Page 22 of Wired Justice

Chapter Twelve

Hearing a scuffle,Jake thrust an arm through the flimsy tarp doorway to follow Sophie. He swept the covering back to throw light on the scene.

Sophie was down.

The dog was tied just out of range, but its snapping, snarling jaws were way too close to her face. The male tweaker, Jim Webb, loomed over his partner, holding a wooden club.

Sophie lashed out suddenly with a foot, and caught Webb in the knee. The man’s leg buckled and he went down with a cry, landing on the dog. The big pit bull yelped pitifully.

Sophie rolled out of the way and sprang to her feet, ready for action. Webb lumbered up and rushed her, but Jake saw his chance to help. He stepped in and backhanded the guy with his weapon, dropping him like a bag of rocks. Jake hauled the tweaker up by his armpits and leaned him against the doorway. Webb’s nose dribbled blood, but he was already coming around as a shrieking, demon-possessed banshee rushed Jake from the back.

Sophie very efficiently stopped the woman with an elbow to the midsection and an uppercut to the jaw. Rayme crumpled, and Sophie hauled the woman by the armpits over to the wall and propped her beside her partner.

Jake held his weapon on the two. “This didn’t have to be so unpleasant. We just want to know where Julie Weathersby is. Don’t bother telling us you don’t know her. We have an eyewitness who puts the three of you together, partying around a campfire at East Point.”

Webb shushed the barking dog with a curse. The black-and-white pit bull, scrawny under its swagger, sank to its belly, backing away and whining in distress.

They couldn’t leave that poor animal here.Hopefully, Sophie would agree. They could at least take it to an animal shelter . . .

The couple glanced at each other and Rayme twisted her hands together. A gold chain winked on one of her wrists. “We don’t know anything, I swear,” she whined.

Sophie pointed to the chain. “That bracelet looks new. And I think I see a charm on it. Hand it over.”

“No. It’s my private property,” the woman said. “And I’m gonna report you for assault.”

Sophie took out her phone. She held the picture of Julie Weathersby out toward Rayme. “Examine what is on this woman’s wrist. Look familiar?”

Rayme squinted at the phone, and then covered the chain on her wrist protectively with a hand. “That girl gave this to me. Screw you.”

“And show us some ID if you’re cops,” growled Webb.

“We’re not cops.” Jake growled. He was downright eager to inflict some pain on these two. He dropped the tarp, and the room went dim. “It’s your word against ours what went on here, and we can do this easy, or we can do this hard.”

The couple picked easy.

Walking back to the Jeep,leading the scrawny black-and-white dog on a rope and carrying the gold chain in his pocket, Jake glanced at Sophie walking ahead. She had just hung up from calling Freitan again to let the detective know the tweaker couple had admitted to robbing Julie Weathersby and dropping her off alone in a wilderness area, which was where he and Sophie were headed next.

“I hope you’re okay with taking the dog. Tank deserves a better life,” Jake said.

Sophie laughed. “Of course. You must have read my mind, because Ginger likes him too.”

Jake kept a wary eye on their six o’clock, glancing back toward the camp as Ginger, tugging at her leash to get close to her new friend, licked the pit bull’s face. “Tank complicates things a bit. We need to take him to the shelter in Hilo.”

“The area where Rayme and Webb dropped Julie is on the way to Hilo. Not that I think she’ll still be there.” Sophie frowned. “But hopefully someone will have seen her around there, and we can pick up her trail, at least. I’m beginning to be very worried for Julie Weathersby.”

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