Atonement (33 page)

“It looks like he was mad about something and tried to break them,” Hunt said.

“These match the bead we found at the Tomberlin scene. This puts him there.” Nic crumpled the bag in her hand. “Is that all?”

“The sheriff is at the courthouse going through property holdings. We found some old surveyor maps and think he's found some abandoned building to hole up in.”

“Nic suspected he might be doing that,” Con said, “but we're going to run into a huge problem there. If it's abandoned, then the owner is either laid up in a nursing home somewhere with no memory of it or dead. And if there are any family members, they probably don't live around here. We won't have anyone to give a search warrant to.”

“We'll make do,” Agent Hunt stated and held out his hand for the evidence bag. “Right now, we worry ourselves with building a case against him. We can't do much until the sheriff finds what we need and we narrow down our options.”

“Bullshit,” Nic spat. “I'm not sitting around here waiting for some miracle to appear to light our path to him.” Using the MWD, which she vetoed earlier, looked pretty good right now. She gripped Con's bicep. “If Cadno could find me in a drenched forest, he could track down Cassy.”

“Using a tracking dog only works when you have a pinpointed area to start from,” Agent Hunt countered.

Nic put her back to the man and looked into Con's eyes. “He can do it, and I know where to start.”

Indecision played across his face. Was he, too, thinking they were pushing it to make Cadno work like this? But he was an MWD, trained to do what no other dog could do. And he was their most valuable asset.

“Con, he can do it.”

“That's not the problem.”

She frowned. “Then, I don't see—”

“Nic, we have procedures for a reason. We have orders.”

Anger coiled through her. Had he not been listening when she revealed what happened to that squad? Swallowing hard, she let go of the anger. No, she wouldn't take her frustrations out on him. She just had to convince him of the opposite.

Gently placing her hands on his shoulder, she felt the tension in him. Licking her lips, she stared into his eyes. “You've asked me to trust you, several times, and I've … done the impossible. Now I'm asking you to give me the benefit of the doubt here. Once upon a time I followed orders to the letter, and in the end I got shafted for it. I promised myself if I were ever put in a situation like that again, I'd go with my gut, do what was right over the orders of someone who wasn't there. With Cadno, we can find Cassy and The General before our fellow officers will. Trust me.”

The tension left Con's shoulders, and his eyes cleared. Her reasoning had to be getting through to him.

“Detective O'Hanlon, let the police do their work. She's not even supposed to be on duty.”

Nic pointed at Hunt. “Shove it. If you cared for Cassy half as much as you claim, you'd agree to this.” Desperation took hold of her. She clenched Con's shirt in her fists. “Please. He found me, he'll find her.”

Slowly, Con dipped his chin down, and he gave her a slight nod. “Promise you'll have his back?”

She smiled. “Promise.”

• • •

As Con drove, he seethed. Patrick. Bloody Patrick Keegan was their suspect. All this time, the bastard had been hiding in plain sight. Right under Con's nose. It made Con sick to think how close his mam and Farran had been to the mental case.

He glanced in the rearview mirror at the woman in the back of his truck. Unlike Nic, his family had been spared. Guilt pricked his conscience for his relief at that thought; still, he didn't want to be in her position. As much as Nic hated her da', it still had to be eating at her that her old man could be in the clutches of that twisted bastard.

Nic was prepping her three-oh-eight by putting on the sling and pocketing the bullets in her pants and the pouches on her belt. From his perch in the passenger seat, Cadno was watching her, his tongue lolled out and his eyes gleaming. If Con could read his dog's mind, he was sure he'd see Cadno was remembering his days on patrol.

Cadno leaned forward when Nic reached out. Con smiled as Cadno gave Nic permission to pet him. She stroked his head and gave him a good scratch behind the ear. Those two had bonded. Most likely in a way that Con and Cadno had not. They were both warriors, veterans, and Cadno had to have sensed that in Nic. Con caught her eye when she glanced at the rearview mirror. Worry mingled with something else in her gaze, and it made him tense. He wasn't settled on her doing this. Every ethical fiber of his being wanted to turn this damn truck around and send her back home. But she'd asked him to give her what no one had before: trust in her capabilities.

