“Where is it?”
“In Aitkin.”
“Do you have an address?”
“I don’t. But when you find her, will you let me know?” Osterkamp said. “I’d like to be sure she’s safe.”
They promised they would, thanked her, and as they headed toward the administration building, Daniel said, “Liam Boyle. Liam is Cork’s middle name, a shortened version of William.”
Agent Shirley said, “Billy is, too.”
Monte said, “I think we’ve found our Billy Bones.”
The address on file for William Boyle at the Sizemore School was in Duluth, a nondescript apartment building on the West End, not far from the run-down house in Lincoln Park where Fawn Blacksmith had once stayed. There was a sign planted in the dead grass of the lawn: APARTMENT FOR RENT. The mailbox associated with the apartment number they’d been given had no name on it.
They were standing at the doorway, discussing options, when a car pulled into the apartment lot. A woman got out, reached into the backseat for a bag of groceries, then approached, looking at them warily.
They identified themselves, flashed their IDs, and explained that they needed access. “For law enforcement reasons,” Monte said, keeping it vague.
The woman, who looked to be of retirement age, let them in.
“Do you know anything about the man who lives in apartment 3B?” Agent Shirley asked.
“That’s third floor. I don’t know anybody up there. What did he do?”
“Thanks for your help, ma’am,” Monte said. “We’ll take it from here.”
There was, as Daniel expected, no answer to their knock. The door was locked.
“We could contact the company on the sign, see if Boyle is still renting the place,” Daniel suggested.
But Agent Shirley said, “Monte, give me your car keys.” When he’d done so, she said, “Stay here. And Daniel, you come with me.”
He followed her down the flights of stairs to the building entrance. “Wait here and keep the door open.” She went to Monte’s Tahoe, unlocked the door on the passenger side, and bent in for a few moments. Then she closed and locked the door, and she and Daniel returned to the apartment.
“Stand back,” she said to the other two.
Daniel saw that she’d brought up a set of picks, and she began to work on the door lock.
“You carry those with you everywhere?” he asked.
“Pretty much.”
“Not in any law enforcement manual I ever read,” Monte said.
“I learned a long time ago to think outside the box. Et voilà.” She pushed the door open.
The apartment was empty, not a stick of furniture in the place.
“Cleared out a while ago,” Monte said. “Even before he might have been worried that we were looking for him.”
“We could check on a forwarding address,” Daniel suggested.
“Something tells me he probably didn’t leave one,” Monte said.
“What now?” Agent Shirley asked.
“Let’s check in with Cork and Marsha Dross, see if they’ve got any kind of lead on Lewis’s fifth wheel,” Monte said. “If Liam Boyle is connected with all this, that might be a likely place for him to be hiding. And Mathias Paavola as well.”
Which brought Daniel a jolting realization, one that made his gut draw taut. “If that’s true, when they locate the trailer, they may be walking into a nest of vipers.”
CHAPTER 38
“Paavola’s Jeep isn’t here,” Dross said.
They stood in front of the kind of cabin Cork was very familiar with. There were so many fishing cabins just like it nestled among the trees on the shoreline of Iron Lake. It was small, probably only two or three rooms, built decades ago and showing its age.
“Doesn’t mean the place is empty,” Cork said.
“Let’s put on those vests I brought,” Dross said. “And by the way, I’m officially deputizing you.”
After he donned a Kevlar vest, Cork took his Winchester from the lockbox in the back of his Expedition. He slid in five cartridges and fed one of them into the chamber. Dross had already drawn her service weapon.
“Cabin or trailer first?” Cork asked.
“Trailer,” Dross said. “I’ll approach, you cover me.”
Dross had her weapon up and readied as she walked slowly toward the Jayco. Cork watched for any movement at the windows, the rustle of a curtain, the peek of a face. Dross knocked on the trailer door and shouted, “Police! Open up!”
