Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Patterson stood at the window of the squad room looking west. Dark clouds had descended into the valley, and lightning was starting to hammer down.

More thunder rumbled around the building, barely audible behind the thick glass.

Was Wolf in trouble? He could have been. FBI team or not, facing down a biker gang, who were probably armed to the teeth, was bound to be a sticky situation.

And now there was this weather.

“What are you thinking?” Rachette appeared next to her, looking out the window.

“I’m wondering about Wolf.”

“Yeah,” Rachette said. “Me, too. I just called him, and it went straight to voicemail.”

“There’s probably no reception where he’s at.”

Rain streaked down the glass, slapping the road below. A few people outside scrambled from a shop into their car.

Another lightning flash, and this time, the thunder came immediately .

“Call Luke,” Rachette said. “Maybe she knows what’s going on?”

Patterson nodded. No way she was going to sit here on her hands anymore. They needed information.

She pulled out her phone and dialed Special Agent Kristen Luke’s phone number, turning around and walking among the desks of the squad room.

“Sup girl?” Luke answered.

Despite the situation, Patterson smiled at the sound of her old friend’s voice. “It’s been a while,” she said.

“Sure has. What’s going on?”

“Listen, I want to talk about the response team they’re sending up to Doyle. Wolf’s up there. I want to know what’s going on.”

“I’m in Chicago,” Luke said. “So I wouldn’t know anything about what’s going on in Denver at the moment.”

“Who do I call?”

“Well…Archie’s back there. You can call him. You have his number?”

“Just a second.” She searched through her phone contacts. Special Agent Archie Hannigan’s number scrolled up on the screen. “Got it.”

“You want me to give him a heads-up you’re calling?”

“No,” Patterson said. “We know each other well enough, I think.”

“Keep me posted,” Luke said.

They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Patterson dialed the number and put the phone to her ear, walking back toward Rachette.

“Hannigan,” he answered.

“Hi. It’s Heather Patterson in Rocky Points. ”

“Yeah. What’s up? Actually, funny enough, I was going to call Wolf here shortly.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. He had me looking into some information about that Sons of the Void biker gang up in northern Colorado.”

“Yeah, he’s up there now. That’s why I’m calling. I want to know what’s happening?”

Hannigan hesitated to answer.

“Can you hear me?”

“Yeah. I mean…I don’t know what’s happening up there. Wolf’s the one on location, isn’t he? Have you called him?”

She frowned, looking at Rachette.

“Where are you?” Patterson asked.

“I’m at the Denver Field Office.”

“Didn’t you just send a response team up to Doyle at their sheriff’s request?”

“A response team? Not that I’ve heard of…and I would have heard about it.”

She shook her head, lowering the phone. “You told me Wolf said they called up a response team, right?”

“I did,” Rachette said. “He did.”

“From where?”

“From Denver.” Rachette reached for the phone. “Give me that.”

She lowered it, poking the speaker phone button. “Are you there?”

Hannigan’s voice came out. “Yeah.”

“He told me you guys had a team on the way,” Rachette said. “I just spoke to him an hour and a half ago.”

“He said we did? Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Rachette’s hands turned to claws. “He said the Denver Field Office! Yes! ”

“Okay, okay, let me make sure, hold on.” Hannigan’s phone clanked, and he went silent.

Patterson and Rachette stared at the screen mutely.

A minute later, Hannigan came back, his breathing labored. “Nope. No response team.”

“You’re sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

“What does that mean?” Patterson asked. “You’re sure?” she asked Rachette.

Rachette’s face went mean. “If you ask me that again?—”

“Okay,” she said. “So, that means he thinks you’re sending one up. Which means somebody told him that, and they haven’t relayed the request? Or…somebody lied to him?”

Rachette’s eyes widened. “He said the sheriff called it in.”

Patterson rubbed a hand over her face.

“What’s going on?” Hannigan asked. “What does that mean?”

“I think it means you need to send a response team up to Doyle, Colorado. And Archie?”

“Yeah.”

“Now.”

“I’m on it. Call you back.” He hung up.

They went to Waze’s office, and Patterson opened the door without bothering to knock.

“Come in,” Waze said sarcastically, looking up from his computer.

“Sir, we have a problem.”

She and Rachette explained what was going on.

“That’s not good,” Waze said.

“No, it’s not. ”

“What do you propose we do about it?”

“Get a helicopter prepared,” she said, “and let’s get up there as soon as possible.”

He nodded, then shook his head. “I don’t know who to call.”

“I do.” She picked up the desk phone and dialed.