One Summer Evening - One Summer Evening Part 81
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One Summer Evening Part 81

Cassie nodded, grabbed her purse and practically ran out the door.

"We don't know where he is."

Cassie wanted to call Dewitt Sullivan a liar, but she refrained from

doing so, the main reason being that she didn't want to further

antagonize him.

Neither Dewitt nor Charlotte was happy to see her. But she didn't care.

In the scheme of things, their feelings weren't important.

"He has Tyler Dewitt," Cassie stressed.

"An innocent little boy who's done nothing to deserve this."

"To hell with you, Cassie." Dewitt's face took on a satanic glare.

"You're not the only one who cares about that boy, even though you think

you are."

Cassie sighed.

"I won't deny that since I've been back I haven't let you see him much,

but I was afraid of this very thing happening."

"Maybe, if you'd been more understanding a long time ago, Lester wouldn't have had to resort to such tactics."

"That's right," Charlotte added in a tearful voice.

An alarm bell went off in Cassie's head.

"Exactly what are you saying?" "We know that Tyler's not Lester's

child," Dewitt said.

"Which doesn't have anything to do with my not understanding your son.

First of all, it was Lester who was willing to be bought off. I wanted a divorce and custody of Tyler. For money, he willingly gave me both."

"He took us into his confidence about that, too," Charlotte said.

"At the time, that group he was mixed up with had him so brainwashed he

couldn't think straight or he wouldn't have agreed to your terms."

How could they be so blind? It didn't take a rocket scientist to answer

that question. Lester was their only child, and they loved the sorry bastard.

Still, Cassie couldn't let that influence her. If she had to hurt them

to get Tyler back, then so be it.

"You have to face facts here," Cassie stressed. "Whether you want to or not.

Lester himself took the child and is asking for more money for his cause

in return for my son."

Dewitt's body seemed suddenly to deflate, leaving him looking old andweak. Charlotte whimpered, which made Cassie want to slap her, only to follow that slap with a hug. They were both pitiful, but that was too bad, because the situation was critical. "Look, I didn't come here to make you feel bad or to attack you. Whenthis is all over and Tyler's home, we'll work something out. But rightnow, I have to know if Lester said or did anything that might have givenyou a clue as to where he was going or what he had planned." "Likewhat?" Dewitt asked in a tired voice.

"I don't know!" Cassie's patience was gone, and it showed.

"Well, I did hear him talking on the phone," Charlotte said, frowning.

"To who?" Cassie asked.

"Some man, I think, who apparently asked Lester if the keys were still

in the same place at the cabin. Lester told them they were."

"Cabin?" Cassie's tone was frantic.

"What cabin and where is it?"

They told her. Minutes later, she was back in her car, punching out

Detective Malcolm's number at the police station.

She was told he wasn't in but that they could get a message to him.

Damn! She left her message, but she didn't want to wait.

Austin. She would call Austin.

Should he get out and walk around the house?

Austin was so damn hot, he was sure he would have a heatstroke in his

vehicle. But the intense, breath- robbing heat wasn't going to stop himfrom doing the only thing he could think of to do--watch Grant Hoople'shouse.

Along with Detective Malcolm, Austin had put his private eye friend andhis crew on Lester's house and the campsite in the woods. All bases werecovered, and still no sign of any of the militiamen or Tyler.

Austin wanted to tear someone's head off. At the moment, he wouldn't beselective. If Lester or any of his cohorts harmed one harm a hair onthat boy's head, Austin would be the one going to the pen for life.

He would kill the son of a bitch with his own hands.

That was at least something he could do for his child, a child who he'dnever had the pleasure of parenting, thanks to Cassie. Unable to sit there another second, Austin jerked open the door and got out.

After looking around the deserted street, he crossed it. He didn't slow down until he reached a clump of trees beside Hoople's home. Knowing that he was taking a chance by going any closer, he did it anyway.

What if Tyler was in there, alone? He didn't think that was the case, but one never knew with those idiots on the loose. Austin slunk down and ran toward the back window. When he reached his destination, sweat ran into his eyes. He blinked it back, plasteringhimself against the wood, trying to control his erratic breathing. Sofar, so good, he thought, easing his head around and peering inside.

Nothing out of the ordinary greeted him. The bedroom contained what looked like dilapidated furniture and nothingelse. No guns and no people were in sight. Hoping he would fare better looking through a side window into the main room, he crept around the corner . Once there, he was reaching in his pocket for a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face when he heard a noise. Behind him.

He swung around and looked down the barrel of a gun.

Grant Hoople was on the other side of that gun.

"If you so much as twitch, I'll blow your fuckin' brains out." He

laughed.

"Is that clear, sonny?"

Austin cursed silently at the same time that his cell phone rang.

FR1;Thirty-Eight lassie blanched.

Although Austin took his eyes off her, he didn't remove the gun from her

sight.

"Whose is that?" Cassie asked, almost whispering.

"Mine."

"Where did you get it?"

"Bought it."

"Now's not the time to be sarcastic, Austin, no matter how you feel

about me."

"Don't lecture me, Cassie."

Her cheek muscles contracted, but she didn't back down.

"You know how I feel about guns."

"This is not about you or your feelings. Besides, I'm not going to be

caught unprepared again."

"What does that mean?"

"You don't want to know."

"If it has anything to do with Tyler I damn sure do."

For a minute, Austin held his silence in grim fashion. Then he said,"