Nigel nodded. He pointed at the railcar. “I swear this whole town and everything in it smells like that rotten stuff. It never goes away.”

  “Like the smell of death,” said Will.

  Nigel gave him a look.

  “Do you think sulfur is all they ever transport in those railcars?” Will asked.

  “Only one way to find out,” Nigel said as he opened his car door.

  A few minutes later the two of them crouched near the mill’s perimeter fence.

  Nigel pulled his phone out and started taking pictures.

  The two of them slipped under a gap in the chain-link fence and shadowed their way over to the parked railcars.

  Most of the cars were empty except for glowing yellow dust. One of the lines of cars started moving, and they jumped on board. It tracked along the yard until it reached the SulCorp loading area, then came to a stop.

  “What now?” Nigel whispered.

  “We wait,” said Will.

  “For what?”

  Will didn’t answer and instead nodded toward the main office building.

  As they watched, the door opened and Aaron Sullivan walked out. A goon followed along with two snarling blue-eyed dogs. He gave them to Aaron, who took a leash in each hand.

  Workers in coveralls carried out small rectangular packages. They packed them into larger boxes and then placed them into the small carrier cars as they inched by.

  “Faster, boys,” called out Aaron in the distance. “We’ve got a deadline to meet. And besides, I have a date tonight.” He laughed, the sound mingling with the train sounds until it was nearly the same noise.

  As each car advanced forward, packed to the hilt with boxes, a large funnel deposited a fine plume of sulfur on top.

  “I knew it,” said Nigel. “It has to be the drugs. They must be moving millions here.” He snapped a few photos. “Man, when I break this story, it’s going to get picked up by the national outlets.”

  A voice came from behind them. “That ain’t the only thing you’re gonna break,” said the goon. He grabbed Nigel by the collar and hauled him from the railcar.

  When Will made a move to help him, the goon pulled a gun. Will stopped, but his own hand inched toward the gun hidden in his waistband.

  “Easy,” said Will. “We don’t want trouble.”

  Aaron walked up with his growling dogs. “Well,” he said. “You found it.”

  Nigel and Will exchanged a look.

  “We’re screwed,” whispered Nigel.

  “Come along now,” said Aaron. “We’ll be much more comfortable in my office.”

  The goon released Nigel and motioned for them to follow after Aaron.

  Inside the mill office, Will and Nigel sat across from Aaron, who glared at them from behind his desk.

  “Tell me why I shouldn’t call the cops,” said Aaron.

  Nigel cleared his throat. “Uh…because you have a shitload of drugs moving through your railyard?”

  “I do?” asked Aaron with a wry smile.

  Nigel looked confused, but Will was calm and expressionless. He watched Aaron closely.

  “You’re looking in the wrong place,” said Aaron.

  “Then what’s in those boxes?” asked Nigel. He nodded to the small rectangular containers stacked behind Aaron.

  Aaron let loose a rasping laugh. “Those are parts, paper boy.”

  Nigel raised an eyebrow. “Body parts?”

  Aaron rolled his eyes. “No. They’re bolts, idiot.” He grabbed a box and opened it, dumping it out onto his desk. Sure enough, a pile of steel bolts rolled out. “We started manufacturing and selling bolts on the side. Times are tough. Gotta diversify.”

  “Tough times?” said Nigel. “What about your inheritance? That legendary Sullivan gold?”

  “Not this again,” Aaron muttered.

  “The drugs,” said Nigel. “Hell’s Gate is a sulfur compound.”

  “An unfortunate coincidence,” Aaron said.

  “Well, if not you, then who?” asked Nigel.

  “That’s what I was thinking you could help with,” said Aaron. “The drug is bad for business. People dying all over the place. Turning up in my sulfur piles. Much as I don’t care for the Homers,” he said, nodding toward Will, “at the same time, I don’t like finding them dead at my mill.”

  “Wait,” said Will. “You found him? My dad?”

  “Poetic, isn’t it?” said Aaron. “You found my dad. And I found yours.”

  There was a heavy silence in the room.

