“That’d require manpower we simply don’t have.” Hack scratched an ear. “Besides, it could be days, or weeks, before Dalton makes contact with him. If he does at all.” He shrugged. “Maybe they’ll decide to close up shop over here and forget about Jason Epps.” He glanced at Cain. “Can’t say I’d mind that a whole lot.”
CHAPTER 62
“Hey.”
Buck had showered, slipped on jeans and a tee shirt, and now sat in the PD’s break room waiting for Cassie to return. She, Officer Hackford, Cain, and Harper had left forty-five minutes earlier, saying they had a couple of things to do and would “be back shortly.” He looked up at the sound of the voice. Marla stood in the doorway.
“Marla?”
She smiled. “They told me you got away from those guys.”
Buck stood, unsure what to do. Embrace her? Keep his distance? Was she still a patient or a partner in all the madness? Moot point. She rounded the table and hugged him tightly.
“I was so scared for you,” she said.
They broke the embrace and sat at the table, across from each other.
“Me, too. It was hairy for sure.”
“What happened?”
“So much. Where to start?”
Marla smiled. “At the beginning.”
He returned her smile. She looked better. Healthier than when he had seen her in the ER. She still had a bandage on her arm and it looked as though it had been recently changed. He nodded toward it.
“How’s the arm?”
She held it up. “It feels better. Less pain and swelling, and yes, I’m keeping it clean and taking the antibiotics you gave me.”
“Let me take a look.”
He loosened the tape and unwound the gauze. It was better. The infection was clearing. She’d have a scar, of course, but it would eventually be lost among the others that lined her arm.
“Look’s good,” Buck said as he rewound the dressing and secured the tape. “I’ll get them to bring over some supplies and change the dressing in the morning.”
Marla nodded. “Now, tell me what happened.”
Buck leaned his elbows on the table. “They grabbed me from the parking lot.”
“I saw.”
“I know. Thanks to you they knew what happened fairly quickly. Also knew what kind of vehicle to look for.”
She looked down, her face revealing sadness. And more.
“What is it?” Buck asked.
“I could’ve missed the whole thing.” A shake of her head. Her gaze lifted toward him. “I was using. Shot up about that time and was more or less out on that bench near the park’s parking lot. I saw what happened, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I saw was real. I mean, a couple of guys shoving you in the back of an SUV. How random is that?”
“But you went to the ER and told them.”
“I figured they probably wouldn’t believe me.” She shrugged. “Most people don’t, but Cassie did. She came over and when I told her she got things rolling.”
“That seems to be her way,” Buck said. ”From what little I know of her.”
“She was always the good one, even back in school. Not like me. We all knew she’d be a superstar one day and here she is, the chief of police.”
“So you two go back?”
“All the way to the first grade. We were friends. Close friends. But then I got lost in drugs and everything went in the toilet.” She looked down, wound her fingers together. “For me, anyway.”
“Maybe all this will be a wake-up call,” Buck said.
She gave a one shoulder shrug and stared at her hands, folded in her lap. “Been through that before. It didn’t work.”
“There’s always a next time. This time.”
“Wouldn’t bet the ranch on it.”
“It’s up to you, of course. But if you want to try again, I’ll help.”
She raised her gaze. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint you. You were good to me.”
“Then don’t. Disappoint me, that is.” He smiled. “Or yourself.”
He studied her for a beat. Her eyes were still clear and sharp despite the toll the drugs had taken on the rest of her. Her skin, and her teeth, were beginning to show the ravages of meth. Buck knew that once those signs appeared, the downhill spiral usually picked up pace. He also saw that despite all that damage, Marla’s beauty still peeked through and the intelligence in her eyes hadn’t yet been smothered.
“So, what happened after they took you away?” Marla asked.
“They robbed a pharmacy. Apparently killing the owner.”
“Mr. Shaffer. I heard. He was a good guy.”
“He seemed so. Then we headed into the hills. Dalton, that’s the name of the guy with the ponytail, killed an older couple and took over their cabin. I didn’t know about them or Shaffer until I got away. Anyway, Dennie, that’s Dalton’s brother, had been shot at the Finley house. I had to do surgery…on a dining table.”
“Really?”
“Took out a kidney and patched him up.”
She stared at him.
“They don’t teach you that in med school.”
She smiled. “Probably not.”
“Definitely not. So, it seems Dalton then killed a cop and they were packing up to head out after some reinforcements arrived. I used the chance to sedate Jessie, one of Dalton’s guys, and took off.”
“Scary.”
“It was. They turned a dog loose. A pit bull.”
“What? To chase you?”
“Fortunately, I had found a shotgun and some shells in the cabin so I shot the dog and ran like hell.”
Marla’s eyes were wide. “This is like a movie.”
“One I’d rather watch than star in.”
“So, these guys, the ones that came in to help, they the ones they’re worried might come after you? And me?”
“Yup. And so, here we are.” Buck waved a hand. “A couple of jailbirds.”
CHAPTER 63
Jason fingered a crack in the curtain and watched Hackford and Cain walk away, turning left at the parking area and disappearing from sight. He returned to his desk, stood looking at the computer screen, the video game he had been playing still paused. He exited it. No longer in the mood.
He flopped on his sofa, adjusted the throw pillow
