Chapter 3

 

It was just after midnight and Ray Caldwell was in the penthouse of the Serenity Inn, the twenty-story hotel he owned in Jubilee. He was still awake when he began hearing sirens. He got up from his desk and moved to the windows overlooking the town below. When he saw a parade of flashing lights heading up the mountain, he turned away. What happened up there did not concern him.

About an hour later, he crawled into bed beside his wife, Patricia. Careful not to wake her, he soon fell asleep, only to be awakened in the early hours of the morning by more sirens going up the mountain. He pounded his pillow and turned over, thinking some meth head had probably blown up his lab.

Still mentally cursing the noise, Ray settled in and closed his eyes. He’d just gone back to sleep when he began hearing sirens again—but this time coming into Jubilee.

His twenty-four-year-old daughter, Liz, was asleep in her suite down the hall when the sounds of sirens reawakened her, too. “What the hell is going on?” she muttered, and rolled over onto her back. Sirens had been sounding on and off all night.

She glanced at the time and groaned, but when the sirens kept getting louder and louder, it dawned on her that they were coming down from Pope Mountain. Her heart skipped a beat, and then she was flinging aside her covers and running to the windows.

Cameron Pope lived up there—along with a whole host of other people he was kin to. It didn’t have to mean it had anything to do with him. And he didn’t know she existed. But that didn’t mean he was no longer on her radar. Liz Caldwell had never wanted for anything that money could buy—except Cameron Pope. She’d tried flirting once. He’d never even noticed her. But it didn’t stop her fantasizing about taking him to bed.

She watched the ambulance lights flashing red and blue as the emergency vehicles and police cars wound their way through the streets, and then they disappeared. Moments later, the sirens went silent. The ambulance must be at the hospital.

She fidgeted, wishing she knew what was going on, and then shrugged it off, crawled back into her warm bed, and closed her eyes.

***

Across town, Marshall Devon had been experiencing a similar night. He’d been hosting some of his investors in the penthouse of Hotel Devon when the first sirens sounded. Several of his guests went to the windows to look down into the town, wondering if something was on fire or if there had been a wreck. But when they saw the flashing lights driving through Jubilee and going up the mountain, Marsh commented.

“Likely some hillbilly blew up a still or a meth lab,” he said, which elicited a roar of laughter from his big-city friends, and the party went on.

Much later, when everyone retired to their rooms to spend what was left of the night, they were too out of it to hear the second and third round of sirens.

***

Cameron was sick with worry by the time he pulled into the hospital parking lot. He recognized nearly a dozen vehicles, most of which belonged to family members. He parked near the ER entrance, then glanced down at Ghost. The dog was panting and whimpering, his tongue lolling to one side. It was a sure sign of the dog’s pain and anxiety, and he hated that he was suffering.

“Stay, Ghost! I’ll be right back. I just need to check on Lili before we get Sam out of bed, okay?”

Then he got out, locked the door, and ran inside, searching the faces in the lobby as he stopped at the desk. “Lili Glass. Where did they take her?” he asked.

The clerk looked up, recognized him as more of the family, and pointed. “Through the double doors, Cameron. At the end of the hall.”

Still moving in haste, Cameron pushed the doors inward. He saw B. J. Kelly at the nurses’ desk signing paperwork, and Fagan and Billy carrying fresh supplies to their ambulance. And then he saw the family, filling the entire north end of the corridor. All of them standing in total silence, watching the closed door to Room 7.

They turned en masse at the sound of Cameron’s footsteps, then engulfed him with hugs, quick pats on the back, and whispered murmurs of “God bless you.”

Cameron went straight to Marcus.

“How is she?” Cameron asked.

“We don’t know. Rachel and Louis are in with the doctor,” Marcus said.

“You’re more patient that I am,” Cameron muttered. He pushed past the crowd and slipped inside.

The sight of Lili’s tiny body lying motionless beneath the covers and hooked up to all manner of machines and IVs was overwhelming. He stopped, in shock at the sight.

The doctor was still talking when Rachel heard the door open behind her. She turned, her eyes widening when she saw Cameron, but she said nothing.

Cameron saw the bandage on the side of Rachel’s head and the darkening bruise on her jaw, and for a moment, he was sorry he’d let Danny Biggers live, but then he made himself focus on what the doctor was saying.

“Breathing is better. Blood pressure is stronger, but we’re going to have to watch for other side effects. We’ll know more in the next twenty-four hours,” he said, and then noticed Cameron was in the room. “I’m sorry. And you are?”

