Page 9 of The Bait

Asher grumbled, pocketing a few watches.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked. It wasn’t like they were short on funds.

“We can use these instead of cash. Less traceable,” he replied, heading toward Lucas’s shoe collection next. It was going to look like a robbery gone wrong, but Harry figured it didn’t much matter at this point.

“Let’s go back downstairs,” Harry suggested.

Asher gave a nod, and with the tablet in his hand, he followed Harry back to the war room.

Whoever had done this hadn’t taken anything. Well, except for Yunho and Lucas. But the computers were all there, even the vault of weapons. Asher’s baby, his MAC 50...

Asher searched the desks, stepping over Aranya as if she wasn’t even there. Then, clearly deducing they were wasting time, he went into the vault.

Asher upended a rifle carry bag, dumping the contents on the floor: a scope and a bag strap. He grabbed pistols and two rifles, boxes of ammunition, and shoved them into the bag. He threw in the tablet before handing the bag to Harry, then took his MAC 50 off the rack. When he turned to face Harry, he had a different expression on his face.

Blank. Not in a devoid way, but in a ready-to-watch-the-world-burn kind of way.

Harry understood. He gave a nod. “Let’s go.”

They left the house as they’d found it, crossed the lawn to the dock, stepped onto the boat, and a few minutes later were heading back to the mainland.

“Where to first?” Harry asked over the roar of the engine, though he was fairly sure he knew.

“We track down his staff,” Asher replied. “Those who worked on the island, who had access.”

Yep. Just what Harry thought.

THREE

TALLOWWOOD

National Parksand Wildlife Officer John Kepper put in a call about a vehicle left in the park and the possibility of missing campers.

“They mighta gone for a hike and got lost,” he’d said.

August knew different.

He saw the vehicle details and he knew.

The rented Hilux crew cab utility had been left unattended for three days. No sign of the three men who had stopped in town to ask directions. The same three men who August had told Michael and Joshua Hill about.

August knew they weren’t lost.

But he had to follow procedure. They were missing until proven otherwise.

The camp they’d set up wasn’t really a camp at all. There’d been no attempt at a campfire, no bedding, no fishing gear, no food or supplies.

“Unless they took it with them and walked off a trail,” Jake supplied weakly.

He knew all too well those men weren’t here to camp or fish. And he knew they weren’t missing.

August looked into the surrounding forest and sighed. “We should get the dog squad and a chopper.”

Wasted resources, he thought. But protocol.

There was a minuscule chance of the three men being lost campers. But August had to follow procedure.

He made some calls while Jake and Probation Officer Sharp took to the trails to look for signs or clues. Or bodies. Local volunteer search and rescue teams would be arriving soon and the police search team would be feet and vehicles on the ground too. And a chopper, most likely.

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