Chapter 83 Collins Progress
COLLIN'S POV
I sat at a table in the back of a warehouse going through stacks of reports and receipts. Every piece of paper was another clue about where Caitlyn might be hiding and I had been collecting them for weeks.
"This receipt is from a gas station thirty miles north," Viktor said sliding it across to me. "A woman matching her description, she was pregnant and paid cash."
"When?" I asked.
"Two weeks ago," Viktor said.
"Two weeks is old, but it tells us the general area," I said, marking it on my map. "What else?"
"Store clerk in a town called Pinewood says a man bought supplies there," another guy said. "She matches Jason Cross' description, tall. She has tattoos and a biker look."
"When was that?" I asked.
"Ten days ago," he said.
I marked that location too. The circles on my map were getting closer together and tighter. They were somewhere in the northern forest region and I was narrowing it down.
"I want more people in that area," I said. "Every store. Every gas station, every place someone might stop. Pay them whatever you have to, I need information."
"We are running low on cash," Viktor said. "The feds froze most of your accounts."
"I have money they do not know about," I said. "It's offshore and hidden, use it. I do not care how much we spend as long as we find her."
"What if we find her and Rourke has protection on her?" Viktor asked.
"Then we deal with the protection," I said. "I am not backing down now. Not when we are this close."
My phone rang and I answered. It was one of my informants who worked at a small medical clinic.
"I have something," she said. "A pregnant woman came in asking about prenatal vitamins. She would not give her name and she paid cash. Left in a hurry."
"When?" I asked.
"Yesterday," she said.
"Where is your clinic?" I asked.
She gave me the address and I marked it on the map. It was right in the middle of the area I had been focusing on.
"Which direction did she go when she left?" I asked.
"East," the woman said. "She got into a car and drove east."
"Good," I said. "You will get paid."
I hung up and looked at Viktor. "They are east of Pinewood. I am sure of it now."
"That is still a big area," Viktor said. "Could be dozens of cabins out there."
"Then we check every cabin," I said. "I do not care how long it takes."
"This is getting expensive," Viktor said. "And risky. If we are wrong about the location we waste time and money."
"We are not wrong," I said. "All the information points to the same area. They are there."
"How do you know?" Viktor asked.
"Because I know how people think when they are hiding," I said. "They go remote. They go somewhere they think no one will find them. Somewhere off the grid."
"So what is the plan?" Viktor asked.
"The plan is we keep gathering information until we know exactly where they are," I said. "Then we go in at night. It'll be fast and hard, no mistakes."
"When?" Viktor asked.
"Soon," I said. "Very soon."
Another call came in. It was a different informant. This one worked at a hardware store.
"A guy came in buying nails and wood," he said. "He paid cash, drove off heading east. He looked like the guy in the picture you showed me."
"When was this?" I asked.
"This morning," he said.
"This morning," I repeated. "Where is your store?"
He gave me the location and it was even closer to the other sightings. Everything was pointing to the same ten-mile radius.
"We are getting close Viktor," I said after I hung up. "Really close."
"How close?" he asked.
"Close enough that I want everyone ready to move tonight," I said.
"Tonight?" Viktor said. "We still do not have an exact location."
"We have enough," I said. "We know the general area. We can search it."
"That could take hours," Viktor said. "And if they hear us coming they will run."
"Then we will be quiet," I said. "We will surround the area. Check every cabin, find them before they know we are there."
"This is a bad idea Collin," Viktor said. "We should wait until we have better information."
"We do not have time to wait," I said. "The trial is in three weeks. Once Caitlyn testifies I am done. This is our last chance."
"What about Rourke?" Viktor asked. "What if he is watching them?"
"Rourke thinks we are nowhere close," I said. "He thinks they are safe. He is focused on the trial. On building his case and not on protecting witnesses."
"How do you know that?" Viktor asked.
"Because I have been tracking him," I said. "He has been at his office every day this week, working late, not making trips north. If he was worried about them he would be checking on them."
"Maybe he has other people watching them," Viktor suggested.
"Maybe," I said. "But I doubt it. Rourke does not trust anyone, he would do it himself."
Viktor sighed. "Fine. How many men do you want?"
"All of them," I said. "Everyone who is still loyal. I want overwhelming numbers, I do not want any chance of them escaping."
"That is only about ten guys," Viktor said.
"Ten is enough," I said. "More than enough to handle one biker and a pregnant woman."
"What about the baby?" Viktor asked. "If she is pregnant like the reports say. What do we do about the baby?"
"The baby does not matter," I said. "It is collateral damage."
"It might be your baby," Viktor said.
"I do not care," I said. "Even if it is mine it does not change anything. Caitlyn has to die."
"That is cold Collin," Viktor said.
"That is survival," I corrected. "She betrayed me. She tried to destroy me, now she pays the price."
"And if we get caught?" Viktor asked.
"We will not get caught," I said. "We are going to do this clean. No witnesses, no evidence. Just in and out."
"Nothing is ever that clean," Viktor said.
"It will be this time," I said. "Because I have planned for everything."
I spent the rest of the day preparing. Checking weapons. Going over maps and making sure every detail was perfect. This had to work, there would be no second chances.
My lawyer called in the afternoon.
"The judge moved the trial up," he said. "It starts in three weeks instead of four."
"That does not matter," I said. "There will not be a trial."
"What are you talking about?" my lawyer asked.
"I am talking about the witness disappearing," I said.
"Collin do not do something stupid," my lawyer warned.
"It is not stupid," I said. "It is necessary. Without her, there is no case."
"There is still evidence," my lawyer said. "They have Viktor's testimony. They have financial records, they have plenty without her."
"Nothing that will convict me," I said. "Without Caitlyn, they have a weak case. With her, they have a strong case. So she has to go."
"If you kill her they will know it was you," my lawyer said.
"They have to prove it was me," I said. "And I am making sure they cannot prove anything."
"This is a mistake," my lawyer said.
"The mistake was letting her live this long," I said. "I should have dealt with her months ago."
"I cannot be part of this," my lawyer said.
"I am not asking you to be part of it," I said. "I am just telling you what is happening."
"Then I am out," my lawyer said. "Find someone else to represent you."
"Fine," I said and hung up.