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“Yeah.” His face was in obscurity again as he held the phone to his ear. “Gotcha. We’re on it. We’ll wait for your call, after you meet with the task force.” He lowered the phone, turned back to her. “We have a hit.”

“On Slim’s or Rex’s location?”

“Rex’s.”

“Where are they? Are he and Bulldog still looking for us? Or do you suppose they’ve decided to return to Frisky by now?” She was certain she and Dylan had made a clean break from all three, without any of them identifying the souped-up pickup as their getaway vehicle.

“One thing at a time.” He paused. “There was chatter between Rex and Slim.” He referred to a communications interception. RGPD didn’t have the funding to staff such intel collection but FBI did. “Three dealers of equal rank to Rex were killed last night, two in northern North Dakota, one in the eastern part of the state. Rex no doubt found out and has panicked that he’s next. It makes sense that Rex has either been called to an audience with Slim, or that Rex has decided to assure him in person that all’s well at Frisky and, therefore, Stark County.”

“I don’t believe anyone would voluntarily meet with Slim. And Rex would need to know where Slim is—it could never be a surprise visit to his boss. Nope, it doesn’t make sense.” She shook her head, handed him the NVGs he’d turned over to her earlier. “I’m going with your first assessment. Slim’s recalled Rex, and Rex will be eliminated the minute he shows up.”

“Possibly. Don’t forget, running from someone with the deep resources Slim has is all but impossible for a man like Rex. He’s not law enforcement trained and his instincts have gotten him into trouble before.”

“As when he possibly threatened Hannah, or attempted to kill her, and she took off?”

He bent over and picked up the camping chair. “I can’t speak to the Enchanted Highway murders. There definitely seems to be a connection, somehow, but it’s not to Rex or Slim, if you ask me. Our focus has to be on what it’s always been—crushing the cartel. If we lose Rex as a witness, we stand to lose the entire reason for this assignment. We’re—the entire FBI, hell, all of the LEAs—are counting on testimony from all of the honchos working for Slim—like Rex—to put Slim behind bars for good.”

“So now we’re going to find Rex before he reaches Slim? To get him to lead us to him?”

His grin flashed in the first light of morning. “That’s the plan, sugar.” He used his Hawk voice and the low rumble stirred the desire that been simmering in her center to a boil. She turned away, took a few deep breathes. This was a first for her. Putting a lid on her lust while dealing with the hypervigilance a case like this required.

Whatever it took.

“The task force finished our morning meeting and I wanted to have a chance to speak with both of you before you head north.” Cal’s voice reverberated from Dylan’s phone, which was on speaker. It sat on the console between their two seats in the truck.

“So you’re caught up with everything my folks have put together overnight, then,” Dylan stated, casting a quick glance at Veronica. She sat in the passenger seat and was looking at one of his paper maps, drawing their route options with a yellow highlighter.

“I am. Besides my department and RGPD, we had a rep from the state troopers, your folks from the Bureau, a DEA agent and several cleared but ‘not really here’ folks.” Cal’s wry tone made Dylan and Veronica grin. He tried not to think about how much in sync they were, from professional skills to sharing a similar sense of humor.

“Yeah, well, the folks who weren’t ‘really’ there might be the ones to either lead us to our endgame or save our asses in a firefight,” Dylan added, not mentioning which law enforcement agencies might have also sent reps to the task force meeting. It could be anyone from CIA to NSA, all working together to bring down the drug trafficking ring.

“Or both,” Veronica interjected before she nodded toward the phone. “Sheriff, you know what I mean.”

Cal’s chuckle stymied Dylan. He was in the dark as to what they were talking about. “It’s time to call me Cal, Veronica.”

Veronica blushed. “Yes, sir, er, Sheriff, um, Cal.” She looked at Dylan and must have sensed his unasked question. “Your brother and I briefly worked together on a case last year where the ‘not really here’ folks took out a bad guy before he picked me off. I do wish I could have given them a proper thank-you, but, well, we all know the deal. If they weren’t ‘really here,’ then there’s no one to thank.”

“They had all of our backsides on that one, I’ll give you that. I’m always happy to work with federal agents when it’s such a great two-way team effort.” Cal gave Veronica a quick nod. They looked like Dylan often felt when around Cal. As if they were bonded.

A tug of unease stretched a hidden muscle deep in Dylan’s abdomen. It wasn’t guilt this time, or regret. Am I jealous of Cal’s working relationship with Veronica?

Naw. He was above that, wasn’t he?

“They know we’re appreciative, as they are of our cooperation.” Callum’s tone sobered on the last two words. “Look, you two, I’ve got some news, and I’m going to give it to you straight. Hank’s body was found in the Frisky dumpster, a single bullet between his eyes.”

“What?” Veronica’s eyes widened and her gaze met Dylan’s. “You think Rex, or Bulldog, did it?”

“Too soon for forensics, and I’m guessing that the round that killed him isn’t going to prove anything, since we don’t have the murder weapon. But yes, the task force believes it was a hit ordered by Rex.”

“So who’s left to run the nightclub? Bulldog?”

“That’s just it—it’s been shut it down since shortly after you made your escape last night. It might open up again, but without either you or Hank to traffic the drugs, my guess is that it’s shuttered for now.”

“Because Rex got so spooked when he didn’t catch Veronica?” Dylan leaned over the phone. “Or—”

“Because Slim is the one who’s spooked?” Veronica finished his query.

“The latter, I’m afraid. It’s possible that Rex and Bulldog have taken off for the hills, if either is still alive.”