Three Eider police cars were parked haphazardly along the side of the road. He pulled his truck up behind the closest and parked. Cadno spun to face him, standing on the console. The German Shepherd's entire body quivered, his anticipation sending out waves. Con didn't know what Patrick was planning or why he hadn't contacted Nic to demand she find him, but whatever the case might be, they weren't about to let Patrick keep the upper hand. It ended here. Even if it meant him putting a bullet in Patrick's head.

Con exited the truck, waited for Cadno to jump down, and grabbed the leather leash. From the back, Nic slid out of the truck and slung the rifle sling over her shoulder. Con led the way toward his fellow Eider police officers.

“Detective O'Hanlon, I don't know if you're going to have much success. We went over this area five times and couldn't find a thing.”

Con clapped the man's shoulder. “Don't worry about it. We'll see what my dog can do.” He pressed his keys into his fellow officer's hand. “If it's not too much trouble, could you move my truck further up the road if we go out of sight?”

“Sure thing.”

The officer's features tightened when he noticed Nic. “That FBI agent had the chief radio us to tell you he wants Keegan alive, if possible.”

Nic's smile held a hint of venom. “That might prove more problematic.”

“Let's just find them first. We'll hash out the details when the time comes,” Con said and then gave a departing nod. Gesturing for Cadno to lead the way, they took off along the road.

When Nic caught up with them, Con frowned at her. “You don't need to provoke them. We're all on the same side.”

“Why don't you remind them of that? Everyone seems to think I should have been the one to put down Walker instead of letting him do the job. Yet I was in the wrong when it came to taking out his cousin.”

He sighed. “Everyone is confused about the current events. Let's just remember we're all human here and we're prone to mistakes.”

“There you go again, looking on the bright side of things. For a cop, you sure are optimistic about life and people in general,” she said.

“Nic, I'm Irish. We've had only our luck and our charm to keep us going, and that amounts to about jack-shite. Maybe I'm a bloody fool for wanting to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I just remember somewhere, someone is having a worse day than me.”

She snorted. “Can't argue with that,” she muttered.

A few hundred yards away from the nearest patrol car, Con halted Cadno and then knelt to the dog's level. Nic stood behind them, her head swiveling back and forth as she scanned the area. The pained expression on her face worried a knot in Con's gut. She'd been on high alert from the moment they left her stepmother. Was the concussion bothering her? Oh, feck it, he never should have allowed her to sway him to do this.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

“I don't know this place. Sheriff Hamilton usually assigned this side of McIntire County to Walker when we did patrol.”

“It can't be that big of a problem.”

“Con, I'm not familiar with the lay of the land. I can't plan for prime sniping positions. We didn't exactly pull up land maps before we came out here.”

“Nic, look at me.”

She turned sharply, staring at him. He resisted the urge to grin at her; it would only provoke her, even when he meant to ease her mind.

“You're worried, I get it. Cassy's out there, and you want to make sure conditions are perfect. But can you truthfully say all of your missions went perfectly?”

A tick started in the corner of her eye. She blinked rapidly and then shook her head. “You're exasperating when you're right, you know that?”

“I don't try to be.” He held up Cassy's discarded jacket—they found at the house—for Cadno to sniff. “Let Cadno do his thing, and while we're out there, you can scout for a good spot, if it comes to that.”

Her sigh eased some of the knots out of Con's gut. She was a better asset when she was relaxed. “God, I hope this works.”

Once Cadno had the scent locked in, he sat back on his haunches, waiting for the command to go.

“Are you ready?” Con asked. “Once he finds it, he's going to move fast.”

“I'll deal with the pain later. Put him to work.”

With a nod, Con gave Cadno the hand signal to search. The German Shepherd took off, nose to the ground. Back and forth, he swept the area, pausing to take something in, then moving on.

Come on, where are you hiding, you little prick?

