The Sixth Man (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 5)

“She wasn’t with him.”

“And what have their movements been since?”

Avery took a small step back. “Surveillance was lost for a bit but it has now been regained.”

Bunting rose out of his seat once more. “Lost for how long?”

“A few hours.”

Bunting snapped his fingers. “More precise than that, Avery.”

“Eight hours and four minutes. But now they’re headed, at least it seems, to Edgar Roy’s farm.”

“Did it occur to you that when we lost sight of them they might have been going somewhere that could have been highly enlightening?”

“Yes, sir, but I wasn’t in charge of that task.”

“Fine. I am now making it your task to ensure that surveillance is not lost again.” He refocused. “The six bodies at the farm?”

“Yes?”

“Not one ID made? Strange, isn’t it?” Bunting’s expression signaled that it was far more than strange; it was impossible.

“Yes, you would think they would be on some database somewhere.”

“And there’s something else.”

“Sir?”

“The number.”

“Number?”

“Of bodies. Now go do your job.”

Avery looked very confused as he closed the door behind him.

Bunting sat back in his chair, swiveled around, and stared out the window.

Six bodies. Not four, not five, but six.

Ordinarily, Bunting was a man who embraced numbers. He loved statistics, analysis, conclusions based on solid building blocks of data. But the number six was starting to haunt him. He didn’t like it at all.

Six bodies. The E-Six Program.

That hit very close to home.

Someone was really playing with him.

CHAPTER

28

THE TRIP to Edgar Roy’s home took a number of hours. Michelle drove, as usual, while Sean stared moodily out the window.

“Are you curious about what Kelly Paul did while she was out of the country?” he asked.

“Of course I am. But she has a point about focusing on the investigation into her brother. He’s the one facing the death sentence. Not her.”