High Country Nocturne (David Mapstone Mystery 8)

I slid the Python into its holster. “No.”

“Well, crap. I did my best.”

“Everybody else seems to believe you are.”

“That’s good. What about the woman?”

I told him she had shot and nearly killed Lindsey.

He cursed. He actually apologized, a rarity. If he hadn’t, I might have strangled him.

He said, “I was trying to keep you both safe.”

“Right. But you were nervous enough that you left me the message on the dictaphone.”

My eyes adjusted enough to see him sitting in an armchair facing the door. He had several days of stubble growing out on his face but otherwise looked good. In front of him was a steamer trunk coffee table. Three straight-back chairs were arrayed in the room. Behind him was the kitchen. Up above was a railing for the sleeping loft.

“No electricity?” I asked.

“It’s on. Better to keep things dark. Pham roped me in on this case. The plan was for me to check into a motel on Black Canyon and wait for Pennington. He would contact the Russians and we would have a meet to exchange the diamonds for cash. If everything went well, that would be when the bad-apple agent would show himself and Pham’s people could move in and bag them all. But it seemed like there were a dozen ways it would blow up in our faces.”

“When did it happen?”

“The moment that woman tried to ambush me in the parking garage. I got rid of the tracker in my boot. Then I made up my own Plan B. Get out of town and wait.”

“For?”

“For you to find Pennington.”

I shook my head. “You took a hell of a chance. What if I hadn’t found your note in Flagstaff?”

“Then Sharon would have found a way to tell you,” he said. “Anyway, I knew you couldn’t resist the trains. Look, if I had told you about this ahead of time, you not only would have been in danger, but you couldn’t have stopped yourself from immediately jumping supersonic. I needed to slow you down, but keep you going.”

“You’re a devious man.”

He smiled. “Tell me I’m wrong about you. This is why I texted you so you wouldn’t ask questions at the outset.”

“That was the first thing that seemed suspicious,” I said.

“I’m not an analog, Mapstone. This is also why I dropped Pennington’s name but no other information. If everything went well, I’d be back in the office before you could find him. If it didn’t, he’d know how to contact me, who was clean, who was dirty and we could find a way out. Only he and I knew about this cabin. But he never showed up.”

“He’s dead. The woman killed him.” I filled in some details about Amy Russell.

He was silent for a long time. I found a wooden chair and sat.

“Well, if the world didn’t suck, we’d all fall off,” he said. “Do you have the rough?”

“In the bag. Why was the weapons compartment empty in your truck? That bugged Horace Mann.”

“Good. I cleaned it out and transferred the stuff to Orville’s

car. Guns, food, beer, and cigars. All the essentials.”

“I did a check of the Danger Room. Nothing was missing.”

“I brought guns from home,” he said, “Anyway, I made this place as secure as I could. Only one way in or out. Solid walls unless you’re upstairs and they start shooting through the glass. Do you trust Pham?”

I thought about it and answered yes. “He was tracking you with a drone on Friday. They screwed up in not realizing it couldn’t pass over Sky Harbor airspace. That’s how he lost contact. Then you disappeared. I believe him. I think Ed believes him.”