Page 66 of Falcon

“Spill what you can, Sheriff,” Calamity ordered, returning minutes later.

“Someone reported finding a body in an abandoned building. They’d stated seeing lights in there, and a deputy arrived to investigate. Merle’s body was found. When we checked the area cameras, we caught Rawson’s truck stopping outside.” Cates paused and finished her toast.

“Rawson picks Merle up out of the rear and carries him inside. Three hours later, Rawson leaves with no Merle in tow. We think Merle went in alive. We’ve put an APB out on Rawson as he’s wanted for suspected murder. This makes me worry that Lawson and Dawson are safe. We have to say we’re concerned for their lives.”

“And you’ve no idea why Rawson killed Merle?” Calamity asked.

“We found some evidence that could lead to why,” Cates replied, looking cagey.

Calamity raised an eyebrow.

“There was powder on his clothes and a split baggie of coke. We think Merle was dealing drugs,” Cates admitted.

“Great. Those assholes are up to their stinking necks in shit. If Rawson didn’t blink at killing his cousin, Myka and Jayes are in grave danger. We have to get them out of here,” I remarked, sitting up.

“No. Running won’t resolve this problem. Myka is safer here,” Calamity said.

“Bullshit. We promised to protect her, and she can’t stay here,” I argued.

“These fools may play dumb hicks, but they’re not,” Calamity pointed out. “They’re waiting for this. The Beauregards want you isolated, and then they’ll come for Myka and Jayes.”

“Then I’ll kill them,” I said implacably.

Cates coughed. “There’s too many, Falcon; Myka’s in the safest place possible. As is Jayes. If you go somewhere alone, you’ve no backup. The Beauregards will kidnap Myka and do terrible things to her. The Beauregard men believe women don’t have the right to say no. And when I say they’ll take turns, I mean that.”

I stared at Cates, horrified at the thought. “What do we do? I won’t let Rawson have her.”

“We’re doing everything possible, but Myka needs to stay here. The problem is that you’re on the water. Anyone can approach from that,” Cates replied.

“Not as easily as they might expect. We’ve got motion sensors in the water and trees and buried around the shoreline. If someone comes from that, we’ll know about it,” Calamity said.

Cates widened her eyes. “Really? You have cameras out there?”

“Yeah,” I grunted, trying to figure out a plan of action.

“Calamity, I need the footage,” Cates demanded.

“You can have it from the night Smith rolled up, but there’s nothing on it. We checked. The body just washed up. He was dumped further down the lake,” Calamity replied, guessing what Cates was after.

“Calamity, I still need to view it,” Cates insisted.

“Sure, I’ll have Glitch email it to you.”

“Thank you. I’d better get back. Thanks for the food.”

“Sheriff, you made the notification yet?” I asked.

“No. I wanted to give you guys a heads-up.”

“This goes a long way,” Calamity answered after a few seconds. Cates was trying to make amends. Fair enough; we could meet her halfway. But if Cates shit on the club again, our help would be cut off.

Cates left, and I spun to Calamity. “Get Myka and Jayes out of here.”

Calamity infuriatingly bit into a piece of bacon. “You claiming her?”

“Myka’s mine.”

“Then Myka stays here, as does Jayes. Cates is right. If we split up, you’ll lose her. The Beauregards are sneaky fuckers. They’ll lay a distraction while someone else grabs them. I’ll have Glitch put the water security system on twenty-four-seven. The kids will have to use the pool for now.”