“He’ll be looking for supplies.”
“He’ll have to make do for now.”
“Might press him to look elsewhere. Like Tommy’s contact over in Knoxville.”
Dalton considered that. Frankie just might be willing to let that happen. Close up over here in this shitty little village. Let this Epps dude go his own way. But Frankie hated to lose. Especially to snot-nosed punks. He’d seen it before. Hell, he’d done it before. Whacked that kid that tried to push meth from an alley near Beale Street. Frankie’s turf.
“If I get the go ahead from Memphis, I’ll have a chat with him,” Dalton said. “Impress on him the wisdom of not doing a fucking thing. Maybe paint a picture for him. One where he has a bunch of bullet holes in his lungs.”
“Don’t do anything that’ll drag me into this.”
“You’re already in it.”
An exasperated sigh. “Don’t I know it.”
“Just deposit your cash and keep your mouth shut. And your eyes and ears open.”
“Don’t I always?”
“For now, sit tight. Give me the Epps guy’s number. I’ll handle him.”
CHAPTER 35
“Mama B’s amazing,” Harper said as she ended her call.
“She is all that and more.”
Beatrice Baker, affectionally known as Mama B. US Naval Intelligence icon. Now retired, she still held a host of dark alley connections, meaning she was able to look under rugs others didn’t even know existed. Like someone’s cell phone, social media, entire life. The ‘someone’ in question here: Jason Epps.
“What’d she find?” Cain asked.
“Unfortunately, not much. She dug into both Tommy Finley’s and Jason Epp’s phones. Similar vanilla picture for each. Family, friends, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. The usual mindless stuff. And of course each other. Both buy a lot of music on iTunes.”
“Got to spend all that drug money on something.”
“No calls to Memphis or Knoxville,” Harper said.
“Means Jason just might have been telling us the truth. That Tommy Finley handled the business and Jason simply distributed for him.”
“That’s what it smells like.” Harper slid her phone into her jacket pocket. “I’d bet Tommy had another phone. A burner. His business connection.”
“I’d be surprised if he didn’t.”
“Where is it?” Harper asked.
“I suspect the bad guys took it and destroyed it,” Cain said. “Only thing that makes sense.”
“But things have morphed with Tommy gone. The operation just might fall to Jason.”
“Which means more communication. Maybe with the guys upstream.”
“Maybe Jason isn’t bright enough to use a safe phone,” Harper said.
“Let’s hope.” Cain turned into the police station’s parking lot. “He doesn’t impress me as a rocket scientist.”
“I suspect the only rocket he rides is the crystal meth in his pocket.”
They climbed out and hurried inside through the misty rain. Harper saw a young woman sitting behind the reception desk. Dark hair, middle part, large eyes. Her name tag read “Poppy.” She looked up and smiled.
“Can I help you?”
Harper gave her their names, saying they were there to see Chief Crowe. She responded that she was Poppy Phelps.
“You the two looking for Dr. Buckner?” Poppy asked.
Harper nodded. “That’s us.”
“It’s just awful.” She gave a head shake. “Things like this don’t happen around here.”
“They unfortunately happen everywhere.”
“Is Chief Crowe here?” Cain asked.
“Oh yes, she’s expecting you.” She picked up the phone and punched the com line. “Chief, they’re here.” Pause. “Okay.” She pointed toward the hallway to her left. “Right down that way.”
Once they were seated, Cassie spoke, “You said you had something for me.”
“Jason Epps,” Harper said. “We found him over in the park.”
“His office.”
“We saw Marla making a buy.”
“Oh?” Cassie asked.
“She scurried into the trees when she saw us pull up,” Cain said.
“And Jason? What’d he have to say?”
“He was reluctant,” Harper said, “at first. Until Bobby convinced him otherwise.”
“Not sure I want to know how that went down,” Cassie said.
“Let’s just say Bobby can be convincing.”
“I was very polite,” Cain said.
“Yeah. Right up until you threatened to cut his eye out.”
Cassie’s eyes widened.
“I didn’t touch him,” Cain said with raised hands.
“It’s the thought that counts,” Harper said. “But in the end, I think we have a motive for all this. It’s just as we thought. Tommy and Jason are hooked up with someone out of Memphis. But Tommy got clever. Found a better bargain over in Knoxville.”
“The Memphis folks took offense,” Cassie said.
“Big time,” Cain said.
“Memphis is a shithole,” Cassie said. “Used to be a fine city. Now? It’s a criminal cesspool.” She picked up a ballpoint, clicked it a couple of times. “Wish they’d keep their miscreants over there.”
“Apparently at least three of them came here,” Harper said. “The two kidnappers Marla saw, and the one that caught a bullet. Unfortunately, the clock is ticking on Dr. Buckner.”
Cassie nodded. “Yep. They’ll kill him for sure once he’s no longer needed.”
“Which means we have to find them,” Harper said. “Pronto.”
Cassie sighed. “I got folks out everywhere. It’s a tough slog. Too many places to look.” She clicked the ballpoint again. “How’d you find out all this? About Jason Epp’s phone?”
Harper smiled. “We have resources.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Someone who has access.”
“Access?”
“To anything and everything.”
Cassie clicked the pen a couple of more times, tossed it on her desk. “Who are you guys exactly?”
“We told you,” Cain said. “Private investigators.”
“Yeah right. I’ve known a few P.I.s in my career. You two don’t exactly fit the mold. So tell me, what’s your real background?”
“Can’t say.”
“Just a thumbnail would help.”
Cain glanced at Harper, shrugged.
“Okay,” Harper said. “Bobby was regular Army. Sort of. More a Ranger than anything else. He did special ops for every branch. Things off the books. Things that required getting into and out of places, completing a mission, and leaving behind no footprints.”
“What kind of missions?” Cassie asked.
“That’s the part we can’t talk about,” Cain said.
Cassie leaned back in her chair and laced her fingers over her abdomen. “The kind where the target was less healthy when you left than when you arrived?”
“It’s a big bad world out there,” Cain said.
“Particularly in some of the world’s desert communities,” Harper added.
Cassie nodded, considered that. Looked a Harper. “What about you?”
“I ran some of the
