“Might be a good idea to warn her.”
Cassie pulled out her cell. “No service.”
“Use the satellite phone,” Cain said.
She called Fowler, brought him up to speed, and told him to work on finding Marla and Jason. She closed the phone, saying, “Let’s get this done and get back to town.”
“Let us do this,” Cain said.
Cassie shook her head. “This is my job.”
“But it’s what we do,” Harper said.
Cassie didn’t seem convinced. “Maybe, but I’m in charge.”
It took Cain a couple of minutes to convince Cassie he had a plan. Vague and fluid, but a good one given the situation. Cain and Harper would go first, work around to the rear of the cabin. If there was one. If Buck was right. Cassie and Hack would follow, cover the front. Buck insisted on going. Cassie hesitated but agreed when Buck added that standing out here on the side of the road could make him a target and that he’d stay well out of the way and behind them.
Harper removed her Glock, checked it, held it to her side. Cain pulled out one of his knives. They melted into the trees.
Cain and Harper were in their element. The terrain densely forested, steep and uneven. They moved quickly through the trees, paralleling the drive. The rain had slackened to a drizzle once again and there was little wind. The soaked ground and wet foliage helped muffle their approach. Wasn’t long before they saw the cabin. Weak light pushed against the closed curtains. No movement.
Exchanging hand signals, they split, each flanking the structure, using the trees for cover. Cain came out near the garage. No vehicles. No activity. The rear door stood open. Harper slipped from the trees and joined him.
“They’re in the wind,” she said.
They were. Inside, Cain and Harper cleared each room. Both beds rumpled, slept in. The kitchen messy. Two glasses sat on the dining table—one empty, the other filled with a dark liquid.
Harper nodded toward them. “That was a clever move.”
“Risky. Could’ve backfired.”
“Guess he saw that as his best shot.”
“Maybe his only shot.”
Cain cracked open the front door, standing to one side in case either Cassie or Hack got trigger happy. Through the gap he shouted, “All clear.” Then pushed the door open.
Cassie and Hack entered. Buck followed.
“This is it,” Buck said. He looked around. “I take it they’ve gone.”
Cain nodded. “Where’d you do the surgery?”
Buck pointed toward the dining room table. “Right there.” He walked around it. “Not exactly like med school.”
“I’d say you did a good job.”
“More luck than anything. No major blood vessels and the bullet missed the bowel. Either would have been a complication that I couldn’t have handled here. As it was, he lost a kidney and a lot of blood.”
“He going to make it?” Harper asked.
Buck considered that for a beat. “Probably. He made it through the hard part. If he manages to dodge a major infection he should do okay.” Buck led them into the bedroom. “This was our ICU.” He pointed to a pair of large trash bags in one corner. “That’s mostly biohazard stuff, so whoever comes to look for evidence or clean up should handle it carefully.”
“I’ll make sure,” Cassie said. She looked around the room. “Let’s get to the ER. I want to have a chat with those two.”
CHAPTER 56
“Quit looking out the fucking window,” Dalton said.
Dale Harris released the curtain he had peeled back. “Just checking.”
“Don’t. Someone peeking through a motel curtain looks suspicious.”
“To who? Did you see anybody out there?”
After Buck’s escape, the cabin was no longer safe. If he got to help, they would saddle up and be back. In force. So they packed up and headed east, then south on a ratty county blacktop. Looking for an out of the way place to reorganize and plan. Dalton didn’t want to be on the road or anywhere in public. Not until he had sorted things out and plotted his next move.
They’d be looking for two, three, maybe four men in a car. The doc and the cops would have to figure that out. The doc knew he and some of his crew were staying in the area to take care of business. He, of course, wouldn’t know the details, but really, how hard would that be to figure out? Silencing the witnesses, and the doc, would be the only thing that made sense. Surely the cops weren’t so clueless they wouldn’t see that.
With Dennie injured, and Jessie not able to drive—the doc would’ve told them about that—they’d have to know that Dalton would be forced to send one of his guys to take Dennie, and that fuck up Jessie, back to Memphis. So, they might not know exactly how many guys they were looking for, but they’d for sure be sniffing around for strangers in a strange vehicle. It was time to go to ground and let things cool off for a few hours.
The detail that bothered Dalton most was whether Buck had seen Myrick’s Navigator. Was he already down the hill, or did he see them drive up? He hadn’t gotten very far by the time they caught up to him, and he killed Harris’s dog, so he guessed it could go either way. But, what could he do about it? Nothing, and that’s what grated on his nerves.
Dalton had to admit, it was a ballsy move on Buck’s part. From the beginning, he had thought Buck was cleverer than he let on. Maybe even not as afraid as he should have been. That was on Dalton. He should’ve pounded the fear of God into him more forcefully. Too late now. But not too late to settle the account.
That would be the hard part. Getting to him. Surely he had been found and was now under the wing of the cops. Taking care of Jason and the girl would be a snap. Dealers and users weren’t usually genius-level thinkers.
