“Harry, this isn’t on you.”
He shook his head while dropping it and lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck, saying, “I know.”He dropped his hand and raised his head.“DEA had no clue about it either.And this shit is their only job.”
“Where’d you find the fentanyl?”
“Back shed.False floor.Under a bunch of handheld hoes and spades and shit.”
Hutch took in a big breath through his nose.“They’re twisted, but Enstrom’s got some big balls, keeping that shit going, even just after Ray Andrews put us in the global papers,” he remarked.“All the rest that happened after it with all the attention MP got?Christ.”
“As much as it fucks me, I figure that helped him.You don’t take a drink of your dad’s beer when Dad is watching.You do it when he isn’t.So when you’re busy solving a fifteen-year-old murder of a famous author and digging out from under decades of shit policework, you’re looking elsewhere.”
Made sense.
“And we can’t discount the fact that they started their show when Dern was sheriff,” Harry continued.“So he might have been another incentive to set up on this patch.”
Hutch knew that had to fuck with Harry.
He knew it also made sense.
“So you think Enstrom and whoever he has left are headed to Canada?”Hutch asked.
Harry nodded.“That’s South American dope.He’s not going anywhere near there until he can make his excuses, wheedle back into their good graces, or possibly take whatever they already earned, because they sure as fuck didn’t leave behind any cash, find safe passage to a country that doesn’t expedite, and order a cool drink.”
“No injuries?No one hurt?”
More shaking of the head for Harry.“Had a paramedic clean up Paisley’s feet.She needs to stay off them for a few days.But other than that, when we rolled in, we had a lot of men with wide eyes and shocked looks, and a lot of women who were falling all over themselves to get to us.”
“How does a man convince himself he has to drag his woman, who escaped in her nightgown, back home and think that’s okay?”Hutch asked Harry a question he couldn’t begin to answer.
And he didn’t have an answer.
“I have no idea, brother.”
“Mabel said one of the guys who went after her put his finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet when they saw her in her window.Is that a guy who doesn’t know he’s doing wrong?”Hutch demanded.“Because I don’t fuckin’ think so.”
“We need to make sure that’s in her statement and she identifies who she saw grab Paisley and who was with him.Paisley’s already told us.Mabel backing that up would be good.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
“I figure Enstrom will get nowhere near here, but I’m moving Mabel in with me until he’s caught,” he declared.
“That’d be my play, Hutch,” Harry agreed.“It sucks you just had dogs picked up.But you got Hannibal.And you.”
“Yup.And Tonks.She isn’t close to protection trained, but she sure did her job tonight.”
“Good,” Harry said in a tone that sounded a lot more like him.
Excellent.
He got it out.
He could take a breath and get on with it.
Hutch matched his tone.“You gonna be able to find any sleep for days?”
“The women are safe.The men can sit in cells a long fuckin’ time while I sort shit out, I don’t give a fuck about them.We’re gonna calm shit down.We’re gonna get those women and their kids someplace where they can put on some regular clothes and start to process.And I’m gonna go home to my wife.”
“Good,” Hutch again mimicked Harry.
