Chris pulled behind Buck's truck. APD had blocked off most of the street but Buck seemed to have kept them corralled to the outer perimeter. He looked over at Nathan as he got out. "Last text from Buck said they're on the trail behind the house."
Nathan nodded as he fastened the straps on his vest. "I'm assuming they haven't found anything yet." He followed Chris across the street and around the back side of the house. "What's that buzzing sound?"
Chris looked up, following the sound. "A drone. I'm surprised it got here this fast." Walking through the open gate that led to the rough path, they followed it a short distance as the buzz from the drone got louder. He could hear Buck's voice rising over the buzz of the drone.
"JD, fly it further over the canyon wall."
As Chris rounded a bend in the path, Buck and JD came into view. "Any luck?"
Buck shook his head. "How's Ezra?"
Nathan walked past the two men towards Josiah who was further ahead on the path. "Still unconscious but he should make a full recovery."
Chris stopped and looked over JD's shoulder and the control panel on his phone. "That doesn't look like the ATF's drone."
"It's not. It's mine. ATF couldn't get theirs here for a couple more hours and apparently APD's isn't functioning right now." JD didn't look up from the screen as he tapped it bringing up another image.
Chris frowned. "Is that thermal imaging?"
JD looked over. "Yeah, but all I'm picking up so far are rabbits and deer."
"Keep looking." Chris walked over to Buck. "What have we found?"
"A big pile of nothing." Buck ran his hand over his face. "Ground's too dry to really tell much." He nodded to where Josiah was knelt down on the ground. "He thinks he sees evidence of people running though here but not enough to even say how many. The only reason why we're still looking on this path is because it's the only way Ezra could have ended up where he did."
Chris looked back at JD. "Have you checked the wooded area?" He looked over at the area. There was a gradual incline leading up the side of a mountain. The further up it went, the thicker the trees were. "Chances are that's where we'll find Henderson."
JD shook his head. "Only maybe thirty yards in. That's where all the deer and rabbits start to show up." He glanced over at Buck and lowered his voice. "Thought looking for Vin was the priority." Getting on a shrug in return, he guided the drone over to the tree laden area.
"Chris"
Chris looked up as Josiah yelled. "Find something?" He had already started moving towards Josiah. He looked down as Josiah brushed back some leaves to reveal a handgun. "That's not one of Vin's or Ezra's."
Nathan knelt down next to Josiah. "Maybe our bomber? We can run the registration."
Josiah sat back on his heels and looked up at Chris. Pulling a pair of gloves out of his pocket he slipped them on and picked up the gun. Sliding the clip out he held it up. "Assuming it was a full clip, half of them were fired."
Chris clinched his jaw and nodded. Feeling his phone vibrate, he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the text. "Sophie says he's starting to wake up."
Nathan stood up and walked over to Chris. "Send me her number…I want to find out exactly what that means. And, if he remembers anything, maybe it'll help us find Vin and maybe even Henderson."
Chris nodded and air dropped Sophie's contact info to Nathan. "JD, keep searching. Infrared."
JD nodded. Guiding the drone over he frowned and looked over at Nathan, "Wait, did he say Sophie? Isn't she in Louisiana?"
Nathan shook his head as he tapped out text to Sophie. "Apparently she didn't stay in Louisiana." He read Sophie's response. "He's not fully awake yet. Just starting to move around more."
JD looked back down at his phone to edge the drone back over to the wooded area. When he had looked over at Nathan he had let the drone drift over the edge of the cliff. He started to move it back over to the wooded area when the infrared picked up a decent sized heat signature. Flying the drone a little lower, he looked at the shape. "Uh…Chris…"
Chris walked back to JD. Looking over at the screen he clinched his jaw. "Flip it back to the regular camera." As the screen shifted back to normal colors, the distinct shape of a body materialized.
Fifteen Hours Earlier
Ezra was starting to lose track of how long he had been intermittently running. He didn't think he had lost Henderson, nor did he think Vin had been successful in taking the man out. So, he continued the short sprints between rocks and trees hoping each time that he was quicker than Henderson's bullets. It had at least been a little while since he had a bullet impact a rock or tree next to him making him thankful once again that luck had graced his presence. He, however, preferred to not leave things like his life to luck or chance.
Taking a moment to catch his breath just inside the outskirts of a wooded area, he noticed the sky was starting to be a little less bright than it was before. This time of year, the sun set around seven. The only purpose that tidbit of information served was to tell him that they had been doing this way too long. They had arrived at their suspects' house around five. Two hours. Two hours of running through the rocky terrain of Petroglyph National Monument Park. He was at least glad they were in the more wooded part and not the barren flats found elsewhere in the area. Scanning his eyes over the path in front of him he weighed his options. Staying where he was wasn't the best idea, but the path ahead afforded him little cover. If he could cover the open area without getting killed, the path wound down into what looked like a small slot canyon of sorts. Small enough and twisty enough that Henderson would have a tough time getting a shot off and would be forced to follow at a closer distance. He looked at his other choices which really only consisted of staying out or going deeper into the wooded area. The wooded area afforded him cover, but it also wasn't much of a path which means he had no way of knowing where he'd end up. Hell, he barely knew where he was now.
A shot hit the tree next to his head, splinters from the tree trunk spraying against him and his choice was made for him. Darting towards the slot canyon, he heard another shot echo through the desolate landscape. After the third shot echoed he thought he had gotten incredibly lucky. The slot canyon was just a few paces away. He then realized he felt the fourth shot before he heard it's echo as he darted into the protection of the canyon walls. He propelled himself forward by adrenaline only, not stopping until he had made several twists through the path. Slowing and then finally coming to a stop, he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. His shoulder hurt. Glancing down, he didn't see blood staining his shirt. Reaching over his shoulder with his right hand, he felt the damp stickiness that was somewhat unique to an open wound. Pulling his hand down, he looked at the red stain on his hand in the dying rays of sunlight.
