“The bastard is really dead this time,” he said bitterly, “but he won’t stay buried.”
“Even dead, Simon’s a pain in the ass.”
His lips curved, her wry observation venting some of his steam. She’d approached her fear with humor, and he respected that. “Well put. Anyway, Daniel was tracking this killer and needed a data analyst. That’s what I do, so I joined the team. Yesterday we got a tip, leading us to the O’Brien family. Their oldest son was part of Simon’s club.”
“Jared,” she murmured. “I remember him. He thought he was God’s gift to women in high school. I had no idea he was one of the ones who…” She let the thought trail.
Who’d raped her. Luke shoved his anger aside. She was coping. So would he. “Jared went missing a few years ago. We think the others in the club got rid of him because they were afraid he’d talk, give them up. I was up all night gathering all the information I could find on Jared O’Brien and his family. This morning everything looked good. I found out his younger brother Mack was just released from prison. Mack had grudges against all the dead women. He’s our primary suspect. We were ready to roll. We had tails on the two rapists we’d ID’d and a BOLO out on Mack O’Brien.”
“Why didn’t you just pick up the mayor and the deputy?”
“Two reasons. One, we still don’t know the identity of the third man.”
“If you arrested the mayor and the deputy, they’d likely roll on the third man.”
“Maybe. And maybe he’d go under and we’d never find him. Mostly we didn’t bring them in because Mack O’Brien has been using his victims to draw out the surviving club members. They killed his brother. He wanted revenge.”
“And once you’d arrested them all, he’d figure he was finished and go away.”
“Basically. We’d planned a simultaneous sweep, once we’d located O’Brien, but Mansfield changed that. Sonofabitch.”
“He killed his tail. Agent Johnson. I am sorry.”
Me, too. “We’ll find Mansfield and we’ve got teams out searching for O’Brien. I just hope when we find Mansfield, he leads us to Bailey.” And if not, I’ll make the toad tell us where she is.
“You told Alex Fallon not to give up hope, but do you really think Bailey is still alive?”
He shrugged. “She’s been gone a week. Like you said before, it doesn’t look good.”
A cell phone trilled and Susannah leaned forward to get her purse.
“It’s my phone,” Luke said and frowned at the display. “It’s Daniel.” He listened, his frown deepening, then hung up, turning to Susannah. “You’ll have to take a later flight.”
She grabbed the armrest as he did a fast U-turn. “Why? Where are we going?”
“Back to Dutton. Daniel said he got a call from Sheriff Loomis.”
“And?” Susannah said, clearly irked.
“Loomis says he knows where Bailey Crighton is being held.”
“The same Sheriff Loomis who’s being investigated by your state attorney’s office for tampering with evidence in the murder of Alex Fallon’s sister thirteen years ago?” she asked sarcastically. “I saw it on the front page of the newspaper on your desk.”
Luke punched his accelerator. “The same Sheriff Loomis who’s blocked every attempt to find Bailey? Yes, that’s the sheriff I’m talking about.”
“For God’s sake. And you believe him?”
“No, but we can’t ignore this lead. Bailey’s life could very well depend on it. Daniel’s supposed to meet Loomis at the mill site. He said you’d know where that was.”
“The O’Brien mill? That would certainly be ironic.”
“Wouldn’t it? But we’ve had teams combing the current mill looking for Mack O’Brien all day. Daniel said out past the old mill. Do you know where that is?”
She bit at her lip. “Yes, but I haven’t been out there since I was in fourth grade and we went on a field trip. Nobody goes there anymore- it’s a pile of rubble and too dangerous. Plus, there’s a sulfur spring nearby and the whole area smells like rotten eggs. I don’t think even kids go there to smoke or make out anymore.”
“But can you find the road?”
“Yes.”
“That’s all I wanted to know. Hold on, it could get bumpy.”
Dutton, Friday, February 2, 3:30 p.m.
Too much time had passed. Rocky checked the restraints on each of the five girls, careful not to meet their eyes. They were looking at her. A few with defiance, but mostly with desperation and despair. But she didn’t look back. Instead she climbed to the deck and frowned at Jersey Jameson, the old man who owned this boat. He’d been fishing this river his whole life, quietly smuggling whatever contraband was in vogue at the time. The river patrol never gave Jersey a second glance, so he was good cover.
“Why are we still here?” she hissed.
Jersey pointed to the retreating form of Deputy Mansfield. “He said to wait for him to bring the doctor back. I told him he had five minutes, then I was moving this cargo.” He slanted her a disgusted look. “I’ve hauled a helluva lot of shit for you, Rocky, but nothin’ like this. Tell your boss I ain’t doin’ this again.”
“Tell Bobby yourself.” Jersey ’s jaw tightened and she laughed. “I thought not.” Bobby didn’t take kindly to being told no by anyone. “Where are those guys? I’m about ready to go in after them. They’re supposed to be hauling out what we couldn’t pack.”
“I don’t want to know any more,” Jersey said.
They waited another two minutes and there was no sign of Mans-field. “I’m going after them.” She’d stepped onto the dock when a gunshot cracked the air.
“That came from the road out front,” Jersey said.
Rocky hopped back on the deck. “Let’s move. Now.”
Jersey was already pulling back the throttle. “What about the doc and the deputy?”
“They’re on their own.” Bobby wouldn’t be happy that she’d left bodies behind, and the thought of facing Bobby’s rage made Rocky nauseous. “I’ll be below.”
Dutton, Friday, February 2, 3:35 p.m.
Susannah watched as Luke’s speedometer climbed. This was likely a wild goose chase, she thought darkly as they hit a pothole and went momentarily airborne. Then she remembered the agonized fear in Alex Fallon’s eyes. The woman’s stepsister had been missing a week, her disappearance all wrapped up in this mess Daniel and his partner had been dragged into. They owed it to Bailey to check every lead.
I can catch a flight first thing in the morning. She’d just need to call the kennel and ask them to keep her dog a little longer. Nobody else was depending on her return. Nobody would be waiting for her. It was a dismal truth.
“Daniel called Sheriff Corchran in Arcadia,” Luke said tersely, his eyes focused on the road. “ Arcadia ’s only twenty miles from here, so Corchran should get there soon. Daniel trusts him, so you and Alex will go with him, to where it’s safe. Understood?”
Susannah nodded. “Understood.”
He lifted his brows. “You’re not going to argue?”
“Why would I?” she asked evenly. “I don’t have a gun and I’m not a cop. I’m quite content to let you guys do what you do and take the baton hand-off in court.”
“Fine. Do you drive?”
“Excuse me?”
“Can you drive?” he repeated, enunciating each word. “You live in New York. I know New Yorkers that never get a license.”
“I have a license. I don’t drive often, but I can.” In fact, she only drove once a year, always to the same place, north of the city. On those rare days she rented a car.