Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

After a few minutes at high speed, Wolf caught up to Mitch Russell on the highway.

He hung back, thinking. He had a hunch that the pieces all fit together, but he didn’t have proof. He needed to speak to Dolores and Mitch, confront them with his suspicions, and watch the looks on their faces as he did.

Raising his cell phone, he considered dialing Brandenburg but decided against it, just in case he was completely wrong. Instead, he put the phone down and trailed Mitch at a distance for the next twenty miles until Doyle appeared on the horizon.

Mitch’s Toyota slowed and hung a right before the town, and Wolf followed.

The road was dirt, stretching straight for a mile through brush before meandering to the right up into sporadic pines and junipers. The trees grew thicker, and Wolf lost sight of Mitch, but the dust hanging over the road told him he was on the trail.

He rounded a bend, and the dust ended abruptly. He jammed on the brakes and noticed he’d just passed a driveway leading left into a thick copse of trees.

He reversed and took the drive. There, the road narrowed, choked in by foliage as it led downward and to the right, out of sight. He coasted around the corner, stopping quickly when Mitch’s brake lights flared up ahead, no more than fifty yards in front of him.

Mitch’s window was rolled down, and he was talking to one of the bikers Wolf remembered from the diner the previous day. He was pointing at Mitch through the window, accusatory, angry. He stopped talking, lowered his hand, and backed away at the sight of Wolf’s vehicle.

Wolf rolled forward and saw another man standing in front of Mitch’s truck.

Their bikes were parked off the road in the trees.

Wolf kept his foot off the brake and stopped at Mitch’s rear bumper. The bikers walked away from the Toyota and toward their bikes, ignoring Wolf.

Mitch let off the brake and moved forward. Ahead, the trees opened, revealing an idyllic setting. A one-story house sat amid a sprawling meadow, with a pond off the back and views of the valley beyond.

Wolf watched the bikers for a beat. They continued to ignore him, speaking to one another as if at a social function. The shorter guy reached into a jacket pocket, produced a pack of cigarettes, and lit one.

Finally, they turned toward Wolf and waved.

Wolf looked forward and let off the brake.

The Tacoma was already down through the clearing, parking in front of the house. Wolf coasted after him and parked next to the truck. Getting out, he turned back. The two bikers were now staring down with great interest .

“What are you doing?” Mitch stood next to his truck.

“Is this your place?” Wolf asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’d like to have a word with you.”

Mitch’s jaw was set forward. His eyes went to the bikers. “You just followed me from the gas station?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Wolf eyed the bikers again. One of them had a pair of binoculars raised to his face. The other was speaking on the phone.

“You really want to do this out here?” Wolf asked. “Or do you want to invite me in?”

Mitch shook his head. “It’s not a good idea for you to be here.”

“Why?”

“It’s just not. And it’s really not good timing.”

“I know about Savannah,” Wolf said, watching his face closely.

Mitch’s eyelid twitched, closing halfway. His breathing intensified as if someone had sat on his chest. Then he turned around and walked away quickly, stopped, and flung up his hand.

“Fine,” he said. “Come in.”

Wolf followed him. “Thanks. I appreciate it. I just want to ask you a few questions. That’s all.”

Mitch opened the door and stepped inside. Wolf followed into a kitchen.

“What is he doing here?” a woman’s voice asked. Dolores stood near the sink, looking out a window toward the bikers. She walked to the counter and sat on a stool. She wore no makeup, and a yellowish-purple crescent below her left eye was on full display.

“I didn’t invite him,” Mitch said. “He followed me.”

She looked shaken, her eyes lacking the cool she’d displayed the night before at the diner. “Where were you?” She hissed the words at her son.

Mitch didn’t answer.

Wolf stood near the door, watching the interaction. Dolores had been lying the prior afternoon because she didn’t know where her son was.

He looked around, taking in the interior. The house was a modest size, with a kitchen and living room that took up equal space in one big room, and a small hallway leading off to the left behind Mitch and his mother.

Dozens of family photographs adorned the walls, and the star of the show was always a little girl with a bright, photogenic smile. Wolf eyed the progression of her as a baby, growing to reach her father’s elbow.

His eyes stopped on a young woman who was obviously the mother. She stood holding Savannah as a baby next to Mitch. She was pretty with straight brown hair, standing a head shorter than her husband.

“That’s Sally,” Mitch said. “She died of cancer after Savannah was born.”

