Darkness at the Edge of Town (Iris Ballard #2)(100)

“Excuse us,” I said, rising as Luke did.

“Is it the sheriff?” Grandpa asked.

“Give us a sec,” I told everyone. Luke and I went into my bedroom. He put it on speaker. “This is Hudson and Ballard.”



“Hey,” Hancock said less than enthusiastically. My stomach clenched when I heard his tone. “Just left The Temple.”

“And?” Luke asked.

“We scoured every inch of both properties. Mathias wasn’t at either, and we looked over every acre, every nook, every cranny.”

“Shit,” I said. “Think he was hiding?”

“I don’t know. Probably. The people at The Apex seemed afraid of us, those who weren’t outright hostile. Billy was there. Even Mathias’s partner Ken was. Only he was missing.”

“And The Temple?” Luke asked.

“Nobody there but a bunch of kids and a handful of girls barely out of their teens. None had even met Mathias before,” Hancock said.

“Motherfucker,” I muttered.

“So what now?” Luke asked.

“We’ve contacted the surrounding counties and Ohio state police, even the Mounties, and put out a BOLO. We’ll keep surveillance up. Go back tomorrow and the next day and the next. Make a nuisance of ourselves until he surfaces. Not much else we can do. Sorry.”

“How’d Billy seem?” I asked.

“He hung in the background. Real nervous like. I didn’t get the chance to talk to him. Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” I said. “Just keep us informed. Thanks.” Luke hung up and I groaned. “Asshole! They were hiding him. Those…fuckers! He’s there. He has to be.”

“Probably. They rattled his cage at least,” Luke said. “He knows the warrant’s not going away.”



“What if he ran already?”

“Without his partner? Without money? He knows the property is probably under surveillance. That every law enforcement agency in two counties is looking for him. No, you’re right—he’s probably there. Stuck.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I asked. “He’s there. Afraid. Cornered. He—”

Then Luke did something spectacularly surprising. He pulled me into a hug. We’ve only hugged a handful of times before, yet without hesitation, I hugged him back. It was just what I needed. “They’re being watched. It’ll be okay.”

I wanted to melt into him. To stay this close until the sun burnt out. But Mom’s voice brought me back to reality. I pulled away and sighed. “Now I have to go out there and tell them. We can’t ever have one nice damn dinner? Prepare for the hysterics.”

Mom managed not to scream or cry but did excuse herself before finishing her pie. I wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries or pie anymore either. When I didn’t want sugar, I knew the situation was serious. After Mom left I excused myself as well, retreating to my room. I fell on my bed and screamed into a pillow. It should have worked. He should have been there. Arrested. He…I screamed into the pillow some more. Just when I thought I had him…one step forward, and seven steps back. I was beyond tired of the dance. I wanted to punch a wall. Scream the house down. Instead I laced up my sneakers. I needed to go for a walk. I muttered something along those lines to Grandma in the kitchen as I rushed out the door.



The sun was just beginning to set and there was a nice breeze, so it wasn’t near as sweltering as before. A few people were returning home from work, happy for the weekend. Lucky bastards. I wanted to go home too. Back to my house, my dog, my stray cats. I wanted to lie in bed, just watching TV and relaxing for a whole week. I wanted it to all be over. I wanted the world, all my responsibilities, to vanish and leave me in peace. But I couldn’t even take a walk in peace. I made it to the end of the block before Luke shouted at me to wait up. I did. His was the only company I could stand.

“Hey. Are you okay?” he asked when he finally caught up.

I started walking again. “Yeah. Fine. You know. Fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. Fine.”

“They’ll get him,” Luke said with certainty.

“I thought the same thing yesterday, and the day before, and the day before…” I shook my head. “I’m out of plays, Luke. I’m out of energy. I’m sick of this place. I’m sick of the mind games. I’m sick of…losing.”

“You didn’t lose, Iris.”

“My brother’s still at that farm. With Mathias. Not to mention I now have to add guilt to my emotional roster because I dragged you into this mess and probably ruined your promotion with my fumbling.”

“You didn’t fumble, Iris. From what I’ve heard, there wasn’t a move you made that I wouldn’t have made myself with the information I had on hand, and especially if my family was in danger. As for my promotion, I knew what I was doing. I knew the consequences. I could have stayed behind. I could have told you to keep me out of the reports. I chose not to because nailing that bastard is a hell of a lot more important than a job I wasn’t even sure I wanted.”



“You don’t want it? Really?” I asked incredulously. “You? Special Agent Luke ‘if I’m not head of a district by age forty I’ll have to kill myself in shame’ Hudson doesn’t want a promotion?”