Chapters (78)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Also by Owen Laukkanen
She shook her head. “We’re going to have to improvise.”
Jess could feel her heart rate increasing, feel her senses start to wake up, pay attention, as if she were back on night patrol again, back over there, as if any step she took wrong could blow her legs off, or worse, get one of her guys killed.
She didn’t mind the feeling. Figured this was about the only thing in her life she’d ever been good at, sneaking around doing macho man shit. Figured this adrenaline rush was her body telling her she was doing what she should.
She motioned down the fence line, into the dark. “Let’s do this.”
Burke nodded. Switched on the flashlight, kept it aimed low. Started walking. Jess shouldered the shotgun and fell in behind him.
* * *
Mason and Jess followed the road toward the back of the property. He traced the bottom of the fence with his flashlight, looking for a tear in the chain link, a hole, anything they could use to get into the compound.
That’s what it was, a compound; it wasn’t a farm. Beyond the house, the old fields were filled with the shadowed hulks of old cars, lined up in uneven rows and stacked atop one another, a labyrinth of worn-out American iron. The cars were stacked three or four high; even with their roofs stove in, they still towered above Mason and Jess. Soon the hulks had blocked the view of the house, blocked the view of anything inside the fence line.
They reached the rear of the property, set off through the trees to cover the back fence. Mason walked slow, stepped soft and careful, knew there were supposed to be dogs roaming around. There was a vague path through the forest along the back fence, a deer trail or something, and that helped. He didn’t make much noise tracing the line; behind him, Jess made none, and when he glanced back to make sure she was still with him, there was a dim glint of reflected light on the barrel of the shotgun, the same in her eyes, and that’s all she was.
“What?” she whispered. “You see something?”
He said, “Just wanted to make sure.”
“What, that I’m here? I’m not going anywhere.”
He kept moving. Led them to the far corner of the property, where there was a gate, double wide, and another rutted road. Beyond the fence, through the phalanx of cars, Mason could see an outbuilding, the road leading to it.
The gate was locked with a padlock. The road underneath was muddy from the rain, but the tire tracks looked fresh. He let Jess see the padlock. Then they pressed forward.
But there were no holes in the fence, not even a burrow dug through the dirt at the bottom, no way in or out but the gate in the back or the house at the front.