Wolf turned to them. “How old is Savannah?”

“Eight,” Mitch said.

“And where is she?”

“She’s playing soccer,” Dolores said, but her voice was weak. “What is he doing here?”

“Last night, you said she was with her father down in Craig,” Wolf said. “And this morning, Mitch, you said you were gone all night for work and that Savannah was up here.”

They stared at Wolf.

“And now you’re telling me you didn’t know where your son was, Dolores.”

She rubbed the back of her neck, clearly agitated.

Wolf went to the sink window, keeping a few feet back to remain hidden behind the glare. “The bikers have her, don’t they?”

He turned and watched their faces. He was right. Tears dripped down Dolores’s cheeks, and Mitch glared hard through the room.

“I need you to tell me if I’m right,” he said.

Mitch nodded.

“Okay. Why do they have her? Why would they do that?”

“Where were you?” Dolores asked her son again, ignoring him. “They came to the door and asked where you were. I told them I didn’t know. I told them you left without telling me, and since they took our phones, I had no clue where you were. They were pissed off, Mitch.”

Mitch walked up next to Wolf and looked outside. The two bikers remained where they were, one of them still on the phone, but he was talking animatedly, gesturing at the house.

“The faster you explain it to me,” Wolf said, “the better.”

“Lawrence raided their place,” Mitch said. “He killed a bunch of them and apparently took some of their money. A lot of it, I guess.”

“I know that,” Wolf said. “But why?”

“He had been asking around about Irv and getting nowhere. Irv was riding with them, and I really don’t know what happened. Nobody does. But…Irv just vanished.”

“Okay,” Wolf said. “So, he killed them? And took money? I don’t get it.”

Mitch spoke quickly. “Irv disappeared a month or so ago, and ever since, Lawrence has been digging around for answers. He’s gone to the sheriff, the gang, anybody and everybody in town. Nobody was talking. It infuriated him.

“He came over here last week, telling me about how he’d found a back way into the compound, and he’d been watching them. And that he was going to finally do something about their silence. That he had figured out a way to make them talk. And then he just told me to take care of my mom for him, and he left.”

Dolores wiped tears from her cheeks.

“So, he went in there and killed some of them,” Wolf said. “And he escaped with their money. I see. He held their money for ransom for information about his missing son.”

“I guess so,” Mitch said.

“Did you talk to him after what he did?” Wolf asked.

“No,” Dolores said.

Mitch shook his head.

“But he called me,” Dolores said, “from a strange number. I didn’t answer it. I never answer those weird numbers. I had been calling his phone, but he wasn’t answering. I didn’t even notice I had a voicemail from him sitting there on my phone. I’m not good with these stupid phones.”

“What did the voicemail say?” Wolf asked.

She shook her head, tears freshening. “I never listened to it. I don’t know.”

“But Snake did,” Mitch said .

“What do you mean?” Wolf asked.

“They came over here Monday morning,” Mitch said. “Snake and a bunch more of them. They broke in and woke us all up. They demanded her phone, saw the message, and called the number back.”

“Did he answer?”

“Yes. And they spoke to him for just a few seconds. But he hung up on them, and when they called back, he never answered again. That’s when they grabbed me, punched my mother, and took my daughter.”

“What did they say?” Wolf asked. “What was the conversation like?”

“Snake told him he wanted his money back and that they would get him for what he did. Just…threats. But, then he put down the phone, and he was…he was mad. So pissed. He asked us where Lawrence was.”

Mitch rubbed his face with one hand, his eyes welling up. “We didn’t know where he was. We told them we didn’t know. But we couldn’t say anything to make them believe us. I couldn’t do anything to stop them.

“They called Lawrence back a few more times on that number. And when he didn’t answer, they took our phones. They sent him a text from both. And then showed us the message. It said to bring them the money by midnight Saturday, or the girl dies.” Mitch’s eyes filled with tears. “And they took her.” The last words were choked by rage. “They took my little girl.”

Dolores stood up, walked over, and embraced her son.

“Have you spoken to Lawrence since?” Wolf asked.

“No,” Dolores said. “Are you listening? They took our phones.”

Wolf put up a hand. “I’m just wondering…is there any in dication Lawrence saw the messages they sent? The threat?”

Mitch shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s the question. I don’t know if he even knows they have Savannah, or if he just threw away the phone, or shut it off, or what?”