Rachel answered for him. “Dr. Leeds, this is my brother, Cameron Pope. He’s the one who found Lili.”

“Good job, Mr. Pope,” the doctor said. “You saved her life. Another hour and we’d be having an entirely different discussion here.”

“Ghost did it,” Cameron said.

Leeds was taken aback by the comment, and it showed. “A ghost?”

Cameron shook his head. “No, a dog. His name is Ghost. He was a bomb-sniffing dog in Iraq. He saved my ass more than once there. We came home together.”

“You both did it,” Louis said. “We’ll never be able to thank you enough,” and he gave Cameron’s shoulder a quick squeeze.

The doctor eyed Cameron’s face. “I’d say your face needs some attention, too. What happened?”

“It’s just scratches from running through the woods in the dark. I’ll heal. Is Lili going to intensive care?”

“Yes, for now,” the doctor said.

Cameron frowned. “What about Rachel? Does she have a concussion?”

“A slight one,” Dr. Leeds said.

Cameron eyes narrowed angrily as he turned to Rachel and Louis. “The sorry son of a bitch. This didn’t have to happen. I want to know why you and Louis weren’t notified he had escaped.”

“I’ve already had that same discussion with local authorities,” Louis said.

When Rachel moved back to Lili’s bedside, Cameron followed.

“Rachel, honey, now that I know Lili’s in good hands and is going to recover, I won’t stay. I need to get Ghost to the vet. He has a bad cut on his right front paw. I don’t know when it happened but he never slowed down and never quit running. I didn’t even know about it until I got him home and saw blood in the car seat and on the floorboard.”

“Oh no! I’m so sorry,” Rachel said. “That dog is amazing. He loves you so much, he’ll do anything for you.”

“Works both ways,” Cameron said, and gave her a quick hug. “Give Lili my love. Tell her Uncle Cam says as soon as she’s all better, he’ll bring her cookies.”

Rachel smiled through tears. “You two and your cookies. I’ll tell her. And just so you know, Louis and I owe you forever.”

“You owe me nothing. Call me to keep me updated on Lili, and go easy on yourself for a few days, too.”

“I will. Now go see to Ghost. Between Louis and me, we have all kinds of extra help at our disposal.”

Cameron passed the doctor on his way out of the room, but the moment he emerged, he was inundated again by the waiting family.

“The doctor says her prognosis is good. They are giving her something intravenously to offset the drugs Biggers gave her. She’s going to the ICU out of caution. That’s all I know. They’ll be out soon and you can talk to them yourselves,” he said, then walked back up the hall and disappeared through the double doors.

Still concerned about Ghost, he ran back to the Jeep, but he needn’t have worried. Ghost was curled up in the passenger seat, and the bandage was still seeping fresh blood.

“Good boy,” Cameron said as he slid in behind the steering wheel. “Now to get Sam out of bed.”

He glanced at the time. It was just after 6:00 a.m. as he pulled up the vet’s number and made the call, hoping Sam was not out on an emergency somewhere.

The call rang several times, and just when he thought it was going to voicemail, Sam Carson answered. “Hello. This is Sam.”

“Sam, this is Cameron Pope. I hope I didn’t get you out of bed, but Ghost is hurt and I’m in Jubilee. Can I bring him to the office?”

“Yes, of course. I was in the shower. What happened?”

“He’s got a bad cut on his paw. It’s a long story.”

“Give me fifteen minutes. I should be at the office by then.”

“Thanks, Sam. I really appreciate this,” Cameron said, and hung up. Then he started the engine and drove away.

It took ten minutes to get across town to the vet’s office. He was just pulling up in the parking lot when the lights began coming on in the office, and then Sam was standing in the front door, holding it open.

Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. Sam would know what to do.

“We’re here, boy. I know you hurt, but Sam will make it better.”

***

Sam Carson knew nothing about the kidnapping or the terror that had been on the mountain in the early hours of the morning. But when Cameron said it was a long story, he guessed something serious had happened.

He called Leslie Morgan, his vet tech, told her they had an emergency coming in and to meet him at the office, then quickly dressed and left his house on the run. He crossed the parking lot between his house and the clinic, unlocked the back door, and went inside, locking it behind him and turning on lights and turning up the heat as he went.

