Page 22 of So Dark

He looked at her again. “Is this about the case or about everything else in your life?”

Her smile faded. "Well, itwasjust about the case.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

Before she could tell him not to worry about it, the door of the shop opened, and Garett stepped outside. The agents snapped to attention and watched him as he loaded two duffel bags into his truck. He got into the driver’s seat and pulled onto the highway heading west.

“What do you suppose are in those?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know. But I would love to find out.”

Michael followed him from a distance. With the sky dark, they didn’t have a choice but to use their headlights, so they kept a mile in between themselves and Garrett’s vehicle. He drove west for six miles and turned off onto a rough dirt road heading north into the forest.

The two of them followed, again keeping distance. The road quickly went from rough to very rough. Their truck had four-wheel-drive and all-terrain tires, but they wouldn’t be able to follow much farther if the road got any worse than it was now.

Fortunately, just as Faith was about to tell Michael to cut the engine, Garrett pulled to a stop in a clearing of about ten acres. The agents stopped where they were, left the vehicle and quickly made their way to the clearing.

Garrett pulled the bags from the back of his truck and set them on the ground. When he opened them, the agents’ eyes widened as they looked at the snare wire, various knives and guns, and other survival equipment that he unloaded.

They heard the sound of an engine behind them and turned around to see a van climbing up the same road. The driver didn’t seem bothered at all by how rough the road was as he made his way up the hill.

Garrett lifted his head toward the van and grinned. He lifted his hand in a wave, and when the van stopped, he walked to the side door. Faith put her hand on her weapon and watched closely.

The door opened, and children spilled out. Actual children. Fourteen of them. Faith watched in amazement as over a dozen grade school children greeted Garrett with hugs and smiles and enthusiastic questions.

Garrett laughed and lifted his hands. “All right, all right. Calm down everyone. You’ll all get a chance to look at my equipment, and more importantly, you’ll all get to learn some valuable survival skills that will helpyouwhen you find yourself enjoying the Alaskan wilderness!”

“So he’s like a youth group instructor?” Michael asked.

“Hey guys?”

The voice was soft but familiar. Faith spun around, her weapon in her hand. Michael did the same, and the heavysetman from Tundra Outfitters lifted both of his hands. “I’m unarmed,” he said quietly. “I just want to talk to you two for a moment.”

“So talk,” Faith said curtly. “Did you follow us?”

“Yes. Can we please talk away from the children? You can search me if you feel more comfortable.”

Faith looked over her shoulder. Garrett was listening to the children introduce themselves, a bright smile on his face. She looked back at Quint and said, “Okay. We’ll follow you.”

“Thank you.”

Quint led them a couple dozen yards away from the clearing. Faith saw that they were in a small depression next to the road, about halfway to their parked truck. Behind their truck was a Jeep Wrangler on oversized tires. That must be Quint’s vehicle.

“I want to start by apologizing for our behavior earlier,” Quint said. “We get a lot of tourists here, but we don’t get the FBI. We’re not really trusting of outsiders. Tourists are one thing, but tourists just make us money. FBI… well, I don’t have a good way of saying this. We just prefer to handle our own business.”

“The problem is that someone here handled their business by murdering two innocent people,” Faith said.

“I know. But you came in looking like you’d already decided it was Garrett. He’s been my best friend my whole life, and I got defensive. I know I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Faith looked at Michael, then back at Quint. “Can you confirm his whereabouts the nights of the murders?”

“I can tell you that I believe him when he says he’s at home. I know that’s not enough. I can also speak to his character. That might not be enough either, but it might help you understand why I feel so protective of him.”

“You called us away,” Michael said. “Talk.”

Quint nodded. “Well, you know Garrett has a violent past. He called me after you left, so I know you two talked.”

“He has a very violent past,” Michael agreed. “And he has a motive for wanting Ethan Holloway and Valerie North dead.”

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