My 6-year-old granddaughter phoned me in panic just after midnight. “Mommy says the baby is coming! Help!” I asked, “Where’s daddy?” She answered, “He k!cked mommy’s tummy and left.”…..

Knows she walks the last two blocks by herself. He’s planning to grab her, then take her to his cousin’s hunting lodge up north. Harry’s hands are steady, but his voice carried a deadly calm that made Marshall take a step back. Over my dead body, there’s more. If the kidnapping goes wrong, if you or the cops get too close, he’s prepared to. Marshall swallowed hard.

He’s prepared to eliminate the evidence. He’d kill a six-year-old girl. He’s that desperate, that paranoid. In his mind, you’ve destroyed his life, so he’s going to destroy yours. Harry was quiet for a long moment, running through options and contingencies. Then he smiled, and it was the coldest expression Marshall had ever seen.

Actually, this works out perfectly. How do you figure? Because Trent just gave me everything I need to finish this. Call your contact at the state police. Tell them you’ve got intelligence about a planned kidnapping. Give them all the details, time, location, method. You want to tip off the cops. I want to tip off the right cops.

Not Timonss and his corrupt friends, but the state investigation team that’s coming to town with a new sheriff. Marshall’s eyes widened as he understood. You moved the timeline up. Called in every favor I had. Sheriff Lasal is arriving tomorrow morning, two days early, with a full state investigation team. They’ll be in town for exactly one hour before Trent tries to kidnap Lydia.

That’s cutting it close. Close is what makes it perfect. Trent will walk right into a sting operation. And instead of just gambling charges, he’ll be facing federal kidnapping counts. What about Lydia? You can’t use a six-year-old as bait. I’m not. Harry’s smile turned genuine for the first time in days. Lydia has been staying with my old Navy buddy Griffin Lasowl and his wife for the past three days.

The girl walking to school tomorrow morning will be officer Sarah Martinez from the state police dressed to look like a child from a distance. Marshall stared at him. Griffin Lasowl, the new sheriff. We served together on a destroyer in the Persian Gulf. When I called and told him what was happening, he moved heaven and earth to get here early with a full tactical team.

Jesus, Harry, you’ve been planning this whole thing from the beginning, not the beginning. But once I realized how deep the corruption went, I knew we’d need outside help to make it stick. Harry stood up. Tomorrow morning, Trent Huxley is going to discover what happens when you threaten a cane. The next morning dawned clear and cold with the kind of crisp Montana air that made everything seem sharper and more defined.

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