Page 55 of Risk of a Lifetime
A man’s laugh floated through the air. “Been there.”
“Thanks for stopping, though.”
The car drove away, the taillights disappearing around a bend in the road. Cain jumped in the driver’s seat and started the truck.
“Now.” JB tugged Marcy upward.
She ran to the open doorway and launched inside. He braced himself as he landed on her a second later. The truck was moving before he got the door slammed.
Settling to the passenger side floor bed, JB motioned Marcy to the other side. “Who was that?”
“Old man Parson and his wife. From the looks of them, they must have been coming home from Joanie’s.” Cain turned onto the main road which smoothed out the bumps in the ride.
“Anybody else been by?”
“Not that I saw.” Cain handed back a thermos and cups. “I been driving a two-mile loop and some of the side roads for the past hour. Came back when I figured you’d be close.”
JB poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Marcy after she tugged off her hat and gloves.
“There’s a couple blankets on the seat back there if you’re cold.” Cain kept his focus on the road ahead except for the frequent glances in the rear and driver’s side mirrors.
“Thanks.” She sat quiet, sipping the heat into her body.
Cain’s phone rang. “Yeah, I got them.”
“If that’s the sheriff, I need to talk to him.” JB reached out to take the phone, then put it to his ear. “Anything happen there?”
“Nope. Everything’s quiet on this end. Looks like the plan worked,” Sheriff Davis replied.
“Go in the house now.” Trying to muffle his words from Marcy, JB ran his hand across his face. “I thought I saw something as we left.”
“You sure ‘bout this? We’ll blow the stakeout if we go in.”
Adrenaline pulsed through JB’s body. “Yes. Go inside now. Call back as soon as you check it out.”
The call ended, and when he glanced across the floor bed, he looked into Marcy’s brown eyes. “Probably nothing,” he said.
She nodded, sipped more warmth from the cup.
A few minutes later, the phone rang, and he turned to muffle the words. The less Marcy knew the better off she’d be. “Yeah?”
Sheriff Davis cleared his throat. “You were right. He’s been in and out. Looks like he came up through the crawlspace under the house. None of my guys saw or heard anything.”
“How’s that possible?”
“Kennett said it looked like the floor around the register in the utility room had already been cut out. Repositioned on some blocks under the house.” Davis sighed deep. “No telling how long he’s been planning this.”
JB leaned his head back against the door, cricking his neck from side to side. The breath he took in expanded until the force of the Kevlar vest clinched tight against his body before he blew every bit of air out. He could feel her stare but didn’t look over.
The sheriff cleared his throat. “He left you a couple of notes. One on the pillows in your bed. Along with ten 38-caliber bullets on the other pillow.”
“Repeat the last.” Inside, JB churned with heat, chaos, premonition.
“Ten 38-caliber bullets,” Sheriff Davis replied.
JB tensed with rage. The creep had walked their floors, stood by their bed, touched their pillows. Who had he angered this much? Was it actually someone in the Bureau? Or someone who’d been sent to settle the score for a busted drug runner? Terrorism? No, none of his cases had come close on that count.
Maybe this was tied to Jennings’ death in some way. Maybe there had actually been a child slavery ring, and the girl who’d lured Jennings to his death had been an innocent victim guiding him to the wrong place at the wrong time. Those involved could want to silence everyone involved before starting up again.
