Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Hutch made sure he was breathing steady so Harry could see him do it and maybe match his rhythm.
Harry wasn’t feeling the call to calm.
He kept laying it out tersely.
“And she says she overheard them talking, and she couldn’t be sure, but she thought maybe they were planning to bug out. She thinks they were outfitting some other place to carry on whatever they were doing. Which would have left that group in a lurch if Enstrom wasn’t around to fight to retain that land. And I guess Flannery’s niece now has her answer, and at least someone is gonna get something out of this. But as for those women, they were catching the vibe the end was nigh, and everyone but those stupid fucks”—he jerked his head toward the bullpen—“were feeling that same vibe. The woman who took off, her name is Paisley, shared that was one of the reasons she took her shot. Things were changing. And she already didn’t like where she was. She didn’t want to go somewhere else she never signed on for. She wanted out.”
“So it was unraveling,” Hutch said.
“There was unrest,” Harry replied. “Though I’m not sure those devotees had enough gumption to do anything about it. They had it good, what’s to change? Why complain?”
“What you got out there?” Hutch asked.
“Take your pick. Kidnapping. Unlawful imprisonment. Possibly rape. Because some of those women have had children.”
“Jesus Christ,” Hutch growled, even if he’d seen them and taken pictures of them.
Harry went on, “Accessory. Trafficking. Intent to distribute. Oh yeah, and lumber poaching. We now got a lot of reports of missing trees and even some witnesses who say they saw that group hauling them on CR 10. It might take a week just to untangle what charges we should land on who.”
“You said that woman talked to her man. Is this wives and girlfriends, like Cade said?” Hutch asked.
Harry jerked up his chin angrily in assent.
“Yep. Good, clean Christian women who bought their men’s line and had no idea what they were in for. Apparently, lots of arguing and straight out fights to begin with. Some escape attempts. Which led to Enstrom calling them all to their ‘center,’ which is how they referred to their church. Lots of Enstrom preaching, sometimes for hours, about patience. Obedience. How man has lost his way and was destroying God’s bounty with technology and greed. How women have lost their way and forgot the natural order of things. How men and women had to turn to the land, nurture it and get nurture from it. Simplify things. Lots of nods and cries of amen from the men. Some of those women might have gone into that deal agreeing with these basic concepts, but the way they were practiced, they wanted no part of.”
“May put kidnapping off the table, if they went there of their own volition.”
“Agreed,” Harry said curtly. “But when a woman says she wants to go, you let her go. You don’t sit her ass in a church and make her listen to a four-hour sermon. Guard the front entry so she can’t slip out. And force her to give birth with nothing to aid her but a midwife she doesn’t trust.”
Hutch wasn’t about to argue that.
“All these fucks, they were recruited by Enstrom,” Hutch surmised.
“And Burress. Two good, fine, upstanding Christian men with a righteous idea and the capital to put it into practice.”
“These eight extra guys?”
“You got disciples Enstrom can toy with for fun and laughs, and you got soldiers to keep people in line, spread the word of their false prophet and protect your operation,” Harry replied. “My theory?”
“Hit me with it,” Hutch invited.
“Paisley made a break for it. The alarm was raised. Enstrom knew he got your attention. He might have even known we were onto the poaching. He reckoned he was caught, but he wasn’t going to hang around to find out. Didn’t even grab the dope. Grabbed his woman. His kids. His friend, his woman and kids. His boys. And left the rest to it. Probably didn’t even look back. From what we could tell, they were long gone before Mabel even saw Paisley. Again, man didn’t even grab his dope. DEA’s eyes crossed when they saw all of that. They think it might be the biggest cache confiscated by law enforcement in Washington State history. They can’t begin to put a price tag on it. But it’s millions.”
“Enstrom left that kind of money behind?”
Harry shrugged. “Not technically his dope. DEA says he’s more than likely a safe house. All he’s got to do is take it from one courier, communicate it was received safely, and when the next courier can get to him, give it. No cut. Just payment. And in this game, loss of product is an accepted redline item. They shrug. Make more dope. And move on.”