A few minutes later, he saw headlights through the front windows as they swept across the back wall. That would likely be Cameron. Leslie lived on the other side of Jubilee and it would take longer for her to arrive.

Sam went to the front door just as Cameron got out and circled the Jeep.

“Need help?” Sam called out.

“No, I’ve got him,” Cameron said, and came toward the office carrying Ghost like a baby.

“First room on the left,” Sam said, pointing across the lobby, then followed Cameron into the exam room.

Cameron laid Ghost on the table as Sam entered. Ghost wagged his tail when he saw Sam, but Sam was focused on the blood-soaked bandage on Ghost’s right front paw.

“I washed it out as best I could and wrapped it so he wouldn’t lick it, but the cut is deep and won’t stop bleeding. I don’t know how long he ran on that cut, but he never slowed down,” Cameron said.

“Your face doesn’t look so hot, either,” Sam said as he approached the exam table. “Hey, Ghost. I need to look at your paw, okay? Let’s get this gauze off.”

Ghost whined.

Cameron put his hand on Ghost’s shoulder. “Stay, Ghost. You’re okay. I’m here.”

Sam frowned. “What the hell were you two doing?”

“Chasing a kidnapper up Pope Mountain.”

Sam gasped. “What? Who got kidnapped, and how did you wind up in all that?”

“Remember Danny Biggers?” Cameron asked.

Sam paused, looking up in shock. “You mean the man who… Uh, your sister’s attacker?”

“Yes. He was one of the inmates who broke out of Abercrombie. He attacked Rachel in the middle of the night and took Lili. Louis came home from work a few minutes later, found Rachel unconscious on the floor and Lili gone. They called the sheriff, and then they called the family, and every able man on the mountain came running with their dogs, including me and Ghost. I don’t know when Ghost got hurt, but he never stopped running. He found Biggers with Lili, and by the time I caught up, Ghost had him begging for mercy.”

“Oh, my God! Are Rachel and the baby okay?”

“Rachel’s okay, more or less…and we think Lili’s going to be okay, too. I just left the hospital. They’re putting her in the ICU but she’s showing good signs of recovery. Ghost is the one in need now.”

“Absolutely,” Sam said, and went back to unwinding the bandage from Ghost’s paw. “Can you get him over on his side, please?”

Moments later, Cameron had Ghost stretched out on the table.

“That will do,” Sam said as he stroked Ghost’s massive head and moved closer. “I still can’t get over his size. He’s one of the biggest German shepherds I’ve ever seen. Now. Let’s take a look at what’s happened here.”

Sam worked slowly, anxious not to cause undue pain, although when the big dog kept whining, he knew he was hurting him. A thorough cleaning of the wound revealed a deep, jagged cut and a continuous seeping of blood.

“This doesn’t look good,” Sam said. “I don’t think it’s going to heal properly without stitches, and that’s going to mean putting him under.”

“Whatever it takes,” Cameron said.

They heard the front door open, then slam shut, and footsteps running through the lobby.

“That will be Leslie,” Sam said, and he was right.

The young vet tech appeared in gray sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt, with her long blond hair in a messy ponytail on top of her head. She looked like she’d just crawled out of bed. Her eyes widened when she saw Cameron’s scratched face and Ghost stretched out on the exam table.

“Hey, Les,” Cameron said.

“Hey, Cam. Lord, what a night you’ve all had.”

“You mean it’s already common knowledge?” Sam asked.

Leslie smiled. “I may live in the valley, but my family is still on the mountain. Dad was one of the searchers.” And then her gaze shifted. “Dr. Sam, what do you need me to do?”

“Scrub up, then get a tray ready. We’re going to have to put Ghost to sleep to stitch up the cut on his foot. I’ll need you to monitor his oxygen levels and heart rate after he’s out.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, and raced into the adjoining room.

Cameron stayed beside Ghost until they got him to sleep and then moved out of the way, letting them do their job.

He glanced out the window. The sun was up. Then he looked at the clock as Sam began trimming hair away from between the toe pads on Ghost’s paw. It was just after seven, and yesterday felt like an eternity away.

***

Sam Carson finished the surgery on Ghost and gave him a shot to reverse the anesthetic and another shot for pain, then handed Cameron a small bottle of antibiotics as Ghost was coming around.

“Keep him off his feet as much as possible, and bring him back in three days to get the bandages replaced,” Sam said.

“Thanks to the both of you,” Cameron said. “Sorry to get you up so early.”

