Page 104 of Only One More Lie

“You all need to get out away from that camp,” Gibson said through the phone. “I don’t like anything I’m hearing right now.”

Duke agreed. “How are the roads?”

“They’re bad. A sheet of ice, and the city can’t keep up—they’re freezing over just as quickly as the crew can treat them. The backroads are especially dangerous.”

Duke frowned and rubbed his jaw. “That’s what I thought. I’ll see what we can do to get us out of here.”

“I have another update,” Gibson continued. “But why don’t you call me when you get back to the cabin? My update can wait.”

Duke promised to be in touch once he was back with the rest of the gang, and then he ended the call.

“Does Officer Gibson think that the people buying these drugs are going to come back to get them?” Juniper’s voice rose with anxiety.

“It’s a possibility,” Duke said. “We should leave just to be on the safe side. Let’s get these reindeers fed. Then let’s get back. Because if I had to guess, we’re sitting on at least a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of meth. That’s something a lot of people would kill for.”

CHAPTER 55

Andi listened to Duke’s update when he returned to the cabin.

After he finished, she shook her head. “I can’t believe that’s what was going on this whole time. Are we sure it was Caleb and Peppermint?”

“They’re the only ones who make sense.” Juniper sat on the couch with a blanket pulled around her and a cup of cocoa in her hands. Simmy had made the drink for her. “I just can’t believe this.”

She’d already spoken those words of disbelief several times since she’d come back into the cabin.

“Aren’t there better ways they could have distributed these drugs?” Andi paused near the fire, relishing the warmth of the flames. “And where were they even getting the drugs to begin with?”

“Things aren’t monitored out here,” Juniper said. “I could see where someone who was up to no good would want to use this location. They packaged it with the magic Christmas dust, and no one suspected a thing.”

“My guess is that Pepper died because of this,” Duke said. “That note said:I told you this would happen.”

“Someone wanted to send a message, not only to Pepper but to Caleb also,” Andi murmured. “Maybe they were trying to take too large of a cut for themselves.”

Duke grabbed his phone. “I told Gibson I’d call him back. He said he has another update for us.”

“Can you put it on speaker?” Andi said.

“You got it.” He dialed the number, and the sound of ringing came through the device.

Gibson answered on the first ring. “Hey, Duke. Thanks for calling me back.”

“You have the whole gang here listening.”

“That’s fine. I wanted to let you know I’ve been doing some digging into Caleb’s background. As I told you before, Caleb Brinley, as people at the camp knew him, does not exist. He stole someone’s identity.”

“Did you find out who he really is?” Andi asked.

“I did. His name is Caleb Michaels, and he was involved in the drug scene down by the US/Canadian border. He made some enemies—on both sides—and went on the lam about three years ago. He’s used various identities since then.”

“I can’t believe that.” Juniper shook her head, her eyes pressed closed as if she were mentally chiding herself for trusting the man.

“You guys are going to try to get out of there still, right?” Gibson asked. “If Caleb’s enemies are close, and they know the stash of drugs is there, there’s no telling what they will do to get their hands on it.”

“That’s the plan,” Duke said. “We’ll let you know when we’re on the road. We just need to grab a few things.”

As Duke ended the call, Andi ground her teeth.

She hadn’t been sure if Pepper’s death was related to what was going on here or not. But she definitely hadn’t expected drugsmuggling. Nor had she expected Juniper to be Simmy’s long-lost daughter.

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