“I suppose you’re coming along, too,” she said and looked at Tom.
“Only if you want me to,” he replied.
“Good, you’re staying here,” Morse said. “Let’s go.”
Lauren grabbed her jacket and wallet.
“Take care of Carter,” she yelled back to Tom as she went into the garage.
“I might be able to narrow down our search area,” Harriet said as she backed out. She handed her phone to Lauren. “Call Aiden.”
Lauren keyed her way to Harriet’s favorites list and touched Aiden’s name on the screen. She handed the phone back.
“I need your help,” Harriet said when he answered. “You said you ran on every trail in Foggy Point when you were on the cross-country team in high school…Can you think of a particular trail in Fogg Park, near the homeless camp, that would lend itself to hiding cash?…I realize it’s not much to go on…Okay, we’ll see you there.”
“Please tell me he’s not joining us,” Detective Morse said.
“He said there’s a place that isn’t too far beyond the homeless camp. There was a student-run drug operation when he was in high school. They hid their inventory in a small cave off one of the trails. He said the group was broken up and the kids sent off to jail. He said it was easier to show us then to try to describe it.”
“Oh, great.” Morse sank lower into her seat.
“There’s the jeep,” Harriet said as she turned her car into Fogg Park. Aiden guided his vintage Bronco in right behind her.
“That was quick,” Lauren said.
“You two stay here,” Detective Morse said as Harriet and Lauren got out of the car.
“What’s going on?” Aiden said.
“Two of the homeless people disappeared, and we think the guy was forcing the girl to lead him to a stash of money that may or may not exist and was or wasn’t stashed in the woods by the homeless man who was killed during the storm,” Harriet said in a rush.
“What?”
“Let’s just go look for the people,” Detective Morse said.
Aiden started down the trail at a ground-eating pace; Morse struggled to keep up. Harriet and Lauren went to the common area of the camp.
“Do you think Ronald killed Duane?” Lauren asked her.
“I don’t know. It could just be that he wants Duane’s money-if there is money.”
“But they had some sort of connection,” Lauren argued.
“You’d think if they knew each other, Ronald would have known about the money.”
“I suppose Brandy could be messed up enough to have imagined it all,” Lauren mused.
“Let’s go check out Brandy’s space again,” Harriet said and pulled a small flashlight from her purse. “Who knows what else she has hidden in there.”
She led the way down the trail.
“What was that?” Lauren asked as they reached Brandy’s space.
“What was what?” Harriet asked.
“Shhh,” Lauren said.
The two women stopped, and Harriet strained to hear what Lauren was talking about.
“If I had a drink, I know I could find it,” Brandy said in her customary slur.
The sound of a slap echoed through the woods.
“I’ll give you a drink, alright,” Ronald boomed. “You show me where Duane hid his money, and you can drown in it, for all I care.”
“It’s hard to see in the dark,” Brandy whimpered.
Harriet shone her light around the young woman’s campsite, stopping at one place where the branches that formed the backdrop of her sleeping area were broken in a regular pattern.
“Look,” she said to Lauren. “It looks like there might be a trail through here.”
They pushed their way through the brush, following the direction of the broken branches, and soon found themselves on a cleared trail that was above and parallel to a wider trail.
“That must be a branch of the main trail,” Lauren whispered.
They heard the unmistakable sound of flesh slapping flesh.
“Come on,” Harriet said then stopped suddenly and pointed.
They were directly above Ronald and Brandy-and Ronald’s gun. He poked the young woman in the ribs with the barrel.
“Okay, okay,” Brandy cried. “It’s ahead. You have to move that log to the side.”
“Oh, young lady, you don’t think I’m going to fall for such a simple ruse, do you? As soon as I bend over to move the log, you either hit me in the head or take off down the trail.”
“No, I wouldn’t lie to you, really. I promise,” Brandy whined.
“Let her go,” Detective Morse said. She and Aiden had appeared from a side trail. Morse was holding a nasty- looking black gun in her hand.
“It seems we have a standoff,” Ronald said. “Take another step closer, and I shoot the girl. Walking in the woods is not a crime, so you see, you really have no business here.”
“If you’re not doing anything wrong, let the girl go.” Morse said in a level voice.
“I think we both know I can’t do that.” He pointed the gun at Brandy’s head. “Now, step back and put your gun down, or this ends very badly for my young friend.”
Morse backed up and slowly set her gun on the trail in front of her.
Ronald had his back to Harriet and Lauren. Detective Morse was focused on Ronald. Aiden looked up and caught Harriet’s eye. He remained motionless, giving no indication that he’d seen anything.
Harriet backed up slightly, pushing Lauren backward until they were out of sight of either group below.
“What are you doing?” Lauren whispered.
“Morse doesn’t have any backup coming,” Harriet whispered back. “Even if we left here undetected-where would we go? Who would we call?”
“So, what’s the plan, Ace?”
Harriet looked around.
“We could hit him with rocks,” she suggested.
“And he could shoot Brandy as a result.”
“He’s likely to do that anyway. He’s got nothing to lose. And Aiden spotted us. He can distract Ronald, and we can hit him with a rock.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Maybe,” Harriet whispered. “But if we use a big enough rock, we don’t have to be very accurate.”
“We both know you have no backup,” Ronald said to Detective Morse. “And I’m thinking the fact you showed up at this exact location means you have some reason to believe this is, in fact, where Duane hid his money. I’ve been patient with you, but frankly I’m getting cold. So, what’s it going to be? Will I shoot you all? Or will you move this log for me and fetch the money?”
Morse looked at Aiden.
“We better move the log,” she said.
Harriet gestured at a large rock that was at the side of the trail. It took both of them to pick it up. They shuffled into position directly above Ronald.
Harriet looked at Aiden; he gave the slightest of nods.
They swung their rock back, forward, back again then launched it over the bank and onto Ronald.
Aiden sprang forward as the rock crashed into Ronald’s back, forcing him to his knees. The gun fell from his hand, and Aiden kicked it toward Detective Morse as he attempted to haul Ronald to his feet. Ronald’s face had gone white.
“His heart medicine is in his pocket,” Harriet said.
Aiden fished in Ronald’s pockets until he found the pills. He opened the tube with one hand and tipped one out. He pushed it between Ronald’s lips, but Ronald promptly spat it out. Aiden pulled out another one then pinched
