And weirdly, the clench in his chest released, just a little.
“Okay. And you’re sure it’s the Sorros brothers after her?” She turned to study the map.
“No. But the puzzle pieces make sense. Keely said that a man named Thornwood was after Wilder. Who got on that plane to go to Anchorage enroute to testify against Conan.”
“We got a report a while back about Conan,” Deke said. “He was in Goose Creek until they transferred him last month. Escaped during transfer. Been at large since.” Deke took a bite of his roll. Made a noise of appreciation. “The US Marshals were tracking him in Anchorage, so we didn’t suspect he’d be back here, although we did have a BOLO out. Maybe that’s why they asked Wilder to get on a plane—to make sure they could keep him safe.”
“Do you think he knew Conan was out?”
“I don’t know,” Deke replied. “You’d think they would have told him that before he got on the plane, but maybe they thought he’d spook and go into hiding.”
Not a terrible idea. “And Mars?” Dawson asked. “What’s his last known location?”
“He went off the map last summer, after a big bust of a localmilitia camp. We had him on a BOLO list.” He pointed to a picture of both the brothers on the wall.
Dawson walked over to it, along with Flynn.
“Mars is real pretty,” she said, sipping her coffee. “A forehead tattoo. What is that, a star?”
“I think it’s barbed wire.” Dawson pointed to the other picture. “Echo said that scar on Conan’s cheek is from a fight with Jago when he was a kid.”
“Sounds like a fantastic family.” She turned to him. “You know them?”
“Not really. I went to school with them as a kid.”
Flynn stared at him, frowned, then turned back to the map on the wall. “They still live here?”
“I don’t know,” Dawson said. “I’ve spent most of the last decade in Anchorage.”
Dodge had found himself a donut. “They moved away with their mom before high school. But I saw them in the summers with their dad, and I remember a particular fight Jericho Bowie had with one of them the summer after our senior year.”
Dawson took a sip of coffee. “I remember that fight. I just didn’t remember it was with the Sorros brothers.” He met eyes with Deke, who also nodded.
“What about their dad, Brand?” Flynn asked. “He still around?”
“No,” Deke said. “He went to prison a few years ago after a drug bust.”
“He still there?”
Silence.
“Someone check on that,” Flynn said.
“Where’d they live?”
Dodge studied the map, then pointed to an area north of Copper Mountain. “I think in this area.”
“Their old house is not far from the Boy Scout camp I attended,” Dawson said. “Just over the river.”
“Anyone check the place?” Flynn took a sip of her coffee.
“It was sold,” Deke said. “A number of years ago.”
“To who?”
Deke finished his cinnamon roll. “Idaho.”
Dawson looked at him. “The poacher who was arrested a few years ago?”
