The front door to the hotel opened again and Easton Black, Sheriff Champion, and a man Mick didn’t recognize walked into the lobby.
“Aunt Maude, you’ll never be old.” The unknown man came over to them and put his arm around the dear lady’s shoulder. “No one in town can keep up with you.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “This is my nephew, Austin. He doesn’t say much but when he does, he always says just the right thing. No wonder his wife is so in love with him.”
“And I’m so in love with her, too. And so are my brothers.”
Maude turned to Paris. “There are many similarities between our towns.”
“So I’ve heard.” Paris smiled, lighting up the whole room.
“I’m glad we caught you,” the sheriff said. “You already know Mr. Black, and you just met Austin Wilde, who has helped us on your case.”
Austin was a tall man with steely dark eyes. He tipped his black cowboy hat to Paris. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Cottrell. The whole town has been buzzing since your arrival.”
They all shook hands.
“Sheriff, we planned on coming over to your office at noon to give you our statements like you asked.” Mick genuinely liked Sheriff Champion. He had a kind and warm bearing about him.
“No hurry. We can get those any time today, but I rushed over here after Mr. Black arrived with his information.”
Black was a seasoned CIA agent and led Shannon’s Elite, an anti-cyber terrorism team based in Destiny. “Peter Barkley just got out of prison a few days ago. As you know, he was married to a woman that Doc operated on when he was an intern.”
“Anne.” Dustin sighed. “Yes, I remember.”
“When he walked out of the gates of the prison, Barkley got into a brand new Mercedes with a woman. We got the plates off of one of the prison’s perimeter cameras. When we ran the numbers, we found it was the property of a company based out of El Paso, Texas, that operates vending machines throughout the Southwest.”
“El Paso? Vending machines?” Dustin shook his head. “I’m confused.”
“So were we, Doc. My team did some digging and with the help of Austin and his contacts, we discovered the business is owned by a holding company that is a money laundering front for a powerful Mexican drug cartel.”
“Let me guess. The woman that picked Barkley up from prison was Cindy Trollinger.” Paris knew how to cut to the chase.
Mick’s gut tightened. Is it happening again?
Lunceford had rained down hell on Destiny for a long time. He was dead, and no one mourned his passing. It was clear now that his sister planned revenge.
Austin jumped in. “The cartel is run by Ricardo Delgado, someone the sheriff and I are looking for. We got a hit on him turning up in Chicago about two months ago. He met with Anton Mitrofanov and Trollinger at a hotel. Shortly after that meeting, we got another hit on him turning up in El Paso with Trollinger. Using some of Easton’s facial recognition software, we got a match on Trollinger leaving El Paso in the Mercedes. We think she found out about the connection to Dr. Ryder and Barkley and used that to her advantage.”
Mick curled his hands into fists. “She is just like her psychotic brother.”
“No doubt about it.” Easton’s eyes narrowed, and Mick could almost see the weight the man carried in his intense stare. “Every Destonian has a target on their chest as long as Trollinger is out there. You three just happened to be the first shot.”
Dustin took a deep breath. “Do you think she’ll try again, Easton? I want to make sure Paris is safe.”
“We’ve already put Destiny on red alert. Cameras are working and the sheriff has reactivated all the volunteer deputies.” Easton paused, obviously considering the current situation. “I doubt she’ll go after you again. That hasn’t been her normal M.O. Unfortunately, Cindy strikes when you least expect it, always shifting her targets. But we’re as ready as we can be for her. She’s gone underground again, but once she pops up into the daylight, we’ll get her. I’ve been given every resource of the agency to bring her to justice.”
Mick patted his side. “Everyone in Destiny packs heat.”
Dustin nodded, and Paris brought out her pistol.
Maude laughed and produced her own gun. “The similarities continue. Everyone in Wilde carries, too.”
Paris holstered her weapon. “I need to go get Dustin’s prescription.”
“We need to leave, too,” the sheriff said. “I’ll see you in my office when Dr. Ryder is rested.”
As Sheriff Champion, Easton Black, and Austin left together, Mick thought about home. The entire town had believed the war was over, but it wasn’t. Cindy Trollinger was bent on continuing what Kip Lunceford had begun. Not only that, but she was recruiting allies.