Gideon busied himself snatching up a leafy branch and scouring the ground with it to smooth over where they’d left boot prints. When he was done, he threw around some twigs to cover those they’d broken in their landing.
“We have to stay vigilant with Bullseye’s guys so close. They probably figured out we sheltered in the fire tower, and since we’re on foot, it won’t be hard to narrow down the search grid.”
She groaned. “The current head count is one in a vehicle, two in a chopper, Al and Jerry, possibly Kevin and Cordelia, and who knows how many more out there beating the bushes for us.”
“Not to mention the caller. Dunno if they’re friend or foe.” Gideon walked back over to her and picked a twig out of her hair. “But it doesn’t matter how many are looking for us. We’re going to be careful, and we’re smarter than they are.”
“Such confidence.”
“That’s not usually something you lack.” He paused. “Still planning to get to the airstrip?”
She nodded and pulled on her pack. As they hurried through the brush toward a steep, rocky rise, she wondered again at the phone call.
Aaron’s cell number on her screen.
“Trust me.”
Who?
As the climb became more excruciating, it consumed her concentration. The rocks were slippery, the ground treacherous with protruding roots and mud. In someplaces, they had to hold on to those roots to haul themselves over places where the ground had washed away.
In other circumstances, the landscape would have been breathtakingly beautiful—verdant, pristine, like an untouched paradise.
A thought hit her so suddenly she almost lost her balance and slid down the slope.
“What?” Gideon said, scanning in all directions. “Why’d you stop?”
“Aaron came here.”
“Here, where?”
“To Oakleaf, to this town.”
“How do you know that?”
“He showed me photos on his phone. I remember now that one of them showed a slice of valley taken from a dam. Had to be the Cotton Flower.”
“So Aaron was here? I’m not sure I understand the implications.”
Mackenzie felt her throat clog. “I ... guess it’s more evidence that you were right and he lied to me. He really was a drug dealer, working for Bullseye.” The cold and pain and exhaustion felt like an avalanche. “That’s the only reason I can think of.”
“Likely he never met Bullseye, though, being lower down on the food chain. He might have come here for a vetting process, or maybe to pick up his stashes sometimes.” He paused. “Is it possible he got to know people here in town?”
“He was gone a lot. Every few weeks. He said he was away on business, but his car would come back filthy as if he’d been somewhere rural.” Here, to Oakleaf. She was sure of it.
“Every few weeks? That’s a vigorous schedule.”
She fell silent. “I look like my brother.”
Gideon gave her a peripheral look. “Spitting image. So?”
“People who knew him would see we were related.”
“Yes,” he said slowly.
“Kevin stared at me for a long time. I thought it was because of the weird circumstances, but what if he was a friend of Aaron’s?”
“Why wouldn’t he say so?”
