room. Then he turned and gazed down on Kate. The woman rolled her eyes up at him. Reflected in their wetness was the glint of the cut-throat razor Huffman held cupped in his palm. Huffman slowly slid it back into its holder on his wrist, pulled down the sleeve of his Versace suit jacket.
Huffman smiled.
He could tell by the look on her face that she wished Larry would come back.
Chapter 16
‘Do not – I repeat – do not try to follow us,’ Sheriff Aitken shouted over the police radio channel. ‘No outside interference. We must keep this situation self -contained.’
Aitken’s commands to his men wouldn’t mean an awful lot. Despite warnings not to follow, the officers would be frantic to find their leader. They would call in back-up. State troopers, or maybe even big city cops from Frankfort. There could even be a call put through to the nearest FBI field office. That would complicate matters and shorten the window of opportunity for getting Kate back.
Aitken seemed more afraid of outside interference than he was of the gun I pointed at him. He exhorted his troops to back off, then changed tactics, shouting and making threats if he even got a sniff of any form of pursuit. It saved me the problem of forcing the same commands from him.
Some police vehicles were fitted with transponders or GPS tracking devices, but Little Fork’s law enforcement budget probably didn’t stretch to such things. The falling snow gave cover from aerial pursuit, effectively grounding helicopters and light aircraft. The only way we’d be found was if a local spotted Aitken’s car and called it in. But that wasn’t very likely. The snow was now coming down in blizzard quantities and we were five miles out of town at an old mining camp abandoned ten years earlier.
The cop car was partly hidden under a lean-to next to a decrepit wooden cabin so faded with age it was almost as pale as the snow. I led the sheriff inside, getting out of the cold. The cabin had been stripped of anything of value, and all that remained was a single broken chair and an equally broken table. Setting the table top against a wall, I smashed it in two with a kick, ending up with a rough plank which I set against the wall. Then I made the sheriff reach his arms round the back of it and I used his own cuffs to link his arms together. The measure wouldn’t halt a determined effort at escape, but it would slow him down.
‘If that plank falls over, I’ll shoot you,’ I said, giving him something to occupy his thoughts. It caused him to stand rigidly to stop the plank from sliding beneath him.
Pushing my SIG into my denims, I kept the Magnum in plain view. The shiny steel gun looked more intimidating.
‘It’s time, Aitken. Are you still useful to me?’
‘I’ve told you, I don’t know where the woman is. I took her and handed her over to Huffman. Where they went after that, I don’t know. I got the call that you’d showed up at the motel and high-tailed it back there.’
‘Where did you leave her?’
‘There’s this restaurant in town . . .’
‘French restaurant?’ I asked, remembering the discussion I’d had with Kate earlier. At the time I hadn’t given it much credence. However, it was obvious once I thought about it. The restaurant had been purchased by new owners. Huffman and his business partners were buying up pretty much all the property in and around Little Fork. It stood to reason that they were the buyers, and that they would set up residence at a central location. The restaurant – le Cœur de la Ville – was literally at the heart of town.
‘Yeah . . .’ He gave me a funny look. ‘Place called le Cœur.’
‘Where is it?’
Aitken described the location.
‘This Robert Huffman. Tell me about him.’
‘Tell you what?’
‘First off: his description.’
‘So you know who to kill?’
‘Yes.’
He was perfunctory. Cop speak. ‘White male. Tall, about your height . . . six feet maybe. Two hundred pounds. Athletic
Huffman smiled.
He could tell by the look on her face that she wished Larry would come back.
Chapter 16
‘Do not – I repeat – do not try to follow us,’ Sheriff Aitken shouted over the police radio channel. ‘No outside interference. We must keep this situation self -contained.’
Aitken’s commands to his men wouldn’t mean an awful lot. Despite warnings not to follow, the officers would be frantic to find their leader. They would call in back-up. State troopers, or maybe even big city cops from Frankfort. There could even be a call put through to the nearest FBI field office. That would complicate matters and shorten the window of opportunity for getting Kate back.
Aitken seemed more afraid of outside interference than he was of the gun I pointed at him. He exhorted his troops to back off, then changed tactics, shouting and making threats if he even got a sniff of any form of pursuit. It saved me the problem of forcing the same commands from him.
Some police vehicles were fitted with transponders or GPS tracking devices, but Little Fork’s law enforcement budget probably didn’t stretch to such things. The falling snow gave cover from aerial pursuit, effectively grounding helicopters and light aircraft. The only way we’d be found was if a local spotted Aitken’s car and called it in. But that wasn’t very likely. The snow was now coming down in blizzard quantities and we were five miles out of town at an old mining camp abandoned ten years earlier.
The cop car was partly hidden under a lean-to next to a decrepit wooden cabin so faded with age it was almost as pale as the snow. I led the sheriff inside, getting out of the cold. The cabin had been stripped of anything of value, and all that remained was a single broken chair and an equally broken table. Setting the table top against a wall, I smashed it in two with a kick, ending up with a rough plank which I set against the wall. Then I made the sheriff reach his arms round the back of it and I used his own cuffs to link his arms together. The measure wouldn’t halt a determined effort at escape, but it would slow him down.
‘If that plank falls over, I’ll shoot you,’ I said, giving him something to occupy his thoughts. It caused him to stand rigidly to stop the plank from sliding beneath him.
Pushing my SIG into my denims, I kept the Magnum in plain view. The shiny steel gun looked more intimidating.
‘It’s time, Aitken. Are you still useful to me?’
‘I’ve told you, I don’t know where the woman is. I took her and handed her over to Huffman. Where they went after that, I don’t know. I got the call that you’d showed up at the motel and high-tailed it back there.’
‘Where did you leave her?’
‘There’s this restaurant in town . . .’
‘French restaurant?’ I asked, remembering the discussion I’d had with Kate earlier. At the time I hadn’t given it much credence. However, it was obvious once I thought about it. The restaurant had been purchased by new owners. Huffman and his business partners were buying up pretty much all the property in and around Little Fork. It stood to reason that they were the buyers, and that they would set up residence at a central location. The restaurant – le Cœur de la Ville – was literally at the heart of town.
‘Yeah . . .’ He gave me a funny look. ‘Place called le Cœur.’
‘Where is it?’
Aitken described the location.
‘This Robert Huffman. Tell me about him.’
‘Tell you what?’
‘First off: his description.’
‘So you know who to kill?’
‘Yes.’
He was perfunctory. Cop speak. ‘White male. Tall, about your height . . . six feet maybe. Two hundred pounds. Athletic
Similar Books
