Page 76 of Dairy and Deadly

“John was already dead.” He grimly recounted that fateful night. “And someone had to go down for the murder of the three dairy farmers. I hoped that would be the end of it, but I should’ve known better. I should’ve known they were never going to let the family of the woman who developed a bioweapon live in peace.”

“My mother developed the capability.” Ashley hated how badly he was maligning the dead. Her mother was innocent. “Your associates are the ones who turned it into a weapon.”

“If you want to split hairs…”

Split hairs!She was aghast at how cavalier he was being about the growing list of tragedies he’d had a hand in. Whether directly or indirectly, it didn’t matter. He was going to jail when this was over. He had to know that.

“I don’t want to argue with you,” he sighed. “That’s not why I came for you.”

“You kidnapped us at gunpoint,” Caro reminded frostily.

“I was in the crosshairs of that sniper, too,” he reminded.

“Whatever makes you feel better when you tell it.” Caro waved her hands airily.

Martin’s angular features twisted with anger. They reached a back road, and he turned onto it. It was full of potholes that made them bounce around in the truck until their teeth rattled.

Fresh waves of nausea crashed through Ashley. “Where are you taking us?” If he didn’t stop soon, she was going to start gagging.

“Some place quiet where we can talk.”

Ashley stared blankly at him. “About?”

“The roses I sent you.”

“I threw them out!”

He gave her an irritated look. “Then explain how the GPS tracker on the zip drive I embedded in them has been traveling all over the south side of town.”

“I never saw a zip drive.” Horror shuddered through her at the possibility that Can Opener had inadvertently swallowed it while rummaging through the trashcan.

“Then help me come up with a plausible explanation I can present to my associates.” He parked in front of a weathered shed that looked like it was close to falling in. “Preferably before they lose patience and pull the plug on this interrogation.”

By pulling the plug, she could only assume he didn’t expect her and Caro to leave the cabin alive. A choking gag worked its way up her throat. She fought to tamp down on it while Martin herded them at gunpoint from the truck into the shack.

The interior was as bleak as the outside. Two wooden chairs were resting in the center of the room. Martin waved Ashley and Caro toward them. “Sit.”

She didn’t appreciate being barked at like she was a dog. “What was on the zip drive, and why in the world did you send it to me?”

“I’ll ask the questions from now on.” He swiftly tied her hands behind the chair and her ankles to the legs.

“Good girl,” he crooned as he did the same to Caro. “I was afraid you’d put up a fight, and…” He crouched in front of her to laughingly draw a finger across his throat. “Snipers.”

“You mean the one who kept driving when we turned onto the road leading to this shack?” Her voice was taunting.

His smile disappeared. “You think you’re clever, don’t you? I was actually referring to the two stationed in the deer stand outside.”

“If you say so.”

He stalked to the nearest window with a walkie talkie in hand. He muttered something in code into it. When he stepped away from the window, a red laser dot appeared on Caro’s forehead.

From the look on Caro’s face, Ashley deduced that a matching red dot was resting on her own forehead.

“Is our conversation being recorded?” Caro intoned, still managing to sound unruffled.

“Like I said, I’ll be asking the questions from now on.” He spoke into his walkie talkie again, and the red laser dots disappeared. He swung back to Ashley. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, I need to know where the zip drive is.”

She shook her head helplessly. “I have no idea.”

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