Jason tried again, and this time left a terse message. “Call me. It’s urgent. Please call me.”
“What the hell are we supposed to do in Cape Vincent?” Russell was asking, over the prim voice of the GPS.
“Just drive.”
The rental car swerved. “You’re not my boss, West. You don’t get to give me sweeping commands like you’re goddamned Sam Kennedy.”
Jason barely heard, busy phoning Jonnie.
Please pick up. God. God. Please. Pick up the fucking phone, Jonnie.
“Hey,” Jonnie said cheerfully. “What’s up?”
“Where are you? Are you with Sam?”
“Um, no. I’m back in Virginia. I’m having lunch with my darling husband on my day off.”
“That Evidence Response Team. Are they on the island now? Is Sam with them?”
“Yes. They should be on the island by now. Why?” Jonnie’s voice grew concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“Eric Greenleaf is the unsub.”
“Who?”
“Sam’s not answering my calls. Can you try to get hold of him? Can you tell him, his unsub is Eric Greenleaf. He’s a neighbor and cousin of the Durrands. Sam will know who I mean.”
“Jason.” Jonnie made a faint sound of exasperation. “Our guy is Bram Stockton. He owns a boat rental and repair service. Sam and I—”
“No. I’m telling you, it’s not Stockton. It’s Greenleaf. You’ve got to take my word for it. I worked this too, and this is where our cases intersect. The unsub is Greenleaf, and he’s a raving psychopath. He’s probably got an arsenal of weapons in that castle of his, and he’s crazy enough to try to take out the entire ERT.”
Jonnie was silent for a moment. “Okay. I’ll see if I can get hold of Sam. He said cell phone reception is sketchy out there.”
The relief was huge. And fleeting. Even with Jonnie’s buy-in, there was no guarantee of reinforcements reaching the island in time. Jason said, “It is sketchy. I’m calling the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department now.”
“Where are you?”
“Russell and I are on our way to Cape Vincent. We’ll try to get a boat out to the island.”
“We’ll what?” Russell threw alarmed looks Jason’s way. “What did you say?”
“All right. I’m on it. I’ll get hold of somebody on that island,” Jonnie said. “Be careful out there.”
Jason clicked off and tried ringing the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.
“We’re going out to that island?” Russell asked. “Are you kidding?”
Pick up. Will you please pick up?
“Are you listening to me, West?”
Detective O’Neill was also not taking Jason’s phone calls.
“Look, Agent West, he’s in the middle of an interrogation right now. He’ll call you back,” the desk sergeant told Jason. He sounded defensive. Jason had made quite an impression on the Jefferson County SD.
“It can’t wait,” Jason insisted. “This is a matter of life or death. And by the way, if he’s interviewing Bram Stockton, that interview can wait. He’s got the wrong guy.”
“Not according to your boss, he doesn’t. Your boss is why we brought Stockton in.”