Page 134 of The One With the Mountain Man

“Those LBNs are really good,” Travis muttered almost under his breath. “They sure as shit pointed us in the right direction.”

“The old Ferguson cabin is a great place to hide.” There weren’t many completely abandoned properties near Lost Creek, but there were a few. The old Ferguson cabin had been abandoned at least twenty-five years ago when we were kids. It was dilapidated then and the last time I trekked through the area the roof had mostly collapsed in, the chimney had fallen, and the walls were being held up by fungus, cobwebs, and lost dreams.

But if I wanted to do illegal shit where no one would bother me, this would be at the top of my list.

Travis made a short, quiet noise with a burst of air through his teeth and lips. I stopped immediately and listened, only my eyes moving to see what gestures he made next.

He wanted to circle the cabin and approach from the least likely angle. It was a plan. We separated there and each took a different route to the backside of the cabin, the one that was overgrown with vines and trees. I heard movement and tracked someone about a foot shorter than me setting out supplies on a makeshift wooden table. Deeper inside the cabin someone else’s voice vibrated against the paper-thin lumber.

I resisted the urge to charge inside and demand answers even though that’s all I really wanted to do. Just before we lost signal the Sheriff contacted us to let us know they were on the way. The detective in charge of Marley’s case had brought them up to speed. They just needed to know where to mobilize.

So our job was to confirm their location and send up the Bat Signal. When Travis and I met back up and confirmed two inside the cabin, I pulled out the satellite phone and sent the message to the number they gave us, along with our GPS coordinates.

Then we waited.

“He’s making calls. The one inside the cabin. Who the fuck is he calling?” Travis growled.

They knew Marley was in town but hadn’t been able to track her exact location. She stood right in front of one of them and he didn’t recognize her. “There’s more to this than Marley.” I just wish I knew what. Not knowing what the variable was meant we were vulnerable.

And I didn’t like being vulnerable.

“Let’s get closer. See if we can hear any of this.”

Travis shrugged. “Twist my arm.”

We crept closer to the cabin, checking for surveillance equipment, but there was none. “They’re comfortable here. They think they’re safe.”

Travis rolled his eyes.

We settled into the vegetation only a few feet from the outer wall and listened.

“We need this done today. We’ve raised too many suspicions and we’ll miss my date with Susan if we don’t leave in the morning.”

“We’re not leaving until I have her. That was the deal,” the second man said. His words had an edge to them. The kind of indifference that made my blood run cold.

Travis felt the same way based on the look he shot my way.

“No,” the first man said, “the deal was we’d scoop up yours and then get mine. The times were set. It’s not my fault you missed yours.”

“I didn’t miss her!” The second man howled. “Youmissed her.”

“How was I supposed to know she’d look so ordinary? She didn’t look like that in any of the photos or videos you gave me.”

I wanted to beat the guy’s face in for calling Marley ordinary.

So did the second man who went off his rocker for two solid minutes of ranting about Marley’s looks. I pulled out my phone and hit the record button because whether this was admissible evidence or not, I wanted a recording of this.

Travis slipped his hunting knife out and gripped it in his hand, mouthing, “That dude has lost it.”

“No shit,” I mouthed back. There was no way in hell I was letting that man escape. He could never, ever be near Marley ever again. I had no doubt in my mind he’d kill her.

The phone chirped and the second man answered it. “Well?”

The volume was so loud we could hear most of the conversation. I wish I hadn’t. The voice was as familiar as my own and shocked the living hell out of me.

“She’s practically under lock and key now. How did you miss her when she was in town?” my father asked.

Travis’s head whipped around.

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