The Relic Runner Origin Story Box Set by Ernest Dempsey (non fiction books to read TXT) 📕

saying something to her. Tanya shook her head to whatever questions were being asked.

"When you find out who is responsible. I want to be the first to know."

Ten

Cuchara

Dak stepped into the cabin and marched to the back porch. He stuffed the keys to the SUV in his pocket, knowing that at any second he may have to get back in and drive.

He turned the latch to the door leading onto the porch and stepped out, returning to the cold evening air. He gripped the railing and leaned over to watch the winding road leading up the mountain from the valley.

Headlights would be easy to see all the way down to the bottom, but getting away would be next to impossible. The road was little more than a trail. Two vehicles passing on either side would fill it entirely. Still, Dak had to watch. He glanced off to the slopes on his right, considering an escape on foot. The left was just as good in that regard, but any law enforcement pursuing him would catch up sooner or later, whether he tried to escape in a vehicle or without.

His head raced with a slew of options, none of which he really liked, and several that ended with him dead.

Dak grunted in anger and shoved the rail. It didn't budge, even under his strength. He could have complained about Tripp and his friends getting in the way of the grand plan, but Dak knew his plan of revenge didn't hold a candle to what almost happened there tonight.

A twinge of guilt needled his heart.

Had he stepped in too soon? It was a philosophical question he'd pondered before, and it revolved around the idea of taking out an enemy before they'd committed an atrocity.

The sword bore two edges. On the one side, you could prevent a crime, but you'd never really know if it would have for sure happened or not. On the other, if you let the crime happen, then people got hurt, sometimes killed because of it.

The decision was never truly a win, but Dak settled his doubts by reminding himself that those men were caught in the act, not before or after. If he'd waited another minute, it would have been much, much worse.

They got what they deserved. He knew that was the truth. Dak had a feeling her husband would say the same thing.

He stood there for ten minutes, twenty, thirty. The sound of sirens never came. No blue lights flashed through the forest along the slopes below.

The chill started to take over his will to remain vigilant, and Dak returned to the warmth of the cabin.

He turned on the fireplace and the gas logs whooshed to life, radiating warmth from the lapping flames. He lingered there for several minutes, allowing the heat to wash over him.

A look at the clock on the wall to his left told him it wasn't yet midnight. The bar closed around ten, but he'd felt like more than two hours had passed since the incident.

His head swiveled to the right, and he stared at the hot tub for a long couple of seconds.

"Might as well while I watch the road," he said to himself.

Three minutes later, Dak sat in the bubbling waters with steam wafting up around his face. He watched the road below as he let the hot water soak his muscles.

The sheriff would probably be at the scene of the crime, learning about his son's demise. From what Dak gathered, the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

The father would be angry. He'd be striving toward his own vendetta, payback for whoever did this.

Dak had no doubts that Tanya would keep his identity safe. She knew the gravity of what just happened. He didn't think she was afraid of him. She had no reason to be, though sometimes people could experience strange thoughts or feelings over an extreme circumstance.

He wondered what she told her husband, what they told the cops. The husband had been on the phone during a portion of the altercation. Dak was curious about what the deputy heard. It was a near certainty he'd heard most of Dak's end of the conversation, and likely Tripp's responses.

But would they tell the sheriff?

Dak believed they wouldn't. Something along the lines of Tanya locking up and finding the bodies in the parking lot seemed more like her style. Could the lawman lie about what happened?

There'd be no way Andy could accuse the sheriff's son of what he'd tried to do. The sheriff wouldn't go for it, and Dak hoped the deputy was smart enough to see that something like this could end with a tragic cover up that left him and his bride dead somewhere in the hills.

Dak had to believe they'd be smart about it.

He let go of that thought and took a sip from one of the bottles of water left by the cabin host. What would be the next play for the sheriff and for his sugar daddy, Tyler Mumford?

Would Tyler… or Billy recognize the handiwork? Had Dak blown the element of surprise?

That was doubtful. Or was it?

Billy might well recognize the skill that went into killing the three men. If he was let into the crime scene, he'd see the bodies—assuming they were still where Dak left them. The manner in which each of the men died would be obvious to Billy, and not just by a knife wound. The precision, Billy would recognize it. If Dak's former teammate already concerned himself with being a target, the triple homicide of his close friends would put Billy over the top. He'd be on high alert in his cabin up on the mountain.

Dak had to consider several next moves on the elaborate chessboard, too.

The sheriff would get few if any leads out of tonight's investigation, which meant they would start asking the bar staff about any new customers that may have been acting strange the night before, or perhaps took issue with the three dead men.

Merrick and the