Sanctuary Forever WITSEC Town Series Book 5

by Lisa Phillips

  Gemma screamed. Please let someone hear.

  Mrs. Evangeline strode back into the room. “Loud, isn’t she?” The gleam in her eyes was sickening. Like she was possessed. What had happened to these people?

  “You were good. Nice. Church people! What happened to the two of you?” It was like they were drunk with excitement, adrenaline flowing through their veins like a high they’d never felt before.

  “We saw it in Terrence. The rush and how it changed him. Then we got an offer we weren’t about to refuse. All these years in this town, this prison. We’re not about to end up on the wrong side of this fight. We’re getting what belongs to us, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

  “Let me go!”

  “No,” Mrs. Evangeline said.

  Where was Mei? For once she wished the little Chinese powerhouse was here. Why couldn’t she bust in the door and start karate-kicking these two into next week? Gemma let out a cry of frustration. Nothing in her life ever went right.

  “You belong to us now, and there’s no use fighting it. That’ll only mean we have to punish you.” She giggled with a sick glee Gemma had only seen in horror movies. They tied her hands together, their disgusting paws roaming places they should not have touched.

  Gemma kicked Mrs. Evangeline in the stomach. The older woman squealed out a puff of air as the wind escaped. She frowned, her face reddening, and grabbed a handful of Gemma’s hair. Mrs. Evangeline slapped her, open-palmed, right across the face.

  “Now for her mouth.”

  Gemma heard the words like she was under water, and then Mrs. Evangeline lifted a scarf Gemma had bought but never worn. “Right ahead of you.”

  Gemma struggled as hard as she could, whipped her head around so they couldn’t cover her mouth. They held her face, crowding her so she couldn’t move. Tears streamed down her face, and she cried behind the scarf so tight on her cheeks she could hardly breathe.

  “The mayor was right. This is fun.”

  They took her out her front door, across the street, and down almost to the end. No one saw. Gemma struggled every step, until Mr. Evangeline stopped and put her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

  Gemma craned her neck to see if anyone was watching. Someone had to have heard something? Where was everyone?

  She thought she saw a curtain move, but maybe she was just imagining it.

  Mr. Evangeline went inside. Their house smelled like something floral, so strong she got a headache immediately.

  “Someone to cook and clean…” Mrs. Evangeline twittered.

  Mr. Evangeline’s response was to squeeze Gemma’s rear. “I’m getting the hang of this. And I’ll bet she’ll turn out to be good for all kinds of things.”

  He walked to the back of the house, opened a door, and tossed her on the floor. Gemma hit the wood on her tailbone. Bare planks, no furniture. A boarded up window.

  They slammed the door and locked her in.

  **

  John knocked on Mei’s front door. When he was done being polite, and trying to get a polite answer in return, he pulled out his keys and used the master to get in. Sometimes it helped to have a key to every door in town. Too bad he couldn’t just enter whenever he felt like it, search every house, and find the culprit to whatever crime had been committed. But the law didn’t work like that, and people who felt their rights were trampled on tended to file lawsuits.

  No one had seen Mei since she had taken Xander to Louis’s the night before. John had a list of concerns about the woman, a lot of which settled around his brother, but he didn’t want her to be hurt. Or missing. Or caught up in something that would get her killed. Or off doing something he would have to arrest her for.

  With Mei, it could go one of several ways.

  Fatigue weighed on him like a heavy coat. The morale in town was like Minnesota in January, and John was trying to figure out what to do about it, navigating being a new father again, working on keeping things good with his family, and trying to stay grounded in his faith, all while he figured out what the mayor was up to.

  He rubbed a hand on the spot, high on his chest, where that rogue Navy SEAL had stabbed him. It still hurt sometimes, but he’d determined nothing like that was going to happen ever again. So he’d taken measures. He’d found that kid-size bullet proof vests had to be custom made. There would be as little vulnerability within his family as he could ensure. If they were going to live here then John would do everything within his power to protect them and pray for God to cover the rest that John couldn’t.

