Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The place was busier than it was the previous afternoon. Three twenty-somethings ran the counter. No Melanie in sight. Twenty minutes later with my coffee empty and still no sight of the owner, I went back out to the car. I wasn’t even in it five minutes when an unknown number called. Normally, I’d send what was likely a telemarketer to voicemail, but seeing as it could be someone from Liza’s team, I answered.
“Hello?”
“Tucker, it’s Greg.”
“Hey. I talked to Carter this morning. Heard what you found. Good news.”
“Yeah.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m still waiting for Dylan to get me those stills but your man Trey’s finished with the plates. Mackenzie and Beatrice were the only two with any direct connection to Nu Dawn. I’m having Frank dig into that further to see if there are any loose threads.”
I could see Greg’s play giving Frank busy work.
But…
“You sure he’s the best man for that job?”
“Nope. He’s fuckin’ useless and working my last nerve, but I gotta give him something to do to keep him occupied or he wanders down rabbit holes and devises plans that are in no way helpful. I don’t know how Liza’s put up with him for as long as she has, but I got her back on that, I have already talked to Shannon. I understand why Frank was placed with Liza, she’s one of the best we got, so this is no reflection on her. Sometimes the best can’t train stupid and no matter how good you are, you can’t train lazy out of someone.”
So Greg did respect Liza. It was just his style of working a case I didn’t jibe with.
“Anyway, I’ve got a woman, Susan, following up on the names. If there’s something there she’ll find it. Won’t be as fast as your man, but Susan’s got some rules and regs she’s gotta follow that you don’t.”
He didn’t sound put off Dylan didn’t always use proper channels to get what we need, just informative. Also good to know he wasn’t a stick in the mud stickler for rules.
“But that’s not why I’m calling,” he went on. “I see you’re still in town. One of the plates belongs to a Skipper Jenkins. He was a repeat visitor to the point if he didn’t have an address not far from where you are now, it’d look like he was a resident, he was at that house so frequently.”
“You want me to go take a look,” I surmised.
“Just a drive-by. See if his truck is there and any other cars.”
“No problem. What’s the address?”
Greg rattled off the address. I plugged it into the GPS. He wasn’t wrong; the address was three miles from the coffee shop.
“I’m back in Knoxville but I’ll be talking to Shannon. I want to be in Rogersville.”
I didn’t understand his hesitation.
“Is there a reason you sound hesitant to tell me that?”
“It’s a small town. I’ve already been there once. As you can imagine, being an out-of-tower, my presence was noted. I don’t want to raise suspicion with you and Liza being there and being visible and then me showing back up when we don’t know the players and who to avoid. I mean no disrespect but I’d feel better if you two had backup.”
“No offense taken and just to say, backup is always welcome.” Unlike Greg I didn’t hesitate to lay out the rest and I didn’t give a shit if I came across as disrespectful. “But I have serious reservations about Frank. If shit hits the fan, I’m uncertain I want him having my back, and I’m positive I don’t want to rely on him having Liza’s. Normally, I’d say two is better than one but in this case, it’d be preferred you ditch Frank and come alone.”
“I agree with you. Can’t say the thought of that idiot having a gun anywhere behind me doesn’t give me a shiver. I’m more afraid of friendly fire than I am not having someone watch my back.”
It was good we were on the same page.
“You could call in one of my guys to come up. You’d have to wait a day for someone to get here but you wouldn’t have to worry about someone accidentally shooting you in the back.”
“Already thought of that. I’ll call Shannon, see what she thinks. Though I already know she’ll tell me to call TC and see who they can send. It’ll just be a matter of paperwork.”
Yeah, I knew all about paperwork and making sure you had an abundance of it to cover your ass in case the powers that be wanted to audit and second-guess your every move in the field while they sat in their clean, comfy offices, going home every night to their beds.
Yet another reason I was happy to no longer work for the federal government.
“I’ll do your drive-by now and call you when I’m done.”
“Appreciate it. I’ll be watching.”
Right, the livestream camaras .
“Copy that.”
I glanced at the coffee shop and decided I’d come back for Liza’s latte. With drive time back to the compound it’d be lukewarm at best but still drinkable. If I got it now and it sat in the car until I was ready to go back it’d be ice cold and taste like shit. Liza being Liza wouldn’t complain—she’d get her caffeine hit and be happy—but I knew she preferred her coffee hot even in the summer. And since giving her something as ridiculously miniscule as my consideration was all I had to give at the moment, I was delivering the warmest latte to her I could.
I got back to the compound later than I’d planned. Greg’s errand turned out to be a time suck and possibly a clusterfuck. Though Greg got more than he’d asked for with the hoard of people gathered in the front yard of the house. Most of whom turned to watch me drive by, which meant he’d gotten clear shots of their faces on the recording—something I knew because he’d called me moments later happier than a pig in shit. Unfortunately that call came in as a beat-up black pickup started tailing me. Which led to the time suck of me driving all over hell and creation. Not to shake the pickup, but keep my cover. There weren’t many, but I stopped in front of every for sale sign I could find, made a show of parking and getting out of the CR-V to look at the house from the street. After aimlessly driving around for what I felt was long enough, I went back to the coffee shop to get Liza’s coffee. The truck was gone by the time I came back out, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t still watching—which meant I couldn’t stake out the parking lot like I wanted. So my day was fucked and I was late, as in Liza had called when I was five minutes out to tell me she and Allyson were heading to the community center and to meet them there. With the uneasy feeling in my gut now putting me way the fuck on edge after being followed all afternoon, I told her to wait for me.
