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Hawke enjoyed his dinner with Dani. He was glad she’d called. They’d finished their meal and lingered over coffee and dessert, enjoying the fact the agents were getting antsy to leave.
They finally parted about ten.
She drove off in a car she’d purchased to use while in the valley. He was happy to learn she was staying at the place in Eagle where she lived during the winter months. That meant she had people around her who would look out for strangers.
He arrived home close to eleven. Too tired to look for a transmitter when he pulled into his parking spot at the stables, Hawke greeted Dog and the horses before climbing the stairs to his rooms and collapsing.
In the morning, he checked the bed and undercarriage of his vehicle. A small magnetic transmitter was stuck to the undercarriage. The electronic device had to have been placed there by the FBI. Giving them information about everywhere he went. He chuckled at their thinking they’d outsmarted him.
He fed the animals and cleaned out their stall the best he could with one arm. With two weeks off work, he wasn’t sure what to do with his time other than go online and see what he could find out about Sylvia Swearen. Using his work laptop from his work vehicle, he tried finding information about her on the Maryland DMV records, but the government had wiped any trace of her existence clean.
Next, he started googling her past name and finally found a couple of newspaper articles.
The articles talked about how she’d been a crucial witness against an arms dealer. That her meticulous record keeping had discovered a military officer selling arms to the countries who paid him the most.
He googled the officer and discovered he had ties with a country known for terrorism. That wasn’t good news. Had he put a hit out on the woman, and they’d just found her after a year and a half?
It didn’t make sense. But not much about the whole murder made sense. Why kill the father? They could have killed Mrs. Poulson when the father was at work and the daughter at school. Why did they pick a time when the family was camping in a remote area? Had they used the husband as leverage to get her to talk? That made sense with the two bullets. One person would have had a gun pointed at the husband and told her to talk. She didn’t and the husband was killed.
Had she lured them into the tent with a lie about having information with her? Then they shot her in a way they could ask her questions and leave her to die a slow lingering death. Did she answer their questions?
He pushed the computer to the side and stared at the table.
Hawke wished he could get his hands on Mrs. Poulson’s laptop but knew it had to be in the hands of the FBI by now.
He pulled his computer back in front of him and began looking up more information in the papers about the situation that put the Swearen family in Witness Protection.
His eyes grew bleary and his stomach grumbled several hours later. He still needed to do something with the transmitter he’d found on his vehicle.
“Come on, Dog. Let’s go for a ride and get something to eat.” Hawke closed his computer and grabbed his pickup keys.
“Afternoon Hawke. Looks like you’re taking your medical leave seriously,” Darlene said from where she leaned against the arena railing, watching a young woman ride.
“The shoulder has to heal before I can go back to work and the best way for it to heal is if I rest.” Even though his landlords knew about Kitree, he wouldn’t tell them anything he’d learned. That way they weren’t dragged into the mess so far they could get hurt.
“Sounds good. Where are you headed now?” Her concern was something he’d come to appreciate about the woman.
“Find something to eat and take a drive.” He grinned and headed to his pickup.
Dog leaped into the bed of the vehicle, and Hawke closed the tailgate.
The transmitter sat on the dash where he’d put it after finding the small device. He planned to find a vehicle in town that moved around a lot, like a delivery truck or a mail carrier and put the device on it. That would keep the FBI busy until they figured out he’d found their device.
He headed to Alder.
«»«»«»
Kitree was at the barn currying the small horse Mr. Dahlren called Sweetie. The man had told her if she curried the horse and got all the knots out of her mane and tail, he’d saddle her up and let Kitree ride. She’d been on horses twice in her life, once when she and her parents had been on vacation and riding around with Hawke.
A car drove in the driveway. Kitree unhooked the rope from the halter of the horse and went up into the small loft of the barn. She’d discovered it gave a good view of the house.
Two men got out of the car. Her hands started to shake. The one had hair like she’d seen on the man who’d walked over the rim at the lake.
Her feet were moving before her brain kicked in. She descended the ladder and landed on the hard-packed earth in the barn. There were close neighbors up and down the county road, but Mr. Dahlren had said there was a neighbor behind them a couple of miles. He was like a hermit who lived in the forest. She’d take her chances with him over the two men.
She crouched low to the ground, jogging alongside one of the fences to a small canyon. Once she was in the canyon, she stood up and ran, until she found what she hoped was the fence line of the neighbor’s property. She hoped the hermit would ask questions before shooting.
«»«»«»
Hawke drove through the Shake Shack and collected a burger and shake. He planned to take it to the lake and have a quiet picnic with Dog and maybe take the tram up to the top of Mt. Howard. He always did his best thinking when he was in the mountains and that was the easiest way to get there. It would also give him a chance to see if someone was following him, besides the FBI. He’d already tossed the transmitter into a parcel delivery truck that would be headed out of the valley by nightfall.