  He strode through the house. He knocked on the bedroom door before he entered. No answer. He walked through and checked the bathroom, half expecting to find a decomposing body in her bathtub. Mei was precisely the type of woman he’d imagine getting rid of her enemies that way. But the place was clean. So where was Terrence?

  His phone rang. John looked at the display, Private, and didn’t know whether to be glad, or annoyed that Ben would be calling right now. Because who else would it be?

  He hit the button, praying he would get more than static this time, and said, “If you’re calling to tell me why I’m standing in my deputy’s bathroom I’m all ears.”

  “I’ve never understood that expression.” Ben’s voice was even, calm. “All ears. I mean, that’s gross.” In the background two gunshots went off.

  “Where are you?”

  “I can’t—”

  “Tell me. Yeah, I know.” John sighed. He hadn’t meant geographically “Where was his brother”, or even “What was he doing.” Just a general, “Why are you being shot at?” would have been nice to know. But whatever.

  Moving on. “I need answers, Ben, and fast. The town is circling the drain, and maybe you sent Mei to do something and maybe you didn’t, but whatever it is isn’t stopping it. And she’s now missing.”

  “She wasn’t supposed to stop it. She was supposed to unravel the mystery in the first place. Find out why that town was there, who the original residents were. Why Hal left Gemma that room.”

  “And why would you need to know that?”

  “It was designated part of what the committee needed to know, going forward. Just because we moved out from under the purview of the federal government doesn’t mean we’re just going to ignore unanswered questions. And you know I never take what they say at face value.”

  John sighed. “So Mei came here to unravel the mystery of Sanctuary.”

  “She’s done pretty well, so far.”

  “Only because Dan talked to her, and Gemma told her what she found out from her mom. That was most of it.”

  “She found Dan’s mom’s body, didn’t she?”

  John wasn’t going to get in this discussion with his brother. “Has she called in?”

  “Why?”

  “Because no one’s seen her.”

  Ben was quick to say, “That doesn’t mean anything’s happened. Mei can handle herself, so if she hasn’t shown up it’s because she’s busy.”

  John said, “Are you trying to convince me that’s the case, or yourself?”

  “Touché, little brother.”

  “If you don’t have anything that can help me, why did you call?”

  “How is Nicholas?”

  “The baby is fine.” John was ready to quit this gig and take his family to Hawaii to live on the beach instead, but he couldn’t in good conscience do that. Ben was miles away living the secret agent life, and all he wanted to know about was his nephew?

  “Mom sent me a picture. He’s cute.”

  John was really trying not to get mad, but he was so tired. “Can you call me if Mei gets ahold of you, please?”

  “Sure, br—”

  John waited, but his brother never finished what he’d been saying. “Ben?”

  A crackly voice came over the line, but John couldn’t make out what his brother said. “Great.”

  John stowed his phone. The satellite must be having problems. Another thing to add to the list of problems he a
lready had. His son didn’t want to stay home. Townspeople wanted to know why everything was going haywire. Olympia wanted to know who had killed Antonia, and the search for Terrence was ongoing. All in the same week Andra had their baby.

  Nothing in this town made sense at all. Least of all his deputy, who showed up out of nowhere, didn’t fit the job, disappeared all the time, did no more than the minimum she was asked to do, and… it was the way she thumbed her chin when she was thinking. The way she worked her mouth back and forth.

  He couldn’t help it. She reminded him of Ben.

  **

  Dan knew they were moving. Intellectually he could feel the move of the horse underneath him. Bay held him centered when he would have split into dissonant fragments. The sight of Chase falling to the ground with blood covering his chest played over and over in his mind.

  “Pick up the pace.”

  Dan focused at the other three horses in front of him. They were almost to town. He should tug Bay’s reins and set her to sailing into the woods. She’d covered that ground so many times she could be blindfolded and she’d find her way.

