asked.
“Yep.”
“Fuck.”
“Think we should call those cowboys that she’s staying with and
let them know that this was a dead end?”
“Might not be a bad idea. They seemed to be pretty well-prepared,
but we should still keep them in the loop.”
Filley flipped open his cell phone and placed the call. The phone
rang four times and then went to voicemail. “Gage, this is Bob Filley.
We have another update on the case. Please call me when you get a
moment.”
88
Samantha Blair
* * * *
While the detectives were heading back north, Jeremy was
formulating his next attack. He’d circled around after this morning’s encounter and ditched his truck in a small cave not too far from town.
He tossed a camouflage tarp over it, just in case, but no one would
find it. Even he wouldn’t have found the cave, but he’d caught a
couple of drug traffickers a few years back, and one of them had
given up their natural storage space. It paid to know the town’s secret hiding spots.
He didn’t need the truck anyway. It would be better to stay off the
roads. Since he’d missed the stupid bitch by a hair this morning, it
would escalate the case to attempted murder. He was going to have to
be more careful.
The Big Sky was bordered in the front by Route 87. The backside,
where Sara and Tyler had rolled in the grass earlier that morning,
butted up against state game land. Neighboring on both sides were
privately owned plots of land. One was an active cattle ranch of about seven thousand acres, but the other property, which separated Gage
and Tyler’s ranch from Sara’s family home, was only about twelve
hundred acres. An elderly man who could barely see, and heard even
less, owned that farm. It was a simple thing for Jeremy to walk into
his equipment barn and borrow a four-wheeler in broad daylight.
Jeremy filled the ATV with off-road diesel siphoned from the
other equipment and pushed it until he thought it was safe to start the engine. He rode it across the neighboring land to the patch of woods
where he’d taken aim at Sara earlier. He cut the engine once again to reduce the noise, and then hid the vehicle in a thicket of brush. He left his service firearm, a Glock .40, tucked under the seat, just in case.
He slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder and scouted for a spot
closer to the house where he would be able to keep an eye on his girl.
He’d missed her once because of the instincts of that damn horse, but Protectors
89
he wasn’t likely to miss her again. If she set foot outside, she was
dead.
There was a large maple tree behind the house set between the
back door and the closest barn. Crossing the yard in broad daylight to get into the tree might be a little tricky, but he didn’t fear discovery in the branches. Truth was people very rarely took the time to look up. If he didn’t make any noise to give himself away, he could probably sit
there for days without notice.
Jeremy listened for any sign that someone might be preparing to
leave the house, or even looking out into the backyard, but everything was quiet. If he wanted to get into the tree, he was going to have to take a risk.
Stupid bitch had to run off with her goddamn flip-flops on.
Jeremy had placed tracking or listening devices in most of Sara’s
shoes, purses, and even cell phone, but the sandals had been too thin to hide a bug. He always knew she was planning to run off, and he’d
been well prepared. It was by sheer luck that she had run away with
nothing. If she’d worn her old sneakers, he’d be able to hear what was going on inside the house.
Considering his options, Jeremy decided on the path that would
leave him out in the open for the shortest amount of time. He crossed carefully from the patch of woods to the barn. No one was outside. He was fairly certain of that. A glance through the open barn door
revealed the barn to be empty as well, at least of humans. There were two horses present, but
“Yep.”
“Fuck.”
“Think we should call those cowboys that she’s staying with and
let them know that this was a dead end?”
“Might not be a bad idea. They seemed to be pretty well-prepared,
but we should still keep them in the loop.”
Filley flipped open his cell phone and placed the call. The phone
rang four times and then went to voicemail. “Gage, this is Bob Filley.
We have another update on the case. Please call me when you get a
moment.”
88
Samantha Blair
* * * *
While the detectives were heading back north, Jeremy was
formulating his next attack. He’d circled around after this morning’s encounter and ditched his truck in a small cave not too far from town.
He tossed a camouflage tarp over it, just in case, but no one would
find it. Even he wouldn’t have found the cave, but he’d caught a
couple of drug traffickers a few years back, and one of them had
given up their natural storage space. It paid to know the town’s secret hiding spots.
He didn’t need the truck anyway. It would be better to stay off the
roads. Since he’d missed the stupid bitch by a hair this morning, it
would escalate the case to attempted murder. He was going to have to
be more careful.
The Big Sky was bordered in the front by Route 87. The backside,
where Sara and Tyler had rolled in the grass earlier that morning,
butted up against state game land. Neighboring on both sides were
privately owned plots of land. One was an active cattle ranch of about seven thousand acres, but the other property, which separated Gage
and Tyler’s ranch from Sara’s family home, was only about twelve
hundred acres. An elderly man who could barely see, and heard even
less, owned that farm. It was a simple thing for Jeremy to walk into
his equipment barn and borrow a four-wheeler in broad daylight.
Jeremy filled the ATV with off-road diesel siphoned from the
other equipment and pushed it until he thought it was safe to start the engine. He rode it across the neighboring land to the patch of woods
where he’d taken aim at Sara earlier. He cut the engine once again to reduce the noise, and then hid the vehicle in a thicket of brush. He left his service firearm, a Glock .40, tucked under the seat, just in case.
He slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder and scouted for a spot
closer to the house where he would be able to keep an eye on his girl.
He’d missed her once because of the instincts of that damn horse, but Protectors
89
he wasn’t likely to miss her again. If she set foot outside, she was
dead.
There was a large maple tree behind the house set between the
back door and the closest barn. Crossing the yard in broad daylight to get into the tree might be a little tricky, but he didn’t fear discovery in the branches. Truth was people very rarely took the time to look up. If he didn’t make any noise to give himself away, he could probably sit
there for days without notice.
Jeremy listened for any sign that someone might be preparing to
leave the house, or even looking out into the backyard, but everything was quiet. If he wanted to get into the tree, he was going to have to take a risk.
Stupid bitch had to run off with her goddamn flip-flops on.
Jeremy had placed tracking or listening devices in most of Sara’s
shoes, purses, and even cell phone, but the sandals had been too thin to hide a bug. He always knew she was planning to run off, and he’d
been well prepared. It was by sheer luck that she had run away with
nothing. If she’d worn her old sneakers, he’d be able to hear what was going on inside the house.
Considering his options, Jeremy decided on the path that would
leave him out in the open for the shortest amount of time. He crossed carefully from the patch of woods to the barn. No one was outside. He was fairly certain of that. A glance through the open barn door
revealed the barn to be empty as well, at least of humans. There were two horses present, but
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