Con chanced a sidelong glance at Nic and did a double take. Her face was puckered, like she was sucking on a sour candy, and pale lines streaked across her cheeks. She stood rigidly, staring in one direction, oblivious to what Cadno was doing.

“If I'm reading your expression right, Nic, you need to stop it. Dark thoughts about Cassy and your father won't help us any.”

“I can feel it in my gut. Patrick has him.”

“Hmmm. Good thing Emma gave me something of his for Cadno to scent.”

Nic stopped walking and gaped at him. Yep, he was still shocking her.

Cadno stopped, lifted his head and sniffed the air. Con and Nic waited. Anticipation hovered like smoke around them. Had he found something? Shaking his head, Cadno dropped his head and came back to Con.

“What's that mean?”

Con pulled another item from the backpack he carried and knelt. “I gather that it means he's not picking up what he wants.” This time, he held out a shirt that The General had worn, heavily covered in his scent. “Come on, boy, you've got this.” His phone shrilled from his belt.

“Shane, have you found anything I could use right now?”

“Possibly. Con, do you remember Bill Roberts?”

“Old widower that lived over on Redbud Lane? He's in a nursing home if I recall.”

“That's him. He has no family to speak of, and his place is being rented out to help offset his expenses. He used to go hunting a lot, even had a place staked out way back on one of his properties. I just remembered because I went with a party out there one time. It's several miles from where you are.”

“You think Patrick found it and is hiding out there?” Con asked.

“It would certainly make sense. Stop what you're doing and head west of your location. I'd say it's probably four or five miles farther. I'm on my way to meet you there, with Agent Hunt hot on my tail.”

“Copy that.” Con disconnected the call and relayed what Shane had told him.

“This will make it easier,” she said.

“Stay here with Cadno. I'll get the truck and tell the guys to go.”

Con located the dead-end gravel road leading to the property Shane had talked about. He parked at the juncture of the gravel and pavement for the other men to find them and got out. Nic and Cadno met him in front of the truck. It was coming on nine in the morning, and the temperature was expected to get into the upper sixties, a perfect warming trend for Cadno to use.

“All right, boy, let's try this again.” Con held out Cassy's jacket.

His gaze drifted up to Nic. The strain was evident on her face and in the way she stood, rigid and at attention. She held on to the rifle sling like it was her lifeline. Damn it, why couldn't she just let go and hang on to him?

Cadno turned from the shirt and pointed in the direction he wanted to go, waiting for the command. Con straightened then signaled the command. The MWD took off, a bit faster than last time. Both he and Nic had to jog to catch up.

“Do you think he has a better scent?” she asked.

“Appears so.”

They kept pace for a few yards, but Nic's injuries finally got to her. She slowed, breathing heavier than Con liked. Thankfully, Cadno pulled up short and began testing the air and the ground for scent. Nic came to a stop and cradled her midsection as she arched her back.

“Maybe you should have followed in the truck.”

Her eyes flashed. The scowl she gave him might have peeled paint from a house. “I can do this.”

Holding up his hands in surrender, he focused his attention on Cadno's progress, but his mind wouldn't shut out what he'd been dwelling on for the last twenty-four hours. He loved Nic, but he couldn't get a read on whether she felt the same way. One minute she'd stare at him, her emotions written out for the world to see, the next she'd shut it away and turn hard as stone. He got that she had a difficult time expressing any kind of tender feelings toward anyone, all thanks to her da'. What did Con have to do to show her it didn't have to be like that with him?

Should he tell her? He'd considered it so many times but couldn't bring himself to say it because he didn't know how she'd react. Maybe the direct, blunt route was the best to use on her. Now was as good as any time to tell her. He opened his mouth.

“Look.” Nic was pointing toward Cadno, who had dropped to the ground, facing an overgrown lane that led into the timber.

They both took off at a run to catch up with the dog. Con spotted the freshly bent grass where a vehicle had passed through. Signaling the German Shepherd to continue, Con drew his weapon as he followed his dog down the path. He glanced back to check on Nic's progress; she was planting a marker device for the sheriff and Agent Hunt to locate them. Then she caught up to them.