Page 66 of The Scenic Route
I don’t give out customer info
With a grimace, Felicity studied Rory’s last text for a moment before sending another. She didn’t want to state her growing suspicion as fact, but she had a feeling the cops would be coming back with an ID on the skull soon anyway.
Does it make a difference if he’s almost certainly dead?
It was Rory’s turn to pause, and several seconds went by before a new text popped onto Felicity’s phone screen.
Why do you want a dead guy’s contact info?
For some reason, the question struck her as funny, and she huffed a short laugh before responding.
I’m hoping the killer is monitoring his emails
The ellipsis repeated over and over for a solid minute, and then an email appeared on her screen.
“Hang on,” Felicity muttered, turning her phone so Bennett could get a straight-on view of Rory’s latest text. “Don’t tell me the militia is a 501(c)(3).”
“What?” Lou called over after obviously overhearing. “The Freedom Survivors don’t even have to pay any taxes? There’s something extra wrong about that.”
“Very wrong,” Felicity muttered under her breath, quickly sending a thank-you text to Rory. Opening a new email to Cobra’s address, she hesitated, looking at Bennett. “Should we send it to Cobra’s or directly to Dino? Even if Clint is monitoring Cobra’s emails, we don’t want to catch Clint in our trap. He doesn’t have any outstanding warrants, so it’d be a waste of a good sting.”
“Dino’s,” Bennett agreed. “Probably has a similar email format.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Where should we have him goto collect his ‘prize’?” Her breath caught as an even better idea occurred to her. “Hang on.”
Returning to her texting app, she sent another message to Rory.
Want to help us with a sting operation?
Almost immediately, Rory sent a one-word response.
Sure
“Yes!” Lou cheered, almost directly in Felicity’s ear, making her jump. “Iknewyou’d bring some excitement to this sleepy town, Felicity Pax.”
The thought of being responsible for her enthusiastic but amateur bounty-hunting army recruits made her panic a little. It must’ve shown on her face, because Bennett grinned at her.
“See if you’re still smiling if I accidently kill off an innocent Simpsonite,” she muttered at him, which only made his smile widen. Looking back over at Lou, who was looking much too excited, Felicity forced a weak smile. “Yay?”
Sixteen
Felicity was normally reluctant to involve anyone except her sisters—and now Bennett—in any skip-hunting plan, since civilians could be wild cards, but she had to admit that using the gun store in the fake contest win was genius. The whole murder club joined them there early that evening, and Felicity had a hard time pulling herself away from the displays in order to put together the fake-winning email. Rory didn’t just have currently popular pistols and long guns in stock, she had everything from antique guns to bear spray to an array of Tasers to—Felicity’s favorite—a tiny little revolver displayed in a place of honor and listed as not for sale.
Bennett was also distracted by Rory’s two dogs—Jack, a big German shepherd, and Kiwi, the cutest little Yorkie Felicity had ever seen. Immediately after they’d arrived, both dogs had made a beeline to Bennett, and he was soon crouched down with two canines—one large and one tiny—licking his face as he scratched them both behind the ears, a huge grin on his face.Felicity was then distracted staring at her favorite Bennett—happy Bennett—but she eventually managed to focus on planning Dino’s takedown.
“I think we should go with Cobra’s email,” Daisy said. She was still wearing workout clothes after a shift at her gym, with Ellie’s toddler, Mila—as adorably serious and watchful as usual—perched on her hip. “How would Rory have gotten Dino’s email—or even hisname—to enter him in the drawing?” She grinned down at Mila while bouncing her a little, earning a tiny smile.
“One of the other Freedom Survivors?” Ellie suggested, but her tone was doubtful.
“Someone else entered him in the drawing?” Felicity didn’t think that was very likely. She was leaning toward agreeing with Daisy. “I don’t know if the other militia guys are that magnanimous.”
“But if it goes to Cobra, that’s so uncertain,” Lou argued. “What if Clint isn’t monitoring his emails? And why would he bring Dino with him? Or what if Cobra’s still getting his emails in his RV in Texas, and he comes here to collect his winnings?”
“I’m not actually giving anyone a free Browning rifle,” Rory stated flatly.
All Lou’s points were good ones. “I think we’re going to have to direct the email to Dino,” Felicity said. “Hopefully it’s the right address and he won’t think too hard about how he was entered.”
