“None of them was blood.”
“Just in the way.”
“Let’s not forget Wilbert Shaffer,” Cassie said.
Buck turned to her. “Mr. Shaffer?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you know?”
“No.” Buck sighed. He hesitated as if recalling something. “That’s why Dalton went back inside. After we were all loaded in the SUV.”
“Didn’t want to leave a witness,” Harper said.
Buck shook his head. “I should’ve guessed that.”
Dennie smiled. “Well, my brother’s long gone by now.”
“I don’t think so,” Cain said.
“Who the fuck are you?” Dennie asked.
Cain walked over to the bed, looked down. “The one that’s going to track down your brother and his crew.”
“You’ll never find them.”
Cain smiled. “It won’t be that difficult. Your brother isn’t exactly a criminal mastermind. He’s pretty sloppy.”
“No, he ain’t.”
“You guys left enough evidence back at that cabin to hang all of you. Fingerprints, DNA, and a couple of corpses. Purely amateur.”
“You could end up dead thinking that way,” Dennie said.
“Maybe,” Harper said. “Or maybe it’ll be Dalton on the ground.”
Dennie looked at her, then at Cain. “You trying to be tough guys or something?”
“If I were you, or your brother, I’d be more afraid of her,” Cain nodded toward Harper. Dennie’s gaze cut that way. “Or Frankie.” Now Dennie’s attention snapped back to Cain. “Yeah, we know all about him.”
Cassie had slid to the other side of the bed. Cain gave her a nod.
“You can help your brother, and yourself. Where are they and what are they planning?”
“Don’t know.”
Cassie leaned her elbows on the bedrail. “We know Dalton has two other guys with him. Started with three from what Buck overheard but I had to dump one out on the side of the road.”
Dennie’s eyes widened a notch and concern etched his face.
“Yeah. Guy named Myrick.” She smiled. “He thought he was a tough guy, too.” She nudged Dennie’s shoulder. “So don’t screw around. Who are the guys with your brother?”
“I ain’t saying shit.”
Cain thumped Dennie’s forehead with a finger. “Listen up. I’m sure Chief Crowe here would love to hang this entire rap on you. Make things nice and easy for her. But if your brother and his sidekicks escalate this, make a move on anyone else, it’ll be much worse.”
Cassie jumped in, “Right now, we have you for eight murders and conspiracy to commit such: The Finley’s, Wilbert Shaffer, the couple at the cabin, and one of my officers. Maybe toss in kidnapping, though I don’t think you played an active role in all of them. Getting yourself shot up and all. But you were present. That makes you at best a co-conspirator. If Dalton brings harm to anyone else, and if you impede our finding him, stopping whatever he has planned, we’ll add a stack of other charges to your ledger. That’ll pretty much assure you never see sunlight again.”
Dennie’s gaze moved around, never finding anything to land on. He mumbled, “I ain’t telling you shit.”
Cassie shrugged, looked at Cain. “Some folks have to stick their finger in the socket to see if it’s live.”
The next stop was Trauma Room 3. Jessie lay on the stretcher, wrist cuffed to the frame. Officer Rick Fowler was chatting with him.
“Anything?” Cassie asked.
Fowler shook his head. “He ain’t saying nothing.”
Cassie looked down at him. “That right?”
“I ain’t going to talk to you either, bitch.”
Cassie’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s add it up. You killed a family of four, a man simply working for a living, an older couple because you needed their cabin, and one of my officers. These weren’t faceless victims to me. They were all nice folks. In the case of Scotty Duckworth…that was his name but I doubt you really care…he was family. So, I take all this very personally.” She moved around the stretcher to the other side. Jessie’s gaze followed. “But you don’t have to say anything. Dennie’s telling us what we need.”
That got his attention.
“Yeah, he’s pointing the finger for all this at you.”
“Wasn’t me. It was—” He caught himself. “I got nothing to say.”
“Yeah, Dennie said you’d try to lay it all on his brother Dalton. But, he said it was all you.”
Jessie briefly glanced toward Cain and Harper who stood just outside the door before returning his attention to Cassie. “He wouldn’t say nothing like that. ’Cause it ain’t true.”
Cassie smiled. “I guess it’s just that blood being thicker than water thing.”
Jessie said nothing but Cain saw stress lines appear at the corners of his eyes and mouth. Laying it out for him the way Cassie had done was a smart move. Make him think he’s the odd man out. The one with his dick in the wind. Divide and conquer.
“We’ll get you over to the jail as soon as the doc clears you and we’ll chat again,” Cassie said. “On my turf.”
Everyone gathered outside the ER entry. Cassie said that she didn’t want Buck going home. That maybe he should hide out in the jail. He balked but she wouldn’t back down.
“We have to assume Dalton’s plan is to find you. You can ID him. We can’t protect you in your apartment.”
“Can I at least go by and pick some things up?”
“We’ll take you,” Harper said.
Cassie looked at Hack. “You and Fowler get Jessie over to the jail.”
“Will do.” He shuffled back inside.
Cain’s cell buzzed. Mama B. He answered.
“I got some names for you,” she said.
“Before you do, we found Dr. Buckner.”
“And?”
“He’s fine. Standing right here.”
She sighed. “I was afraid it wasn’t good.”
“I’m putting you on speaker. Harper’s here. Also Dr. Buckner and Chief Crowe.” Cain punched the speaker button. “This is Mama B. A good person to know.”
“Flatterer,” Mama B said.
“What did you find?” Cain asked.
“The rest of Dalton’s crew are stellar citizens. Robert Buddy Myrick, Chris Navarro, and Dale Harris. Myrick has three pops for assault, most recently two years ago. Navarro was named in a couple of murders but skated on each for lack
