“Calm down, son. I’ll do it.”
BARNARD WATCHED FROM THE PARLOR WINDOW ASCATHERINEWalker climbed into the Prius and drove away.
Strange.
On a hunch he yanked off his rubber gloves, left the house, and retraced his steps to the car. He fired up the engine, rounded the block, and parked in front of the Walker house. He approached the front door and rang the bell, using the end of a ballpoint pen to push the button. When no one answered he descended the porch and walked next door, where the older woman was tending her garden.
“I was looking for Mrs. Walker,” he said in a pleasant voice, adding an equally pleasant smile.
“You just missed her.”
“Darn,” he feigned. “You know when she’ll be back?”
“She didn’t say. She called her son, then left. Maybe she went to see him.”
“You know where he is?”
“He works at the paper mill. His name is Brent Walker.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll try there.”
He walked back to his car, reached for his phone, and dialed. An open channel cautioned a choice of words. “The processing is impossible. A call came from the mill and the next thing I saw was a car leaving with one person inside. Destination unknown.”
“Anything else?”
“The next-door neighbor may have been on the lookout. She verified that the son talked to the mother by phone.”
“Return to your original station. I’ll be in touch.”
JON ENDED THE CALL AND LOOKED ATHAMILTONLEE.“THE MOTHERleft before going into the house. She received a call from Walker.”
Lee was surprised. “He had no idea your man was in the house.”
“But, like Walker said earlier, he’s not Greene. He’s a step ahead of us thanks to Mr. Bozin. He probably assumed we were monitoring the house phones.”
Lee looked at his watch.
“It seems Brent Walker has left me no choice. Bring him and Reed in now. Take them to a secure location and let me know when you have them.”
10:06A.M.
BRENT HUNG UP FROM TALKING TO HIS MOTHER AND CALLEDHANKon his cell phone. He quickly summarized the meeting with Lee and what he’d done with his mother and Ashley. He figured with everything happening so fast, Hank’s cell phone would still be safe. “We have to get out of here.”
“I’m already working on it. Meet me at the barge dock in ten minutes. You know how to get there?”
The past couple of weeks he’d made a point of learning his way around the mill. “I know where it is.”
“Head there now,” Hank said.
JON REACHED FOR HIS LINK TOVICTORJACKS.HE PUSHED SEND ONthe portable radio. “Bluebird. Robin.” The walkie-talkies were used all over the mill by a variety of personnel, though he utilized a different frequency. They were fast and efficient, but careful with their words. “Your location?”
“Outside paper machine number three.”
The mill’s electric shop was inside that building, the Boar’s Nest part. “Find and retrieve. Once in the cage, advise.”
“Roger.”
He decided to corral Brent Walker himself. Much wiser to keep Frank Barnard outside on the highway, just in case.
