Page 78 of The 9th Man

“We’ve got company,” Sue called down.

He quickly folded the pages back up and stuffed them into the ziplock. He then slid the vial with the drive into his pocket and shook Jillian awake.

“Showtime.”

She came alert and they both grabbed a Beretta then headed upstairs. Sue was ensconced before a laptop, Crusoe at her feet. He came close and saw a topographic map with the house and surrounding area on the screen.

“Those red dots are—”

“Surveillance camera triggers.” He counted four, which meant men were approaching the house from the south. “See if you can catch one.”

Sue brought up the camera program, then scrolled through the multiple images until finally they spotted a shadowed figure frozen in mid-step. Then another crouching by a tree. And a third prone in the grass.

He recalled their arrival. “How many of these cameras have two-way audio?”

Sue pointed at the screen. “That one, that one, and that one. What do they want?”

“Our asses,” he said, not mentioning what was in his pocket. “You two get moving, like we discussed. I’m gonna see if I can slow them down.”

35

LUKE WAITED UNTIL HE HEARD THE BACK DOOR CLOSE BEFOREreturning his focus to the laptop. He clicked on one of the audio cameras then nestled his Beretta near the laptop’s microphone and racked the slide. To anyone near the camera, that familiar sound would stop them in their tracks.

He chose another camera and barked out, “Over here.”

He clicked on a third camera and shouted, “Talley.”

One more for good measure. He returned to the first camera and said, “Did you miss me?”

That should generate some confusion with noise coming from several directions. He raced down the stairs and left out the back door. Jillian and Sue, who had Crusoe tucked under one arm, were waiting near the shed.

“With any luck I’ve bought time,” he said. “Show us those quads you mentioned earlier.”

They headed for the garage, about fifty yards behind the house. He quietly swung open the big door, revealing a pair of black quads sitting side by side.

“You take one and head north,” he told Sue. “Make your way to town and disappear. Use the locals for protection.”

He was guessing Talley’s priorities were first, finding any pertinent writings and/or evidence, and second killing him and Jillian.

Hopefully, in that order.

“Why north?” asked Sue. “East is—”

“The cameras that got triggered were to the south. They’re coming in from the water the way we did earlier. It’ll be easier for you and Crusoe to get through to the north. And you know the way. They don’t.”

They’d discussed this over dinner and laid out the plan, just in case Talley decided tonight was the night.

“Give me the lay of the land again,” he said to Sue.

“At the tree line you’ll find a path that Ray cut. It leads straight to a dock where he keeps his swamp boat.”

“How far?” Jillian asked.

“About half a mile,” Sue said. “Take the boat, follow the buoys out of the inlet, then west until you hit a headland. Straight on until you’re on Five Lakes. Watch yourselves, the mangrove gets gnarly in there. Make your way to the north shore until you reach a canal. Follow that north three miles until you find a gravel road. Head east. It’ll lead you to the north side of Hackberry. Find Spencer Marina and ask for Laird. Use my name. He’ll help.”

“Got it,” he said. “Sorry we brought this down on you. Lie low until we reach out. We’ll call Ken’s and ask for Robbie.”

“As in Crusoe?”