this to be anything more then a walk in the woods."
"I did. I packed vests in the rack."
"Have I told you that you're the best lately?" Jess smiled.
"It's always nice to here."
"I'm assuming since you packed ours, you're wearing yours?"
"My Kevlar is like my American Express, I don't leave home without it."
"Paranoia suites you Jess."
"Runs in the family. Tell Ace to strap his tight, it'll help his ribs." Jess kept scanning the horizon and beyond. She saw Matt and the others coming from the south. Sliding out of the driver's seat she slid her twenty two in her boot and grabbed the rifle from behind the seat. "Lady Hawk to base."
"Flash here Lady Hawk."
"Have the sheriff fax you the names of those fisher men. Run them all."
"You got it."
"Call Frank and have him stand by."
"He's already here."
"Okay stand by base." Jess took one step at a time off the rock. She hadn't seen the man move since she landed. Matt and Cody were pulling up next to him as Jess watched the tree line. "Get up and out boys I don't like sitting in the open like this." Cody checked his pulse.
"Nothing." He turned the man over and his left side of his face was gone. "Damn."
"Somebody wanted this guy gone." Izzy brought the gurney and Matt and Cody scooped the man up and put him in it. "What if we have five more bodies out here?" Jess looked around.
"Worse yet what if we only find four more bodies."
"You'd rather a random sniper?" Cody looked around. "There's no tracks other then his for yards. He was running." Jess looked at the man.
"He turned and they shot him." She looked at the three men. "Let's get this guy loaded and get out of here. I can look for their tracks when I'm up in the air."
"Jess we can do this easier on the ground." She looked at Matt.
"Just be careful." She went back to the helicopter. "I'll scan the area the best I can and meet you at Wentworth Spring Road where it runs into Forestry Road Three. I'll have the Sheriff meet us there."
"Okay." Matt looked at his sister and brother. They had the look that he never wanted to see on both those faces at the same time. "Watch your backs and spread out. I want to get the hell out of here before dark." They loaded up the body and went back to the snowmobiles. Jess got in and started the helicopter. She watched the horizon. Something wasn't right. Jess hated when she couldn't shake a feeling.
"Lady Hawk to base."
"Go ahead Lady Hawk."
"Anything on those men?"
"All upstanding law abiding boring men of the community."
"Tell the sheriff to meet us at Wentworth Spring Road where it meets FR Three."
"You got it."
"Tell them to bring the coroner with them."
"You found one of them dead?"
"Could be." She took off and started looking for the tracks of the fishermen. "When you call the sheriff tell him to see if any of the men were carrying guns."
"You got it." Jess followed the trail the best she could and as low as she could.
"Flying Tiger I have…five men a half mile south of your position. They look cold and wet but take it easy. We don't know if they are armed." Jess swung out and the men were huddled together. They looked frightened even when she got on the loud speaker and identified herself. Matt, Cody, and Izzy pulled up.
"Take the body to the sheriff and head back here Jess. We need to get these guys out of here before they freeze." She heard Matt say.
"I'll be back in ten minutes. Keep an eye out boys. We're still not out of the woods yet." She turned and headed toward the rendezvous point and prayed when she came back everything was as quiet as when she left.
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The five men were huddled together as Matt got off his snowmobile. He motioned to Izzy and Cody to stay behind him.
"We're here to help." One man looked up.
"Is Charlie okay? We didn't mean to leave him but he got turned around and we lost him."
"What happened?"
"We were going back to our truck and it was gone. Charlie started walking us out but the road was closed and we got turned around and a shot rang out and we all scattered."
"Okay. You're safe now. Our helicopter is bringing your friend to the sheriff and she'll be back."
"Is Charlie okay?
"No. We need to get you out of here and find out what happened."
"We never saw him." Cody was slowly retracing their tracks. He walked slowly back toward Matt.
"It's a clear path I only see five sets of tracks." Matt turned and whispered to his brother.
"You and Jess get these guys out of here and we'll worry about the shooter when those guys are safely with the sheriff. I don't want any of us alone with these guys."
"Okay." Cody heard the helicopter. "I'll asses them and see who needs to get warmer faster." Matt grabbed his arm.
"Pat them down if you can. Discreetly."
"You got it." Matt watched as Jess desended to the snow covered road a quarter of a mile south. He turned on his radio and walked toward her.
"Jess, I'm sending Cody and the first three fishermen to you. Keep them in your sights I don't trust them."
"You and me both. When the sheriffs boys were unloading our dead friend they found a twenty two pistol tucked in his jacket. They never registered it with the sheriff when they got their permits."
"I want them to the sheriff and out of our hands as soon as you possibly can."
"You know me Matt. The sooner I can get my…rear out of the line of fire the better I like it." Matt went back to Cody. "Take the three worse off and head to Jess." Cody looked at his brother and barley moved his head. Both brothers had their guns drawn on the five men before they could even blink. Izzy wasn't far behind.
"Okay boys, hands up and this is the way we're going to work things. My friend Izzy here is going to pat you all down and put all your toys in one pile. If one of you even flinches the blond in the helicopter will shoot your head off your shoulders." They turned to see Jess rifle raised.