Page 30 of Rescue Them

“No.I didn’t even approach him.But I know where he lives, and he treats his animals so badly.James is helping figure out the best way to get someone to check out his place.It’s really bad, and he needs to lose all his animals.They should put the guy in jail and throw away the key.”

“Somehow I don’t think they do that,” Lyle’s mom said.

Lyle shrugged.“Doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t.Especially for things like this.”

“When did you get so passionate about this?”

“Mom, I think I’ve always been passionate about things.You’re the calm and collected one.You exist in a world of logic and things you can control.There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m not the same as you.”He returned to his dinner.

“How far did your passion take you?”Lyle’s mother asked, and James got the sense she could almost read his mind.“I know you did something because you look guilty, and I’m your mother, so you may as well just tell me.”

“I told you I found his house.Well, I watched him, and he was packing up all his big dogs, so James and his friend Wes went with me and we followed him.I think we know where the dogfights are being held, but we aren’t sure.We didn’t try to get in to watch.”

“At least some of you have the sense God gave one of your dogs.”She rolled her eyes.“And this is why you’re trying to figure out what to do?”

“Yeah.Someone has to put an end to all of this.”

“Let me ask you this.Why didn’t you get one of those air tags and just put it in his truck somewhere?That way you could have tracked the truck without actually following him.”She seemed to ponder this.“Why don’t you go out there during the day when nothing is going on?Dress as though you’re going for a hike or something.If someone asks, you were told that there’s a really nice lake nearby that you want to see.Of course they’d tell you that there’s no such thing, and you could thank them and just go.No harm, no foul.And no one gets hurt.But if you were alone, you could look around and get pictures of the area.If they are holding fights, there would be a ton of evidence.”Damn, he wished he had thought of that.She really was a smart cookie.

“Okay, Mom.I like that idea.”

“Maybe… but I am not actually telling you to do any of that, and as your mother, I think it best if you let the police handle it.”She had a firmness in her voice that reminded James of his own mom when she was adamant.

Lyle rolled his eyes.“And would you do that?”He held her gaze.“Yeah.Coming from the woman who trailed the Chanel representative all around Singapore until you located the plant where they were making the bags that you loved so much.Right.The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and you know it.”

James gaped.“You really did that?”

“Of course.I needed to know where the best merchandise was made.So I found out where all the top design houses had their products manufactured.No one was safe from my information gathering.Then I contacted the owners, and they were more than happy to manufacture my company’s designs.”She finished her dinner and grinned.“How do you think I got so successful?I figured out a way to get in the door and exploited it.”She sighed softly.“But I was never in any real danger.”

“How do you know?”

Lyle’s mom grinned “Gucci and Dolce do not design or make guns.”

“Dang, she got you there,” James said, laughing.

Lyle glared at both of them.“You know what I mean.”

“And these people are dangerous.You know that,” James said without too much heat, because he didn’t want to come off as a nag.“Remember, we pulled off and let people pass before getting out of there.It was twilight, and God knows what kind of people would be there.”

“Huh,” Lyle’s mother said almost to herself.“Then what did they use for the fighting?There would need to be power or generators, because they are going to need to see.There also has to be a ring or enclosure of some kind.Do you think they had a makeshift one in the woods somewhere?”

James turned to Lyle, who seemed to be thinking the same as him.“I doubt it,” they answered together.

Lyle’s mom got up from the table and grabbed her laptop.She brought up Google Earth.“Okay.So which way did you go out of town?”

“West, off Newville Road.We turned north a couple miles out of town and headed for the ridgeline,” Lyle said as they both leaned closer to see the screen.“Is that it?”

“No.That road there,” James said.“I remember that old service station near the corner.”

“Okay.Yeah.Then we went a few miles, and it got pretty desolate.We passed a lot of fields and turned right onto a small road.”He leaned closer.“I bet that’s it there.The road seemed to be coming to an end, so we didn’t go any farther.”

“Yeah.That’s it.”

“Good.”She took back control of the laptop.“There’s maybe a quarter mile of road of some type, and it ends a little ways from some sort of building.It’s probably old.”She zoomed out.“Look here.The closest thing I can find is this farmhouse here.I bet it’s on the back of their property, and this is an access road.”

“The farm doesn’t look like it’s a going concern,” James observed, though it was hard to tell.None of the fields looked as though they had been used in a while, and though the house might be lived in, the farm itself didn’t show signs of a lot of activity.That could just have been when the picture was taken.He had no way of knowing.“It is possible that they’re letting them use the building, or the owners have no idea what is taking place at the back of their property.”

“True.But if you’re determined to pursue this, go during the day, when it’s light and bright.And if anyone does confront you….”She paused.“But I want to go on the record that I think this is a bad idea.”