The Cabin …
Ray sat on the couch in the living room, his arm around Maggie as Dief and Aurora sprawled in front of the fire lazily. They'd wondered if they should wait supper on Fraser but Ray voted for food and the sooner the better. Maggie shook her head. As long as she'd known him, Ray Kowalski had had a zest for food. Not a single pound of it seemed to stick.
"It's getting late, do you think Benton is alright?" Maggie asked after a sip of hot chocolate. She pulled her feet up beneath her on the old couch.
"Yeah, Fraser's fine." Ray shrugged, running his hand through his wife's soft, thick hair.
"I'm concerned about whatever it is Inspector Thatcher's keeping from us." Maggie laced the fingers of her right hand with Ray's. She loved how they fit together so naturally.
"You think the Ice Queen's gonna end up hurtin' him, don't you." Ray sighed, he'd lived through the after effects of the first time Ben and Meg had parted ways.
"Yes, I think it's a very real possibility." Maggie turned to get a better look at her hubby's face in the fire light. She knew from first hand experience what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you thought you knew. Her first marriage had been based on a deception.
"Fraser ain't goin' into this thing with his eyes shut, Maggie. This ain't his first rodeo with Thatcher. When he took that leave of absence, she could have come clean with him, he could have done the same. Neither of them did." Ray pointed out.
"Love has a way of blinding people, even Benton. He apprehended Victoria Metcalf and she was put in prison for ten years, he was still drawn into her deception in Chicago." Maggie countered. Ray had to concede the point. He knew as well as anyone that when love was in play, anything could happen to anyone, especially someone as in-control as Benton Fraser.
"Were you able to find anything on Ambrose McConaughey?" Maggie asked, changing the subject. Her instincts told her that he wasn't what he wanted people to think.
"Yep, he has a file dating back to his late teens. McConaughey's grandfather founded the mining company, working his son like a slave until it took off. The father took it over in the seventies and Ambrose in the late nineties, when his father had a fishy kind of hunting accident. Since then, the company's profits have soared. There's a stack of environmental reports three inches thick sayin' McConaughey's suspected of cuttin' corners. There's also a file just as thick of complaints from the local yokels about how he goes about trying to buy their land. This guy's a real piece of work." Ray gave her the gist of his research.
Aurora stood up, staring at the front door. She turned back to Maggie as if to say 'He's home'.
"What is it girl, is Benton home?" Aurora wagged her tail in response. The front door opened and Fraser stepped inside to four pairs of expectant eyes.
"Hey, Buddy, house call run long?" Ray greeted him, a devilish twinkle in his light eyes. Maggie nudged him in the ribs.
"Inspector Thatcher and I had a lengthy conversation after dinner." He seemed weary to the bone. Diefenbaker came over to his human and began sniffing him. The old wolf could smell the scent of The Inspector's fabric softener on him and something else.
"So, you and Thatcher had dinner, alone, in her apartment then?" Ray asked, needling his old friend. The Mountie gave him a reproving stare as he hung his Stetson on a nail beside the door.
"Inspector Thatcher is an excellent cook." Fraser pulled a kitchen chair over to the living area and took a seat.
"What did you talk about, if I may?" Maggie cut to the chase. She studied her brother's face, trying to guess what had happened.
"The Inspector told me the particulars about her assignment with the CSIS and the time afterward. She's been through quite an ordeal." Fraser took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, rubbing his eyes as if to remove a bad image.
"I pulled as much about Thatcher as I could, everything about those missing years is locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I tried to get into her medical files, got the same results." Ray shrugged.
"The bulk of those years is irrelevant to the case at hand. The attempts on Inspector Thatcher's life may have something to do with McConaughey Mining. She mentioned that Ambrose McConaughey had vowed to see her out of office. That corroborates what Constable Hansen told us."
"We should see who's on McConaughey's payroll. I'll pull those files tomorrow and begin a thorough background check on each of them." Maggie volunteered. She knew that Hansen wouldn't mind helping and she intended to use his knowledge of the local social climate to her advantage.
"I'll call and see what progress has been made on the Jeep's forensics." Fraser added.
"Where does that leave me?" Ray whined playfully.
"You get to be Benton's partner again for tomorrow." Maggie leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled.
Ambrose McConaughey's Office …
Seven- thirty wasn't all that early for Omar to be at work. He'd woken up hours earlier, taking his sniper rifle into the woods behind the mining company's bunk house. He'd always been an early riser. It wasn't hard to get on up after having a gut wrenching nightmare at least twice a week since he was nine.
