from you.”
Mary Margaret chewed on the chipped fingernail before answering the question. “He asked me to get him some money.”
“How much?”
“Three thousand dollars and my grandmother’s ring. He promised he’d pay me back.”
“Where are you supposed to meet him?”
She avoided Madison’s gaze.
“Mary Margaret, please. Trust me. If you really want to help him, you’ll tell me where you were planning to meet him.”
“There’s a cabin about fifty miles from here near Hickory Lake. He used to stay in it when he went hunting up here. We’d go there sometimes. I’m supposed to meet him there at noon.”
“Thank you.” Madison patted her hand. “You did the right thing.”
“Did I?”
“Yes. You did.”
Mary Margaret looked up at Madison, clearly not convinced. “Can I come with you?”
“You’ll need to stay here.”
“Can I see him when you bring him back?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t make any promises.”
Madison left her in the room and went to talk with Jonas and Sheriff Fischer. “She was planning on meeting him in a cabin near Hickory Lake. She was going to take him cash and her grandmother’s ring.”
“You were right.” Jonas turned to the sheriff. “Can we borrow a couple of your deputies?”
“You can have whatever you need.” He glanced at the back office where Mary Margaret was still waiting for them. “I guess I was wrong.”
Jonas nodded. “She completely believes he’s innocent, but we don’t know what kind of lines he’s feeding her. Based on what she’s already done, she’ll do whatever he asks.”
“And based on what he’s done,” Madison said, “he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way.”
Sixteen
Five minutes later, they were headed toward their vehicles with the sheriff and four deputies.
Sheriff Fischer stopped beside their rental car. “I had one of my men talk to the owner of the cabin before we left, like you asked, and he just called me. He said that the cabin was a last-minute rental for a week by Mary Margaret. The owners know her and didn’t think anything about it. She said she was arranging the stay for some friends who were coming in from out of town.”
“I guess she failed to mention that her friend had recently escaped from prison and was currently on the run.” Jonas laughed.
The sheriff smiled. “That probably didn’t come into the conversation.”
“What can you tell us about the cabin?”
“There are dozens of them scattered around the area. Most of them are short-term rentals for vacationers, and others are used exclusively by the owners. This one in particular is pretty isolated. According to the GPS it’s the last cabin on a dead-end gravel road, so you’re not going to get people just wandering by. Basically, it’s off the grid. There’s no cell or Wi-Fi service. Sounds like a landline is the only way to communicate. We’ve got roadblocks set up both directions leading out of town in case he decides to run, though it sounds like he’s gotten past them before.”
“Sounds good,” Jonas said, unlocking their vehicle with the key fob. The last thing he wanted was someone else getting hurt, but they’d done everything they could at the moment. Now it was just a matter of catching Barrick off guard and bringing him in.
Madison was quiet as Jonas pulled out of the parking lot and turned down Main Street behind the sheriff and his deputies. “What are you thinking?” he asked her.
“There’s something still bothering me.”
“What’s that?”
Madison drew quiet for a moment. “We’re assuming he’s either going to try and disappear, which isn’t easy. Or leave the country, which also isn’t easy, but would make more sense long term. Instead, he decides to go into hiding in a place where there is no cell service or internet. Only a landline, which is going to make it very difficult for him to plan anything.”
“Maybe he thought coming here would give him a few days off the grid to make a plan. Either option would need to be thought out.”
“And he’ll need help.”
“Someone besides Mary Margaret?” he asked.
“If he’s looking to change his identity, he’ll need someone else who can get him new IDs while he waits here.”
“Agreed, but who would he go to?”
“I don’t know. Someone he was in prison with or someone he knew before prison?”
“Which narrows it down to what . . . a few dozen people, maybe more?”
All he knew was that this cabin was their best shot at the moment.
“It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?” she said, staring out the window as if trying to soak up some of the beauty