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“How long does a drone battery last?” she asked.
Darren’s fingers danced across the keyboard after he pulled up a search engine. “Let’s see. Not long. Maybe half an hour.”
“Which is why we need a solid lay of the land before we send it in,” she said.
“Says here they can fly anywhere from forty to sixty miles per hour,” he stated.
“That should help cover a lot of ground.”
Darren leaned back. “It’s the safest way to get on the property and the most efficient. But I’m thinking that any evidence we gather won’t be able to be used in a court of law.”
“Which could mean those bastards might walk away,” she said.
“If we find Tandra and she can testify.” He paused for a few seconds, stopping before sayingifshe can testify, because he hoped she wasn’t dead. “Then we’re okay.”
“We had a question for the family and stopped by to ask,” she proposed.
“But if we don’t find anything, or something truly bad happens, all three of us can be arrested, sued or both,” Darren said. Which meant he was risking more than his livelihood.
Darren stood to lose everything. They needed to find something or leave without getting caught.
Before she could tell him that he didn’t have to do this, he said, “I’m all in, Reese.”
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to you and those girls were orphans or, heaven forbid both scenarios, you were sued and couldn’t provide for them any longer,” she said as a tear escaped.
“I love that you are always putting my girls first, but I am, too,” he said. “How could I call myself a father or live with myself if Tandra is alive in there and we could save her? I understand the risk I’m taking, and I didn’t commit to this lightly. As much as I’m doing this to keep you safe, my girls are always at the forefront of my thoughts, and I wouldn’t be able to look them in the eyes if I let someone else’s daughter die when I could have saved her. Plus, this might help resolve the other cases, as well.”
“You’re an amazing father, Darren. And an even better human being,” Reese said. She’d known it back in high school, and she’d been an idiot for letting him go. At least he’d agreed to be friends, moving forward. She wanted very much to be in his life.
Buster knocked, then unlocked the back door and walked into the kitchen. “The drone is in the pickup. We can head out whenever you two are ready.” He took a step inside and waited by the door.
Darren stood up. He picked up the notepad and showed the rudimentary map to Buster, who gave a nod of appreciation.
“I think we should come from the opposite side to confuse them,” Darren said, pointing to the east side of the property.
“Good idea,” Buster said. “I was just thinking along those same lines. We definitely don’t want to go in the way we came earlier. They’ll be expecting that.”
“My thinking exactly,” Darren said. “Plus, there’s a cluster of small buildings tucked over here, away from the main house.”
They headed out the back door, making sure the place was secure before making their way to the pickup parked beside the farmhouse.
Reese looked at the house as Buster backed up and was overcome with a strange sensation. Was this the last time she would see the place that had been a second home to her? She cleared her throat, unable and unwilling to allow herself to believe all three of them wouldn’t make it back alive. Besides, she was working herself up for the worst-case scenario. The whole thing might end up a bust. The drone could reveal no wrongdoing and they could end up turning around to come back home.
Home? Interesting word choice.
Ready or not, it was go time.
DARRENSTUDIEDHIShomemade map like his life depended on it, and was using the flashlight app on his throwaway cell phone on dim. He’d mapped out the house, the tree line on the west side of the driveway. He’d made two dots where the pair of boys had been standing. They’d been protecting their home while taking cover. Had they believed things might go south during the visit? Were they meant to be a warning?
The fact they’d decided to stand where they could be seen meant they were sending a message. They meant business. Darren made no mistake about it. If what they believed was true, members of this family would be locked away for a very long time, if not the rest of their lives. Even if their mother wasn’t involved, she would go down as an accomplice. He didn’t need to be in law enforcement to know these folks had nothing to lose, which made them even more dangerous.
Of course, if they were innocent...
Darren stopped himself right there. The place had the security of a meth lab, and he seriously doubted the Archer family was running drugs out of there. Although, he couldn’t be one-hundred-percent certain about that, either. Uncertainty was the worst.
Archer Bee Farm was a family operation, so were there cousins, uncles or nieces who were involved with the business?
More questions looped through his thoughts as Buster passed by the entrance to the farm. He circled around to the west side of the property, driving along a dirt road. A few miles into the turn, he pulled to the side and parked.