  The phone rang, cutting through the tension. Aaron answered it and then was silent for a long moment before hanging up without a word.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It was my aunt.”

  Nigel gave him a puzzled look and glanced at Will. “I thought—” he began, but Will interrupted him.

  “We should go,” Will said.

  “Now hold on,” said Aaron. “I’d like to give you an exclusive, paper boy.” He stared at Will. “Do you vouch for him, Will?”

  Will looked at Nigel. “I do,” he said. “You can trust him.”

  “Good,” said Aaron. “Now, Will, kindly get the hell off my property.”

  “Fine,” said Will. He got up to go.

  “Meet me at the pub after,” said Nigel. “We’ll talk to Eve.”

  “A girl like Eve always finds trouble,” said Aaron as Will walked out. “Remember that.”

  “I couldn’t forget if I tried,” Will whispered.

  He exited through the main gate, under the watchful eye of the goon.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Will and Nigel slid into a corner booth in the Armory pub, away from the crowded bar and the nearby pool tables.

  “Well, that was fucking weird,” Nigel said.

  “Which part?” Will asked. “Everything is weird about this.”

  “Good point,” said Nigel. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting to hear all of that. Least of all from Aaron Sullivan.”

  “Did you get everything you needed?” Will asked.

  “More,” said Nigel. “So much more.”

  Sam the barman lumbered over to their table, interrupting them. “You guys drinking?”

  “No,” said Will.

  “Then get the hell out so I can give this table to paying customers.”

  “Aw, come on, Sam. We came by to see your boyfriend,” said Nigel.

  Sam shrugged. “He isn’t here. Should be though. He promised he’d help me change over some kegs. He’s not answering his phone either. If it wasn’t so busy, I’d zip home and haul his cute ass back here, but we’re slammed. Can you guys can track him down?”

  “Sure,” said Will. “Hey, have you seen Eve?”

  Sam shook his head. “She didn’t show up for her shift. Come to think of it, those two better not be off somewhere getting high together.”

  Will and Nigel exchanged a look.

  “What?” asked Sam. “Do you guys know something? You better spill it.” He leaned forward, his thick arms resting on the table and sending a clear message.

  “No,” said Will. “But we’ll let you know if we find them.”

  Will and Nigel hurried out.

  “If you do find them,” Sam called after them, “tell my boyfriend he’s in trouble.”

  Nigel sped through town to the outskirts. When he turned onto the gravel road to Toby’s house, blue flashes of light peeked through the woods.

  Nigel pulled over next to a police car. There was an ambulance idling beside it.

  “Shit,” said Will. He jumped out of the car and hurried up the front steps to the open door.

  He stared down the hall. It was dark save for occasional flashes from a police photographer’s camera. The flashing stopped, and someone flipped on the overhead light switch.

  Nigel gasped beside him and turned away, but Will stepped forward. He’d seen this kind of thing before.

  There was blood all over the walls and the carpet leading down the hall. At the end, in the doorway, lay Toby. He had slashed wrists, and his face was blue. EMTs were tending to him, fitting him with an oxygen mask and trying to stop the bleeding.

  “Oh my god. Oh my god,” said Nigel.

  Will turned to him. “You have to call Sam. Right now.”

  Nigel nodded and pulled out his phone.

  The EMTs loaded Toby onto a stretcher and rushed him through the door. As they passed Nigel and Will, Toby groaned, and his eyes fluttered.

  “Toby!” said Will. He took a step to follow, but a cop blocked his path.

  “Whoa, where do you think you’re going?” the cop asked.

  “That’s my friend,” said Will. “I want to make sure he’s okay.”

  “Your friend? Well, he’s got himself in a pickle, all right. First he’s got to survive, and then he’s got to answer for all the drugs we found in this house. Know anything about that?”

  Will shook his head. “I’m looking for my girlfriend, Eve Hart.” He swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. “Is she…is she here?” He was struck with a deep fear that she was also injured—or worse.

  The cop shook his head. “No, but we’d like to speak to her too. In the meantime, you are trespassing on a crime scene. Leave before I throw you in the clink.”

