Izak pulled supplies from his kit. “Xander, help me stabilize him for transport. Then we’ll get him onto that stretcher.”
“I’m dyin’, ya fuckin’ idiots. Cancer. Just ... just finish me.”
“Sir, I need you to stay still,” Izak said, his tone neutral. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
“For fuck’s sake. Will ya damn well listen?”
“Nobody’s listening to you, Frank,” Kayden said. “So, shut up.”
Levi grabbed the stretcher, settled it into position, and then he helped Izak and Xander lift Frank onto it.
As they carried him toward the cave entrance, Frank’s pleas got louder.
“I’m dyin’! Just let me die! Fuck, just let me die!”
No one answered him. No one even looked at him.
We stayed at the cave entrance as Frank was carried out into the sunlight.
Kayden pressed his hand to my lower back. “You all right?”
“Yeah, I guess. He better live. I’m not letting him off that easy.”
“Never thought I’d say this, but yeah, I want that bastard to live, too.”
I smiled at him and turned back toward the cave. Inside, Aria was studying the gun I’d left on the rock, and Jaxson and Parker were taking photos.
Within minutes, the plane’s engines roared to life. We watched it take off, and the roar was quickly swallowed by an eerie silence.
Jaxson approached, his expression serious. “Do you have any new information about Doug Walker’s disappearance?”
The question caught me off-guard. We had much more important things to discuss. But I nodded anyway. “Yes, his boot and some tattered clothing were found a few weeks ago. That discovery was reported to Bob Ackerman, but he didn’t take any action on it.”
Jaxson’s jaw tightened. “Any idea why he didn’t?”
“Believe me, there’s a whole lot more you need to know before we get into that.” I pointed at the rusty drum in the middle of the cave. “For example, we believe a young girl was buried under that drum about fifty years ago.”
Aria leveled her gaze at me. “Don’t tell me Bob was involved in that.”
“I believe he killed her,” I said.
“Jesus. What makes you think that?” Parker said.
“Frank faked his own disappearance several weeks ago. He’s been hiding in a house in Winton all this time, writing memoir notes,” I explained. “Confessions. Detailing decades of crime and corruption.”
As they all blinked at me, Levi returned to the cave.
“Why would Frank confess to murder?” Parker asked.
“He’s dying of cancer,” Kayden said. “Bastard wanted to get it off his conscience, or some bullshit.”
Parker’s expression darkened. “How many victims are we talking about?”
“We know about the girl under that barrel, and he’s mentioned another girl from twenty years ago, but he ...”
“What girl?” Parker’s expression hardened.
“I’m not sure, but ...”