So now there I was, parking in Allyson’s driveway with Allyson and Liza waiting for me outside. Thankfully, it was a come-as-you-are event because there was no time for me to change from my jeans and tee into something more appropriate.
As soon as I was out of the car, Liza made her way to me, got close, leaned in for a kiss, then wrapped her arms around me.
I gave her what she’d nonverbally asked for.
“I’ll brief you when we get back,” I whispered close to her ear. “Then we have some decisions to make.”
Liza stiffened but nodded without any further question. When I straightened, I tagged her hand and asked, “How was your day?”
“Great. Me and Ally met up with Colleen. She was helping a sweet lady named Patty mold soap. When they were done pouring the molds, Patty taught me how she makes her detergents.”
So she’d spent time in the kitchen, probably got a better look at which chemicals were kept there, but that didn’t explain the melancholy I heard in her voice.
It didn’t take much more of her telling me about her day to understand.
“When we were done, Patty invited us over for lunch. She used to be an attorney but was burnt out on all the garbage she not only heard but was a part of during trial. She’d always loved writing poetry but as she got deeper into her career, couldn’t find the time to write. She heard about Mackenzie’s seminar, went looking for a way to manage her stress, but found something more meaningful. She quit her job, sold her home in Brentwood, California, and moved out here to live stress-free and get back to what she loves—writing poetry, working in her small garden, and cooking complicated meals for one.”
Oh yeah, in the hours I’d been gone Liza had spent her time getting to know another resident. Not only did she sound like she liked the woman but she was sympathetic to her plight. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel bad for the members of Nu Dawn, I did. What was happening to them was jacked. But I couldn’t let myself get caught in the weeds, I had to stay focused on the big picture, and that wasn’t feeling sorry for people; it was about getting criminals off the street and behind bars.
“Liza—”
“I know,” she mumbled.
I glanced at Allyson who was watching Liza with a frown.
“You doing okay?”
Allyson’s gaze shifted to me. Her frown deepened, and I felt like a world-class dick for asking such a dumb question.
“I will be after this is done.”
To anyone listening, Allyson’s comment could be interpreted as her meaning the vigil. But I knew her response was deeper than that. She needed this done and to get back to her sister Jessica so the healing could begin.
I’d been on the fence about pressing my luck scoping out Tate’s sheds. I was of two minds—my gut said I needed to back off, but waiting would mean prolonging Allyson’s misery and give Liza more time to get to know these people. Liza was smart and rational, but there would come a time when emotion would win out. It wouldn’t be hers that would push her over the edge, it would be Allyson’s.
Decision made, I tightened my hand around Liza’s and the rest of the walk was done in silence.
Dusk had fallen, candles were lit, the area around the community center looked eerily beautiful. Allyson had introduced us to every member of the commune.
Everyone except Tate.
Where was this fucking guy?
Allyson had said he was rarely seen but still, it was strange he wasn’t present for the vigil. Mackenzie was working the crowd, and had been for the last few hours. I moved to the back of the gathering, skirting around clusters of Beatrice’s mourning friends, making sure I didn’t lose sight of Liza. Allyson was waiting her turn to take the microphone to talk about her friend, Liza had gone with her for moral support. And it hit me as it had yesterday how uncomfortable Liza was with physical contact.
Which made me think back to when I’d first met her. She was a hand-shaker. Even with the females she worked with—Women who she was obviously close to—I’d never seen her offer a hug or accept one. She’d always sidestepped and offered her hand. I’d been the one who’d pulled her in for a hug first. And if memory served, she went stiff before she returned my gesture. I’d never given it much thought, chalking it up to her being professional. But now, knowing what I knew about her father, it pissed me off. She had no clue how to show physical affection because she’d never been shown any.
I watched Allyson and Liza move forward when the next person went up to speak. I scanned the crowd again looking for Tate, not seeing him, but found Mackenzie holding an openly weeping woman.
That was a mistake, giving my attention to the bitch who was responsible for a young woman’s death, lost in a revenge fantasy of the women of Nu Dawn stringing her up and getting in their licks before they took over the commune and hung the bitch for her crimes.
So I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening behind me until I felt the barrel of a gun at my spine.
My gaze went back to Liza across the courtyard. Safe. I scanned the crowd of twenty-plus people and knew I was fucked.
Two men stepped forward, flaking me. But it was the dark-haired man to my right who spoke.
“Choice is yours, Special Agent Mitchell. You can come with us quietly or we can make this messy. We’ll start with the big-mouth bitch, Ally. But by the time we’re done, no one will be left standing.”
Jesus fuck .
We missed something.
I nodded.
The man crowded me, pulled up my shirt, and divested me of my firearm.
“Too easy,” the man mumbled.
I clenched my jaw.
“I would’ve taken my chances.”
Of course he would’ve. Fucked-up people did fucked-up shit like let innocent people get dead.
“Grab his phone.”
My phone was pulled out of my back pocket.
“Let’s go.”
“Whatever you want, Tate.”
The man smiled.
“Never thought the day would come. After all these years, what are the chances? It’s like fate.”
The guy was giddy. He certainly knew me. The problem was, I didn’t know him.
Special Agent Mitchell .
Yeah, we fucking missed something.