Prime Catch by Ilona Fridl Read Free Book Online Page A

Amos. “Stop moving around. You’re caught in a fishing net.” She pulled a pocket knife out of her jacket. “I’ll have to cut you out.” She stood and cut two trailing lines that were attached to the bushes on either side. “Looks like they planned for anyone chasing them.”
    Amos was beyond angry. “God damn it! I fell for it like an ignorant school boy! Ouch!”
    “Hold still! This net is hard enough to cut without you flailing your arms around.”
    Amos took to muttering curses to himself as Sarah finished cutting the entwined strands. “Lakat, we failed. All that planning for nothing. I really thought we had outsmarted them.”
    Sarah sat back on her heels. “Tunny took off after them. Maybe he can catch whoever it is.” She gathered the bits of net and put them in her jacket pocket. “I suppose we should keep this in case it helps our case.” She snapped the blade back into its groove and the knife followed the net into her jacket.
    “Who’s taking care of the injured man?”
    “The plant guards are handling that. Tunny and I came as soon as we saw you were in trouble.”
    Amos sat and steamed for a few moments. “Let’s go tail Tunny.” They set off following the footprints. Arriving at a small stream, they found Tunny examining the shore.
    Tunny glanced up. “Must have had a craft waiting for him. It was gone by the time I trailed him here.” He pointed to where the tracks disappeared by the water. “With it being springtime, the stream is at its deepest now. Other times it’s a trickle.”
    The three studied the area around the tracks to see if anything had been dropped, but they found nothing. Sarah pointed to the ground where the tracks ended. “It may mean nothing, but there are some animal tracks here, too.”
    Tunny looked closer. “Looks like there may have been a wolf here.”
    Sarah shook her head. “They look more like a domestic dog. See, where the man’s prints are? It seems a dog pranced around him. They go in a circle, then disappear again.”
    Amos made a note. “So we think he might have acted alone, but he had a dog with him.”
    She pointed downstream. “The current is strong. He’s probably quite a ways by now.”
    Tunny nodded. “Let’s see what’s happening at the plant.” They climbed the bank and tramped back through the woods.
    One of the plant guards greeted them. He turned to Tunny. “The doc is here. He said to give you this.” He handed the sheriff the broken arrow.
    “Darcy, look at this.” Tunny untied a piece of paper that had been wrapped around the shaft. He glanced at it and gave it to Amos.
    Number four. Will the traps come down before another dies?
    Amos pulled out the envelope from Polar Star and compared the handwriting. “We’re dealing with the same man.” He put his hand on the guard’s shoulder. “How’s Mr. Jensen?”
    The man ran his fingers through his hair. “The doc broke the shaft off and took Jensen to the hospital to remove the rest of it.”
    Amos turned back to Tunny. “Let’s go back into town. I want to wire for an airplane to take us to Juneau.”
    Tunny looked surprised. “But don’t you―?”
    “You can take care of it. I have my own fish to fry in Juneau, so to speak. We can keep each other informed on anything else that happens. I’ll tell the offices in Cordova and Soldotna.”
    Sarah took a step forward. “We should stop by the hospital to see about Mr. Jensen before we leave.”
    Amos patted her shoulder. “Good idea, Lakat. Tunny, wire us with any developments. We’ll see if we can help in any way.”
    After they took care of the communications, Tunny pulled up in front of a large white clapboard building. “Here’s the hospital.”
    The three made their way to the reception desk, where Tunny removed his hat. “I’m Sheriff Tunny, ma’am,” he said to the nurse. “I would like to find out about Mr. Orville Jensen, who was brought in here earlier.”
    She consulted a ledger. “Ah, yes. Dr.