Darkness at the Edge of Town (Iris Ballard #2)(91)

He looked at me and smiled. “Well, you’ve got me as long as you need me.”

I had the horrible sense I’d need him more than ever in the hours to come.



Be brave.





Chapter 15


Surveillance always was the worst part of the job. Surveillance outside in the middle of summer was hell on Earth. Luke truly must have loved me to endure two hours hiding behind a tree, watching the comings and goings of cult members. There weren’t as many people in the fields as the day before, and those who were kept glancing everywhere for danger. There were also a few real lookouts, people in chairs scanning the area with binoculars, but we’d discovered a blind spot. We just had to be careful. We drank all our waters and got to add an embarrassing story about each other to the files. Peeing not inches away from one another—another first. We weren’t even perspiring anymore. We’d run out of sweat. Luke always had more patience than me, but he was the first to say, “This is ridiculous,” as we began hour three. He was not wrong. Not all my plans were winners.

“Just a few more minutes,” I said, checking through my own binoculars. We’d stopped at my grandparents’ house for water, sunscreen, bug spray, ball caps, snacks, tissues, and binoculars. Wish we’d remembered a portable hand fan and ice.

“Iris, this isn’t working. They could stay inside that house all day.”

“Then I’ll wait all day. You can go, Luke. Seriously, it’s okay.”

“You are so—”

Patience was a virtue for a reason. The good news was that whatever was happening in the farmhouse ended. Almost forty people started filtering out onto the porch. I recognized only a few, including Dutch, Britt, Paul, Chantal, and finally Billy. There wasn’t a happy face in the bunch. A few of the women cried and most everyone else’s heads hung. Yeah, they knew about the DEA. That their little slice of heaven was about to be devoured. A pang of sympathy pierced my heart.



Billy and Paul strolled together toward the trailers, and I knew it was time to move. We’d already worked out our cover. The lookouts were temporarily distracted by the group, especially the ones getting the download of the meeting. There was only open field for about twenty yards. No Man’s Land. Our only choice was to blend in. It was risky as hell, but we bet on the members being in shock and in their own heads, plus the Apex contingent not knowing the Temple newbies that well. As long as we kept our distance, with luck, we’d be fine. “Here goes nothing,” I said as Luke wrapped his arm around my torso and I rested my head on his chest, pretending to weep. That way no one could see my face.

With Luke’s head down like everyone else’s, we left our tree and began walking through the open field. Luke pretended to whisper comforting words to me but really was describing people nearby. His heart pounded as hard as mine did as we entered hostile territory. The few times I dared to look up, I saw that no one was paying attention to us. We were just another couple whose world was crumbling. If anyone did scrutinize us, Luke just kissed my head to hide his own face. We let the baseball caps do the rest.

Damned if it didn’t work. We made it to the tents, and before our luck ran out, we went into the trailer Billy had entered. I found my brother sitting on a tiny bed, head in his hands, thinking. Unlike the trailer he’d shared with Gia, the one he shared with his wife reeked of old cigarettes, had mold on the walls and counters, and hadn’t a stick of furniture that wasn’t from the seventies. A definite downgrade in every corner of the home front.



At the sound of our entering, Billy said, “I’ll be out in a—”

“Billy?” I asked as Luke shut the door.

Billy’s gaze shot up to me, both surprised and horrified. “What the—”

“Billy, I need you to listen to me right now, okay?” I cut in.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed, leaping up.

“I’m here to get you out before your entire life gets ruined,” I said.

“Before my life…You! You ruined my life. You brought the DEA in to arrest us all!” he shouted.

“No. I didn’t. I swear on Hayden’s grave I didn’t. The DEA’s been investigating the Movement for months. I had no idea until yesterday afternoon. Billy…they have proof someone smuggled drugs in your car. A witness. Pictures.”

“What? Drugs? I never smuggled anything.”

“The ambassador trips. Someone told you where to go, right? Megan, Ken—I don’t know who, but you were transporting pills and meth for a biker gang called The Scythes. They were even cooking the shit at the edge of this property. You can’t tell me there haven’t been bikers around here, especially in the last day or two.”

“Lots of people…come and go,” he said uneasily. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Goddamn it, Billy, open your eyes. Open your brain! I know Helen told you about the investigation. The DEA doesn’t spend millions of dollars and months investigating for shits and giggles.”



“They do! Helen said the agent guy has a vendetta against Mathias that started years ago.”

“No, he doesn’t have a vendetta, he just knows what the man’s capable of. Did Helen mention Mathias’s real name is Samuel Mueller? That he’s been arrested for drug running, fraud, fleeing justice, and suspected murder? That this is his third cult they know of? That he abandoned one right when the police were closing in? That in the last one, two witnesses were murdered by other members, most likely on Mathias’s orders?”