“Did anyone tell you Hermes pulled a guy with a slug through his heart out of the bayou at Nickel’s camp early this morning?”
“What? No!”
“There’s too much crazy crap going on. We have to find that girl, Harrison.”
“I’ll call if I hear anything.”
“We’re going to head out and look ourselves.”
“Kinda figured you would.”
I disconnected and we all stared at one another. This was the worst possible turn things could have taken. And it wouldn’t have happened if Hermes had taken his job seriously instead of fixating on us. The girl should have had police protection or been left in the hospital where more eyes were on her.
“What’s the plan?” Ida Belle asked.
I lifted my phone again and dialed June. It took several rings, but she finally answered, her voice somewhat slurred.
“June, it’s Fortune Redding. We just heard about what happened. Are you all right?”
“Oh, Fortune! It’s awful. That man was there, in my house, and I tried to shoot him, but I must have jerked at the last minute. I missed and gave him time to attack me. And now the girl is gone.”
She started sobbing and I felt my heart clench. I couldn’t imagine how bad she felt.
“We’re going to go help look for the girl. Can you give me a description of the man?”
She coughed and then I heard her blow her nose. “Tall and stringy. Probably a good six inches taller than me. Dark brown hair and eyes. Hair was cut short, like a military guy. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt.”
“Had you ever seen him before?”
“No. Go find her! The police won’t let me leave my house. Now they decide to put a cop here. That poor girl. I was supposed to protect her.”
“You did everything you could. I’ll let you know if we find something. Stay safe.”
I rose from the table. “There will be a ton of coverage on land. I think we should take my boat and head toward the Brethren’s camp.”
“If they’re behind enemy lines again, we won’t be able to breach,” Blanchet said. “Not without considerable risk.”
“I know, but maybe we can find a fisherman who saw them—maybe talk to the hermit again. If we can prove someone took her that way, we might be able to convince the state police to move on their location with an air strike. But we’re going to have to have something good enough to launch that kind of rescue.”
“Maybe we’ll get really lucky and run across this guy on the way,” Ida Belle said.
“If we do, I’m putting a bullet in him,” Blanchet said.
“Only if I don’t beat you to it.”
We loaded up some supplies and quickly headed out. I’d been mulling something over ever since I’d hung up my phone and finally reached a conclusion. I signaled to Ida Belle to cut speed so I could make a phone call and dialed Blair Johnson.
“Ms. Johnson, this is Fortune Redding. I heard about the attack on June Nelson and the girl’s abduction and wanted to offer my help. Is there anything I can do?”
“What? Oh, Ms. Redding. Yes, it’s a horrible situation, but the police have assured me they’re doing everything they can.”
“So you’ve alerted the state police? Because they have far more resources than the sheriff’s department. A child abduction would rate their help.”
“Of course. And yes, every option is being utilized. I know you’d like to help, but the more citizens we have moving around, it will only inhibit the police from doing their job. So we’re asking everyone to stay alert and please call me if you see something that you think warrants my attention.”
“Call you? And not the police?”
“Well, both, of course, but I’d like to be kept in the loop early on. Sometimes the police aren’t as prompt as I’d like in that regard.”
“Of course. I hope they find the girl soon.”
I hung up and shook my head. “She didn’t know the girl was gone.”
“Are you sure?” Blanchet asked.
“One hundred percent. She got back into role quickly, but not quick enough. That uptick of volume and pitch when she first responded was a dead giveaway.”
Blanchet looked confused. “But if you thought she didn’t know, then why did you tell her?”
“Because I wanted to see if she was the one who had the girl.”
“I wish we knew where to find her,” Ida Belle said. “If she’s in cahoots with the Brethren, then she might lead us right to the girl—in a way that wouldn’t get anyone blown up.”
I nodded. “Which is why you’re going to haul butt to that last channel before it splits and we’re going to hide under one of those cypress trees with moss and wait for a boat to drive by. There was no engine noise when I talked to her, so she wasn’t in a boat or a car. If she thinks the Brethren got the girl, and she’s in with them, then she might head out there to check and see for herself.”
She fired up the engine again and gunned it. Blanchet, who’d been sitting on the bench, despite being warned by Gertie that he should share her cushion, fell over backward and crashed into the bottom. He scrambled up, crawled over the bench, and sat next to Gertie, giving Ida Belle a backward glance. I couldn’t help laughing.
Hours later, we sat itchy and sweaty in the boat, our water half depleted and interesting conversation completely gone. Nothing had stirred on the bayou but mosquitoes, who’d hatched out from the current warming spell. And my patience had disappeared along with the cool breeze.
“Did I get this wrong?” I asked.
“If you did, it would be a first,” Gertie said.
Ida Belle nodded. “That Johnson woman is definitely shady, and it’s hard to get explosives wrong, considering Blanchet almost got blasted by them. Something is going on out there in the swamp, and we have every reason to believe that girl is somehow tied to all of it.”
“Then where is she? If the Brethren got the girl from June, then why haven’t we seen any movement? There isn’t another way in and out, is there?”
“Not by water,” Ida Belle said. “This channel is the only one that feeds all the others in the area. If we assume their compound is in that extra dense set of swamp not far from the explosives, then this is the only way in. They could hide boats on another bayou and trek across the swamp to them, but that would be a good two miles minimum, walking through dangerous territory. I can’t imagine that being their chosen route.”
“No. Probably not.”
“They still might have something set up as an escape route,” Blanchet said. “For if someone managed to get by the explosives. Two miles isn’t so far that someone wouldn’t use it to avoid arrest.”
“True.” I blew out a breath. “So, what now? Maybe the girl wasn’t taken there, and that’s why there’s no movement.”
“Not even from the fishermen,” Ida Belle said. “We haven’t seen a boat since we left the main bayou.”
My cell phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. Harrison.
“Hey, that Johnson woman just cruised June Nelson’s house,” he said.