Chapter Thirty-Four

Crossing the Line

W illow couldn’t help but dwell on the ramifications of going after Lance Hogg. She’d never regretted killing her father. She was twenty-five now. Could she kill a stranger? She didn’t think so. It wasn’t just the threat of prison; it was who she had become. Killing was wrong. As Dale said, she was not the judge and jury.

Dale started coffee at four in the morning. She heard him moving around the kitchen and went out to speak with him about the thoughts that had kept her up all night. He listened to everything she said.

“Just because I hung up my badge doesn’t mean I plan to break the law,” he told her. A small quirk formed on his lips. “There are very few lines I’ll cross so don’t blame me for the guns that go against the law for you. In a few years, you’ll be able to apply to get your rights back. No person in their right mind would think twice about you having protection out here,” he continued. “Lance Hogg has an active warrant. I want him to pay for his crimes legally. The meth lab will likely get him ten years. The jaw trap and even the painting on the barn are minor offenses and will get him a slap on the wrist. I’m going after him because the sheriff’s department won’t. My plan is to deliver him very much alive. If he has a bruise or two, I won’t have any idea how it happened.”

He took her hand. “I’ve never killed a man, though I’ve had to think long and hard about it. My job meant it could happen. I won’t throw away the years I gave to law enforcement for prison. I will, however, protect us. You need to have your head right, or I don’t want you with me. Looking for Lance Hogg is dangerous, and it’s no reason to die.”

Willow had killed a man, but he left that unsaid. She was okay with Dale’s reasoning, and she had no problem protecting him. She needed to feel safe. As long as Lance was out there, she wasn’t.

“I’m going with you,” she said with a cold look that told Dale she meant business.

His answering nod said he understood.

** *

Louisa and Roger were waiting for them when they arrived, an hour before dawn.

“Do you want to take the horses?” Roger asked.

“No,” Dale said. “More traps worry me, and we don’t need a horse going down. Going on foot is our best bet.”

Neither Louisa nor Roger asked why they weren’t calling the sheriff’s department. They’d had a few things stolen, and no one ever showed up to take a report. Dale figured it was the Hogg kid but kept it to himself.

“We’re going to drive about five miles out and walk in from there. We have our phones if we run into trouble. We’ll both be armed too.”

“Should we expect you before dark?” Louisa asked.

“Yes, you should,” he assured her.

Louisa gave Willow a quick hug. “Don’t let this old man get you into trouble you can’t handle. We’ll come out if we need to.”

Willow squeezed her back and followed Dale to his truck. Lucy stayed in the barn at home because she was old, and he wanted something more trustworthy.

“They’re good people,” Dale said as they drove away from Louisa and Roger.

Willow’s nerves were on edge, and she hadn’t spoken much since their conversation over coffee.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Dale asked, giving her a side-eye as he drove over the bumpy dirt road.

“You keep asking, and my answer stays the same.”

“Then what’s eating you?” he muttered.

She shrugged. “Some of it is anger over Daisy, mostly. I’ve also been thinking about my grandmother and what drove her to risk her life. She had been angry at the Hoggs for years. It was mostly because of Carrie. I sometimes thought she watched out for Carrie because she was unable to watch out for me.”

“Joan let me have it more than once when it came to Carrie,” Dale said. “I tried, but even when child services questioned her, she wouldn’t say anything. She had a few scrapes, but those could be put down to a normal active childhood. There were no signs of obvious abuse. Like so many other children, homeschooling made it harder. If a teacher had seen her daily, it might have changed things. Joan is up there ranting at me still because I failed that little girl. I studied the evidence from the night Joan died. She was on a mission to save Carrie, and she gave her life to do it. Carrie had rabies but that’s not what killed her. That little girl was beaten to death, and I should have done more.” He glanced at Willow. “Your grandmother would be very proud of you.”

“Thank you,” Willow replied before she switched subjects. She wanted her grandmother to be proud, but praise made her uncomfortable. “What’s your plan?”

“I want to set ground rules,” Dale said.

“I’m all ears,” she said grumpily, which made him smile.

“The guns are registered to me. I’m wearing an ankle holster for the one you’re carrying. It will look like I took it as backup. If I’m down and you need to shoot, don’t hesitate. I still say taking him alive is the goal, but we can’t be stupid about it.”

“Is that why you put rope in the backpack?”

“It’s exactly why. I have handcuffs in the trailer, but that would look like we went to catch him and wouldn’t look good to a judge. We’re searching for traps. That’s our story, and we’re sticking to it. If we find Lance and something bad happens, stay silent when the deputies ask questions. I read your court transcript. That detective hounded you for hours, and you were just a kid. You didn’t say much, but there were inconsistencies in your story. Your lawyer was right to have you keep the truth to yourself. If a cop is taken into custody, they know to say nothing.”

“I never cared one way or another about cops until I met you,” Willow said. “Are you the only good cop left?”

He chuckled. “If I’m a good one, this world is in sad shape. Out here, far away from the city, the pay is low, and they don’t have many people signing up for the job. Half of them who don’t make it through the background check required by the state. When they do pass the first part, another half fail in the academy. If I knew what I know now, I would have chosen a different career.”

Willow slowly felt herself unwinding.

“You ready?” Dale asked as he slowed the truck, pulled off the road, and rolled to a stop.

“Any more words of wisdom?” she asked.

“Stay alive. He will be armed. Maybe not with a gun, but he’ll have something. He’s not thinking right either. Be prepared for anything.”

“Yes, Grandpa,” Willow said.

“Smartass,” he said but she saw the pride he felt when she called him that.

Dale carried the backpack, and Willow had two water bottles in the pockets of a pair of pants she’d taken from her grandmother’s closet. She’d never gotten around to buying her own things because Joan’s fit, and there were enough to last her for years.

“You know where we are, don’t you?” Willow asked after looking around.

“We’re five miles past my place. I worked this area, remember?”

She nodded. The landscape was not as nice as her grandmother’s property. The brush was mostly brown, and there weren’t as many cedar trees, mostly shaggy-bark. It was also rockier. Good hiking boots were something Dale made her order online. Her grandmother’s worked, but he said she needed a new pair that was the perfect size. She had been using them, and they felt good on her feet.

They set off at a slow pace, watching for footprints.

“He covers his prints whenever possible. His family likely hunted. He won’t be as careful out here, though.”

It took three hours.

Willow called out from ten feet away.

“He came through here,” she said.

Dale smiled. “Good job,” he said with obvious appreciation. "Now the hunt begins.”