24. Gauge
GAUGE
I wasn’t sure how long we were in that kitchen talking, but I didn’t like the fact that the deputy we had with us didn’t receive one ounce of an update from Sheriff Nielson. I wanted to know how Char was holding up with that fucking woman in her sights.
But I knew I had to focus, so I closed my eyes and buried myself in my thoughts.
“Okay, let me get this straight,” I said as I leaned against the only dark corner in the kitchen, “if this Agent Marcie Dickerson is trying to pin Murphy’s murder on us, we’ve got all the proof we need to show that she killed that man. So what’s the issue?”
Dallas leaned back into his chair and stretched out his legs beneath the kitchen table. “We can’t do that without showing that we knew Doc in the first place.”
I shrugged. “Not necessarily. The place we found where she was monitoring everything? We blew that shit sky high, and I made sure that those solar panels I found didn’t work before we left.
So even if she uploaded whatever the fuck somewhere offsite, she wouldn’t have the capacity to do that without going back to the original site and sifting through its remnants. ”
The deputy tilted his head side to side. “She’d have to go back then.”
“Which we know she’d never do,” Dallas said.
I pointed at him. “Unless she doesn’t know about the explosion yet.”
Dallas slowly turned his gaze to me. “Which she may not because she hasn’t gone back yet.”
Deputy Carlyle launched himself out of his chair. “I need to call Nielson.”
“Why?” Dallas asked.
However the second I heard the deputy’s phone ringing out into the kitchen, I pushed away from the wall.
Making my way toward them as my ears focused on the conversation about to unfold.
“Carlyle?” Sheriff Nielson asked.
“We’re here, too,” Dallas and I said in unison.
“Perfect,” Nielson said, “listen, I’ve got this woman on video leading Char with questions and becoming aggressive with her.”
A snarl left my lips. “Aggressive?”
Dallas shot to his feet. “How aggressive?”
“Did that bitch lay a hand on her?”
“Is she bleeding?”
“Guys?” Carlyle asked as he continued to sit. “Take a breath. Nielson would never allow something like that.”
“You’re damn right I wouldn’t,” Nielson glowered.
I looked over at Dallas and found him staring back at me.
His face was beet red. His hands, planted firmly into the kitchen table as his fingertips curled into the wood.
His knuckles were white. His body trembled.
All of my muscles locked up at the mere idea of what Char was going through without us.
“Anyway,” Nielson said with a grunt, “she’s doing great if you’re wondering. Char’s taking things like a champ and this woman is unraveling like we figured she would.”
I couldn’t help the grin that slithered across my face. “’Atta, girl.”
Dallas’s body unlocked a bit and he cracked his neck. “Sheriff, we’ve got a plan brewing in the works. Can I have your ears?”
“Yeah, but make it quick, I don’t have much time.”
I watched Dallas as he launched into things. “We have reason to believe that she’s going to head back to the site we found earlier. We think she might head back there to gather herself after all this and figure out another plan.”
“You guys want to ambush her or something? Because I can send more?—”
Dallas shook his head. “Nothing is required of you except to keep your eyes on our guys and keep that woman preoccupied.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, tell Char we said to keep it going as long as she can possibly stand it.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nielson said, “we can do that just fine. But where are you headed exactly?”
Carlyle quickly spoke up. “I can go with them if you’d like. You know, keep my dashcam on. Chestcam. Things like that.”
“Do it,” Nielson said without pause. “At this point, we need details. Things we can legally show to people. We need a united front.”
“Then you’ve got it,” Dallas said as he picked up the deputy’s cell phone. “You and Char keep trucking the way you are, and we’re gonna take Carlyle out to this warehouse where she set up shop.”
“Stay vigilant.”
“You, too, Sheriff.”
I butted in, though. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“What?” Dallas asked.
“What do you mean?” Nielson asked.
I sighed. “Are you sure you want to send one of your deputies with us? We don’t exactly intend on…”
Carlyle chuckled, but it was Nielson who barked.
“Look guys, we don’t have to tell anyone anything.
