Page 57 of High Value Target

“Point out the fuel tanks.”

“Here. These six.”

They watched, keying in on the tanks, fast-forwarding until they saw movement.

“Stop right there.” Grady pointed at the screen. “Back up a bit.”

It was after two a.m. on the timestamp when a man’s dark shape emerged from the surrounding cottonfields. He was just a dark shadow, with nothing to identify him.

“I want to check that area out,” Grady said.

“Let’s go.” Bodie stood.

They walked around the area near the edge of the field. Grady squatted down. “Here. There’s a set of footprints.” Bodie compared the size of it to the size of his own construction boot.

“Looks about two sizes smaller than mine. But they seem like a similar style construction boot judging by the tread.”

“He’s probably a few inches shorter than you. Come on.”

They followed the trail along the row between the cotton plants. About fifty yards back, Grady held his arm up, indicating Bodie to stop, and then he pointed to several crushed cigarette butts. “Here. Look.”

“Son-of-a-bitch. Someone was out here,” Bodie hissed.

Grady pulled his phone and snapped a picture, then squatted down, pulled out a bandana, and gathered the butts for testing. “We might be able to get some DNA off these. I’ll have Tri Star check them out.”

“Maybe we should call the sheriff,” Bodie said, leaning with his hands on his knees.

Grady tilted his head back. “You really think they’ve got the resources to investigate this? They’ll make a report and be done with it. My team will dig into this thing like a dog with a bone.”

“All right. JD hired you guys. That’s good enough for me.”

Grady pointed at the ground where two different sized footprints were visible. “There were two of them. One waited here.”

“Yep. Looks that way.”

“This one’s much smaller with treads like a pair of running shoes.” Grady took a picture of the tread print. It could be important if they could match it. He stared down the row. “They came from that direction. What’s over there?”

“I think there’s an access road.”

“Down any of these roads,” Grady pointed around. “Are there any businesses at all?”

“Rosa’s that way. A gas station that way and that way. Why?”

“We may be able to pull some video if they’ve got cameras. It might be a long shot.”

The sound of helicopter blades chopping the air carried to them, and they straightened.

“That’s the medivac coming in for my guy. I’ve got to get back. Do me a favor and get Tinsley out of here.”

“Will do. I want to check out those gas stations, see if they’ve got any cameras.”

Twenty minutes later, Grady walked out of the second gas station and climbed into his truck. Tinsley had waited there while he’d gone inside.

“Anything?” she asked.

“Yeah. Let me call my team.” He pulled out his phone and put it on speaker. He’d already filled in Chris on the explosion. “Chris? I’ve got a lead. I was able to talk the employees at both gas stations into letting me look at their cameras in the hour before and after we saw the man show up on the derrick’s surveillance. Got lucky with the second place.” He dipped his eyes to read the sign. “Energy Star on 1788. A white truck was visible going in the direction of the oil rig field prior, and going the opposite direction after, headed toward Midland. It was the only vehicle that passed the station between midnight and 3 am.”

“Anything identifiable?”

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