  Escape.

  Then he saw the gun pointed at him. Dan didn’t want to get shot in the back as he rode away, and he certainly didn’t want Bay to get hurt. Miranda must be beside herself. She had to have found Chase by now. How was Dan going to explain to her what had happened? Nothing would ever satisfy her, no matter what answer he gave. Dan knew that, because he would never find peace after this, either. Except with Papa’s help.

  The squad of horses hit Main Street.

  Businesses shut their doors. People on the street gasped, gathered up their children, and went inside. A group ran into the Meeting House. One by one the street descended into silence except for the rap of horse hooves on the concrete street as they slowed.

  People watched from behind windows and doors.

  Sheriff Chandler pulled to a stop in the middle of the street outside the sheriff’s office, raised his gun barrel to the clouds, and fired off three shots. In the distance, Dan heard a baby start to cry.

  He shut his eyes and prayed.

  Sheriff Chandler yelled, “Time to come out, Sheriff Mason. Time to face me and explain to this town why you’ve let things get this far. Time to resign and let someone else take over. Someone who can do a better job than you.”

  No one moved. The sheriff never came out.

  Dan couldn’t see beyond the closed blinds of the sheriff’s office. He looked up, but the curtains had been drawn upstairs. Was the sheriff even home? Dan didn’t want to get in front of Chandler’s gun, but if the man was going to go inside where John’s family were no-doubt huddled together, Dan would do what he could to stop him.

  The door handle turned. The door slowly opened, inch by inch and the sheriff strode out, wearing his uniform. Probably to make a point to Chandler as to which of them carried the authority. At least Dan hoped that was the case. John had to know what was at stake. He wasn’t a stupid man, but Dan didn’t know how far he would allow himself to be pushed. Or how he would react if Chandler leveraged John’s family against the town of Sanctuary.

  John’s hands hung loose at his sides, his gun on his belt. Shouldn’t he have brought a shotgun or something? Dan tried to communicate the seriousness of what was going on with his eyes, but John’s gaze didn’t settle on him long enough for him to read anything from Dan.

  “Chandler. I thought you were dead.”

  The older sheriff grinned. “Guess I outlived my own mortality.”

  Dan figured he’d faked the whole thing, arranged exit out of Sanctuary and for John to replace him, and then spent the last two years orchestrating this whole thing. But Dan was just a farmer. What did he know?

  “What brings you to Sanctuary?” John chatted like this was just another day, not a serious breach of security.

  Dan tried to motion with his eyes and the jerk of his head that people had died and things were deteriorating fast, but John never looked his way after the first glance.

  “I’m back for good,” Chandler said. “I’m ready to lead again, to return Sanctuary to its former glory. No, to make it better even than before. Only a strong leader can possess the vision to usher these people and this place into the greatness that is possible.” The old sheriff’s eyes narrowed. “I admire the job you did for the marshals, but since you arrived your progress has been reported to me, and I’m sad to say things have not been impressive. You had a chance, John. A chance to really turn this town into something great! Instead you’ve let them erode it day-by-day.”

  “My job is to protect this town, not to govern their lives. They already have a mayor.” He glanced at Collins. “Sad to say, he seems to have checked out in favor of his own agenda instead of doing what’s best for the town.”

  Collins sputtered. “That’s because you—”

  The old sheriff lifted his hand. “Enough, Collins.”

  “That’s not even my name,” he yelled back. “I came here because they told me I’d be paving the way to a greater future. Instead I find a bunch of imbeciles, and not one of them has that vision of greatness you were talking about. I’m the only one who sees what could be.”

  “You are not the only one.” The old sheriff shook his head. “And you will have a part to play in this, but patience is in order. People must be shown the right path in order for them to walk it.”

  John said, “You think this town is going to let you walk in illegally, set up shop and start changing their lives?”

  “The manner by which I came to be here—”

  John interrupted with, “You hiked through the mine.”

  “So you figured it out.”

