Bryn wrapped his arms around Gunnar’s solid body and relaxed. Being on the bike meant freedom, if only for a short while. He was beginning to crave these interludes where it was just the two of them on the open road. The last two months had been crazy busy. Agent Bell and his FBI team had taken over the Walmart killer case and were working it as a presumed serial killer. The mafia accountant’s trial had concluded and they were waiting on a verdict from the jury. He and Gunnar had been working long hours helping with as many cases as possible and Bryn was tired. He was also finding it harder and harder to ignore his growing feelings for his partner.
The helmet mic buzzed. “I said I’d brief you as we traveled. You awake back there?”
“Yeah. I’d have fallen off the bike if I wasn’t, wouldn’t I?”
“We need to work on a way of strapping you on so that can’t happen.” Gunnar sounded amused. “Theamount of work we’ve cleared recently, I’m surprised you can stay conscious.”
“I could use a day off. You think we could sneak out without Warden or Emmett noticing?”
“Not a hope.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“I can ask, though. There’s a Wolf Run coming up that I want to do. You could come watch.”
“I’ve heard of those. Didn’t know it was a real thing, though, thought it was made up.”
“They’re real. A Wolf Run is a race and a hunt combined. I’ll tell you more about it when we’re done today, but we need to talk about the case now.”
“So where are we heading?”
“Essex County. A small town called Boxford.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Me either, until Emmett gave me the case briefing this morning while you were still snoring.”
“I do not snore,” Bryn protested.
“Must have been the wildebeest you keep under your bed then.”
“Fuck off.”
Gunnar chuckled. “Boxford is small, population about eight thousand. Close-knit community, lots of farming. Bordered by Boxford State Forest.”
“Okay, so what’s going on in Boxford? Doesn’t sound like a center of crime.”
“Yeah, the crime rate is extremely low, which makes this case unusual. A kid has gone missing and Boxford Police Department is treating it as abduction because the parents received a ransom demand for a million dollars.”
“How old is the kid?”
“Seven. A boy called Edwin Jones. Parents are Edwin Senior and Rosalie. They run a plant nursery.”
“So why has this one come to us?”
“Local PD suspects the parents might be involved and the kid is an asthmatic, he could be at risk.”
“Any history?”
“No criminal record for either parent. One ticket for speeding. Finances are shaky.”
“So why would they be targeted for an abduction if they can’t pay a ransom?”
“Rosalie’s estranged father is Frederic Salt of Salt’s Farm Machinery. He’s loaded.”
Bryn shifted his position, deliberately relaxing his shoulders. “So what? Local cops think the parents want to hit daddy up for the million ransom but actually it’s for them?”
“I guess so.”
