Another sigh from Rus.This one heavier.
“All right, man.I wasn’t going to tell you this because the only thing Harry gets free and breezy with is deputizing the Bohannan twins whenever he has a problem only those two geniuses can solve.But as far as I know, he hasn’t deputized you.But just to say, after that note, we’re poking around.We don’t know a lot about these people.We don’t need to trip any triggers that will end in tragedy.So we’re going real quiet, which means real slow.We’re looking into the Flannery suit.We’re looking into a lot of things.And if the Feds need to be called, we got a good rapport with them.We’ll call them.No hesitation.Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Feel better?”
He did not.
While they were going real slow and quiet, Mabel was a short hike from those nutcase’s north gate.
And they’d been watching her.
“Three things I got for you,” he said.“One, they got a lot of lumber.Upright, tarred log fence around that entire property, big piles of firewood.They’ve cleared a massive space, and you know we got trees, but my guess is, they got wood burning stoves in their units, so they use a lot of wood, and unless they’re hell on wheels with that fuckin’ jam, they’re poaching lumber from somewhere.”
“Gotcha.”
Rus’s tone was serious because in those parts, it didn’t matter which side you were on in the political spectrum, they took lumber seriously.
The environmentalists would tie themselves to a tree before they’d let it come down.
On the flipside, trees equaled money.
“Second thing, they got a fortified shed, southeast end of the property,” Hutch told him.“Heavy duty lock.”
“Fucking hell,” Rus murmured.
“Position of that shed, number of men on that compound, it’d be iffy to get to it without getting caught.”
“Then don’t do something stupid.”
“I didn’t intend to.But you find probable cause to get on that land, you make sure that shed is in the warrant.”
“You’re heard.”
“Last thing, I did a walk through the perimeter of Mabel’s place.No cameras, but there’s been foot traffic back and forth.Not a lot, but it’s there.Even if we knew it was, now weknowit is.That note is from them.”
“Noted.”
Good.
“I’ll let you go,” Hutch said.
“If this makes you feel better, they sneeze in the wrong direction, slow and quiet is a memory.Harry is getting a warrant.”
That didn’t make him feel a lot better.
But at least this time it made him feel a bit better.
“Thanks, man.Now letting you go.”
“Come to the club for a meal.The food’s the best in the county, and Lucinda always foots the bill.”
Lucinda Bonner was the owner of the Bon Amie Club.
She was also Rus’s woman.
They were not married.What they were, were committed for life.