  “Did you kill Mei?”

  The old sheriff frowned. “Never mind the fate of that little chinky. She isn’t important here.”

  John didn’t look impressed. Dan tried to figure out what to do, and where this was headed. Chandler seemed so calm, but there was a nasty storm just below the surface. He’d seen it blow forth before, when Chandler was mad. He’d bet the man could be lethal if he wanted to.

  “What matters is your fate,” Chandler said. “This town is on the cusp of a new path, and it’s time for you to decide. Are you with us, where you will share in what we’re going to build beyond this town being a prison turned into a residence, or will you stand against us and face down the consequences? Can you resist what is happening, will you deny the greatness that we will surely mold this town into? Or do you choose your own fate?”

  Dan held his breath. The whole of Main Street was silent, the horses’ puffs and shifting seemed to cease as they waited for John’s answer. Dan cleared his mind and let the Holy Spirit intercede on his behalf. There were no words. Surely John had to be praying, too. Yes. Dan saw his lips move. They needed God’s help if they were going to emerge from this with the town and its residents out of harm.

  What would Chandler do if John said no? How far was the old sheriff prepared to go in order to lead the town to a new era? Dan couldn’t forget the man’s reaction to his presence. He’d expected to be killed, and yet they’d kept him alive. They’d mentioned a woman. Gemma? He wanted her far from these men when he had no idea what was still to come.

  John lifted his chin. “I won’t let you railroad these people into a town of your design. They should be allowed to live the lives they want to in peace and safety.”

  “Very well.” Chandler lifted his gun and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 24

  Bolton’s hand reached out and clasped Nadia’s as she stood by him. He reached for his son with the other hand and the teen shot him a grim look, his eyes full of tears and ready to overflow. The town’s fate had come to this, and they’d finally seen it play out.

  Sanctuary had never been a safe place, but neither was the rest of the world. At least here he’d thought they had enough friends around them that they were strong to face whatever might come next.

  Bolton glanced back at the Meeting Ho
use and all the people gathered inside. They’d been through so much already. Crazy murdering psycho’s, crazier murdering psycho’s, followed by a crazy murdering SEAL. Through it all several of them had found love. Made families. Forged some semblance of happiness out of everything that was right and wrong in Sanctuary.

  He’d almost done it. Nadia Marie was here, his ring on her finger. Their wedding date would be set when she finally agreed they didn’t need to wait any longer. Javier was here. Things were good between them, and while it would never be a perfect father/son relationship because of the years they’d spent apart, Bolton liked to think they were becoming good friends.

  And now the town was overrun.

  Sheriff Chandler had done little more than sit behind a desk when he had been here. He’d certainly never actually arrested anyone. Why did they think the crime stats had gone up since John arrived? Now the man was back? No cancer. No sickness at all that Bolton could see.

  One shot, and now John lay on the street in the midday sun.

  A tear rolled down Bolton’s face, but he didn’t have a free hand to catch it.

  **

  Matthias moaned, low in his throat. A gasp from Frannie set the baby to crying, but her gaze didn’t move from across the street. Matthias went to her and took the child, then held them both close to his chest.

  She’d had a hard time since Susan was born, but God had been so faithful to give them joy in spite of the bad days Frannie had. He’d seen her smile as many times as she laughed, and knew there was a measure of guilt there that she wasn’t happier about their family. Matthias just reminded her that happiness was a human emotion, and those could change faster than the weather. What was true was that they had each other, and God had them. Their baby was healthy, they had another on the way, and they were together. Life was good.

  The Meeting House was packed, most of the town already attuned to what was happening in Sanctuary, and while some crowded closer to the windows to attempt to see across the street, others backed up. Even before the posse rode down Main Street on horseback, armed. Before the former sheriff of Sanctuary had gunned down John Mason in the street. So many here had PTSD or other trauma symptoms. The sheriff’s death was going to be a blow he wasn’t sure this town could recover from.