Page 212 of Daddy’s Fortitude

“I’m sure. She’ll want to hear this. It will be a huge relief.”

Ammo nodded and walked over to Aimee, taking hold of her hand and leading them over to the couch.

Then he sat, positioning her on his lap before he turned his cell phone to speaker.

“All right, talk.”

“I ran all the license plate numbers, and one pinged. It’s a known alias for a guy called Clark Fren.”

“Okay, and who is Clark Fren?” Ammo said impatiently.

“A known con man,” Branson replied, surprising Ammo.

“A con man? What does that mean?” Aimee asked.

“Well, it’s good news,” Branson said. “Because it means he isn’t part of a gang or crime family. There is no big boss. And Charlie didn’t owe anybody thirty thousand dollars.”

“I don’t understand,” Aimee said.

“Are you saying that it was a con?” Ammo asked.

“Yeah, one that Brand is known for running across about four states. He preys mostly on widows. Tells them that their husbands owe money to the ‘big boss’ and that he’s there to collect. He got a bit greedy with this one. Normally, he goes for smaller amounts. Don’t know where he thought you were going to get that money from, Aimee, as I’m certain he would have been watching you for a few days before he made his move.”

Ammo felt Aimee shudder. “He does this a lot? What does he do? Just keep an eye out on the death notices, then go around looking for widows that he can intimidate and scare into giving up money?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what he does. We’ve been after him for a while now. He made a few mistakes with you, one was using a car that was registered to an old alias. It’s one he used several years ago, so maybe he thought that we didn’t know about it. And his second mistake was demanding such a huge amount. We picked him up in his hotel at Lager, so you don’t need to worry about him anymore.”

“So there really is no threat?” she said. “Was he the one writing those threatening notes? I’m safe? Kirsten’s safe?”

“Writing threatening notes is his ammo. Then if the notes didn’t work, he’d move on to making threats in person. You’re all safe. He might be an asshole, he might have made threats, but he’s never done anything violent.”

“That’s good, I guess,” she said, sounding doubtful.

“Right, I’ve got to go. Is there anything else you need from me?” Branson asked.

“No,” Ammo said. “But I will tell you that I’ll be taking Aimee away from this town as quickly as possible.”

“I think that’s probably a good idea. Not too many good memories left here. And with Kelly-Anne arrested, there might be more than a few angry people in town. Also, Sheriff Willoughby is being investigated, and he’s not too happy about that either.”

“Good,” Ammo said. “They need to all suffer for the way they have treated Aimee.”

“I can safely say that both Kelly-Anne and the sheriff are in a lot of trouble,” Branson said. “As is Fren for threatening you. If you need me for anything you have my number.”

Ammo ended the call, and Aimee leaned back to look up at him. “It’s really all over. We’re really safe. There’s nothing more, is there?”

“No, baby. It’s over, and you are really safe. We can leave the cabin, go on with our lives.”

“But what will our lives be? I haven’t got anything, I’ve barely got any clothes. I haven’t even replaced my bank cards or my license.”

He could sense she was starting to panic and he grasped hold of her chin.

“None of that matters,” he told her.

“It doesn’t?” she asked.

“No, we’ll figure it all out. We have time now. We can get it done. What matters is that you’re safe, you’re with me, and that I’m going to take you home.”

“Home.”