Page 76 of Knot Innocent

“I… I don’t know any Birdie Crenshaw.”

“Why did you try to kill Dr. Tipton yesterday?”

“I didn’t. Why are you accusing me?”

“Because you drove your delivery van into the back of Dr. Tipton’s car, shoving him into traffic. Where did you take Birdie after kidnapping her from Dr. Tipton’s office?”

The old man’s face pales. “I didn’t drive the van yesterday. My… son did.”

A deafening quiet falls over the area after Savile’s admission. “Your son?”

“Yes. My son, Dolion Porter Savile. I’m Dolion Ernest. He helps us out sometimes when he’s not busy. I knew he had a wreck yesterday. He’s sore and resting today.”

I’ve heard enough. I turn away from the group in an all-out sprint, calling Knot as soon as I clear the chaos. “What have you got?”

“I know who took Birdie! Get Cle to find everything she can on Dolion Savile—the florist. There’s two of them, father and son. The son has Birdie.”

Jackson and Cooper both yell for me, but I don’t stop. Jackson is lucky even to make it inside the cab before the truck moves. I’m not waiting at all for Cooper. He and his police procedure will just slow me down.

Right as I’ve maneuvered the truck past the cops and news vans, Knot is calling me back. “The younger Savile has a high-end apartment in Chic’s Beach, but there’s no way he took Birdie there. Savile Senior has a large plot of land in Chesapeake.”

“Send me the address.”

“No. You come here. We’ll take the chopper and get there a hell of a lot faster.”

Security waves me through when I arrive at the compound, and I steer straight for the helipad. Kai and Chelsea jog toward the chopper as I skid to a stop and jump out with Jackson hot on my trail.

“You stay here, Bennett,” Knot orders. “It’s not that I don’t respect your abilities, but I don’t want your involvement to create a problem for Stone.”

Jackson swears but nods. “I don’t like it, but I understand.” To me, he says, “You get that girl back alive. She’s the only reason you don’t need your ass kicked anymore.”

We’re airborne thirty seconds later.

Each of us dons headsets that are patched into communications with Cle. “What have we got?” Knot asks.

“Small farmhouse in a hay field. Three outbuildings spread out in adjacent woods. Twenty minutes by car, three in the air.”

“Have Squid get in touch with Cooper. Tell him where we’re going. You send me property maps, satellite views, the works.”

“On it.”

Knot takes a minute to update Chelsea and Kai on the situation, and then we take the next few to study the images Cle sent. “We check the farthest building first and work toward the house.”

“Hiller was a setup, no doubt a frame job to keep us from looking at the Saviles,” I tell them. “So we suspect Dolion has killed at least twice now. Probably more.”

The CEO nods and shoves a spare magazine into his belt. “Do not make any more victims today unless it’s Dolion himself.”

After the brief flight, Knot directs the pilot where to land. We’re headed to the opposite side of the tree line, far enough away that Savile will think ours was just another passing helo. They’re pretty common in this area with all the military presence.

As the bird lands, we trade our powered headsets for field radios, all set to transmit automatically so our hands stay free. “Monitor our communications,” Knot orders the pilot. “If we need medical evac, find a place to land as close to the house as possible.”

The four of us jump out of the craft. We stand out in our all-black uniforms against the golden field but don’t have time for stealth. Savile has had Birdie for nearly eighteen hours.

We rush through the trees toward the closest building but freeze when we hear screaming coming from the hay field. A barbed-wire fence separates us from the pasture behind the house, and as I jump over it, I hear another scream coming from behind me. “What the fuck?” I whisper into the radio.

“It’s goats,” Knot answers.

“They sound human,” Kai complains.

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