Chapter 25

The next morning Cody and Jen were going to sit down with Matt to provide him with the grant proposal they had been working on. Jen would like to stay in the area if she can find some work. So, Jen was going to talk to Matt about the Office Administrator Job. She has some experience in that area and would be qualified for the job. But since she was hiding from her husband, she had to be careful. She has not used her real name in over 10 years. Since her husband was a cop, she was sure that he was monitoring any changes in her record. Any background checks would alert him. He has tracked her down before and she was sure he still would.

Cody and Jen walked into the ranger station to meet with Matt.

"Hey, David is my brother in?" Cody asked.

David responded, "Yeah, back in his office, he is expecting you."

They walked into Matt's office.

"Take a seat, what brings the two of you in today?" Matt asked.

Jen started, "As you know I have been reviewing the various grant proposals you had given me. I did not find anything I thought the Rangers would be qualified for in the pile. I did some research on-line to see what other grants that were available. I found one that I thought might work. It is for a ranger substation. When I looked at the qualification for the substation, I saw that my grandfather's lodge would meet the criteria.

When my grandfather died, and I inherited the lodge. I did not plan on ever coming back. I was young and just getting started in life. I had paid the property taxes on the lodge at first and then stopped. There has been a lean on the property for years. In the spring they will be auctioning the property off to the highest bidder. I don't want to see the property go to someone who won't appreciate it or tear it down to build some big high rise. I did some research on what my options would be. I can sign away my rights to the property to the High Mountain Rangers prior to the auction. If the rangers than pay the back taxes, they would own the property. I found a grant that would cover the expenses of the back taxes, cost of the repairs and money to modernize it. Like adding solar panels to provide electricity. There would be money for a barn and place to land the chopper.

Jen handed Matt the proposal, Matt asked, "Jen are you sure you want to give up the property?"

Jen responded back, "If I could keep it, I would, but I don't have the money for the repairs or to pay for the back taxes. I think this is the best option for the situation. My grandfather would hate it if this place went to someone who did not appreciate it or commercialized it. I know the rangers would appreciate it. It is something we think would help them in search and rescue situations. The lodge fits the criteria for this grant. I leaned a lot on Cody and his experience as a ranger to put the benefits of having a substation would be for the rangers."

Matt said, "I would agree with what you said. I will review the proposal. I will have to run it by the board if this is a direction they want to go. If they are okay with it, I will submit it to the grant team as soon as possible. Hopefully, we will be accepted. Anything else?"

Jen and Cody looked at each other, Jen little apprehensive. "Yes, I saw that you were looking for an officer manager / administrative clerk. I have experience working in this area and have a bit of IT background too."

"That would be great, we are in need, with the new Commander we want to change up the position. We want someone who can manage the office work and take it away from the commander. The job also includes manning the radio at times and some cooking of meals," Matt explained. He noticed that Cody put this hand on Jen's hand, and he gave it a squeeze. "You will need to fill out an application and the standard background check." Matt noticed Jen tensed up. Cody was holding on to her hand tight. Jen looked over to Cody.

"It's okay, you can trust him," Cody said. Jen paused and just looked at Cody.

"What's going on guys?" Matt asked.

Jen took a deep breath and turned to Matt. "My name is not Jen Montgomery. My name is Jen McGovern. My husband is officer Roy McGovern of the Miami Police Department. When I discovered I was pregnant with Hailey, I left him." Jen told Matt her story of how she met Roy, how she fell in love with him, and they were soon married. She explained how he set her up when some key evidence against her former employer was removed under her credentials at the police station. Roy had used her weaknesses, insecurities against her. He began to control every aspect of her life. Matt was in shock; this was not what he was expecting to hear. Jen stopped and looked at Cody. Jen did not want to go on. Cody whispered words of encouragement to her. So, she was able to go on and turned back to Matt.

"Earlier in our marriage I got pregnant. I thought he would be happy, but he got so angry that I would dare to get pregnant without his permission. He threw me down the stairs, I broke my arm, and it caused me to have a miscarriage. He convinced everyone I was hurting myself and threw myself down the stairs as I did not want the baby. I would have never hurt my child." Jen said wiping the tears from her eyes. She starting to look down in shame.

"Could you report him to the hospital or his captain?" Matt asked.

"I tried, but he was a cop, they listened to him and did not believe me. He told the hospital staff I was hurting myself. They believed him. I could not go to his captain as Roy said the evidence, he had against me would come out and I would be arrested and go to prison." Jen said looking up. She paused a bit more and Cody squeezed her hand some more. "By the time I got pregnant with Hailey I was pretty much dead inside. Roy was not just physically and mentally abusive, he…. he… Anytime he wanted me, he had me, I try to tell him to stop, but he just hurt me more. He said I was his wife and he owned me. When I discovered I was pregnant with Hailey, I knew I had to get out of there to save my baby. I had no money or anything. I spent time searching for bank account information, anything I could find to get my hands on it. One day I was able to get into his safe. I found ten thousand dollars, evidence against the employer and evidence that he was receiving payments from my former employer. A few days later I left and never turned back. I've been running from him since."

Cody whispered in her ear, "You did good". He gave her a side hug and smiled at her. She smiled back. As he wiped her tears away.

"Did you ever try to divorce him?" Matt asked.

"Yes, when I first left him. I was living in Nebraska at the time. I was four months pregnant with Hailey. I filed for divorce. He tracked me down there. I managed to get away, but I heard my lawyer died from a hit and run accident. From information Cody found, he never signed it. I had never even dared to look," Jen said.

"Matt, this is the file of information that I was able to pick up on him," Cody said as he handed Matt the file.

"Do I want to know how you got this?" Matt asked.

"No, so don't ask," Cody smiled.

"Give me an hour to wrap my head around this," Matt said. "But I think we need to let the other rangers know to look out for him. But we don't need to tell them your whole story."

An hour later Matt had gathered all the rangers in the living room of the station, Cody and Jen were present.

"You all remember Jen Montgomery and she has a ten-year-old daughter Hailey," Matt reminded them. Everyone agreed. Pointing to the screen. "This is Roy McGovern, Jen's estrange husband. He is a Miami police officer. He is extremely dangerous, if you come across him, don't approach him alone. Notify me or Josh immediately. We don't expect him to show up here, but if he does. We wanted to make you aware."

"Is he Hailey's father?" David asked.

Jen said, "Yes, but I left him before I told him. So, I don't know if he knows. Also, Hailey believes her father died a couple months before she was born. And his name was Colin McCoy."

"Anyone have any questions?" Matt asked. No one answered. "You are all dismissed."

Cody gave Jen an embrace when they were thru, "You did good kid."

The rangers really liked Jen and would like to help her. Matt could not hire Jen without the background check. But Matt will investigate the grant for the ranger substation, but it will take some time.