New River Breeze by Ed Robinson

Author:Ed Robinson [Robinson, Ed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ed Robinson
Published: 2019-06-14T04:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Deputy Roger Palmer arrived just before the gates were locked for the night. He came in a four-wheel-drive pickup, complete with a gun rack in the back window. He wore good canvas bush pants and expensive hiking boots. He was openly carrying his pistol on his right side. He looked formidable. There was a cooler in the bed of the truck and a rifle in the rack.

“We appreciate you coming out here,” I said. “We know it must be an inconvenience for you.”

“I would have volunteered sooner,” he said. “But I didn’t know about it until today. Sheriff said go, so here I am.”

“Do you know your way around this place?”

“I’ve been here a few times,” he said. “I’m pretty good in the woods. I can help with this detail.”

“Excellent,” I said. “Welcome aboard.”

“How did you two get enlisted in this duty?” he asked.

“We’ve had some similar experience in neighboring counties,” I explained. “I’m a tracker. Brody is former FBI. We’ve been around a bit.”

“A tracker, eh?” he said. “Lost art these days. You got a dog?”

“I do but he’s not with us,” I said.

“So what’s the plan?”

“We tried splitting up,” I said. “We’ve got an RV up here. Brody took it, and I fell asleep on the second night, allowing someone to run through and grab what he could.”

“Do you know what he got?”

“A bag of something,” I said. “Food, maybe.”

“Did you get a look at him?”

“Not a good one,” I said. “But he headed uphill from the bathhouse down below.”

“He was running, and he went uphill,” he said. “Must be physically fit.”

“We’re open to any ideas you may have.”

“Let’s go down there and talk to the campers,” he said. “See who is missing something.”

“Should we try to enlist more eyes down there?”

“Can’t hurt,” he said. “If you want, I can stay down there alone tonight. I’m fresh. You got a tent set up?”

“First site on the riverside,” I told him. “Right across from the bathhouse.”

“Let me get you two some radios,” he said. “I was told to bring cuffs too, if you want them.”

“Both would be great,” I said. “We can take shifts up here tonight. Reassess things tomorrow.”

He gave us quick instructions on the radios and gave us each a pair of handcuffs. We shook hands and wished each other a safe night before he drove off to the walk-in tent sites. I felt much better about things. An extra man was just what we needed, and he didn’t seem to be pissed about being there. He carried himself with confidence like he was comfortable in these surroundings and not just a street cop. He looked and dressed like he had experience in the wilderness. I figured we could count on him to do his part.

“I think he’s got a little cowboy in him,” Brody said. “A little cocky, maybe.”

“He’ll be a real asset to us on this one,” I said. “Seemed competent to me.”

“Cuts our work in half,” she said. “How do you want to work the shifts?”

“Three hours each,” I said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.