Forsaken Duty (Red Team #9)(73)

“Shit,” Owen said. “Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

“Orders.”

“So my dad really is still alive. Where is he?”

“He moves around a lot, but he’s on his way out here. I’m sure you’ll see him soon.”

So many damned secrets. Owen was sick of them. “Let’s take this to the team. They’re waiting in the living room.”

The doctor left first. Owen caught Addy by the hand and brought her to face him. Holding both of her hands, he smiled. “That is good news about your tests.”

Shadows crowded her eyes. “It’s a miracle.”

“How long since you were with anyone?”

“A long while. But you know, some of that stuff doesn’t go away.”

Owen kissed her forehead. “Well, you’re clear. I’m clear. We’re good.”

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah. We’re good.”





23





Kit was sitting on Sheriff Tate’s front stoop early the next morning when he came out. Tate went down the stairs, then turned around and faced Kit. “What is it now?”

Kit stared at him, wondering if he could see in the sheriff’s eyes the slow rot of Omni influence. He couldn’t. Didn’t mean it wasn’t there. “Are you dirty, Tate?”

“What the fuck does that mean? You been drinkin’, Kit?”

“I wish. Wouldn’t feel so disgusted then.”

“Look, I had one cup of coffee this morning, not nearly enough caffeine to help me make sense of your cryptic comments. You got something to say, say it.”

“Have you ever heard of the Ratcliffs?”

“No.”

“Never got a report from them about a potential human extinction event?”

“Jesus, boy. You high?”

“They talked to Deputy Jerry. Begged him for protection. They’ve been through hell. They needed help. You didn’t bring them to us.”

“Because this is the first I’m hearing about it.” Tate rubbed his hand over his head. “When did this happen?”

“A couple of weeks ago.”

“Where?”

“At the station.”

“We record everything. They’d be on the video.”

“Where’s Deputy Jerry?”

“He’s off today.”

“Then let’s go take a look at the tapes.” Kit came down the steps.

“Not so fast. What’s this human extinction event you’re talking about?”

“Just what it sounds like. Total and complete Armageddon. That’s all I can say.”

At the police station, they pulled up the security footage from the same date as the videos Kit had taken from Ivy’s diner across the street. When nothing showed on the station’s recordings other than an ordinary day of normal activity, Kit played his videos, one taken from street level, one from the third floor of Ivy’s building. Both showed the Ratcliffs going into the police station.

“That them?” Tate asked. “That the doctors you’re talking about?”

“Yeah. Who was on shift that day?”

“Just Jerry and me.”

“And yet Jerry’s nowhere on these tapes.” Kit straightened, putting his hands on his hips. He hung his head, then looked at the sheriff. “If you’re in on this, sheriff…”

“In on what, Kit? What’s going on? Ain’t it about time you read me in?”

“No can do. Not now.”

The sheriff stood. “You got a fucking extinction-level event, whatever the hell that is, coming to my town. You better rearrange your thinking, fast.”

“It’s not just your town it’s gonna hit, though this may be ground zero. Your hysteria is not going to help us. Evacuating the town is not going to help us. The only way we can shut it down is to catch who’s behind it. At the very minimum, your deputy’s in it up to his neck.”

“So let’s bring him in.”

“No. Let’s leave him loose and stupid. See where the rat runs. I want access to his comms, his phone, his vehicle GPS.” Kit pointed at the sheriff. “And you keep your fucking mouth shut. Act normal. We’ll take this from here.”

Tate slammed his desk chair into his desk. “Whatever you need. Just don’t let my town go down in history, read me?”

Kit didn’t answer. He opened the sheriff’s door and calmly walked out of the station. “Max,” he said into his comms, “you heard the convo. The sheriff’s gonna patch you in.”



Jafaar’s phone rang.

“I hear you have something I want,” Edwards said over the phone.

Jafaar stared at the small window on his phone, surprised it was Edwards on the other end of King’s line. He knew Edwards was King’s right-hand man, but usually, calls from that number were digitally modified. Did that mean that Jafaar had pestered King enough to bring him to the table?

He knew Edwards knew about the Ratcliffs because he’d put the word out himself…hoping for just this call. The damned Feds had taken his bargaining chips, but Edwards didn’t need to know that. “I do,” Jafaar replied. “You know what I want.”