  “I’m a member of the press,” said Nigel, stepping forward and showing his press card.

  The cop rolled his eyes. “Well, I have a badge too, and that badge says you need to go.”

  Will flinched, a memory flooding back to him of a time after he’d left town. He had called his dad, wanting to talk to him, but he couldn’t get any words out. Instead he’d cried while listening to his dad say, “Hello?” over and over.

  “We’ll go,” said Will. “But is Detective Rivers here? He’s…kind of my uncle.”

  “Oh yeah? Jim’s one of the best,” said the cop. “He went looking for that girlfriend of yours. Seems she was the last person seen with our drug dealer here.”

  “Shit,” said Nigel.

  They turned and walked back toward the car. “We have to find her first,” said Will.

  “Damn, Will,” said Nigel as they got into his car. He bit the nails on his left hand as he started the Tempo and began to drive. “Do you think Toby will be okay? Sam was so freaked on the phone. And will he go down for a long time? And Eve too?”

  “Nigel, calm down. There’s more to this,” said Will. “Toby wouldn’t do this to himself.”

  “I know. He was so happy with Sam.” Nigel sighed. “This is all connected. I know it now. I mean, after Aaron told me everything…” He shot a look at Will.

  Will nodded. “I know. Stay the course, Nigel. It will all work out.”

  “It was so fucked up,” said Nigel, a tremor in his voice. “Man, I knew you had a plan, but wow. This is big.”

  “I have to go all the way,” said Will. “You’ll understand when it’s over.”

  Nigel let out a breath.

  “We have to find Eve before Rivers does,” said Will. “He can’t find her first.”

  “This doesn’t feel right,” said Nigel. “It feels too much like…” He trailed off.

  “It feels like the first time she went missing,” said Will, completing Nigel’s thought. “I know exactly where she is,” he said.

  Nigel’s car pulled up to the SulCorp perimeter fence, and Will hopped out. He leaned in through the open window and shook hands with Nigel. He handed him his phone.

  “Aaron told you what to do,” Will said. “And you’ll call Aunt Justine?”

  “I’m solid,” said Nigel.

  “After that you stay away, okay?” Will said. “It’s not safe.”

  “Yeah, man. Got it,” said Nigel.

  Will nodded and turned to go, but Nigel called after him. “Hey, Will!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Just, uh…” Nigel cleared his throat. “Be careful, okay? I don’t want to lose you twice, man.”

  Will looked at his friend for a moment, nodded, then left as Nigel’s car pulled back onto the highway.

  Will walked up to the fence and grabbed the chain link. He climbed over and landed on the other side. He crouched behind a railcar and watched the yard. It appeared deserted. The shadows were deep and dark. He thought back to that awful night, how he’d cased this very place, looking for a way in.

  He made his way down the hall and noticed a few drops of blood on the floor. They led to a stairwell. There was a room at the bottom. The door was ajar.

  He looked inside. So much blood.

  Old Man Sullivan lay murdered, hacked to death with an ax. Eve was bound in the corner. Thick blood seeped toward her in a growing puddle.

  Will ran to her, slipping in the blood. He rushed to untie her.

  “I knew you’d come,” she said.

  Will shook off the bad memory. “Nigel,” he whispered. “I hope you’re making that phone call.”

  He pulled his father’s gun from the waistband of his jeans before slinking around to the main office. He crouched under the window where the blue light from security screens glowed through. The window was open a crack. He peeked in.

  Aaron sat at his desk, a worried look on his face. Will followed his gaze, and his heart pounded in his chest when he saw the full scene.

  The goon was dead on the floor, a large bullet wound in the center of his chest. Next to him a girl cowered, her head covered by a SulCorp sack. A tiny tattoo peeked out from under her shirt collar. Eve. She struggled against the zip tie binding her hands.

  A boot kicked her. “Sit still,” said a voice. It was a voice Will would recognize anywhere.

  Detective Jim Rivers.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Will shifted to see the corner of the room that was out of sight.

  Rivers had a gun pointed at Eve’s head.

