“Hauck.”
“I’ve seen a lot worse, Mr. Hauck. I once knew this guy, he was driven straight off the road by a couple of those mothers a few years back. Almost flew right into the river over there. Nearly drowned. That was when there was a whole lot more water. Wish I could remember his name …” The cop tapped his forehead. “Doesn’t work quite like it used to, know what I mean? Not that that matters, but I suspect you’ll be leaving soon, now that the boy’s in the ground?”
“Sooner or later. There’s something about this place I’m starting to like.”
“Yeah? And what would that be?”
“I don’t know, the hospitality?” Hauck said.
If smiles could shoot things, Riddick’s would have to be licensed by the NRA. “So I could run you back. Last chance. Never know when another of those rigs will come up again. Out of the blue.”
The offer had more of a feeling of a threat to Hauck, than an invitation. “Won’t be needed. And like you said, you were headed in the opposite direction anyway. I wouldn’t want to hold you up.”
“So I was.” The chief laughed again, but this time without mirth. “Well. I’m glad you’re okay … Maybe pull over next time, when you see them come up on your tail.”
“Be sure of that,” Hauck said.
Riddick went back to his vehicle and opened the driver’s door. “Ah, I remember now … That name I couldn’t recall. Who got run off the road up here. It came back to me. It was John,” the chief said. Hauck saw his face reflected back in the guy’s shades. “John Robertson.”
He let the name sink in.
“But that name wouldn’t mean anything to you, would it now …? You’re just passing through.”
“Nothing at all.” Hauck didn’t need it explained further. “Anyway, I hope he’s okay.”
“Who?”
“Your friend. Robertson.”
“To my knowledge …” Riddick scratched his head. “Haven’t seen him in a long while.” He climbed back into his car. “Funny thing, though, the longer you stick around this place, the more you learn anything can happen here.”
“I’ll be sure and keep that in mind.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Well that sure took a while,” Dani said with a roll of her eyes. She was waiting on the street outside.
“Ran into a bit of a speed bump on the way,” Hauck said apologetically.
“An accident? Look at your car, Uncle Ty. It’s a mess.” It had picked up a new layer of dust.
“Not an accident.” Hauck shrugged. “Welcoming committee.”
“You didn’t run in to Robertson, did you?” Dani’s eyes lit up with alarm.
“More like from the friendly folk at Alpha and RMM.”
Dani looked at him, then at the SUV again, its wheels all covered in dust. “Is everything okay, Uncle Ty?”
“I’m fine. I could use a coffee, though. Maybe something to eat.”
“Park over there then. I think I know just the place.”
Inside, over a coffee and a bison burger, he told her about what he’d found in the mailbox at Robertson’s abandoned property that led him to Alpha.
And then his meeting there with McKay. The runaround they gave him at the mere mention of Robertson’s name. “They’re some kind of energy consulting company. He’s got some vague job there, though he’s never around. Coordinator of field activities.”
“What kind of ‘field activities’ brought him to the Roaring Fork River?” Dani snorted cynically. “Was he looking for oil there?”
“I don’t know. But the Alpha Group seemed to have originated as a military unit in Iraq. The 301st Airborne. How that ties into the energy business, I have no idea. But I saw a photo of the unit on the wall, and both McKay and Robertson were in it. As was their pal Adrian, who was killed. I’ll find out what the connection is. I have my office working on it now.”
“So what happened on the road?” Dani asked again. “Look, you’re cut, Uncle Ty!” She put a napkin to his forehead and dabbed at a small cut under the hairline, where his head must have nicked the wheel.
“Just a little warning.”
“Uncle Ty, you’re bleeding and your car looks like it’s been in the Sahara to Cape Town rally. What do you mean a little warning?”
Not wanting to worry her, he told her about the two trucks; the same as the ones they saw yesterday; and being caught between them and how they’d pretty much driven him off the road; he tried to make light of it as best he could.
“My God, they could have killed you, Uncle Ty! We have to take it to the police.”
“I think I already did. Take it to the police.” Hauck told her about his meeting with the local chief. “Any reason you think the police here are going to be sympathetic to some outsider who they hope will be out of their hair by tonight and who claims he was mishandled by a couple of RMM boys getting their jollies? That was all planned, Dani.”
“Planned?”
“It was a message. To butt out. On Robertson. To get my ass out of town.”
“But you could have been hurt.”
He smiled. In the past couple of years he had been beaten within an inch of his life, dragged from a speeding car in London, dangled over a rushing river in Croatia, and still carried the scars from having been shot a bunch of times. “I’ll be fine.”
“That waitress …” Dani leaned forward and nodded toward the one she’d been speaking with earlier, her voice almost in a whisper. “I spoke with her while you were away. RMM stands for Resurgent Mining and Mineral. It’s a big energy exploration company out of Denver. I googled it while I was waiting for you. They’re the big honcho here. The ones behind all the parks and fancy bleachers. You ought to see the senior center and the town hall as well. Apparently Trey’s father seems to have pissed them off in some way. A lot of the townsfolk here seem to resent him.”