Page 94 of Claimed By the Deputies

“Rowan? You’re breaking up, buddy.”

“Call… others… you’ll need… up.”

“Backup,” I grumble as we pass through a heavily wooded area of the road leading to Pine Hill. No wonder the signals are dropping. Barely anything gets past these trees.

But they’re right. The Silver Stallions do have a chapter in Pine Hill, and they’re dangerous bastards. The last thing I want to do is walk into their midst without backup. The deputies I’ve got hanging about a mile back won’t be enough.

I check the rearview mirror. I can’t see them at all.

“What the…” I mutter, then reach out to them through the radio. “Porter. Shaw. Respond.”

Nothing.

Up ahead, the laundry truck keeps rolling with its Silver Stallion detail. I’m about to drive into enemy territory, and I can’t take them on alone. I can’t pull back, either. This is too important. It’ll give me the probable cause I need to secure the warrants.

“Tyler, Mitch,” I reach out on a different channel while keeping my eyes on the road. “You there?”

Trees rise on both sides, an army of green, quiet giants that have seen their share of shady transports going through. Above, the sky is a perfect clear blue. I wait for an answer, my eyes glued to the back of the truck. I’m in an unmarked car. They haven’t spotted me yet.

“Tyler,” I call again.

“We’ll be back soon,” his voice comes through.

“Meet me in Pine Hill,” I reply. “How long until you get there?”

“An hour, maybe less. We got the AG on our side,” he says.

“I lost Shaw and Porter.”

As the woods begin to thin out, the radio signal returns. I try reaching my team again, but still nothing. I don’t like it. There’sa knot tightening in the pit of my stomach, dark possibilities shadowing my thoughts.

“Where are you?” Mitch asks on the other channel.

“About five miles from Pine Hill,” I reply. “I can’t lose this shipment, but I don’t like what I’m wading into without backup.”

“Shaw and Porter were supposed to tail you,” Mitch says.

“They’re nowhere to be seen,” I repeat. “They were right behind us about half-a-mile back, but now they’re gone. This doesn’t make any sense.”

Actually, it might, if I’m willing to accept the unacceptable.

Someone found a way into my station to kill Billy Jade while in custody. They avoided the cameras and all other forms of detection. It had to be an inside job. We knew that. We suspected it. But we couldn’t point the finger at anyone in particular.

Until now.

“Shit,” I curse and switch channels again. “Rowan, drive faster. I don’t have any backup at all.”

Rowan doesn’t answer.

My blood boils as anger courses through my veins. The longer they’re silent, the clearer it becomes that we’re not dealing with just one or two crooked deputies.

It could be an entire network.

Shaking my head slowly, I switch back to Mitch and Tyler’s separate channel. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Yeah, they’re not picking up their phones, either,” Mitch replies. “Rowan. Porter. Shaw. All silent.”

“And we can’t get a hold of their GPS trackers,” Tyler adds from the background. “They dropped off the live map, Lucas.”

---