The Export by J.K. Kelly (read along books txt) 📕

“Absolutely not!” he responded. “I don’t want her run off by some local police or bounty hunters to someplace where we’ll never find her. Let me do my thing and just roll through there. I’ll see if I can pick up her scent. What I do need you to do, por favor, is find out who the hell directed Helene’s death. When I get done in Thailand, I want to head wherever that trail leads me next.”

Matt read concern in her face. “What scares me is if Anika knows what you look like, either beforehand or now that she knows she’s been identified and is being pursued. If she sees you coming, you might get bit by a wolf. You do know they run in packs.”

“She knows what I look like. Helene had my photos all over the damn ranch house.”

The night air brought a quick coolness to the deck, and it wasn’t long before Dale picked up her half of the dinner debris and headed into the kitchen to warm up and discover what the house had to offer. Matt walked Lois down into the yard for one last potty break and then let her into the house to follow Dale and make some discoveries of her own. Sitting down on the porch step to think about everything that was now going on in his life, Matt smiled. Dale was here, hopefully for good, and he was doing what he did and enjoyed more than anything else – chasing down a predator. It wasn’t long before the peaceful setting was interrupted. Matt’s phone was dancing in his pocket, and he wasn’t expecting any calls. It was Sam.

“Miss me already, bud?” Matt exclaimed as he answered the call.

“Well,” Sam delayed, “I always have, Matt, but I have to tell you a few things before it gets too late back east.”

“Go for it.”

Sam spent the next few minutes giving Matt the rundown on his conversation with his wife. It hadn’t gone well. He then suggested that if they had not yet found Anika, he wanted to help.

“It’s my fault she got close enough to Helene to kill her. I owe it to Helene, and to you, to do everything I can do catch the woman and bring her to justice for what she did.”

Dale must have seen from the kitchen window that Matt had taken a call. Hoping it was a lead in the case, she joined him on the top step.

It’s Sam, Matt’s lips silently said.

“Plus, I think I know where she’s headed,” Sam continued. “She mentioned more than once how she always wanted to visit Thailand and Vietnam, and I’m embarrassed to say we actually talked about going there together. She said that there was something that drew her to those two countries. I know a lot of Russians vacation on the beaches in Thailand, so it makes sense that she might just have headed there.” Matt looked at Dale, and a broad smile grew across his face.

“My brother from another mother!” he exclaimed. “I think you’ve hit it right. That’s exactly where Claire and I think she’s headed if she’s not there already. I’m flying out tomorrow to the most popular spot there, but you need to stay in Jackson and take care of things.”

Sam protested. He told Matt that he and his wife had agreed to separate, and he had already taken a 30-day leave of absence from the department. He was a free man now, at least for the next month, and he was going to go after Anika in Thailand with or without Matt’s permission.

“Have you considered how she might react if she spots you before you see her? She’s a killer, Sam. A type you’ve never faced before, not in Jackson Hole. I’ve seen this sort of animal, they come in all shapes and sizes, but they all operate on an extraordinary level. They are cunning, smart, wicked-fast on their feet, and capable of killing with little effort and zero hesitation.”

“Shit, Matt,” Sam replied. “Sounds like we’re after a mama grizzly. I’ve done that before.” Matt looked at Dale. He muted the call and shook his head.

“He thinks she’s headed to Thailand, too, and intends to go after her. Can you block his passport so he can’t leave the country? I don’t need a sidekick, and I don’t want him to run her off or get his throat cut trying to catch her.”

Dale shook her head no. “Can’t stop him, but if he’s going, perhaps you can use him as bait.”

“No way. He’s not a goat to be tied up for a lion. I won’t do that to him!”

“Well, who let her get to Helene’s bedroom with poison? You sure he’s not just joining the hunt, using this as a cover – maybe even to trap you? Think about it. Helene’s gone – your guardian angel is gone. Are you next?”

Matt’s expression changed. He unmuted the phone and told Sam that he was catching an 8:25 p.m. flight the next night from Reagan in Washington to Thailand.

“You can get out here and fly over with me or just meet me at 8:25 a.m. the next morning in Ko Samui. But you have to agree to follow my lead on this one, or I’ll have the Thai police pick you up for soliciting young girls.”

“Hunting trip to Thailand? Yes, Matt, I agree to your terms. I’ll get online now and set it up,” Sam assured him.

“No, let me do it. Just text me a photo of your passport ID page, and I’ll send you the itinerary. Pack light. It’s going to be hot as hell there, this time of year.”

Within an hour of the call, Matt had booked two business-class seats on Qatar Airways for their excursion. The flight would take Matt all the way across the Atlantic and then Europe, to a stop in the Gulf, Doha. That was where he and Charlie had rendezvoused not too