No Easy Way Out

Chapter 16

John felt a deep sense of relief when he heard Kendall say that Sheila had granted Rip a full pardon.

He also knew what a relief it would be for Beth because she loved Rip deeply & couldn't imagine life without him.

Still, John did have some questions.

"How did Sheila come to this decision to pardon Rip?" he asked.

"One of her private investigator friends in Missoula looked into the case," explained Kendall. "He looked at the toxicology report & found that Rip's father had high amounts of drugs & alcohol in his system."

"What kind of drugs?" asked John.

"Vicodin, which is a really powerful & additive painkiller, & cocaine," said Kendall.

"Did the PI discover anything else?" asked John. Kendall nodded.

"Rip's father had some major health problems as well," said Kendall. "Paul Wheeler had cognitive heart failure, which means that he would've died anyway. He also had the beginning stages of cirrhosis of the liver so everything was bleak for him."

"Does that explain why he killed Rip's mother & brother?" asked John.

"Somewhat," said Kendall. "The private investigator also talked to Rip's aunt, Caroline Wheeler-Jones, & she told him that Rip's mother Jane was planning on taking the boys & leave Montana for South Dakota where she had family."

John just nodded. Certain things were starting to make sense.

Still, he feel a bit uneasy. However, he did need to express his gratitude.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Kendall," said John. "You have no idea how much this means to me & my family. Rip is like a son to me, & I know how much he means to both Beth & Sophia. Everyone in the bunkhouse loves him & doesn't give a shit if he's rough around the edges. He is truly a good man."

"I know," said Kendall with a smile.

However, the smile faded quickly when something came to her.

"Listen to me, John," said Kendall. "You & your family need to be on your guard at all times because Thomas Hendricks-Smith will not stop. If he can go after Rip, he will definitely go after Jamie, Beth, & Kayce."

"I wish I could tell Jamie that," said John who did not have either Jamie's phone number or email address.

Kendall, who had both, just looked at John sympathetically. She knew that she couldn't tell about what Jamie was doing behind the scenes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Jamie was back home in Mexico unpacking when he got a text message from Ted Lansky. He immediately pulled his iPhone out of his jacket pocket & called him.

"What's going on, Teddy? I just got back an hour & a half ago," said Jamie.

"I know, dude, but I just got some bad news from my brother Kyle," said Ted.

"About what?" Asked Jamie who was now feeling the fear go through him.

Ted sighed & then gave Jamie the shocking answer.

"Kyle found out that the FBI is investigating Kayce."