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Kellan climbs out of his SUV and walks toward Garrett. Lucas and I get out of our vehicles and join them. Jess stays in my truck. The house for sale is the perfect cover. I can pretend we’re discussing possible renovation ideas, as if one of us is thinking of buying the house.
“Is Officer Dunbar still in there?” I casually glance at Wilson’s home.
“Unless he left out the back, yes.” Kellan points at the house we’re pretending to check out. “He’s not in uniform. It could be a social visit. But given everything that’s been going on, it might not be.”
The front door of the Wilson’s house opens, and Chief Wilson steps out in uniform. He climbs into his car on the driveway and drives away. Dunbar doesn’t leave the house.
“I don’t suppose he’s just running to the store to grab beer,” Garrett says dryly.
“Not in uniform,” I respond. “He could have been called into the station. Kellan, Garrett—you and I will follow him and see where he’s going. Lucas. You go ’round back and keep an eye on the house from there. Jess will stay in your SUV and can let us know if Dunbar leaves.” My command comes out fast, the words fired like a round of bullets.
Kellan, Garrett, and I run to our vehicles, and I quickly explain the plan to Jess. She gets out of my truck and jogs over to Lucas on the sidewalk.
My brothers and I follow Wilson, keeping a safe distance from him. We’ve done this maneuver before and know to split up so it doesn’t look like we’re tailing him. The perk of Maple Ridge being a small town is that it’s easier to follow him like this without losing him.
He doesn’t seem to suspect we’re following him. He’s not employing any evasion tactics.
It also doesn’t appear as though Wilson’s going to the station. But just in case, I call to see if they’re expecting him.
“He’s not on duty tonight,” a female on the other end of the line explains after I ask for him.
I thank her. If this trip has nothing to do with work, why the uniform?
I call my brothers on the conference line and tell them what she told me.
“Maybe it’s something she doesn’t know about,” Lucas points out.
“True,” I reply. “But I still don’t like it.”
My brothers agree.
We drive out of town, which makes following Wilson more challenging without looking suspicious. I stop at one point to let him get ahead of me, so it doesn’t appear as if I’m trailing him.
“There’s a warehouse not far from here,” Garrett says through my truck speaker. “He might be going there. Otherwise, he’s driving to Spring Falls or one of the ranch houses between here and there.”
“Shit, that’s a lot of territory to search through if he’s not at the warehouse.”
“The question is, why is he driving so far out of Maple Ridge in his uniform while Dunbar is at his house with Violet and Sophie?”
At least we know their bodies aren’t in his trunk. Kellan would have seen if Wilson or Dunbar had placed anything suspicious in Wilson’s car.
Or I hope that’s the case. It’s possible he killed them before my brothers and I decided last night to do surveillance on his house. I don’t voice that thought to my brothers, but I imagine they’re thinking the same.
I silently pray that’s not the case. Silently pray Violet and Sophie are safe at home.
I know the warehouse Garrett was referring to and head toward it. The three of us arrive ten minutes later and park our vehicles where they can’t easily be spotted behind a dense copse of trees. We harness on our years of Marine training and soundlessly approach the metal fence that circles the compound. Our presence is kept well hidden.
Wilson is standing a few feet from his car on the other side of the metal fence. A man dressed in black and with a rifle strapped to his back walks up to him. They exchange a few words, then shake hands.
I gesture for my brothers to split up so we can survey the perimeter. Unlike the dozen men milling around the compound, eyeing Wilson like he’s someone they don’t fully trust, neither Garrett, Kellan, nor I have guns.
Wilson and the man in black walk to the trunk of Wilson’s car. Wilson opens the trunk and pulls out what could be an AK-47. Several of the other men aim their guns at him, waiting to see what he’s going to do next.
What the fuck?
The man in black checks it over and nods. He waves at two men several feet from them to come forward. One I recognize. He was in the photos that Jess took during the Fourth of July celebrations. He and Wilson were talking in them.
The man is carrying a dark-green backpack. He opens the bag for Wilson to inspect. Wilson pulls out what appears to be a thick wad of cash and flips through it, checking the bills.
