Cold Winter Sun by Tony J Forder

Author:Tony J Forder [J Forder, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spare Nib Books
Published: 2021-04-18T22:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

We walked back out of the Weather Balloon bar shortly after 9.30am. Terry and I had been in the United States for virtually sixty-five hours and still Vern Jackson was no closer to us than he had been when we stepped off the plane at LAX. That bothered me, and I knew it was bugging the shit out of Terry.

The evening before, I managed to persuade Van Dalen that she would be safer with us on the Lear than remaining in the hotel on her own. It was a simple matter of extrapolation and logic, I told her – if we could find her then so could the bad guys. And I doubted they would take her out for a meal and a drink once they tracked her down.

It did not take her long to reach a decision.

So the three of us spent the night on the plane, which remained tucked away inside the hangar alongside a Gulfstream, but refuelled and ready to go the moment we called for the pilot, who was staying in a nearby motel.

We spent time hashing things out, kicking the tyres on the story to see if it all held together. I got the distinct impression that Van Dalen was holding something back, though I could not work out why she would nor what it could possibly be. Clearly she trusted us – unless her entire story was a fabrication, which I didn’t buy. She had also accepted our invitation to stay overnight at the airport. But there was something the young woman was choosing to keep to herself, and that made me feel uneasy. Usually when people elected to keep secrets, they were the things you most needed to hear.

We discussed our options. Other than locating Van Dalen, Terry and I agreed that things here were pretty much stalled. Our plan earlier in the day had been for him to head off up to Vegas while I stuck it out in and around Roswell. That remained a possibility, but less so now that we knew Vern had definitely been in New Mexico. The major problem remained in having no clue what had happened to either Vern or Bruce Kelper after they dumped the Kia.

Discussing that specific aspect reminded me of something. I asked Van Dalen if she knew anything about the vehicle Kelper had rented. She said the agreement was in amongst the stuff we had brought from the room the three of them had shared. I searched for it, discovered it tucked away inside a paper wallet with the car hire company logo emblazoned all across it. After checking out the details, I gave Drew a call.

‘How’s it going?’ he asked me.

‘We’re getting somewhere. It’s slow going, but it’s progress. Vern was definitely here in New Mexico. We know where he was and when, and we know he drove the car down here. Also that he was not alone. In fact, your nephew was with two other people. We’ve located one of them, and we’re talking to her now.

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