“I can’t be a part of it, even though I know I’m just as much a part of it as anyone else,” said Devin. “Marnie. You’re only here because of me. You’re not part of this.”

She took his hand. “I came to grips with this possibility before we left Baltimore. I’m most definitely part of this, but I won’t participate. I know that doesn’t absolve me of anything, but that’s where I stand.”

Rich nodded. “I entirely respect your decisions.”

“Me too. For what it’s worth. This possibility factored heavily into my decision to bring Rich’s crew on board,” said Berg, glancing at the operative. “No offense.”

“None taken,” said Rich. “I’m going to have the two of you walk back the way we came. Keep your radio on, and one of the vehicles will pick you up and shuttle you back to the motel. I don’t know how long this is going to take, but I suggest you get some rest. We’ll pack up and bolt as soon as we’re finished here. Good?”

“Yep,” said Devin.

Marnie nodded. He guided them around the other end of the pool table, where they wouldn’t have to look at the two people they’d just condemned to an agonizing end. Barber and Jeffries turned their heads to see where they were going, but their guards brutally yanked their heads forward by the hair, beginning the process that Devin hoped would end quickly and mercifully for them.

Devin’s radio crackled no more than twenty minutes later, while they knelt in the trees next to the pickup point, waiting on Graves to retrieve the drone from a different church parking lot.

“We’re done at the house. Tim. Hold off on the shuttle run,” said Rich. “Back to a full team, coordinated extract. No extra passengers. Will advise when we’re ready for pickup.”

“Copy that,” said Graves. “I just packed away the drone. Headed to the primary staging point.”

“On my way to the staging point,” said Jared.

Devin transmitted. “Everything’s quiet on our end.”

“We got the location. Mincy Conservation Area just north of the Missouri-Arkansas border,” said Rich. “It’s still going to be a bit of a nightmare finding the camp. The conservation land is nearly six thousand acres. But I think we got more than enough out of them to figure out where they were dropped off every summer. I’ll explain later. We should be at your location in ten minutes.”

“Understood. We’ll hold down the fort,” said Devin, ending the back-and-forth before Rich used the words clean up.

“How bad do you think it got in there?” asked Marnie, softly.

“It didn’t last long,” said Devin. “That’s all I can say.”

“I guess that’s good enough,” she said, sitting against the tree next to them.