“Same. And I don’t think they’ve crossed yet. Something is keeping them here.” Hud tapped the wheel. “My money is on Burch. Maybe White is trying to convince her to go with him and she’s not ready.”
“And Fitch is stuck waiting while White works on her,” Luke said from the back.
“We may have just tipped them off going to her door.” Hud shook his head.
“Then let’s go back.” Creed turned in his seat. “We’re five minutes away. Try one more time.”
Hud pulled onto the berm and looked back at Luke. “What do you think?”
Luke didn’t hesitate. “She was home and didn’t answer. And if that’s true she knows what White was into. Why else would she hide?”
Hud swung the truck around.
When he pulled back up to the house, he sat for a moment studying it through the windshield, then stepped out. Creed and Luke stayed by the truck. Hud went up the porch steps and knocked hard.
“Debra Burch. We know you’re in there.” He glanced back at Creed and Luke and shrugged. They grinned. He turned back to the door. “We’re not going anywhere. We’ll stand here all day if we have to, andwe can have a warrant here inside of an hour.”
He heard the lock turn and put his hand on his weapon, thumb on the snap.
The door opened.
Hud stared, then pulled his weapon.
Kevin Fitch stood in the doorway looking like he hadn’t slept in three days.
“Mr. Fitch.” Hud kept his voice level as he pointed his weapon at him, keeping his finger off the trigger. “Step outside with your hands where I can see them.”
“Please don’t shoot,” Fitch said, his voice unsteady.
“We won’t unless you give us a reason to. Where are White and Burch?”
“Gone.” Fitch stepped onto the porch, hands up. “White told me last night we were leaving first thing this morning. I told him I was done running.” He shook his head. “He threatened to kill me if I said a word. I believe him.”
“Why didn’t you answer when we came earlier?”
Fitch looked at him like the answer was obvious. “Three big MDOL agents pounding on the door? I was scared out of my mind.”
Creed made a sound that might have been a laugh.
“Where was he heading?”
“Canada.”
“He won’t make it.”
Fitch smiled thinly. “Try telling him that. I’m done running. I’ll tell you everything, but I want something in return.”
Hud glanced back at Creed and Luke. “He wants a deal.”
“Everybody wants a fucking deal,” Luke said.
Hud turned back to Fitch. “We can’t make deals. That’s not how this works. What we can do is tell theprosecutor you cooperated fully, and the rest is up to the judge.” He paused. “You’d better hope you don’t draw Judge Bowman.”
Fitch frowned. “Why?”
“His son was the agent who was shot.”
Fitch went pale. He swallowed hard. “I wasn’t there. I want you to know that. I don’t own a gun, never have. White came back that night and told me an agent had been killed. I was sick over it.”
