Page 14 of Backtrack

Twice, Cutter’s hand dropped to his pistol when his horse’s ears perked up. It had seen or heard something in the brush. A red fox flushed out of the briars. A moment later, a white-tail deer melted into the brush.

Cutter sloshed into a mossy green pool and paused, giving the horse its head, letting it drink. Not too much—the grulla was a known water hog, and he didn’t want to founder his boss’s horse. He trotted back to the rest of the party and reined to a stop beside Chief Smith.

“I’m getting nothing,” he said. “We’ve ridden all the creek beds that bound our search area. Sounds like the guys on the north side of the road are coming up empty as well. I hate to say it, but there’s a chance our bad guy got picked up by someone from the get-go. He likely fled before the highway patrol got to the car.”

Smith wheeled his gray in a circle, giving himself a full 360 look at the terrain while he thought. “You’re thinking there was a second vehicle involved in the robbery?”

Cutter crossed his hands over the saddle horn and leanedforward, taking some of the pressure off his back. “I think we have to consider that possibility. The guy I just shot said the driver of the Crown Vic was young and, I’m quoting here,would get usallarrested. Notbothbutall.” Cutter shrugged. “I could be reading a lot into that, but …”

“All?” Smith said. “You’re sure he said,us all?”

“Yep.”

“Well, balls!” Smith said. “They’re getting skunked at the roadblocks too. If you’re not seeing any tracks, I’m afraid there are no tracks to be seen. The sumbitch slipped away before we had time to set up our net.”

“Afraid so,” Cutter said. “Listen, Chief, I know the sheriff’s got Morton and Garza working the robbery, but I’d like to swing by and take a look.”

“By all means,” Smith said. “Snoop around and see what you can figure out.”

“The medical examiner pick up the bodies yet?” Cutter asked.

“Nope.” Smith sucked in air through clenched teeth. “It’s pretty damned bleak in this heat. Let me be clear about this; Garza and Morton are processing the crime scene, but the sheriff wants you to lead the manhunt. Track down the bastards who did this.” The chief pulled his hat lower. “And frankly, Wayne, he’s not particular on how healthy they are when you bring ’em in.”

“It’ll be a job,” Cutter said. “These guys got five million in diamonds. I’m sure they’re long gone by now.”

CHAPTER 5

Ricky Lee Pink’s leg bounced like the needle on a sewing machine while he watched the armored truck from across the Interstate. The idiot cops rooted through the carnage like a bunch of blind hogs. The boy smashed a fist against the dashboard, letting fly every curse he knew—and he knew a lot. That piece-of-shit lawman had gunned Millner down in cold blood. Ricky Lee hadn’t seen it. He’d been screaming down the backroads with Duvall in the stolen Buick. The news on the radio made it clear enough. Millner was murdered.

Duvall and Pink ditched the Buick LeSabre in one of the countless stock ponds around the county. The water would dry up soon enough in this heat, eventually exposing the car. They’d be long gone by then. Duvall had stashed his black dually pickup near the dump site. They were now parked with a dozen other vehicles on the westbound side of the Interstate. The highway patrol had opened the inside lane on the eastbound side, but the cops still crawled around the armored truck.

“I thought they’d move the bodies sooner,” Ricky Lee muttered. “It’s been hours. They just throw a tarp over them and leave ’em there to bake?”

“It’s a crime scene,” Duvall said, smug as always. “But there’s nothing for them to find.” He thought he was smarter than Millner just because he’d gotten away. Pink knew enough to realize that wasn’t smart. It was lucky.

Duvall had taken to the access road after it all went sideways. He’d paralleled the Interstate at regular speed, just a guy in a copper Buick out for a Sunday morning drive. Millner and Ricky Lee had the misfortune of meeting an oncoming highway patrol. Everycop in the county focused on the blue Crown Vic—allowing Duvall to slip away unnoticed.

None of their getaway was planned. The whole shit show had worked through dumb luck.

“You could have run off and left me,” Ricky Lee said.

“I could have,” Duvall said.

“Why didn’t you?”

“You can identify me,” Duvall said. “And, anyhow, I thought you had the diamonds.”

“I thoughtyouhad the diamonds,” Ricky Lee said. Jewelry was the last thing on his mind now. He nodded at the activity across the Interstate. “You know any of those assholes?”

“Not as such,” Duvall said. “That short one hunkered down looking at the ground beside the culvert? That’s the cop you want, right there. He did Vince.”

Ricky Lee swallowed the catch in his throat. “You saw it?”

“I did not,” Duvall said. “But that’s the one who had him at gunpoint when I drove by.”

“What’s his name?”

“Can’t remember,” Duvall said. “He shoes horses out at the racetrack in Willow Park a couple of weekends a month. I know his wife has cancer or some such. Pretty bad, the way I hear it.”