But no woman like her is gonna romp around my town trying to frame people for bullshit she’s doing.
That won’t fly, no matter what’s going on.
If there’s an investigation, it’ll be clean or nonexistent. Carlyle?”
“Yes, Sheriff?”
“Gather everything that you can officially and keep your nose out of their shit,” he said.
“Yes, Sheriff,” Carlyle said with a nod of his head.
“Dallas?” he asked.
“Yeah?”
“Talk soon.”
Dallas nodded. “Yep. Talk soon.”
Then he hung up the phone and tossed it back to the deputy.
I couldn’t help the grin, though. I always liked Sheriff Harold Nielson. He had a sack on him, and he sure didn’t mind slinging it around when someone pissed him off.
Carlyle’s voice pierced my thoughts. “Do you guys trust me?”
Dallas clicked his tongue. “Not as far as I can throw you.”
He turned to me. “That’s pretty far for you, Gauge. Do you trust me?”
I had to admit, that earned another chuckle. “Sure, why not?”
“Good,” he said as he pressed a button on his cell.
“What are you doing?” Dallas asked.
That’s when Nielson picked up the phone again. “You forget to wipe your ass or something?”
I threw my head back and barked with laughter before Carlyle answered. “Sheriff, isn’t it normal for even small precincts to have C.I.’s on payroll?”
His question stopped my barking laughter, though. “Holy fuck, I didn’t even think about that.”
Dallas smirked. “Maybe I trust you a bit more now, Carlyle.”
The deputy grinned as Nielson spoke. “Read you loud and clear. Guys?”
“Yep?” Dallas and I said in unison.
“I’m gonna get some C.I. paperwork in the system. Get it backdated properly and everything. Make sure Plug comes behind me and makes it look legit.”
And of course, we should have known that Plug was lurking somewhere. Despite Baitfish being our stealth operative, Plug had a knack for slinking his way into places and blending in with his surroundings.
“Whatever it is,” he said as his head poked around the corner like the cheeky asshole he was, “the answer is yes.”
“Perfect,” Nielson said, “I’ll get started then.”
Carlyle turned and pointed at Plug. “Sheriff Nielson is submitting C.I. paperwork for some of you guys. We need to make sure it’s backdated properly and looks legit if it gets pulled. You know, to explain why you guys are working with us.”
Plug blinked. “That’s fucking genius. I’m in.”
“You can thank Carlyle for it. It was all his idea,” Nielson said.
A thought occurred to me. “Could we backdate it as far as?—”
Carlyle grinned. “—as when you guys first started fucking with Doc? Why not?”
Dallas clapped his hands as a cackle fell from his lips. “Holy fucking shit, Carlyle. You’ve got some balls.”
He shrugged with that sly little grin on his face. “I try.”
“Plug?” Sheriff Nielson asked. “Give me twenty minutes to get the bare bones paperwork in. Then you’re good to go.”
We heard him backtracking. “On it!”
“Hey, Plug!” Carlyle exclaimed.
He trotted back to us and jutted his head around the corner. “What’s up?”
“Do you need login credentials or something?” the deputy asked.
We all fell apart in laughter at his question. I, for one, couldn’t help it. And it seemed that neither could Nielson.
“All right, all right,” Carlyle murmured as he rolled his eyes, “yeah, yeah, yeah. Ha, ha, ha. Let’s laugh at the deputy with the dumb questions.”
I reached over and clapped his back. “Can’t have good ideas all the time and not get picked on around here.”
“If there’s nothing else you guys need?” Plug asked as he thumbed over his shoulder.
Dallas nodded toward him. “Go fill the rest of the guys in. I’m tired of playing telephone.”
Plug saluted him mockingly. “Yes, sir!”
And as Carlyle murmured his goodbyes before hanging up with the sheriff, Mace was the second one to come storming into the kitchen.
“What the fuck is Plug going on about us being C.I.’s?” he asked.
Word travels fast in a clubhouse full of eager men.
And I, for one, was thankful to finally have a leg up on this manipulative cunt.