“Get ready for some action.”
A minute later, a loud pounding could be heard from the front of the house. “Police! We have a warrant. Open up!”
Less than fifteen seconds later, the back door opened and a skinny figure darted into the night.
“Freeze! Sheriff’s Department!” At the deputy’s shout, the man careened toward Ethan.
Ethan bolted to intercept him, dropping his shoulder and catching the guy in the midriff with enough force that they both tumbled to the ground. The little weasel began to flail. A kick caught Ethan in the gut, and the runner nearly got away. But Ethan wrapped a hand around his ankle and jerked him back. With a quick roll, he straddled the guy, pounding his fists into the other man’s face and releasing some of the simmering rage.
“Ethan, stand down! You can’t question him if he’s unconscious!” Judd’s voice pulled him back from the edge.
Breathing hard, Ethan sat back, rolling the man over and cuffing his hands.
The deputies hauled him up and marched him back into the house. They shoved him onto the sofa, where he’d clearly been lounging before being interrupted. A can of Bud Light had tipped over on the low coffee table, half soaking the spilled bag of potato chips.
Eugene Willig was a wiry man with thinning black hair and a scraggly goatee. He glared up at Ethan from his position on the couch. “What the fuck, man?”
Judd spoke first. “Well, I’m Detective Judd Hamilton of the Wachoxee County Sheriff’s Department, and as I said out front, we have a warrant to search the premises for illegally obtained prescription medications. My friend, Chief Greer, has some other business with you.”
“Chief of what?”
“Wishful PD,” Ethan answered.
“You’re outta your jurisdiction, ain’t you?”
Ignoring that, Ethan continued. “I’m here to ask you some questions about a friend of yours. Harley Forbes.”
“Don’t know no Harley Forbes.”
“We’ve already got witnesses placing the two of you together. We know he’s one of your dealers. So start talking.”
“Dealers for what?”
“Maybe for the prescription narcotics you’ve got hidden in plastic bags in the tank of the toilet,” Deputy Nichols suggested. He stepped into the room, a Ziplock bag dangling from his gloved hand.
Judd offered a pleasant smile that fooled no one. “You’re caught, Eugene. We’ve got enough here to shut you down, so you might as well cooperate.”
Eugene’s face reddened and he began to swear. “Goddamn it. I knew this would happen. I fucking knew as soon as he brought that woman here, you cops would come sniffing around.”
“What woman?” Ethan demanded. “What do you know?”
Sensing he had something of value to trade, Willig smirked. “What’s in it for me?”
Ethan grabbed him by the throat, hauling him to his feet. “I don’t snap your neck right here.”
Willig’s eyes bugged out, and he gasped.
“Ethan, if you kill the bastard, it’s going to mean a helluva lot of paperwork,” Judd said mildly.
“He...he...”
Ethan relaxed his grip, so Willig could speak.
“He had her in the barn. Trussed up like a goddamned turkey. I told him he had to leave.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. Maybe half an hour ago.”
“Did he leave?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan squeezed.
“I don’t! I didn’t get involved. I just wanted him gone,” Eugene rasped. “The fucker had a knife. He knows how to use it. I wasn’t about to go up against that. Not when he was looking so…cr…crazy.”
A hand gripped Ethan’s shoulder. “He’s turning purple, man. Let him go.”
Ethan threw Willig back to the sofa, where the little man coughed and wheezed.
“Crazy how?”
“Crazy like he’d be happy to stick me like a pig if I got in his way any more. The only reason I had any leverage at all is he’s been working for me and he likes the money that comes with being one of my dealers. I didn’t like the look of him, so I came back to the house and locked the fucking door. I swear that’s all I know.”
Ethan was already headed for the door. “We have to check the barn.”
Leaving Willig with Deputy Nichols, Ethan, Judd, and Deputy Rickett headed for the dilapidated structure a hundred yards away that passed for a barn. Moving fast and low, they circled the building. No vehicle outside. No lights shone through the gaps between the boards. The whole damned place had an air of abandonment that did nothing to quell Ethan’s fears about what could be waiting inside.
Converging at the front, the deputy gripped the wide door. Ethan and Judd pressed against the side, ready to slip in and clear the space. At his nod, Rickett hauled the door open. Ethan slipped inside, going left as Judd went right. He cleared the row of stalls as Judd did the same. The deputy headed up the ladder to the hay loft as Ethan and Judd converged on the closed door of what was probably a storage or tack room.
Ethan kicked it in, sweeping inside. But there was no one in the room. “Empty. The whole place is clear. Get some lights on.”
As ancient fluorescent lights flickered to life, he squinted and took in the space. His gut twisted.
A chair lay on its side, spindles broken, a length of dirty rope still partly attached. Wads of duct tape littered the floor. Blood glimmered against the silver of the tape.
“She was here.” And she was hurt. Probably from her bindings.
He was going to kill Harley when he found him.
Judd crouched down but didn’t touch anything. “Looks like she got loose. There’s not enough blood here to suggest she’s bleeding out or seriously injured.”
Had she managed to escape? A flare of hope sparked. He knelt, dabbing a finger against the bloody tape. “It’s still mostly wet. She hasn’t been gone long.” He and Judd exchanged a look. “Fan out.”
No clear tracks showed in the hard-packed dirt floor. Heading back to the door, he shouted. “Miranda!”
No answering shout or even a whimper came back. Only the quiet of the night.
If she’d gotten free, which way would she have run? To the house, hoping for help? Or to the overgrown fields, thinking to hide? This time of year, there was nothing growing. Not a lot of cover either way. Not until the treeline another hundred yards away. She didn’t have shoes. None of this terrain was easy on bare feet. The crushed gray gravel around the barn would probably have sliced them. He panned his flashlight in a widening arc from the door of the barn, looking for traces of blood.
“Over here!” Judd shouted.
Ethan sprinted for him. He knew before he reached Judd’s side that he hadn’t found Miranda. The ground was churned up, as if someone had been tackled.
Judd pointed with his own flashlight to a hoof pick a few feet away. “There’s blood spatter. Best guess, she got a piece of him when he took her down.”
“Not a big enough piece to kill him.” Which meant Harley was that much more pissed off. What would he do to punish her? “Shit! Where the fuck has he taken her?”
Chapter 24