Interesting coincidence, that. ThatHeatherwould be missing now.
It was always Heather now. And she’d only been with the TSP in Finley Creek a handful of weeks.
He’d listened to the recording—in his opinion, she and Powell Barratt had just wandered into the assholes moving OPJ. He didn’t think it was more complicated than that. But that itwas the very detective digging into the past in this place who had wandered right into that open drug ring—well, Dom didn’t fully believe in coincidences like that. Life just didn’t work that way.
“Look, there are people moving OPJ right now as we speak. They have those two women. Where, if you were theorizing, would they take two women who stumbled into what they were doing?”
“Besides just drowning them in the reservoir or dumping their hot asses down a mineshaft in Value, man? That’sprobablywhere they are keeping the good shit. But me—I’d get rid of them ladies as fast as I could. If I was that type. Guys like this…guys who have been around here for a long time…these assholes don’t mess around. Don’t want nobody talkin’. Seen that before. People candisappeararound this town. Ever been in those mines, man? You should go in those mines, man. Someday.”
The mines. There were old copper mines beneath Value, near the Value Reservoir. Some were big enough and easily accessible enough to drive a car into. Or…a box truck. Hell, it was a possibility. Either way, Tony seemed sure there was something interesting in those mines lately.
Dom was going to make a note of that. Do a bit of exploring when he had a vacation, maybe. One thing he’d learned years ago—Tony didn’t say things without there being real meaning behind his words.
“How do they make things work?”
“Anything can be bought for a price, Acardi. And there are people here in the city who can make that shit happen. If you can pay the fee. They are really good at makingproblemsjust disappear.” And right there…the man knew more than he was saying about just who it was making those problems disappear.
No matter how much Dom pushed, Tony wouldn’t budge. Wouldn’t say another word.
The man was scared.
Dom passed him a couple of fifties he always carried for confidential informants. Dom dropped him off near the Boethe Street city bus stop. The bus ran between Wichita Falls and several points in the city. Stopped off near Value and Garrity, too.
Tony was resourceful. He could take care of himself.
The only thing Tony had really given him was ahintthat security at Hughes Heights wasn’t all that it seemed.
No, shit. Like Dom couldn’t have figured that out himself.
13
She could almost hearthe clock ticking right now. Every second, every minute they didn’t have them back was a minute where Heather and Powell got further away. Everyone knew that. Just like when Haldyn had been missing. It was just as terrifying then. She didn’t know what todoto find them.
She had the evidence from Powell’s private bodyguard who had been shot. All it did was confirm that Heather had touched him at some point, that it was his blood. That Heather’s phone with the video of what had happened had been found tucked inside the man’s shirt.
She had everything found at the scene, at the house Powell had bought recently. She was running DNA samples now, but it was going to taketime.
Time Powell and Heather just didn’t have. Every second counted. Those guys…they had no reason to keep Heather and Powell alive right now. And they had killed people before.
Madison was trying not to scream. Fear for Heather and Powell had her ready to hurl. She knew what could happen to women out there. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt Joey Costovia pressing her down into the hard ground next tothe Value Reservoir. Sometimes, sometimes, she dreamed of that at night. And she’d wake, screaming for him to get off her. And screaming for someone to help her and Hope. She’d been screaming and no one had come. No one had helped. She had heard Hope screaming nearby. Where Wilson had had her. Madison had known she couldn’t do anything to help Hope either.
That help had come. Haldyn had almost died because of it. And Hope. But Madison would forever be grateful for what Kimball had donebeforehe’d taken them to FCGH. If he hadn’t shown up with Haldyn then—she and Hope would have been raped and killed.
In her dreams…Kimball was too late. Each and every time.
Hope had to be terrified right now. Madison wanted to go to her friend and check on her, herself. But she knew…she was better off here, doing what she could to find Powell and Heather. That was what she could do to help Hope the most. Find Heather and Powell.
She printed out every evidence report, every document she had that tied to the OPJ case. Then she scanned it into her tablet. She had an app that she could use to mind-map connections. She wasn’t an investigator, but scientific evidence could tell stories, too.
She had to dosomething. She couldn’t just sit there and hope they were found.
She was still working several hours later when word came.
They needed a forensic team to Finley Creek General Hospital as soon as possible.
Powell was there. At FCGH. They knew where Powell was. They had Powell back.
Powellhad walked right in. She’d just walked right in from the street. They had Powell back. They had Powell.
