"Where are you now, Dina?"
"I'm in cruiser four, just off Salt Lick Run, below the cemetery."
A new voice came over the radio. "We're sending a couple of squad cars, Dina. Until they arrive can you get Bruno to carry Officer Heilmann clear of the cruiser, somewhere where you can all hide? Do you understand? I want you to get well clear of the vehicle and hide until we get there."
Dina easily recognized her uncle's voice. "Why do you want me to hide, Uncle Estes?"
"Just do as I say, Dina. I want you to get away from the car and hide until we arrive."
Dina hung up the microphone and stepped out of the car. She saw Officer Heilmann's body lying on the ground at Bruno's feet, and suddenly she knew why Uncle Estes wanted her to hide. She picked out a clump of bushes that might be a good hiding place and directed Bruno to pick up the man and follow her. She wanted to run, but she couldn't, because that would just cause Bruno to panic.
Marcus finally stumbled out onto a road, and there, hidden under a tree, was a police cruiser. He and his companions approached it. Wilhelm grabbed the door handle. Marcus was all ready to tell him not to waste his time when the door opened. That was unexpected. Surely the cops wouldn't have left it unlocked. Then he realized the radio was on, and he heard "Salt Lick Run" being mentioned. He listened a little more in growing horror as he heard various voices announcing they were converging on the place he was standing. "The cops are on to us. Run!"
"How?" Herman asked as he chased after Marcus and Wilhelm.
"I don't know, but the radio is alive with cops saying they're heading this way." Marcus stopped to look around, just in case he could see anyone, He couldn't, but in the distance he could hear the sound of sirens. Normally he wouldn't have worried, as police sirens weren't unknown even this far out of town, but this time he knew they were probably headed his way. "Back to the boat. It's our best bet to get away."
Dina was worried. From their hiding place under a bush more than fifty yards from the police cruiser they'd had a good view of the vehicle. She'd been scared enough when the three men appeared, but Bruno's reaction had terrified her. He'd curled up into a protective ball and was muttering and moaning in fear.
The wail of sirens signaled the approach of two pickups. They skidded to a halt within sight of the cruiser and a dozen armed policemen and a dog emerged. Dina identified her uncle and ran up to him. "Those men scared Bruno, Uncle Estes."
"What men?" Estes asked.
"Three men came out of the trees and looked around the car. One of them opened the door of the cruiser, and then suddenly the three of them ran off."
Estes' fingers dug into Dina's shoulder until she winced and shook his hand off. "Sorry." He turned to the gathering officers. "Erika, take half a dozen men and see if Pluto can track them." He gently pushed Dina to arms length and crouched down to her eye level. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, but I'm really worried about Bruno and the man we found."
"Show me," Estes said.
Dina led him to the bush where Bruno was still huddled into a tight ball beside the naked body of Gottlieb Heilmann.
"That's Gottlieb alright," Estes announced as he crouched over the body checking for signs of life. Moments later he looked up. "Haggerty, Steinfeldt, get over here."
While Blake Haggerty and Heinrich Steinfeldt carried Gottlieb to the load bay of one of the pickups, Estes quickly checked over Bruno before resting a hand on Dina's shoulder. "I need to get back to my men. Will you be all right here with Bruno?"
She nodded numbly and wrapped her arms around the tight ball that was Bruno and bit her lips to keep the tears at bay. She was vaguely aware of her uncle walking off and the sounds of vehicles coming and going. A few minutes later her uncle tapped her gently on the shoulder. She looked up to see an ambulance officer beside her uncle. "Yes?"
"Do you think you can guide us to where the bodies are hidden?" Estes asked.
Dina gently disengaged herself form Bruno and got to her feet. "Bruno needs me, but I left a trail. I can show you where we left the woods." She led her uncle to the point she and Bruno had left the woods. A few feet into the woods the path they'd taken could be easily seen.
"We should be okay from here," Estes said. "You go back and look after Bruno."
She did as she was told, pausing only for a moment to watch the two men from the white van climbing into clean overalls. They were police forensic technicians. "One of them opened the driver's door, and slammed it shut with his hand against the frame before they ran off," she called out helpfully.
"Thank you," the senior forensics technician called before turning his attention to the door in question.
She watched them puffing powder over the door for a few seconds, but Bruno was still a concern. She left them to it and hurried over to where Bruno was hiding.
Marcus was breathing heavily when he got back to their camp. "Herman, grab everything of value from your quarters and put it on the boat with the stuff we took from the cops. Wilhelm, you come with me."
While Herman headed for their living quarters Marcus and Wilhelm headed for the shed where their still was located. Marcus pointed to the full barrels. "Start loading those onto the boat."
While Wilhelm started rolling away the first of the barrels Marcus went through the shed looking for anything that could connect him with the facility and tossed it into the flames under the boiler. He then rolled the remaining full barrels of alcohol out of the shed before tipping a partly filled barrel over to fill a jug, which he used to splash alcohol around the shed. With a last jug of nearly one hundred and seventy proof spirits in his hand he turned the gas burners right up and lit a candle, which he touched to the alcohol splattered walls. Then he headed for the cabin Wilhelm and Herman been living in. He splashed the contents of the jug around before dropping the candle onto the bedding, where it ignited the alcohol. Sure everything was going to burn, he headed for the boat.
In the distance Dina could see a black cloud forming as her uncle and his party returned carrying two body-bags between them. The bags were loaded into an ambulance, and it headed off. Dina started to worry that she and Bruno had been forgotten as first her uncle, and then the other policemen drove off, leaving just the forensics team, who were also preparing to leave. She jumped to her feet and hurried over. "Are you going to take us home?" she asked.
"What the. "
From Georg Meisner's shocked reaction to her appearance Dina concluded everyone had completely forgotten about her and Bruno. "You aren't going to leave me and Bruno here, are you?"
"The Fraulein is correct, Herr Meisner," Martin Dorrenfelde said. "We can't leave them here."
"I know she's right, but we are not going back to town." He sighed heavily. "Get into the van. Herr Chief Richards can decide what to do with you."
The motor started first time, and soon Marcus was steering a course that would take them as far away as possible from the now merrily burning campsite. He was upset at losing such an ideal location, but the precious cargo of alcohol, the weight of which was threatening to sink the boat, mitigated the loss a little. "She was a nice little earner," he muttered.
"What do we do now?" Herman asked.
"You sell this last load and go to ground. There's nothing back there to connect any of us to the camp, or the dead cops."
"It's a good thing you were there today," Wilhelm said.
Marcus could only agree with the man. If he hadn't been around his two colleagues would probably be in police custody right now singing their tiny little heads off.
At the top of Salt Lick Run a number of police vehicles were parked on either side of the road and armed police were milling about as Sergeant Estes Frost tried to organize them. He broke away from them and approached as Martin drew the forensics van to a halt. Estes walked around to the passenger side and tapped on the window, which Georg wound down.