Since the day he'd watched his uncle be beheaded for aiding that Canadian woman, he'd been planning his retribution on Meg Thatcher. He'd studied night and day to earn a degree in engineering. He knew the only way he could find her was to get out of the Middle East. The missionaries that had taken him in supported him through college. Their counterparts in Canada had helped him immigrate to Canada. He'd lied to everyone, telling them he wanted to find Meg Thatcher to say thank you for helping him out of Iraq as a child. After two years of searching high and low, he'd found her in Spencer Falls. The young man began going by his middle name- Bilal or Bill, for short. He didn't care what they called him, as long as he could get close enough to Meg Thatcher to get a clean shot.
"Hey, Bilal, meet me up at the front office, okay?" Ambrose called over the radio as the young man drove up the mountain to the mining works.
"I'll be there in a minute." Omar Bilal responded stopping along the gravel road and navigating the big, Ford Superduty into a wide spot to turn around.
Fifteen minutes later, Omar Bilal pulled the truck into the lot in front of the cement block building. He slid out, his boots hitting the loose gravel. He knew that Ambrose McConaughey was pissed that he hadn't taken The Inspector out with the ambush.
"Bilal, come in." Ambrose shouted from inside the building. His tone confirmed that the mine owner was unhappy. The young man sighed as he took the steps two at a time.
"Mr. McConaughey, good morning." Omar Bilal pasted a smile on his dark features.
"Sit down, Bilal, we need to talk before everyone gets in for work." Ambrose leaned forward on his desk, his long shirt sleeves rolled up as usual. "You've tried four times to kill that bitch, Meg Thatcher, now I want to know why she isn't planted somewhere beneath a marble headstone." Ambrose growled, his eyes as cold as any Canadian winter wind.
"Thatcher is hard to kill. Her Mountie friend managed to use the vehicle as a shield day before yesterday when I ambushed them. My next attempt will be much more personal. No one will stop me next time." Omar Bilal answered with as much warmth as Ambrose felt for the pain in the ass inspector.
"You'd better get her this time, or I'll take matters into my own hands." Ambrose leaned back, his arms crossed over his chest. He was a master businessman but he didn't mind getting down and dirty one in a while.
"I understand, Mr. McConaughey." Omar Bilal nodded solemnly then rose from the metal folding chair and walked out of the office. Ambrose didn't like the young man's snotty attitude. After he took care of Meg Thatcher, Ambrose planned on taking care of Omar Bilal, he was a loose end.
After the Flashback …
Meg redressed the gouge marks on the palms of her hands with band-aids, hoping that no one would notice the new wounds and ask questions. It was enough to explain about the scratches on her face. She sat smiling at her dressing table.
"He left handedly admitted he loves me." The Inspector thought as she pinned a section of her hair back from her face with bobby pins. It felt so good to hear, even in a round about way, after so long alone. There had been dates and relationships over the years but none of them progressed very far. No one was Benton Fraser.
With a dreamy smile, Meg finished her morning routine, wanting to arrive early. She knew that Fraser would be there well before his shift was to start. It was the first time in ages that she felt excited to go to work. She ran her hands over her khaki slacks, straightening the pleat with her fingers. The mint green blouse she wore was comfortable but also flattered her figure. Meg worked hard to maintain herself physically. She still had numbness in her hands and feet occasionally from being bound for so long. Arthritis was beginning to creep in during the winter as well. Meg didn't let either problem hinder her work. She was just glad she was free and healthy.
The Inspector greeted the day with a smile. She and Fraser had spent quality time talking like they hadn't allowed themselves to before. Thinking over their conversation of the evening before, Meg walked to the post. He was still the same, gentle, intelligent man she'd known in Chicago.
"Good morning, Inspector Thatcher, I hope you're feeling better." Constable Wilder greeted her.
He was a green, young officer when Meg had taken over Spencer Falls. Wilder was quiet but a good officer. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't too fond of having a female superior officer but he'd never given her any trouble about it. For that, she was grateful and tried to be as fair and reasonable as possible.
"Yes, I'm feeling better, thank you, Constable Wilder." Meg nodded as she made her way toward her office. It took her a moment to make out who was standing in the doorway of her office.
"Inspector, hello." Fraser greeted her, his eyes studying her features. He noted her rested appearance and faint blush.
"Constable Fraser, good morning." Meg walked into her office as he stood back to allow her through. She stopped, pinning him against the door frame. Their eyes locked for a moment, neither of them speaking. Meg smiled before moving on into the office.
