Page 56 of Raven's Nest
Greer moved in closer, tapping on one of the images of Saylor. “Really? Because it looks like you’ve been busy.” She arched a brow. “You know stalking’s illegal, right?”
“I wasn’t stalking her.” Buck glanced at Saylor. “I wasn’t.”
“So, these are for what?” Greer waved at the board. “A Boy Scout badge?”
“I took them for him. For them. For the exposé. But everything’s changed.” Buck peeled back a piece of foil, shifting his weight on his feet as he scanned the gravel road. “You have to help me before they come back.”
“Calm down…”
“They already tried to kill people.”
Greer glanced over at Saylor, then back to Buck. “Four minutes, Bucky.”
“We don’t have four minutes. You need to put me in protective custody or something. They’re nuts.”
Greer hooked Buck’s arm when he tried to dart past her toward the door. “We’re gonna make time. Now start talking. Who’s they?”
Buck yanked his arm free, eyes overly white. Body twitching like he’d been hit with a taser. He reached for one of the photos and yanked it off the wall. “This guy said he was investigating that drug ring Sheriff Thompson was running. That he suspected Saylor and the other newcomers had taken over the operation. All he wanted were photos. A timeline of her daily routine. Everything was fine but then, bullets started flying, and her place blew up. People were tailing me and going through my stuff on my boat.”
Greer took the photo. “Bucky, this is the photo of the back of a man’s head.”
“He shot a missile into Saylor’s apartment. That’s all I could get with everything on fire.” Buck jumped when a gust of wind scraped a few branches across the RV’sroof. “What are you waiting for? It’s only a matter of time before they come back.”
“I already told you to calm down.”
“He doesn’t know I kept copies. If he finds out…”
Greer snagged his arm. “Buck, I need you to focus. What’s the guy’s name? The one who hired you and fired the missile.”
Buck’s left eye twitched as he shrugged. “I’m not good with names, and he only said it once.” He tapped the photo, again. “But that’s him.”
Greer glanced at Saylor, then over to Zain, a slash of red along her cheeks, eyes narrowed. She focused on Buck, then tilted her head, looking past him to the other wall. “What’s behind you under that curtain?”
Buck backed away and crossed his arms. “That’s something else. It’s not about Saylor.”
Zain nodded when Greer motioned to him, easing back the curtain. More photos covered an oversized cork board, along with storm charts, GPS coordinates and shipping routes. “Holy shit.”
Buck lunged forward, covering most of the images as he placed his back to the wall and stretched out his arms. “I told you, this isn’t Saylor’s stuff.”
Zain pointed at the images. “Who’s stuff is it?”
“It’s a government coverup, jackass. They’re doing experiments out there, and I’ll be the one to bring them down.”
Zain scanned the images, yanking one off the wall. He closed in on Buck, holding it out. “Where did you take this one?”
Buck flinched. “A few miles out on my way backfrom fishing. It was pulling stuff out of the water. Odd bits.” Buck looked at Greer as he cupped one hand beside his mouth. “I think it’s an alien spacecraft that crashed in the ocean. I wanted to take more pictures, but there were guys onboard with guns, and a couple boats circling around it. That’s all I could get with my telephoto lens.”
Zain looked at Saylor, then handed it to Greer. “That’s theNexus.” He moved back to the board. “Buck? Are these charts showing the routes theNexustook?”
Buck nodded, relaxing a bit. “It’s been doing a grid search out there. But only when the weather’s really bad, and there’s less traffic, which is why I know they’re not pulling regular stuff off the ocean floor.”
Saylor moved in beside him, studying the photos when she inhaled. She drew her fingers along the charts, shaking her head until she reached a grainy image pinned next to more photos of theNexus. She froze, hand just touching the edge, eyes wide.
Her breathing kicked up, all the color drained from her face as she pulled the image free. “It’s him.”
Zain stepped up beside her. “Who?”
“Watson. This is Keith Watson.”
