Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,63
of the town of Loring. If he got that far, he would think he was in the clear. North of there might be the perfect place for an ambush. But not knowing what firepower Collin might have would mean jeopardizing Kate’s life.
He couldn’t do that. He’d wait and see where Matthews was going once across the border. If Jon was right, Matthews’ drug supplier would be meeting him. Given the time of the day, Matthews wouldn’t be coming right back across with a payload until morning. That meant Collin and Kate would be spending the night somewhere.
If it was fentanyl like Jon suspected, then Matthews would have to have a way to get it across the border. That usually meant welded storage containers under the vehicle. In which case, the tracking devices would be found. Also, it could mean more than one day in Canada.
If Collin managed to get back across the border with the drugs, then he would be meeting someone stateside to sell them for distribution. Matthews was too clean-cut to be a dealer or even a distributor. No, Matthews was just the mule, Jon thought. Once back in the States, Collin would make the trade: money for the drugs. That was dangerous enough, but once Matthews crossed the border back into the US, he wouldn’t need Kate anymore. At that point, she would become a liability he could no longer afford.
Jon swore. He had to find out what Matthews was picking up in Canada, which meant he had to go to Canada. He had the tracking devices on Matthews’s vehicle. If he hoped to find him, it would have to be tonight before any alternations were made on the SUV Collin was driving. Which meant his best chance of freeing Kate was tonight.
His phone rang. He’d been expecting a call from Earl Ray, letting him know if Kate’s daughters had been found and were safe. But he saw it was Bessie Walker calling. The hair rose on the back of his neck as he took the call.
Even before she spoke, he knew something bad had happened.
“It’s Earl Ray,” she said, sounding as if she’d been crying. “He’s had a heart attack. They took him by ambulance to Lewistown to the hospital. I’m driving there now. He was at the café when he collapsed. He said I had to call you and tell you. Something about a favor he was doing for you? He hadn’t gotten it done yet. Does that make any sense to you?”
Earl Ray hadn’t been able to find out about Kate’s daughters. That was what had been on his mind when he’d collapsed? “How is he?”
“I don’t know.” Bessie was crying again.
“Call me when you do, and don’t worry. Earl Ray is one of the strongest men I know. If anyone can pull through this, it’s him.” He disconnected, worried about his friend. It was so like Earl Ray to be having a heart attack and worrying about someone else. Jon said a silent prayer for him and one for Kate and her daughters as well.
This put a whole new wrinkle in his plans, though. If Matthews was using one of the daughters or both as insurance to get Kate to do what he wanted, then Jon would be jeopardizing their lives if he took Kate tonight. But if he didn’t, this might be his only chance.
As he crossed Fort Peck Dam, once the largest earth-filled dam in the world, he thought about his life and about the beautiful brunette with the green eyes who’d walked into his woodshop and changed everything. If he couldn’t save her, then he had nothing to live for. Not that he would be living long once the men hired by the syndicate found out where he was.
But right now, Oklahoma City was a hell of a long way from where he was headed.
* * *
COLLIN FOUND HIMSELF watching Kate out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t thought about her cell phone. A mistake, and not his first. She could have just as easily texted the law, he thought as he drove the snow-packed highway north. The border was close now. He’d know soon if he was driving into a trap.
He loved that in this part of Montana, towns were few and far between. That meant that cops were few and far between as well. Unless Kate had notified someone at the border. There could be an armed regiment waiting for them.