Page 43 of Lone Star Wanted
The SUV rolled out of Blanco Pass, the narrow road stretching ahead like a ribbon of sun-baked asphalt. The clock on the dash read 5:53 p.m., but the sun still rode high, castingstreaks of gold across the Texas Hill Country. The scrub oaks lining the roadside were bone-dry, rustling in the wind like brittle paper.
The trailer was still a ways out, tucked beyond a cluster of ranch properties and forgotten dirt roads. They passed a faded windmill, a rusted-out tractor, and fields that hadn’t been worked in years. Isolation. That’s what someone wanted.
Kincade scanned the roadside as he drove, watching for glints of chrome in the brush, anything out of place. Nothing. He hoped it stayed that way.
“Depending on what we find when we get there,” he said, keeping his voice even, “we might have to wait for dark. Barging in without knowing what’s inside could get Ginny Lang killed.”
“Understood,” she murmured.
His eyes stayed locked on the road and continued with the impromptu briefing. Not because this info hadn’t already occurred to her. It had. But it soothed him to spell it all out, and by hearing the details, he might be able to identify any weaknesses that could turn this into a shitshow.
“If someone’s still watching Ginny,” he said, “if this whole thing’s still active… we need to be smart. Slow, if we have to. The sun won’t set for another two hours. That might be our window.”
Or their countdown.
“Understood,” she repeated. And she did. No doubts about that. As a cop, she knew the stakes as well as he did.
The trailer came into view just as the sun dipped lower, painting the horizon in dusty orange and gold. It sat on a patch of hard-packed dirt, surrounded by scraggly mesquite and brush. No other structures nearby, no sign of movement. But it didn’t feel empty.
Kincade slowed the SUV and pulled off the road onto a rutted trail, half overgrown but passable. He eased the vehiclebehind a cluster of cedars, killing the engine and letting the silence settle.
He reached into the back seat and pulled out a compact black case. As he popped it open, Cassidy leaned closer.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Thermal scanner,” he said, flipping the switch. “Standard gear in Ruby’s vehicles now. Helps spot heat signatures through walls.”
She arched a brow. “What else does this SUV have?”
He smirked faintly, eyes on the scanner as it powered up. “Pretty much anything we’d need for a small war.”
Cassidy looked out at the trailer, and her voice lowered. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Same here,” Kincade said. “Shots fired this close? We don’t know where Marlene’s mother is inside. One stray round could end this before it even begins.”
The screen lit up with ghostly heat shapes, and Kincade adjusted the settings. Time to see who, or what, was inside, and he soon spotted the heat signatures glowing against the cool background of the trailer’s interior.
“Two people,” Kincade muttered, adjusting the contrast.
Cassidy leaned in, eyes narrowing. “Can you tell which one’s Ginny?”
He pointed to the smaller outline seated against the far wall. Her form was hunched, and it appeared her knees were drawn close together.
“Smaller one’s probably her,” he said. “She’s not moving much, and the way she’s positioned… looks like her hands might be tied behind her back.”
Cassidy’s jaw tensed. “She’s been here for days like that.”
Yeah. Days that likely would have felt like a lifetime or two.
Kincade shifted the view slightly, highlighting the larger figure. “That one’s sitting, but see the way his arm’s angled? He’swearing a holster, but his gun’s not drawn. He seems to be eating something. And that hot rectangular shape?” He pointed to it. “That’s a TV. It’s been on for a while for it to show up as a heat source.”
She kept her attention fixed on the screen as Kincade adjusted the scanner. “Only one guard?”
“Looks like it.” He scanned again, shifting the device toward the back window, then to each side. Slowly, methodically, he swept the surrounding area.
No other heat signatures. No one in the trees. No second vehicle nearby.
“I didn’t spot any others,” he let her know.
