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“If we’re lucky,” Phin said, “Corey might take Bobby with him, but that’s less likely. If I were Corey, I’d want my leverage guarded while I checked out the tip. If that’s true, we’ve at least split the two up and only have to deal with one of them when we extract Val.”
“How do we feed information to Drysdale without him becoming suspicious?” Kaj asked.
“You’ll tell him that you need to go back to the hospital,” Molly said, “because Elijah needs you. I’ll say, ‘I need to get to a witness ASAP to protect her, but now I have no ride.’ I’ll go with Drysdale, directing him to the fake address, and have him park a block away. I’ll get out to do recon and that’ll give him a chance to call Corey.”
“Doesn’t Bella have a lot of security?” Phin asked. “I heard Antoine saying that that was the reason the online haters hadn’t stormed her house yet.”
“Good point,” Molly conceded. “I’ll tell Drysdale that it’s urgent because her security didn’t show up today and she’s worried about being alone. Corey will know that Allyson and the paramedic were involved in Corey’s plot, so he might assume they’re the ones who didn’t show.”
Phin nodded his approval. “Corey won’t be able to resist that.”
“Exactly,” Molly said. “Kaj, you’ll tell your boss what’s happening, and he’ll get André’s boss on board. He’ll know the cops we can trust. They’ll arrest Drysdale for stabbing André and all the other things he’s done and then they’ll wait for Corey to arrive. Ask André’s boss to also bring a few of the cops to meet me. You two get to Farrah’s boat and I’ll bring the cops and meet you there. That will give us backup at Corey’s camp, and we can get Val—and Bobby if he’s there—while the cops get Corey when he comes to the fake safe house looking for Bella.”
Kaj shook his head. “There are so many things wrong with this plan, Molly. You can’t go alone with Drysdale.”
“I can if he doesn’t suspect. Trust me, Kaj. Unless you have a better plan.”
He didn’t. “How will Phin and I find Corey’s camp? How will we operate a boat?”
“I know how to operate a boat,” Phin said, “but I don’t know the bayou that well.”
Molly used her hands-free to dial on her cell phone. “Farrah, it’s Molly. Can your father guide Kaj and Phin through the bayou?” She listened, then thanked Farrah before ending the call. “She’s texting you the address, Kaj. Her father will meet you. He knows the bayou, maybe even better than Burke does. Are we all in agreement? Because we’re wasting time.”
“Yes,” Phin said.
Kaj forced himself to breathe. “Yes.”
“Then let’s make this count, guys.” Molly put on her blinker and pulled her car to the side of the road. Drysdale stopped behind them. “Showtime.”
Lake Cataouatche, Louisiana
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 3:35 P.M.
“That stings,” Bobby whined, taking another swig of whatever rotgut was in the bottle he’d claimed from Ed’s stash.
“I swear to God, you are such a baby,” Corey muttered as he cleaned out the gunshot wound in Bobby’s arm. We should have taken his ex-girlfriend’s first-aid kit. Those liquid stitches he’d used on Corey had done the job. “Hold still and stop the drinking. You’re a crazy bastard when you’re sober. I don’t like you much when you’re plastered.”
Bobby guzzled some more before setting the bottle aside. “My arm hurts.”
“So does mine, and you don’t see me whining all over the place. Now hold still.” He bandaged Bobby up, then leaned back in his chair to take a deep breath. “Ed’s dead.”
Bobby just looked at him. “Yeah,” he said in a duh voice. “Are we going to replace him?”
Bobby didn’t sound too torn up about Ed’s murder, but neither was Corey. Not yet, anyway. They were still running on adrenaline. Or adrenaline and booze, in Bobby’s case. The loss would hit them soon enough. Remembering how devastated he’d been at Liam’s death, Corey wasn’t in a hurry to go through that again.
So he simply nodded. “We’ll need to find another tech guy. But let’s get the Doyle job finished first.”
“We are going to lay low for a while after that, though, right?” Bobby looked uncharacteristically worried. “We’re beat up and hurt, and I need some downtime before we do this again.”
“We’ll lay low.” He’d promised Ed that he would, and now the guy was dead. Keeping his promise seemed like the least that he could do.
“Good. I’m going to take a nap. I slept like shit last night and today has sucked balls. Wake me up if Drysdale calls.” He tossed his phone to the table and ambled toward the other bedroom.
“No,” Corey said sharply. “You’re not going in that room with Feldman and the blonde. I don’t trust you. Sleep on the floor next to Dianne.”
Bobby gave him an icy glare. “Fuck off, Corey. I’m not sleeping on the goddamn floor. My arm hurts.”
This was why Corey hated it when Bobby drank. He rose and grabbed Bobby’s good arm, directing him to the outer door. “Then snooze in the hammock.”