  “Any sign of our special friend?” Rivers asked Aaron.

  “None,” he said, pointing to the video monitors with bound hands.

  “He’ll come,” said Rivers. “He won’t be able to stay away. It’s all too much like it was before.”

  Will looked at Eve. She sat very still, calm, upright. “Don’t worry,” Will whispered. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”

  He paused for a moment and then hurried over to the office door. He kicked it in, gun drawn, but Rivers had the jump on him. Will felt the barrel of a handgun pressed to his temple.

  “Easy, Uncle Jim,” said Will.

  “Perfect timing, kid,” said Rivers. “Now take that gun, release the clip and kick it across the room.”

  Will did as he asked.

  Aaron began to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Rivers demanded.

  “You’re a little early,” said Aaron.

  “I am?” asked Rivers.

  “The big climax is yet to come,” said Aaron.

  “Stop the games,” said Rivers. He pulled the sack off Eve’s head. “Or I’ll shoot her.”

  “Don’t you touch her,” said Will.

  “Then give me what I want,” said Rivers. “Just one thing.”

  “Name it,” said Will.

  “The map.”

  Will sighed. “I hoped it wasn’t true for a long time, Uncle Jim. All this for money?”

  Rivers frowned. “What? I don’t deserve a shot at the Sullivan gold? After spending my whole life cleaning up the town? I’m old, Will. And I’m tired of the smell of this place. Now give me what I came for before you end up in a sulfur pile too.”

  Will shook his head. “That gold has blood on it,” he said.

  “The Sullivan fortune came from the gold rush days, so I’m sure there’s plenty of blood on it,” said Rivers. “What’s a little more?”

  “I can’t help you,” said Will. “Even if I wanted to, I don’t know where it’s hidden.”

  “But you can figure it out. Like your dear old dad did.”

  “No,” said Will.

  “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, kid. I know when someone is lying,” said Rivers. “I knew your dad was lying. He was a stubborn old fool. I knew there was a map, but he wouldn’t give it to me, and he wouldn’t give up your location either. Hell, I couldn’t even track you down with skip tracers. Your dad hid you well. Guess you all wanted that gold for yourselves.”

  Will’s rage threatened to boil over. “So you killed him.”

  “I had no choice,” Rivers said with an evil smile. “Killing him was the only way to get you to come back to town.”

  “I hate you,” said Will. “You’ll pay for this.”

  “No,” said Rivers. “I don’t think so. I’ll get away with it. Just like I did when Old Man Sullivan refused to give up the gold. I cleaved his head in two with an ax, and I walked right on out of here.”

  “Goddamn you!” Aaron shouted, struggling against his bonds.

  “I knew it was you,” whispered Eve.

  Rivers turned to look at her.

  She continued talking quietly. “Mr. Sullivan gave me a job, you know? He was teaching me some office stuff. Keeping me off the streets. He was nice to me.”

  She looked at Aaron. “He wasn’t the monster everyone made him out to be.”

  “I know,” Aaron said, tears running down his cheeks now.

  Eve continued. “That night, when I was walking here for my shift, a cop car pulled up on me. Blinded me with its spotlight. I thought I was going to get pulled in. I thought I was going to have to give some cop a favor. Before I knew it, I got cracked over the head with a flashlight.”

  Will swallowed hard. This part of the story was always so hard to hear.

  “Next thing I knew,” she said in a shaky voice, “I was waking up in a cold room with a bag over my head. I was tied up. I heard someone breathing. And then I felt…something warm and wet on the ground. And then you”—she looked at Will—“you came and saved me.”

  “Ever the hero,” said Rivers. He waved his gun at Will. “If you hadn’t shown up, poking your nose around, things would have been different. But you came, and then your meddling dad, and soon the place was crawling with Hope’s finest.”

  “And my father was dead,” said Aaron.

  Rivers laughed. “Imagine. That old bag of bones died for her. She was the bait. I thought he’d hand over the gold. But when he saw her tied up, he went crazy. He attacked me. It was practically self-defense.”

 

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