Darnell was on his feet now. Vaughn wasn’t sure if it was because he could overhear Delaney shouting or if he was only reacting to Vaughn’s change in posture.
“What are you talking about, Delaney?”
“He was in a field near the Cedar Ridge Preserve. Vaughn, you ain’t gonna believe this, but the fucker got lost. He was like a zombie, talking some bullshit about Bitcoin... he was delirious.”
Delaney was clearly amped up, excited about the idea of catching this collar. Vaughn was of a different mind, considering what Ivy had said, how the man who had been permitted to leave the barn was likely the winner of the game, not the orchestrator.
“Where are you?”
“I have him in the back of my car. I’m heading to the station now.”
“Don’t talk to him, Delaney. Wait for us to meet you outside.”
“I’m going to fucking kill Delaney,” Darnell said.
“Keep your shit together.”
“He ratted us out. He told all that bullshit to Daniels, couldn’t keep his goddamn mouth shut. And what the fuck is this about you bringing Ivy to the second crime scene? I may have been hungover, but I’m pretty sure that you never mentioned that little detail in the car this morning.”
Delaney’s squad car raced into the lot. Stopped directly in front of them before Vaughn could defend himself, explain. Delaney jumped out. He was wired, clearly hadn’t slept all night.
“I got him!”
“Calm down,” Vaughn said.
“Sorry, it’s—”
“I get it—just calm down. We don’t know that this is our guy.”
Delaney’s eyes bulged.
“He is! The man was—”
“He could just be the winner,” Vaughn said flatly. “We don’t know that he had anything to do with this other than trying to make a quick buck.”
Delaney’s eyes sucked back into his head. He hadn’t considered this possibility, and the idea of not being the man who had brought this nightmare to a close took some of the wind out of his sails. He paused just long enough for Darnell to jump in.
“Did he say anything to you in the car?”
Delaney shook his head, and they all moved closer to the vehicle, peered into the backseat.
“No. He... he fell asleep.”
And the man was still sleeping, his cheek pressed up against the glass. There was a thin trail of spit on the window. It was difficult to get a full picture of the man with his face compressed the way it was, but Vaughn got a general idea. Wiry, with dark circles around his eyes. Shaggy blond hair.
“You have a name?”
“When I found him in the field,” Delaney said, speaking at a rapid clip, “he said he was Joshua Perry. Gave his DOB, too. Punched it in on the ride over. No priors in the system. Could be a made-up name, though. We need to get him printed.”
“Thanks, tips,” Darnell growled.
“I’ll wake him up; Delaney, you bring him in,” Vaughn said.
“Fuck that,I’llbring him in,” Darnell said.
“You weren’t even there last night. This ismycollar.”
“We don’t even know if thisisa collar, Delaney. This is—”