“That’s what we do,” Sam said. “Take care of yourself while you’re at it. Some of those scratches on your face could qualify as cuts.”

“They’ll heal,” Cameron said, then scooped Ghost up in his arms. The dog was still groggy as he carried him out.

Leslie ran ahead of them opening doors and then helping get Ghost settled in the front seat of Cameron’s Jeep.

“You tell Rachel and Louis we’re all praying for Lili.”

“I will. Thanks for helping out,” Cameron said, and drove away.

Leslie sighed as she watched him leave.

Cameron Pope was gorgeous, and single, and just the teeniest bit intimidating. Everyone knew he’d spent two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet he never talked about it. Still, Ghost was a daily reminder because when Cameron Pope finally came home from the wars, Ghost was with him.

Her daddy said Pope had been Special Forces.

Her uncle said Ghost had been a bomb-sniffing dog and had saved Cameron’s life.

All Leslie knew was that the boy she remembered was not the man who came home.

***

By the time Cameron got home, he was exhausted and Ghost was asleep. He got out quietly and once again lifted his dog from the seat. As he did, Ghost whined.

“I know, boy. I know. But we’re home, and you’re going to be okay,” he said, and carried the dog into the house, then took him into his bedroom and laid him on a pile of blankets on the floor beside his bed.

The moment Ghost was among familiar surroundings and next to his human, he went limp and closed his eyes.

Satisfied that all was well for now, Cameron went back through the house, locking everything up and turning out lights. He checked his phone to make sure Rachel hadn’t called, then stripped down and showered before crawling into bed.

The sheets were cool. The room was warm. He rolled over on his belly and fell asleep.

***

Once Biggers had been taken into custody, Sheriff Woodley had been forced to accept Rachel and Louis’s story about the abduction. He knew he needed to make peace with the Glass family before he returned to the office, so he drove to the hospital to check on the child’s condition and found both parents in the waiting room of the ICU.

“Louis. Rachel. How are you doing, and how is your daughter?” he asked.

“I have the headache from hell and, no thanks to any of you, my baby is alive,” Rachel muttered.

Woodley flushed, but he had the good sense not to challenge her.

Louis could tell Rachel was too angry with the police to talk. He was disgusted with how they’d been treated, but he wanted details.

“Where is Danny Biggers right now?” Louis asked.

“He’s being treated for his wounds, but he’ll be going back to prison. We were contacted by federal marshals who’ve been on his trail, and we now know that the car he was driving was stolen, as was the phone he was using. The owners were found tied up in their home but unharmed.”

“There’s something about this whole incident that makes no sense,” Louis said. “Biggers had no relationship with Rachel. He had no bond whatsoever with Lili. And yet when he escaped, this was where he came. How did he know where we live, and why come all this way after our baby?”

Woodley leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He was tired and ready for bed and had a mountain of reports to write. “We don’t know, but the kidnapping moves this into the hands of federal prosecutors. The FBI will take over this case.”

Rachel shuddered. “I don’t get why Danny Biggers would target me again. He was shocked it was me. I saw it on his face. He didn’t know or care who the child belonged to and wasn’t expecting to see anyone he knew,” she said. “This is a nightmare.”

Louis hugged her, pulling her close. “But Biggers didn’t succeed, honey. And all of the laws he broke after he escaped will be added to his sentence. He’ll still be behind bars when we’re old and gray,” he said.

“Again, I’m sorry for all the misunderstanding, but in my business, everyone is suspect until proven otherwise,” Woodley said.

Rachel glared. “Misunderstanding? Bullshit! You knew the connection between me and Danny Biggers before you ever arrived on the scene! So now I’m thinking you’re the biggest fool walking to think I’d be in on my own daughter’s kidnapping with the man who raped me. And if it hadn’t been for Uncle John finding the abandoned car, and our people and my brother searching, my baby girl would be gone.”

Then she got up and walked out of the room.

Woodley’s face was an angry red, but he didn’t have a decent rebuttal and he knew it.

Louis wasn’t about to apologize for what Rachel had said, because she’d spoken nothing but the truth. He waited until Woodley left, then went to look for Rachel. He found her in the chapel on her knees, her head down, praying.

Without saying a word, he knelt down beside her and lowered his head.

***

Frankfort, Kentucky

Special Agents Jay Howard and Dan Pickard of the FBI were part of a team investigating human trafficking. They’d been staking out a certain group for months, trying to link them to more than a dozen missing person cases in a tristate area, and more recently to a surge of missing babies and toddlers.

