He briefly considered the possibility of letting the girl go her own way but the more he thought about it, the more risk that option presented. She might turn tail and run home to the compound if life outside got to be too rough for her. Or maybe one of Abe’s flunkies might corral her instead of Hunt. In both those scenarios, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t blab to somebody about who helped her escape. The result would be fatal to Leroy’s plans—an end to Daniel meant an end to the relic hunt. As he saw it, there was only one way to deal with the problem. Leroy had to be the one to find her first. That way he could ensure that he brought her back in no condition to talk to anybody. In the movies, bounty hunters always got paid Dead Or Alive, didn’t they?
Hunt beckoned to the bartender to pour him another shot as he considered a different aspect of the situation—Brother Daniel’s soft spot for Miss Hannah. He surely never saw that one coming. The mercenary rubbed his chin as he reflected deeply on the matter. Maybe this bit of information could work to his advantage. Letting Daniel know that Hunt was on to him would certainly make the boy easier to control down the road. When the time came, Daniel could be made to see the wisdom of turning all the relics over the Hunt without a shot being fired. Leroy didn’t much care whether he had to collect his payday over the boy’s dead body or not, but it was just more high-toned to have an accomplice—no matter how unwilling. At the very least, making Daniel sweat would be a fine way to pass the time as they traveled from place to place. Yessir, Hunt had always been partial to a good puppet show—especially when he was the one pulling the strings.
Chapter 18 – Deep Cover Girl
The little bell over the shop door tinkled as Cassie breezed in. “Rhonda?” she called out hopefully.
A young Hispanic woman bearing a nametag that read “Lupe” stepped from behind the glass counter. “Can I help you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m a friend of Rhonda’s. I was hoping she was here.”
“She is. I’m minding the store while she unpacks a shipment.” The woman held aside the curtain to the back room. “Please.”
“Thanks.” Cassie stepped through the curtain into the dimly-lit store room at the back of the shop. She found Rhonda ripping open a packing crate.
The older woman looked up. “Cassie! How are you?” She stepped around the carton to greet her visitor with outstretched arms.
Cassie returned the hug. “I’m fine. How’ve you been?”
The older woman smiled. “Business has been great. I was just getting ready to deposit a check for your share of this month’s sales.”
“I love the way you operate.” The pythia searched around for somewhere to sit. She spied a folding chair leaning against a wall and dragged it over to the center of the room. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Of course.” Rhonda drew up a stool and dusted packing straw off of it before seating herself. “An estate sale,” she said. “It was a bigger shipment than I expected.” Changing the topic abruptly, she said, “I imagine you’re getting ready to start classes for the fall semester.”
The pythia avoided eye contact. “Not exactly.” She knew how anxious Rhonda was for her to resume a normal life after Sybil’s death. “I’m still doing some work for that group of people I told you about.”
She could feel the shopkeeper’s eyes studying her.
“You mean Sybil’s associates?” Rhonda emphasized the last word.
Cassie cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Yeah, them.”
Rhonda reached out and tipped her visitor’s chin upward, so their eyes met. “You’ve been awfully evasive about who they are and what you’re doing for them. I’m starting to worry about you.”
The pythia laughed, trying to make light of the situation. “You don’t need to worry about them or me. We’re all getting along like a house on fire.”
Rhonda sat bolt upright as a new thought occurred to her. “Oh, I completely forgot. There was a girl—”
Cassie cut in. “Hannah, yeah I know. She came over to my place. We had a nice visit.”
“I had no idea you kept in touch with classmates,” the older woman offered.
The pythia drew a blank. She knew her face must have registered confusion because Rhonda pounced.
“Cassie, what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Like you said, I went to school with Hannah. That’s all.”
“You’re a very bad liar,” Rhonda commented reproachfully.
At that moment the curtains parted, and Lupe poked her head through. Both Cassie and Rhonda gave a guilty start and tried to recover their composure.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Lupe said apologetically, “but there’s a customer out here asking about a discounted price on the mahogany armoire. I think you need to talk to her.”
“Of course,” Rhonda said, jumping off her stool “I’ll be right there.” Turning, she whispered to Cassie, “Don’t you go anywhere.”
In Rhonda’s absence, the pythia took a few minutes to consider her options. She’d only planned to skim the surface of the truth, but this conversation was heading into deeper waters than she’d intended. Not giving Rhonda at least some of the facts was no longer an option. More than that, keeping her completely ignorant of what was happening might expose her to danger. Cassie sighed and came to a decision.
The shopkeeper returned and resumed her seat. In a much lower tone of voice, she asked, “Now, where were we?”
“Oh, what the hell!” Cassie threw her hands up. “I might as well cut to the chase. You know those associates of Sybil’s I told you about?”
“Yes,” Rhonda confirmed cautiously.
“Well, I’m not lying about them.