Wolf sighed deeply, folded his arms, and studied the men outside. The guy on the phone lowered his cell and put it in his pocket. Wolf eyed Mitch. The man’s eyes were rimmed red like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Where were you last night?” Wolf asked.

“I was looking for the back way into the compound.”

“And?”

“And I found it.”

“And?”

He shook his head. “I watched. And I think she was in one of the buildings, but I couldn’t figure out how to get down there without getting caught. They’re on high alert. At least five of them were on an all-night patrol. I couldn’t figure out how to get in there without just…” he shook his head and began to sob.

“It would have been a suicide mission,” Wolf said. “And you weren’t willing to make a poor decision like that unless it was completely necessary. You still had time. You still have until tonight at midnight.”

“Yes,” Mitch said. “Exactly.”

“How many were there in total?”

“I don’t know. I counted eleven outside. Five were on patrol, and one of them walked very close to me. But there’s a central fire pit area where they congregated. There were lights on inside the buildings.”

“What makes you think you found where Savannah was? ”

“One of the buildings always had a guard at the door. And one of the men went inside with food once.”

“Can you describe the building?”

“It has antlers on it.”

“And the others don’t?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. From my vantage, it was on the left.”

Dolores moved toward the kitchen window. “They’re coming down here.”

The two men were now walking down the drive toward the house.

“How did you find it? Where is the back way in?”

“Off County Road 982. I went onto the satellite maps and looked. There’s a two-track road near the point where 982 approaches the rear of the property. There’s a cattle guard and a gap in the barbed wire.”

“They’re coming,” she said again.

“And then what?” Wolf asked.

“You take the trail until it stops going up, and then you park and hike up. You can see the compound on the other side from the top of the mountain.”

Wolf nodded, making his way toward the door. “What are you two supposed to be doing today? Are you working at the diner?”

“Yes,” Mitch said quickly. “It opens at eleven.”

“Go to work. Be normal.”

“I have a gun. And I know how to use it. If Lawrence doesn’t show up, I’m going up there, and I’m getting her. No matter what.”

Wolf winced inwardly at the man’s confidence. He was willing to die for his daughter; that much was obvious, but life would be much better for everyone involved if they all lived.

He grabbed the doorknob. “County Road 982.”

“Yeah,” Mitch said.

“Obviously, don’t tell them what we’ve talked about,” Wolf said. “Tell them I tried to ask about where you were, Mitch. You tell them you told me that you were gone with Savannah down south.”

“My sister lives down in Craig,” Mitch said.

“Right.”

“I can say I told you I was dropping her off there.”

“Good,” Wolf said.

“They’re getting closer,” Dolores said.

He took out a business card.

“I already have your card from earlier,” Dolores said.

He put it back in his pocket. “Call me the second you get to work. I want to know that you made it safely.”

“Okay.”

He went to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob. “When the time comes, we’ll come get you, and then we’ll go get your daughter.”

“When?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Mitch deflated.

“I’ll get some reinforcements, and we’ll come up with a plan. And we’ll get your daughter.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Dolores said.

“There’s no other way, Mom.”

Wolf opened the front door, walked out, and went to his truck, pausing to look at the two bikers as if surprised by their approach. They were halfway to the house, about fifty yards out .

He got in and backed out quickly, then drove, slowing to a stop next to them with his window down.

“What are you guys doing?”

They stared at him.

He shook his head, annoyed, hooking an elbow on the door. “You know, I don’t know what all the secrecy is about up here. But I know something strange is going on. You think Lawrence Hunt is coming here? To this house? Why?” He glared at them, waiting for a reply. “That’s why you’re here, right?”

He couldn’t see their eyes beyond the mirrored sunglasses they wore, but he hoped they were twinkling with satisfaction, watching a harried cop clutching for answers.

He continued talking. “I followed Mitch here because I’d like some answers from somebody without you two around, and hey, who do I find? You two again.” He leaned out conspiratorially. “What do you two know? Huh? What are you two,” he twirled a finger, “and everyone else around here not telling me about Lawrence Hunt?”

When they refused to answer again, Wolf turned up one side of his mouth. “Okay. I see how it is.” He shook his head and let off the brake.

As he left, he eyed the mirror. The bikers stood there watching him leave but then turned and continued toward the house. He considered going back and stopping them with force, but the rest of the gang undoubtedly knew he was out there at that moment. For the safety of the girl, it was best to play dumb. And that meant playing the part completely.

He continued to drive without pause and watched the mirror as the two men went out of sight.