One suspected member of the group was a woman named Lindy Sheets. The FBI team believed she was working as bait, befriending teens and single women, then luring them into traps. They knew Sheets was also a regular visitor to an inmate named Daniel Lee Biggers, who was serving time in Abercrombie Penitentiary for assault and rape.

When the team learned Biggers had been one of the escapees, it was nothing more than a point of interest, until they found out some hours later that Biggers had stolen a car and a cell phone from an elderly couple in Frankfort and left them tied up in their house, then drove all the way to Jubilee, Kentucky, where he assaulted a woman and kidnapped her three-year-old child. That’s when the FBI agents’ internal radar pinged.

It was just after daylight when they learned Biggers had already been caught by some local searchers, and both he and the child were being treated in a small hospital in Jubilee. Within minutes, Howard was on the phone.

***

Jubilee Police Chief Sonny Warren hadn’t gone home last night. Even though County had been in charge of the assault and abduction, Sonny had been born and raised on Pope Mountain. He’d been shocked by what happened and worried sick until he found out Lili Glass had been rescued and Danny Biggers captured.

Relieved, he thought that would be the end of it. He was about to leave the office long enough to go home to shower and change clothes before beginning his day when his phone rang.

“Jubilee Police. Chief Warren speaking.”

“Good morning, Chief. This is Special Agent Jay Howard of the FBI. I’m out of the state headquarters located in Frankfort. I understand there is an escaped prisoner named Danny Biggers being treated in your hospital. Is that correct?”

Sonny blinked. “Uh, yes, sir.”

“We need to talk to him regarding an ongoing case. I need a hold and multiple guards put on him until we arrive. We’re coming in by chopper from Frankfort, and we’ll need a car at our disposal for a few hours. I take it you have a heliport somewhere?”

“A few,” Sonny said. “One behind the police station. One at the hospital, and a couple at the area hotels. I’ll make sure there’s a car waiting for you.”

“Do you have Biggers’s personal effects and the vehicle he was driving?” Howard asked.

“They would be with Sheriff Woodley, who headed the pursuit.”

“Then I’ll be needing the sheriff’s contact information,” Howard said.

“Yes, sir. Shall I text it to the number you’re calling from?”

“Please,” Howard said. “See you soon.”

The line went dead. The chief pulled up the number for County and sent it to Howard’s phone. He already had a guard on Biggers’s room, but now it seemed one was not enough, so he made a quick call to one of his officers and sent him straight to the hospital to double the guard.

Back in Frankfort, Howard was organizing a helicopter to get them to Jubilee, while Special Agent Pickard was on the phone with Sheriff Woodley.

***

Woodley was in his office still writing up reports when his phone rang. He paused, and then turned away from the computer to answer.

“This is Woodley.”

“Sheriff Woodley. This is Special Agent Dan Pickard, Frankfort FBI. We understand you headed the search for Danny Biggers and the recovery of a child he’d kidnapped. Is that correct?”

Woodley sat up straighter. “Yes. That’s correct.”

“I’ve also been told that you have Biggers’s personal effects.”

“Yes, but there wasn’t much on him. We confiscated the stolen car he’d been driving and the stolen phone he’d been using.”

“We’ll be sending a forensic team to go over the car, and we’ll be needing everything you confiscated, including that phone. My partner and I are on our way to Jubilee to talk to Biggers. If you could get all that to Chief Warren as soon as possible, we would appreciate it. We’re operating on a really tight schedule here, and time is of the essence.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll bring it myself,” Woodley said, and then his skin crawled when the line went dead in his ear.

He hit Save on the report he’d been typing, then went to the evidence room, checked out the evidence folder with Biggers’s money and phone, told the dispatcher where he was going, and headed back to the police station in Jubilee.

***

Danny Biggers was in misery. They took him to surgery to stitch up his wounds. Not because they were serious enough for surgery. It was just to keep the Glass family from finding him and finishing him off. After they stitched up his arms and legs, and shot him full of antibiotics and painkillers, they moved him to a different floor of the hospital.

Danny knew he had a guard at the door, and that the federal marshals would show up to take his ass back to prison, but he doubted he would be there long. He’d just added about a lifetime of years to his sentence with another violent assault, and now kidnapping, which was a federal offense.