If someone followed him up the mountain, it would be a person working for the people who wanted Kitree dead.
His phone buzzed as he drove to the lake.
“Hawke.”
“Hawke, this is Lieutenant Titus. I read the FBI reports of their visit to the Poulson house in Walla Walla. Someone had ransacked the place. If they didn’t find what they were looking for at the house, or with the parents, you know where they are looking next.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” He hung up on the lieutenant. His gut felt as if someone had punched him with a two hundred pound sledgehammer. What could Kitree have that the people wanted? And did she even know she had something?
She’d been open about everything with him. He had a feeling she didn’t know. He’d gone through the backpack she said was her mother’s. As he parked alongside the street, sipping his shake, eating his burger, and contemplating what Mrs. Poulson could have had that so many others wanted, his prepaid phone rang.
“Kitree, I was just—”
“Hawke! They came. I ran. I need you.” The fear in her voice stalled all his actions.
“Where are you?”
“I ran to the man behind the Dahlrens. He doesn’t have a phone. He brought me to the post office in Imbler. They let me use the phone.”
“I’ll come pick you up. Stay there.” Hawke put his pickup in gear and pulled onto the street. He dialed Lt. Titus. “You need someone to check on the Dahlrens. Kitree called. The men showed up there. She’s safe. I’m picking her up and taking her where there is no paper trail.” He hung up and headed out of Alder at a normal speed. He didn’t need anyone watching him to see him speeding. He knew where he would take the girl. The problem was making sure no one followed him.
He was on leave. No reason he couldn’t go stay a few days with his mother at the reservation. But he’d have to say he’d dislocated his shoulder. His mom thought his being a game warden kept him safe from killers and lunatics. He couldn’t let her know he’d been shot by a person who wanted to kill the girl he was taking to stay with her.
He drove to his place and went in to pack a couple sets of clothes. He also used this time to dial his mom’s number.
“Hello?” her voice was still as active as she was at seventy-one.
“Mom, it’s Gabriel. I’m on medical leave—”
“Medical leave? What happened?” Worry laced her question.
“I dislocated my shoulder and can’t work for a week. Thought I’d come visit.” He didn’t mind telling her a white lie to ease her worry.
“You know you can come any time. You don’t have to be hurt to come visit.” Her worry had turned accusatory.
He didn’t visit near as often as he should, but he showed up on her doorstep more than his sister who was ten years younger than him. “I’m bringing someone with me.”
“A woman? You finally found one your mother will approve of?” She laughed.
He grinned. Ever since his divorce, his mother had been after him to remarry. She didn’t understand he was happy with his life. “Yes, I think you will approve, but she’s too young for me to marry.”
“I raised you better.” There was the accusatory tone.
“She’s ten and just lost her parents. She needs a place to stay while we sort things out.” That was all he planned to tell her. Best she didn’t know more than that. Less chance of anything getting out to the wrong people.
“The poor child. Of course, bring her over. We’ll keep her busy while you find her family.” She said something that was muffled. “I’ll get your sister’s room ready for her. When will you be here?”
“My plan is to be there by dinner tonight.”
“I’ll add more broth to the stew.” She closed the connection.
He knew she’d be cleaning his sister’s room and worrying she didn’t have enough food for the meal. But she often invited the single parents of the children she watched to have dinner with her. There was always enough food cooking on her stove for several people.
Hawke grabbed his bag and headed out the door. Jogging down the steps caused his arm to throb. He slowed his pace as his mind raced. It would be better to use a different vehicle. There was a good chance his was being watched.
“Stay,” he told Dog and climbed back into his truck. He’d call the Trembley’s later and ask them to feed his animals.
Driving out the lane to the main road, he dialed Justine.
“Hawke, this going to be a longer conversation than the other night?” Justine answered.
“I’ve been busy.”
“So I’ve heard.”
He heard dogs barking in the background. She was home.
“I need to borrow a vehicle for a few days.” Involving one more person was adding to his conscience. Kitree’s safety came first. Justine was the only person he knew besides the Trembley’s, who the FBI were also watching, who would loan him a vehicle, no questions asked.
“I can only spare the car. I need the truck to take a horse to the vet.”
He started to open his mouth to say she could use his truck but that would put her in the crosshairs of the people he was trying to avoid. “That will work. I’ll be at your place in ten.”
Ending the call, he pressed down a bit more on the accelerator. He knew the longer it took him to get to Kitree the more frightened she would be. Luckily, Justine’s was only a little way off the road out of the county.