He leaned back and looked at them both. “Tell me something good.”
“We confirmed White’s running,” Hud said. “His ex-wife didn’t say it outright, but she didn’t have to. She went quiet in the right places.”
“She held something back too,” Creed added.
“Any idea what?”
“Not yet. Could be she knows who else is involved and she’s protecting herself.” Hud settled into the chair across from Dave. “Could be she’s just scared. Either way I don’t think we’ve gotten everything she knows.”
Dave nodded slowly. “The border?”
“Rawley’s notes had White connected to a relative ranching near Sunburst. That’s where he’s heading.” Hud leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “We need to get up there, Dave. Talk to the locals, check the ports of entry, see if anyone’s spotted him.”
“I spoke with Saunders. He told me White’s businesses are all empty.”
Hud shook his head. “He’s already sold the cattle and cut loose. No trucks to track, no livestock to follow. We know he destroyed three of his Peterbilt trucks after the transport, but we have no idea where they went. Right now, he’s just a man in a vehicle trying to reach the border before we catch up.”
“Which means he had time to plan this,” Dave said.
“Yes, sir. This wasn’t a panic run. He knew things were closing in and got his affairs in order before he left.” Hud set his coffee down and slid a slip of paper across the desk. “Last name of the woman he was seeing in Autumn Falls. It’s all Mrs. Whittingham could remember.”
Dave took it, leaned back and looked at them both. “I’ll get you rooms in Sunburst. Once I track down this woman I’ll be in touch.”
They walked back through the office, Creed stopping at his desk to check messages while Hud poured a fresh coffee and stood at the window looking out over the square. A couple of old men were on thebench near the veterans monument the way they always were, hats pulled low, probably solving problems nobody had asked them to solve.
He thought about Rawley sitting at home, grounded, working through the same files they were working through and probably driving Skylar half-crazy with it.
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
Rawley picked up on the second ring. “Tell me you’ve got something.”
“We talked to White’s ex-wife. She confirmed he’s running without actually saying it.” Hud leaned against the window frame. “How did you connect Fitch?”
“Claims records going back three years. Once I started pulling the ones that didn’t add up, his name kept showing up on the adjustments. Too consistent to be coincidence.” A pause. “Is he gone too?”
“Cleaned out.”
Rawley was quiet for a moment. “I should’ve moved faster on him.”
“You got shot, Rawley.”
“Before that.”
Hud didn’t argue. There was no point. “Is there anything in your notes we might be missing? Anything you didn’t write down?”
“White’s brother.” Rawley’s voice dropped slightly. “I never got a name, but I heard him mentioned twice. Hill and Roby both, before they lawyered up. Always just his brother, like everybody already knew who that was.”
“His name is Amos. We have an address for him in Sunburst.” Hud straightened. “You didn’t have that in the notes.”
“I know. I was still running it down when I gotshot.”
Hud wrote it down. “We’ll be heading to Sunburst.”
“Hud.” Rawley’s voice was even but there was something underneath it. “Get him.”
“Working on it.”
He hung up and looked across the office at Creed, who was watching him from his desk.
