Page 81 of Devil's Due

I let that pass, not wanting to draw attention to the sudden flare in Pyro’s eyes, confident the tracker will be found and destroyed. “So, you followed them today?”

Another raise and dip of his head. “Sure did. They headed up to your cabin. I parked up, followed on foot. Didn’t know at the time that that’s where Stevie was hiding, they could have just been holing up there themselves. I got close enough to hear them talking. They’d expected to find Stevie there, and were making plans how to approach to catch her unawares. I was faster and skirted around them. Picked up your track immediately. You, cleverly, headed off into the forest.” He gives me a brief grin. “You passed me walking down. I assumed you’d hidden Stevie, and I found her. Well, you know the rest. Now she’s under my protection again.”

His story sounds plausible. But there’s one thing I don’t like. “Lennox, she was almost killed three times on your watch. There’s a leak somewhere.”

He shakes his head. “Never lost a witness from Wit Sec yet. The US Marshals are tight.”

“I suggest you stop regurgitating that shit as you almost lost this one.” Demon’s voice thunders from the top of the table, making the point better than I could. “I’ve not decided whether I trust you or not, but one thing we stand for is not hurting women or failing to protect them.” He pauses, then his hand bangs the table twice in quick succession. “If you didn’t open your mouth, who did? The dog’s tracker is almost definitely how they found her. So who’s got access to the GPS database where his details will be lodged. And who the fuck knew what to look for?”

Demon’s final words ring around the room in the sudden silence as all eyes stare at the man who’s got no real rights to be here. Lennox shifts uncomfortably, then pushes back his chair and starts to stand.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

The strength and loudness of the prez’s voice makes Lennox straighten his back. “I’m taking this back to my colleagues. We’ll start…”

“You’re not starting anything,” I growl. “The leak may have come from within your organisation.”

Lennox’s cheeks glow red. “We’re watertight. We’ve never…”

“Well you fuckin’ nearly have now.” My fist comes down so hard on the wooden table top I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear it crack. “You don’t know who you can fuckin’ trust. You don’t know if someone’s got a brother, or sister, or cousin first removed with a tie to the Warped Jokers.”

With his cheeks puffed out, Lennox spits out, “All my teams are background checked and have security clearance.”

“So that’s okay then?” My tone is sarcastic. Then my voice sharpens. “Then who else knows?”

Lennox grimaces. “Local law enforcement is informed as a courtesy when we relocate a witness into their town.”

“What the fuck?” Thunder roars. “The cops know?”

“Ninety-five percent of the time, witnesses are people who have been involved with a crime, but who have agreed to testify. They get a new identity, help finding a job. But in the end, we’re relocating a problem into a town. Local lawmen have the right to be given a heads up in case they go back to their old ways.”

“Stevie’s committed no crime,” I say tensely. “There’s no reason for the cops to know.”

Marshal shrugs. “We just followed procedure.”

“A cop could access the database with the dog’s details,” Cad suggests.

Lennox looks a mixture of relieved, confused and annoyed. “We haven’t had problems before.” He stares down at the table, then raises his eyes to meet Demon’s. “Any local cop you don’t trust?”

“Them all?” Pyro throws in, then sits back with a huff.

Prez answers more seriously, “Apart from you? No.”

He looks down the table toward his father. Hellfire shrugs. “We try to avoid them when we can. Got a new police chief in recently, but as far as we can tell, he’s straight.”

“When did he take the job?” Lennox asks tersely.

When he’s told, he shakes his head. “Date’s don’t match up. He couldn’t have known at the time that we were going to place Stevie here.”

The marshal slumps in his seat. Then suddenly he sits back up. “Of course, if they hadn’t so conveniently disappeared, we could ask the Warped Jokers outright.” His voice sharpens. “What have you done with them?”

Demon stares back at him steadily. “They got the message they weren’t welcome in Pueblo. Must have headed back to whatever hole they came from.”

I work hard at suppressing my grin. Yeah, for two of them, that’s a nice deep hole in the ground. Our next step will indeed be to question the two still breathing, but that’s something the likes of Lennox will know nothing about. Don’t want anyone connected to the law poking into the way we manage that particular business.

“I’d like to ask a question.” Buzzard leans forward, then twists his head. “If we’re proposing to keep this woman safe, how long? When is the trial, Marshal?”

It’s a good question. I hadn’t thought to ask. I raise my chin toward the treasurer.

---