“Good question.” Liam slowed the truck. “We don’t want to follow too closely. Let’s wait here.”
“We could get out and hike up the road.”
“I’ll give them time to get on their snowmobiles and leave. Then we’ll drive in.”
They waited a good fifteen minutes—enough time for them to unload and get on the road. In the distance, he heard the whine of the snowmobiles. Good enough. He steered along the forest road, the woods thickening along with the snow, but he kept to the tracks the other truck had created until finally he spotted the empty truck and trailer ahead. He stopped about ten yards from Enzo Astor’s truck.
Beyond Astor’s vehicle, the snow was several feet deep.
“Let’s look around.” He climbed out and met Rae at the grill. She hiked next to him, stepping in the truck tracks to both walk easier and try to hide their own presence there, until they stood in front of Astor’s truck. The snowmobile tracks were visible and disappeared a quarter of a mile farther as the road wound deeper into the forest. Liam listened. He could barely hear them. A clump of snow dropped from a nearby low-hanging branch, startling Rae.
“I wonder why they didn’t just take the snowmobiles from the house. Why drive out here, then take them?” Rae said.
“People ride them for miles, sometimes hundreds of miles. But there’s a ridge they couldn’t get over. We crossed the bridge back there.”
“Do we keep walking?”
With his binoculars, he peered through the trees at the trail left by the snowmobiles. “I don’t think we should hike any farther in.” He didn’t want to be caught in a precarious situation.
Rae’s face had turned red with cold. “Where does this road go?”
“It’s a forest service road. I’d need to look at a map.” They should head back.
But the silence gave him pause. “Do you hear that?”
Rae angled her head. “No. What am I listening for?”
“The sound of the snowmobiles. They stopped.”
“What does that mean?”
“They got stuck. Took a break. Or maybe they made it to their destination.” Liam listened to hear if the snowmobiles started up again. After a minute, he turned around. “We should head back.”
At Astor’s vehicle, they peered inside the darkened windows, which mostly reflected the trees. Yep. Nice leather interior. He wouldn’t expect any less on this kind of truck.
“Nothing. Not even a strip of paper with a scribbled name or cell phone number that could lead us to Zoey.” Liam smirked.
“Nothing but a paperback novel stuck between the console and seat,” she said.
He continued walking and paused at the tailgate to wait for Rae to catch up. Then they quickened their pace as they hiked to Liam’s truck. He sighed as they closed the distance. It was easier to do a stakeout in the city. No doubt about it.
As he climbed back into his vehicle, his cell rang. Taggart.
“Yeah.” Liam answered. “Glad you called. I need to know who Enzo Astor’s associates are. Who’s this guy always tagging along with him?”
“Where are you?”
“Um . . . why do you ask?”
“No reason. First, if I learn about his associates, I’ll share with you, but it seems like this is more up your alley. You and the reporter’s. Let me get to the reason I called. Listen, I’m not going to be able to pressure Astor or look too hard at him, at least on the record.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The mayor is friends with Enzo Astor. She called me. I’m not sure exactly why since all I did was deliver news to him.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe I asked an overstepping question or two. Whatever the reason, she got a phone call. I suspect Astor spotted you following and thinks I sent you.”
“Interesting. At least we got a reaction.”
“That, we did.”
Astor’s phone call to the mayor seemed like a knee-jerk reaction at that. Like he was overreacting. “What do you make of it?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve been instructed to steer clear.”
“You don’t report to the mayor.”
“No. I report to the constituents of the county, and the mayor just happens to run the county seat of Grayback. That’s all I’m going to say.”
“Don’t tell me that politics is going to win the day again. This guy has a motive, like you said already.”
“It’s not going to win. You’re on it, McKade. There’s a reason for everything. There’s a reason you’re not working for me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Rae watched Enzo Astor’s truck and trailer as Liam backed his vehicle along the forest service road.