Manta Ray cocked his head to one side, said in full-blown Irish, “And just how, girl, did your boss find out the FBI are after us?”
Elena stuck her favored Walther PPK into her waistband. “The boss hired people to keep an eye on the Feds and local law enforcement outside the forest. One of them probably got a ranger to tell him what was happening. But what he doesn’t understand, and I don’t, either, is how they knew exactly where we came in.”
She looked over at Liam. He was wrapping his T-shirt, then his shirt around his heel. When he finished tying off the shirtsleeves, he stood, put a bit of weight on the foot, and nodded. “Not bad. All those bandages, my foot looks like a painting of an old guy with gout I saw in Dublin once.”
Jacobson was looking at him like he’d like to kick him. He knew it was too soon to leave the forest; the manhunt outside the forest was still way too heavy.
“Jacobson, help him. We’re out of here.”
24
Duke picked up a bloody alcohol wipe sticking out from under a rock. “Blood’s dry, but still fresh enough to smell. I’d say they’ve got maybe an hour on us, not more. Looks like they shoved all the bloody bandages under these rocks, didn’t bother burying them.” He studied the rest of the debris. “Manta Ray’s heel is bad, from the looks of it, and they stopped here to treat him. And someone was hungry.” He pulled a bio bag out of his pocket and put the half-dozen bloody wipes and the power bar wrapper inside, tied it off, slipped it back in his pocket.
Jack said, “I hope it’s really hurting him.” He went down on his haunches and studied the boot prints on the rock-strewn ground. “Looks like he’s disabled. You can see they were in a big hurry to leave this spot. I’ll bet the big guy had a shoulder under Manta Ray’s arm, helping him. If so, that’s going to slow them down. Look at those tracks, they’re headed across the ridge down to where, Duke?”
“To Clover Bottom Creek. It doesn’t make sense, why, all of a sudden, are they in a hurry? With Manta Ray’s bad heel, why wouldn’t they stay here? There are enough trees for protection, not many people hike this way.”
“But they wouldn’t know that,” Chief said. “Maybe it was their plan all along, cut across the ridge and head down to the creek. There’s lots of cover there, a good place to stay put for a while.”
Cam said, “They didn’t even take the time to make Manta Ray a crutch. Why not? Even with the big dude helping him, it’s going to be tough getting him across the ridge and flat-out dangerous climbing down to the creek.”
Duke said, “If it were me, I’d have stayed here.”
Jack scanned the area, said to himself more than anyone else, “Why wouldn’t they believe they’re safe here?”
Duke said, “They’ve got to have a sat radio. Maybe someone called, told them that young hiker they murdered was found. They’d be worried the forest would be full of dogs and law enforcement soon.”
Cam turned away from an incredible limestone cliff in the distance, her head cocked to one side, and said slowly, “No, that’s not it. There hasn’t been time for that to get out. Their not staying here couldn’t have anything to do with the hiker’s murder.”
Jack said, “Look at the smaller boot prints.” He rose, followed them. “She’s walking quickly away from the other two, going behind this boulder, and she stops. Then she turns right around and walks back. She’s pacing. Why?”
Cam studied the tracks. “As Duke said, they’ve got to have a sat phone. I’m thinking someone called them, told them to move out, to leave the ridge fast.”
Jack was frowning. “How could this someone who called them know anyone is looking for them?”
Chief said, “Duke and I both told our people, but who would they tell? Not some criminal mastermind who came around asking questions, that’s for sure.”
Duke nodded. “Still, this site shows us they made some big decisions up here, and it was quick. Chief, how about calling your guys, having them focus their patrols on Clover Bottom Creek Road.”
“Even if they do know we’re after them,” Jack said, hiking up his backpack, “I think we can catch them before they get to that road.”
They set out along the ridge, with incredible views in all directions, Jack in the lead. He moved quickly, but always with an eye on the tracks. The sun was brutal overhead. Soon Cam was sweating from the pace Jack set. She focused on keeping her breathing smooth and steady.
Suddenly Jack stopped, leaned down, and picked up a small piece of paper.
They gathered around him. “Look at this, one of them tore open an aspirin packet and a piece fell off.”
Cam said, “So, they stopped because Manta Ray is hurting, despite the help, hurting enough for more aspirin.”
Chief said, “Good, the bugger’s miserable.”
Duke sniffed the air, dropped his voice to a whisper. “They’ve got to be close. Let’s keep it as quiet as we can.”
They started down the barren eastern side of the ridge strewn with rocks and gullies of all sizes, gouged out by rainwater running down into the creek drainage. Jack paused as they approached some thick scrubs halfway down the ridge. “Look, Manta Ray fell, took the big man with him. You can see the woman’s gone down on her knees to help them up.” He saw a mishmash of boot prints that cut away from the overgrown shrubs, toward less steep and dangerous terrain. Jack picked up their tracks quickly, saw they were moving slowly, cutting back and forth to stay on as level ground as possible, but steadily downhill.
“They stopped here again,” Jack said. “Take a look.”
As Chief leaned down to study the tracks, a shot rang out, clear and loud in the still air. Chief grabbed his side and dropped to his knees.
25
CAFETERIA
WASHINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
WASHINGTON, D.C.
EARLY TUESDAY AFTERNOON
Savich and Sherlock found Kara Moody and Dr. Janice sitting in the crowded hospital cafeteria. When Kara saw them and waved, they saw hope leap into her eyes. Dr. Janice had a hold of Kara’s hand, squeezed it. “Hello, Dillon, Sherlock. Kara and I have been having some lunch. Please join us.” She paused. “Have you learned anything?”
Sherlock leaned down, hugged Kara, whispered against her cheek, “We’ve got some good leads, and there are things I need to tell you. Things are coming together, Kara.” It wasn’t too much of a stretch.
Savich took Dr. Janice’s hand. “Is that bagel smeared with cream cheese?”
“Almost,” Dr. Janice said. “It’s nonfat, but I can almost convince myself it’s the real thing. Better for old stomachs, I guess.”
Dr. Janice had been a fixture in Savich’s life for as long as he could remember, and she was getting up there in years, no way around that, but he didn’t like being faced with that reality.
Kara scoffed. “Listen to you, Dr. Janice. I’m counting on you to be around with me to celebrate Alex’s twenty-first birthday.”
Dr. Janice laughed. “My dear, you can count on it. I might need Alex to carry me to the cake, but I’ll be there.”