"Where are Constable Kowalski and Ray this morning?" Meg settled herself at her desk, pulling her glasses out before she turned on the computer. With only a trace of her old vanity, she slid the wire framed spectacles onto her nose.
"Maggie's shift doesn't begin until noon. She and Ray are at the cabin with Dief and Aurora." Ben answered, coming nearer to the desk.
"How is Ben?" Meg asked, still looking at her computer screen. There were a dozen emails from her superiors and very few of them amounted to a hill of beans.
"I spoke to him last night, he's learning to paddle a canoe today. I wanted to say thank you again for arranging for him to go to camp, Inspector." Fraser hated having to call her by her rank now that he could call her 'Meg'.
"Perhaps he could come next year as well." Meg offered, hoping Fraser caught her double meaning.
"Yes, we would both like that." The Mountie answered with a twinkle in his eye. Meg smiled, her heart soaring.
"Excuse me, Sirs, but there's a call for Constable Fraser, from the forensics lab." Wilder said after tapping on the door. He'd seen the way his superior officer and the consulate jockey looked at each other. It chaffed but Wilder had seen Inspector Thatcher in some pretty hairy situations and knew she wouldn't let her emotions over rule her common sense and duty to the RCMP.
"Thank you kindly, Constable Wilder." Fraser nodded, turning, his hands behind his back. He turned back to Meg. "If you'll excuse me, Sir, I've been expecting this call." He smiled at her, lingering on her coy expression before it flashed to her usual professionalism.
"Let me know what the forensics lab says, please, Constable." Meg said, her voice carrying into the main room.
"Hello, Constable Fraser speaking." The Mountie identified himself after he picked up the phone and hit the flashing button for line two. He sat down at the desk and prepared to take notes.
"Compton here, hello." The lab tech greeted him enthusiastically. "I have the ballistics report on the Jeep, it's a World War Two, Russian sniper rifle." Fraser wrote down the information, trying to visualize the weapon in his mind's eye. "The ammunition was hand loaded. Unfortunately, the sniper used gloves because I can't find any fingerprints, not even partials or smudges. I did find trace amounts of labradorite on the casings." Compton's voice reminded Fraser of a child with a new toy.
"Rainbow moonstone," Fraser said mostly to himself.
"Yes, exactly, the very kind found around Spencer Falls." Compton's excitement grew.
"Is there anything else about the casings?" Fraser asked, derailing Compton from giving him a geology lesson. The Mountie had encountered rainbow moonstone among the Inuit. It was held in high esteem in their oral traditions.
"No, nothing special. If I find anything more I'll let you know first thing, Constable Fraser." Compton's eagerness waned after Fraser cut him off.
"Thank you kindly, Officer Compton." Fraser hung up the phone. This was the proof that Meg's assassin was affiliated with McConaughey Mining. Still, it was tenuous at best and he knew it. He hoped that Maggie's efforts would turn up something more concrete.
"Inspector Thatcher?" Fraser interrupted her after tapping on the door. He was greeted with a brief smile.
"Yes, Constable?" She pulled her glasses off and set them on her desk blotter. Once she would have hidden them in her desk drawer. Fraser reminded himself to tell her later how good she looked in her glasses.
"Compton from the forensics lab called, he didn't find fingerprints but he did find traces of rainbow moonstone." Fraser informed her quickly.
"That's one of the gem stones that McConaughey Mining is known for. Do you think the shooter is an employee of the mining company?" Meg spoke in a hushed tone. She and McConaughey had never seen eye to eye but she didn't think it was bad enough for him to want her dead.
"I'm not certain yet, it is common to the area, the shooter could have come into contact with the gem anywhere." The Mountie pointed out logically.
"Yes, I suppose so." Meg still seemed disquieted about the implications. Her training told her he was absolutely right, but her gut told her that it wasn't that cut and dried.
"Maggie's going through the mining company's employee list today, perhaps there's a lead there." Fraser put forth, trying to distract Meg.
"Yes, perhaps." She responded thoughtfully.
"We will get to the bottom of this, Inspector." Benton bent down, leaning both hands on her desk to look her square in the eye.
"I know you will, Fraser." Meg smiled sadly, her eyes clouded. "You always get your man." She said quietly, gazing up into his eyes. Determination shone fiercely in his green eyes.
Author's Note:
Oldershaw, Cally. Guide to Gems. pg. 180. New York. Firefly. 2004