He was sure the McDowells would want to thank him, to shower him with praise or adoration or something that would make him feel beyond awkward. Dak couldn't risk that. The longer he stuck around, the better chance the cops had of catching up to him.
The fact was, he'd shot a man on the man's property. The kids would corroborate the story, make sure that everyone knew the truth, but there would be an investigation, questioning for days, maybe weeks.
That could not happen. The less time Dak spent in this town, the better.
He steered the SUV out of town and into the countryside, leaving the smoldering memories of Brown's Ferry in the rearview mirror.
Dak tried to shift his thoughts away from the families back in the little town, parents who were reuniting with their lost children, some getting phone calls from the local sheriff about the mysterious arrival of their kids. Letting his mind linger on those things wasn't helpful. He had one more person to find before he could clear his name.
Bo Taylor needed to be the center of Dak's focus. He could sit here in the eye of the storm and enjoy the temporary peace, but the storm was far from over.
An hour out from Brown's Ferry, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked down at the screen, but didn't recognize the number. With a confused scowl, he pressed the answer button.
"Who is this?"
Audible, steady breaths came through the speaker.
"I said, who is this," Dak stated authoritatively, ready to hang up. "No one has this number."
"I do now," the voice said, the serpentine sound slithering through Dak's ear.
He didn't have to ask. Dak would recognize that voice anywhere.
"Before you ask how I got this number, Dak," Bo said, elongating the name, "is it too much for you to say thank you?"
"Thank you?" Dak asked, deciding to play along.
"For killing Trask. You would have never gotten to him. You know that, right? He had that mountain rigged to blow sky high if any of us tried to get to him."
Dak didn't give him the satisfaction of asking how he did it. He'd heard enough about Trask's killing, along with the murder of the sheriff in Cuchara, to figure it was either Taylor or Collier pulling the trigger. In his head, the arrow always pointed toward Bo, even though showing up in the States could have been a huge mistake.
"Playing coy?" Bo asked. "Fine. Well, now that all the others are gone, I suppose it's just down to you and me, eh, Dak?"
"The others?"
"Coy again? You took out three elite soldiers, Dak. Guys you trained with, and in some cases, actually trained. You should be proud."
"What do you want, Bo? Calling to apologize? Because you're doing a poor job of that."
Bo laughed. "Me? Apologize? No. Deep down, though, I always knew I couldn't let the others live. I'd be on the run forever, never knowing when the target was on my back, always looking over my shoulder. That's no way to live, Dak. I'm sure you can relate."
"How did you get this number?" Dak growled the question through gritted teeth.
"Oh, that? Easy. You only have so many underground connections. I knew of two."
A sickening thought entered Dak's mind. "If you hurt Will—"
"Relax, brother. I didn't hurt Will. He's too well-connected with all the wrong people. But his apartment's security is lacking. I found what I needed and got out of there. Quite the view he has."
Dak could hear the familiar sounds of the Portuguese coast through the speaker. Bo was on the move, no way he'd be in that town or country longer than another hour.
"Before you think of trying to warn him, don't. I'll be long gone before you have a chance to put up any roadblocks."
Dak sighed through his nose. "Then what do you want, Bo?"
"I want this to end. Once and for all."
Dak inhaled slowly again. "It looks like we finally agree on something."
Thank You
Thank you for reading this story, along with the others. If you’re trying to find Brown’s Ferry, Kentucky on a map, you probably won’t. As far as I know, the place doesn’t exist, but I did base it on an area near the Daniel Boone National Forest. There are many gorgeous places to visit there, where the rolling hills seem to go on forever. I highly recommend it if you get the chance. Just be careful. You never know if there’s another Nate out there….
Other Books By Ernest Dempsey
Dak Harper Origin Stories:
Out of the Fire
You Only Die Once
Tequila Sunset
Purgatory
Scorched Earth
The Heart of Vengeance
Sean Wyatt Adventures:
The Secret of the Stones
The Cleric's Vault
The Last Chamber
The Grecian Manifesto
The Norse Directive
Game of Shadows
The Jerusalem Creed
The Samurai Cipher
The Cairo Vendetta
The Uluru Code
The Excalibur Key
The Denali Deception
The Sahara Legacy
The Fourth Prophecy
The Templar Curse
The Forbidden Temple
The Omega Project
The Napoleon Affair
The Second Sign
Adriana Villa Adventures:
War of Thieves Box Set
When Shadows Call
Shadows Rising
Shadow Hour
The Adventure Guild:
The Caesar Secret: Books 1-3
The Carolina Caper
Beta Force:
Operation Zulu
London Calling
Paranormal Archaeology Division:
Hell’s Gate
Acknowledgments
Big thanks to my editor Anne Storer and all the readers who helped out while the book was being written and posted each day on my website. I can’t thank you enough. There were so many of you kind enough to send your comments. I appreciate you.
Copyright © 2020 by Ernest Dempsey
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The Heart of Vengeance
A Dak Harper THRILLERErnest Dempsey
One
Kentucky
"How do you want to do this, Bo?" Dak asked as he pulled the SUV onto the side of the road.
He lowered the device and turned it on speaker, then found Will's number. He started to send a text message, but was cut off.
"I'll tell you how it's going to go down, Dak. And before you try
