Page 86 of Rex

“Breakfast sounds perfect,” I holler at the door and listen to the receding footsteps. Turning back to Aria, I mutter, “I sincerely hope it’s eggs and bacon and not sausage.”

I leave the room with Aria still rolling around the bed, laughing.

I drop Aria off at her office and chat with Chubs for a while before leaving them both there. I know she’s safe even if the office refrigerator isn’t. I’m sure it’ll only be minutes before he has the staff all fawning over him and contacting Uber Eats.

I drive to my office and walk in to find Marti and Pigeon have everything under control. I fill Pigeon in on the events of last night, and then I get busy trying to get a lock on Dale’s location.

Hours later, I find a lead. His mom’s a widow, his dad having died when Dale was just a toddler, so it’s just been the two of them. Gwen, the dead lady, is his mom’s sister and has never been married. Gwen owned her house, the one we found her at, but she also owns some property out in the country. Google Earth shows a small cabin on the property with a creek nearby. The cabin is on the way to Ivy’s ranch and not far from it as the crow flies.

My phone rings, and I answer without looking to see who’s calling. It’s Gunner.

“Hey. I heard about last night. Is Aria covered today?”

“Yeah, Chubs is at her office for now.”

“If you need people to help with that, let me know. Axel needs to stay close to Bailey, but the rest of us are available to assist. Candy, too,” Gunner states.

“Thanks, appreciate it.”

“The intel you gave me on the traffickers has been sent to the Morales family. They will be showing up here by next week, and we’ll be backing their play. Is this situation with Aria going to be done by then?” Gunner asks.

“I hope so. We know who it is. It’s just finding his ass now,” I answer. “I just found a property his aunt owned, and I’m thinking he might be there. It’s out by the ranch, so I’m going to get Pigeon to take a ride with me.”

“Have you talked to Cash yet today?” Gunner questions.

“No, not yet. Why?”

“Someone made an anonymous call to the P.D. asking for a well-being check on this guy’s mom. Someone most likely being Livi. Since she and James were in the area of his mom’s house, they got the call. James kicked in the door, following department protocol, and found her dead. Beaten to death, for fuck’s sake. A disabled woman, beaten to death by her own damn son. After the crime scene techs arrived, they left to inform the next of kin. Her son. No one’s at his place, and they said it doesn’t look like he’s been there in weeks.”

“Holy shit,” I breathe out the words, stunned. “I knew after seeing his aunt that he was capable, but his own mother?”

“Yeah, I know. Problem is, the detective on the case of his mother is now looking for him too. If we don’t find him fast, they will. They’re sitting on his house and watching the animal sanctuary. It won’t be long, and they’ll know about the aunt’s cabin too.”

“We’ll leave immediately. I’ll keep you posted,” I say and disconnect. “Pigeon! Let’s take a ride!”

While on the road the cabin’s on, Pigeon suddenly slams on the brakes of his truck. I see the locked gate across the almost hidden driveway and understand the hard braking.

“We’re really close to the ranch’s border, Rex. At this end of it, it’s rough terrain. I’m not sure if we can get close to the cabin without being seen. Hang on. Let me call my wife. She knows this land better than anyone.”

While Pigeon’s making the call, I get out and approach the gate. There are definitely fresh tire tracks past the gate. The driveway is mostly overgrown, and the grass is knocked down, showing two clear sets of tire tracks traveling up the driveway.

“My wife said we might be walking into a blind canyon type situation. She said the house sits on a small ledge near the creek, but it’s wide open all around it. She doesn’t think we’d be able to see the cabin from the safety of the brush and woods. She said fishermen use the creek all the time, floating down it, and maybe we should try that.”

“How far in is the cabin?” I ask, not wanting to stop heading straight for Dale.

“Not sure. If you want to walk in, we’ll do it. My wife thinks we’ll get a better view of everything from the creek, though.”

I instinctively duck a little when I hear a vehicle approaching. Looking toward the road, I see Horse’s truck with Reeves riding shotgun. Behind that is Trigger’s truck with Petey in it too. Waiting until they join us, I explain what we know.

“I think I know what cabin you’re talking about. I’ve spent a lot of time fishing at the ranch, and I’ve used Ivy’s aluminum boat to float by here. She’s right. The best view would be from the water,” Trigger states.

“Might be best to have someone on the water then,” Petey adds. “Someone here too, so he has no easy escape if he’s still here.”

I nod in agreement.

Horse, Petey, and Trigger are going to the ranch to get the boat and a canoe. Reeves, me, and Pigeon will move in from this direction. Everyone checks their weapons and gets moving to their assignments.

We make our way up the driveway and stick to the shadows of the trees and brush that border it. I keep an eye out for any technology that he may have put into place but find nothing. The rat thinks he’s safe here.

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