Page 55 of Bait and Switch
It seemed there were some ethical lines Ranger Man would cross. Noted.
Flicking open the knife, Elton bent down and swiped at the tape a few times. Casey held the flashlight so Elton could see what he was doing. The ancient plastic bag began to fall apart on its own, and Gabe reached down to tug it further open.
“This is like when Geraldo Rivera was opening Capone’s safe.”
“It’s not.”
“Not a speck of romance in your soul.”
“There was nothing romantic about Al Capone. He was a vicious killer.”
Gabe had a clever retort ready, but the bag was fully open now.
“What is that? A backpack?” he asked. “Why would Calvin have a backpack in a bag?”
It looked old, at least to Gabe, who was not an expert on outdoor gear. The brand was North Face, which he did know was fairly pricey. A tag attached to a rusty beaded chain hung from one strap. Gabe flipped it over in case there was a name on it.
“What does it say? Whose was it?” There was something in Casey’s tone that had the hair on Gabe’s forearms rising and the goose bumps returning.
The ink was faded but not so much he couldn’t read what had been written there. “Property of Suzie Warner. There’s a phone number, address too.” Gabe looked at Casey and then Elton. “On Heartstone.”
NINETEEN
Casey
Wednesday night
One of thetwo emergency responders half-heartedly tried to get Casey to go to the hospital and get his head checked out.
“Jeremiah, I’m good to go, just like I told these guys.” He gestured toward Elton and Gabriel. “I’m fine. My head hurts and I won’t be able to brush my hair for a few days.” He shrugged. “But I’m okay.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble with Greta.”
“I’ll cover for you if something goes awry. Everything good here?”
Jeremiah didn’t look convinced by Casey’s argument but all he said was, “Yep, we got it all. A few of the lower branches of that tree didn’t make it. All in all, it’s a good thing you had Greta call us in. It probably would have burned itself out without doing much more damage, but you never know, do you?”
“Thanks for coming out.”
“Yeah, sure, hope not to see you soon.” Picking up his first aid kit, Jeremiah sketched a wave and ambled back the direction he’d come, heading for the water truck and his partner, who was finishing putting the hoses and whatnot away.
“We’re all freezing,” Gabe announced, “and you’re not driving, so here’s the dealio. I can drive your truck and you can ride shotgun with me, or I can drive your truck and you can ride with Elton.”
Going by the expression on both their faces, Casey knew he wasn’t going to be able to pitch that he could drive perfectly well. Elton may have been as old as the hills, but he knew the road better than anyone. Charming Fucker, on the other hand?
“My place,” Elton said, his tone uncompromising. “In fact, I’m transporting this.”
With that, Elton picked up the backpack and started for his truck, not sticking around for the argument.
Casey caught Gabe’s amused glance and shook his head—then winced, regretting the move. “I guess there’s no debating with him.”
“Tell me about that pack.Why did you look like you’d seen a ghost?”
Gabe was doing his best to avoid the worst sections of the roadway, but Casey’s head throbbed, and he sort of wanted to vomit every time they hit a bump. But not as intensely as when Gabe had read Suzie Warner’s name off that tag.
“Suzie Warner is a ghost. I mean, if we’re finding her backpack up here after she’s been missing for twenty years.” He paused as he tried to think back and come up with a timeline.
“Keep talking, Ranger Man. Do not go silent on me now.”
