Winter Counts(73)

A jolt of pure adrenaline shot through my body.

“Mike says they’re heading over to the tables now,” Dennis went on. “Perfect. That’s school property, right where we want ’em. Now we just need Nathan to take out the phone so we can hear the shitheads.”

We waited some more—it seemed like an eternity—for the recording console to start transmitting their conversation.

Silence. Goddamn it, Nathan, take your phone out of your pocket! Do it now!

I decided to ask Dennis about the procedures in case we couldn’t hear their voices. “What happens if we can’t—”

All of a sudden the console erupted with voices.

. . . coming over later? I don’t know, I gotta do some stuff Homes come over and chill we got the new—Look at that bitch Who? Walking over there You know you want some of that Fuck you No fuck you skin Damn she’s fine You wish Go talk to her—Hell yeah You know her? Naw he don’t know shit Hey I gotta go soon check out my uncle

Nathan’s voice came through. It was hard to make out who was speaking from the chorus of voices, but I recognized his speech. I looked over at Dennis, but he was listening intently to the conversation, staring straight at the black console as if the guys were inside the unit itself.

It’s all good Where you been Rick long time no time You know little of this little of that Y’all heading to the shack later? Might go to V-town to chow You wanna come N? Can’t gotta do some stuff you know like keep it chill on the home front

Nathan again. It sounded like he knew these guys well, which worried me.

I do my shit and everyone leaves me alone you hear me? I hear We gonna be able to do this? I got some paypa Yeah it’s cool We got to head over to the car do the thing All good Let’s go What where you at

The conversation ended, and we heard a rustling sound from the console.

“Shit,” Dennis said, “he stuck the phone in his pocket.”

I started to say something, but Dennis held up his finger, then made a call.

“What are they doing?” he said into his phone. A short pause. “Okay, let me know.”

He turned to me. “They’re walking, possibly to their car. Probably do the deal in there so no one can see them. Pretty typical. Not a problem, as long as Nathan keeps his cool.”

“Will your guy be able to see them?”

“Don’t worry, he’s a pro. One of my best men. He’ll move if he has to, just has to be sure he’s not made. Should be able to hear more in a second on the device—still within range.”

We could only hear a rustling sound from the console. I wondered if I should go to the school and monitor the situation myself. Nathan, goddamn it! Take your phone out so we can hear what’s going on!

Dennis’s phone rang. “Yeah?” A pause. “All right, do it, but be careful.”

“What’s happening?”

“They drove off. Nathan went with them. But don’t worry, Mike’s going to tail the vehicle.”

I looked out into the field outside the car. It was early evening, when the snakes came out. Sure enough, I saw a small movement about a hundred yards away. A little rattlesnake, the brown-and-tan pattern barely visible, moving slowly between the rocks and the grass.

“What do we do now?”

“We wait,” he said. “Find out where they’re headed. Then we’ll drive out there, get back in range for the wire.”

“Any idea where they’re going?”

“Don’t know. Maybe they’re heading out to their cabin to get more balloons. Not good—we wanted this to go down on school grounds. Don’t worry, Mike is on them; he’ll let us know where they’re at.” He put his phone down. “No reason to stay here. Let’s go over to the gas station, wait for Mike’s call.”

We drove a few blocks to the convenience store.

“He’ll call as soon as he has a bead on ’em. I’m gonna grab a soda, you want one?”

I shook my head. This was probably routine to Dennis, but I wanted him to be on full alert, not buying snacks. He went into the store, and I looked down at my old-fashioned phone, checking to see if Nathan had called me, even though I knew it was pointless. He’d call Dennis if there were any problems.

Dennis came out of the store with a can of Dr Pepper in one hand and his cell phone pressed to his ear, talking to someone. He stopped in front of the store and continued his conversation. From the look on his face, it didn’t seem good. His expression was grim as he walked back to the car.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“He lost them.”

“What? Who lost who?”

“Mike. In the follow car. He lost track of the dealers. It was a loose tail, so he was staying back a little—turns out he was following the wrong vehicle. He thinks there might’ve been two cars at the site; he tracked the wrong one. He’s looking for a red Dodge Charger now.”

“So who was in the car? The one he followed?”

“Some high school kids. Both vehicles were headed southbound. Mike’s headed back out to see if he can pick it up.”

I tried to process all of this. “Does he know where they were going?”

“Don’t know. Right now, it’s wait-and-see mode.”

Wait and see? That didn’t make any sense to me. “They’re not just driving around, right? Maybe they’re going to their place—where they’re staying.”