He thought of Lindy waiting for him to show up at Fuzzy Fridays and the years of confinement he had ahead of him now. Lindy wasn’t the faithful kind, but then neither was he. He’d given up worrying about what he couldn’t control, so he turned his face to the wall and closed his eyes.

Piece-of-shit car.

Stupid kid.

Fucking dog.

Damn Cameron Pope to hell.

He was drifting in and out of dreamland from all the opiates in his system when the door to his room flew open and two men in dark suits walked in. He knew before they opened their mouths they were feds.

Then they flashed their badges and proved him right.

“Daniel Lee Biggers. I’m Special Agent Howard, and this is my partner, Special Agent Pickard. We need to talk to you.”

Biggers eyed them closely. Howard was built like a linebacker and bowling-ball bald. Pickard had pale-green eyes and a scar across his right cheek.

“I’m not talking to anyone without a lawyer,” Danny muttered.

“That’s your right,” Howard said. “But you need to know that a lawyer can’t save you or change one aspect of the justice that’s coming to you. You have just added robbery, theft, another four counts of violent assault, and one count of kidnapping to your sentence, and it’ll be up to the judge how many years they add on to all of that for participating in human trafficking.”

Danny’s gut knotted. “I didn’t traffic anybody,” he muttered.

“That’s because you got caught in the process,” Howard said. “Lindy Sheets has been visiting you in prison.”

Danny frowned. “So what? She’s my girlfriend. I’m allowed visitors in prison.”

Then Pickard unloaded.

“She’s also a prime suspect in a human-trafficking ring. And you just kidnapped someone else’s daughter and got caught on your way to meet Lindy Sheets at a drop-off location. Don’t bother denying it because we traced your texts to her from the phone you had on your person. You thought you were going to sell the little girl for big money, didn’t you?”

“I got nothin’ to say to you,” Danny said.

Pickard snorted. “Biggers, you’re obviously not very smart. Mean. But not very smart. You need to be grateful you got caught, because if you’d made the drop expecting to get paid for the kid, you would have gotten a bullet in the back of your head for your trouble. That’s how this gang works. They promise big money for kids, teenage boys, and pretty women, and kill the person who delivers them. They’re eliminating the middle man, selling to an Asian and European market, and keeping all the money.”

Danny’s stomach roiled. “You’re lying.”

Howard shrugged. “No, we’re just stating facts. And since you are now linked to one of their contacts and got caught, your life isn’t worth two cents, and I doubt hers is, either.”

Danny broke out into a cold sweat. “You gotta protect me.”

“We don’t ‘gotta’ do anything but send you back to jail,” Howard said. “Unless you want to help us catch them. But that’s up to you. Still want to talk to that lawyer? Or do you want to wait for the other shoe to fall?”

Danny groaned. “What do you want to know?”

“Why did you go back to the house of a woman you’d raped?”

Danny’s shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know it was her. I just went to pick up the kid and take her to a drop-off.”

“Why would they want an escaped prisoner to do that? They had to know the authorities would be looking for you.”

Danny’s eyes narrowed, and then he sighed. He’d gotten himself into this, but he wasn’t taking the rap for anyone. He didn’t know anyone but Lindy, and he had no loyalty to her.

“I might have mentioned something to Lindy about the riot and escape before it happened. She might have mentioned something to the effect that if I made it out, I should give her a call. She had a job I could do to make some quick money to disappear. So I made it out. I called her. But when she told me what the job was, I almost turned it down. I didn’t want anything to do with snatching a kid, and I damn sure wasn’t moving up to murdering parents to do it. And then she said, ‘Ten thousand dollars.’” He paused, groaning as a ripple of pain rolled through him. “I grew up in this area. I know the mountains. I know every shortcut and switchback to be taken to get over the mountains to the drop-off point. And I thought I could do it and get away.”

“Except you didn’t,” Howard said. “You stole a piece-of-shit car. You came face-to-face with a woman who already knew who you were. You left her alive, and from the sheriff’s report, her brother and his dog ran you to ground on that mountain and caught your ass. And you’ve made yourself a liability to the crooks who trusted you. So you weren’t so smart after all.”

Danny was bordering on tears. “You have to protect me.”

“You’ll be behind bars. That’s protection,” Pickard added.

Danny shouted. “No, dammit! You know they can get to me there, too. Don’t take me back to where I was.”

“No worries on that. You lost your lease on ever being incarcerated in medium security again,” Howard said. “Kidnapping is a federal offense. You’ll be doing time in a federal prison.”