“Why?”
“I didn’t want you coming out here alone.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” says Judd.
“Apparently, you do.”
Judd turns his head to the left and then the right to test his neck’s range of motion. “Fair enough.”
“I was three hundred yards back, watching you through binoculars. You were about to drop the canister into the river, when someone snuck up behind you and bopped you on the head. I gunned it to the bridge, but the person took off in a sprint. I jumped out of my truck and ran to you.”
“When was this?”
“About forty-five minutes ago. I didn’t want to leave you and no one’s driven by yet. I kept checking your pulse. Maybe you just needed a nap.”
Judd looks around. “Then where the hell is your truck?”
Clay sighs. “There was another guy I didn’t know about. He jumped into my truck and peeled out of here. I left my keys in the cupholder.”
Judd looks down at the ground and then up at the sky. “Have you called for help?”
“My phone was in the other cupholder.”
Judd reaches into his pocket.
“Don’t bother,” says Clay. “They took your phone. And your keys.”
“Well,” says Judd, “we’d better start moving.”
“Town’s closest,” says Clay.
“I don’t want anyone asking questions. I know it’s a hike, but let’s head to my place.”
They’ve been walking the shoulder of County Road 21 for almost an hour and have thirty minutes more to go.
“I, uh…” starts Judd. “I screwed up. I should have considered the possibility I was being set up. Of being ambushed. I mean, what kind of idiot hangs out in a river waiting for forty-five thousand dollars to float by? I didn’t think that through very well.” The gravel crunches under their feet. Judd feels the back of his head and says, “You were right. I’m too close to this. I can’t think straight when it comes to Teddy. Hopefully, the kidnappers were just sewing up loose ends by knocking me on the head. They have their forty-five grand. Now they can return Teddy to us.”
“I put a tracker in the canister,” says Clay.
Judd stops. Clay takes another step, then also stops. He turns around and looks at his father. “Are you okay? Do you need to rest?”
“You put a tracker in the canister?” says Judd. “It was clear plastic. How come I didn’t see it?”
“I hid it in the lid behind some sheet plastic. The trackerhas a triaxial accelerometer, GPS, Bt5, LTE-M, and a ten-day battery. We’ll find it.”
Judd stares at Clay and doesn’t say a word.
“If you didn’t see it, I bet the kidnappers won’t see it either,” says Clay. “I can’t track it without my phone, but we can download the app onto another device. We’ll be able to locate it and—Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I had the strangest feeling earlier today,” says Judd. “You know, when you came over after the ransom note was delivered through my window. You asked a lot of questions and made a few suggestions.”
“Yeah…” says Clay. “What about it?”
“You seem quite current on your investigative techniques.”
“Are you talking about the dog-collar tracker? It’s obvious. Anyone would have thought of that.”
“It’s not just the tracker,” says Judd. He looks at Clay for a good ten seconds before he adds, “Listen, you and I have our differences. Always have. But I’ve known you since you entered this world. I know your expressions. What each little eye movement and facial tic means. I know your tells.”
