by Rose, Karen
He sighed. ‘I don’t know.’
‘At least you’re honest.’
He tugged her chin until she met his eyes. ‘I won’t lie to you. Ever. But I can’t concentrate on helping my brother and your friends if I’m worried that you’ll throw yourself in front of Burton if things get bad. You need to trust me, but I need the same. So promise me.’
Mercy closed her eyes. ‘I promise.’
‘No. You look me in the eyes when you promise me. Look at me.’ She did and he struggled for the right words to make her understand. ‘I lost the last woman I cared about and it nearly broke me. If we lose anyone today, it’ll hurt both of us. I know that. But if we’re focused and do this right, we can save them. Help me save them. Promise me.’
Her eyes filled with tears, but she nodded. ‘I promise.’
‘Okay.’ That would have to be enough. ‘Now I need to get up. Can you get my cane?’
Dunsmuir, California
Wednesday, 19 April, 3.55 P.M.
‘This packet from the warden has a lot of information in it,’ Tom Hunter said from the front passenger seat of his FBI-issued SUV. He’d been pulling into Rafe’s driveway when Mercy, Rafe, Gideon, and Daisy had opened Rafe’s garage door, ready to drive to Dunsmuir. Assigned to bodyguard duty today, he’d picked up Amos at the Sokolovs’ so that he, Gideon, and Mercy could spend the afternoon together.
Which they were, just not the way Mercy had planned. Instead of sitting on Rafe’s comfy sofa and catching up on the years they’d missed together, they’d spent the last few hours in the Feds’ SUV, barreling up the interstate toward Mt. Shasta. When Amos had heard about the abduction and Ephraim’s ultimatum, he’d begged to come, citing his marksmanship skills. Mercy had lent her support, because Amos had always been an amazing shot. But it was more than that.
She, Gideon, and Amos needed to be there when Ephraim was taken down. It was personal.
And tense. Mercy sat between Amos and Rafe while Daisy sat in the very back with her rifle and a helluva lot of ammo. The woman didn’t mess around and Mercy was glad she was on their side. Rafe said that Daisy was the best shot he’d ever met. Mercy hoped that they wouldn’t need Daisy’s expertise, but she was damn glad that the woman was with them, guarding them as Gideon drove up north.
Tom Hunter also had a rifle, but he’d spent the last hour of their drive sifting through the deputy warden’s report that Rafe had forwarded. ‘A lot of this information about Aubrey and Harry Franklin was already available, but some of it’s brand-new.’
‘Are you going to be able to use any of it?’ Gideon asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Tom said. ‘I think it might be more helpful to someone in the behavioral department. They might use the files to build a profile on Benton Travis, aka Herbert Hampton, aka Pastor. I’m better with computers. Well, maybe not better. I was up all night trying to trace Burton’s bank account activity. So far I’ve been hitting brick walls, but I’ve broken through worse. It just takes time.’
‘What does that mean?’ Amos murmured in Mercy’s ear.
Okay. How do I explain that? ‘Ephraim has a bank account in Santa Rosa and uses it to pay for his mother’s care in a nursing home,’ Mercy told him quietly. ‘We do a lot of banking through the computer now. You can still go into an actual bank and the money is still physically there, but all the records are kept on servers.’ She sighed when he frowned. They had a lot of catching up to do, emotionally and with respect to how the world had changed. ‘You remember floppy disks?’
Amos nodded cautiously. ‘I take it that those aren’t used anymore either, like phone booths.’
Mercy smiled at him despite the churning of fear in her gut. It helped, talking to Amos. It kept her from thinking about all the horrible things that Ephraim could be doing to his hostages this very moment. ‘Right. Well, imagine billions and billions of floppy disks, all miniaturized into a small box. That’s data storage. That’s what a server does – it’s like a file folder. So instead of billions and billions of pieces of paper kept in a bank vault somewhere that record our deposits and withdrawals, the information is kept on the servers. You can see your own bank statements on the computer – like finding one file folder in all those billions of pieces of paper. Banks can see everyone’s deposits and withdrawals and, with the proper permissions, the government can search the files, too. Tom’s checking Ephraim’s bank account activity, trying to find where the money came from.’
‘It should trace back to Eden,’ Rafe added. ‘We think they keep their money in offshore accounts – those are usually banks outside the US, and they’ve typically been less willing to help law enforcement find dirty money.’
Amos seemed to digest this information. ‘Like Swiss bank accounts?’
Mercy blinked up at him. ‘You know about Swiss bank accounts?’
Amos gave her a look that was slightly chiding. ‘They had those in the olden days, Mercy.’
She winced. ‘Sorry.’ Then she had a thought. ‘How did you give all the money from the sale of your grandfather’s land to Pastor when you joined Eden?’
He lifted his dark bushy brows. ‘I wired it to a Swiss bank account. I had help, of course. My grandfather’s attorney handled it. I was only nineteen, but I was his sole heir and the terms of his will commanded that the money go to Pastor.’
Tom spun in his seat to stare back at Amos and Daisy leaned forward to hear more. ‘You wired money to Pastor? What’s your attorney’s name?’
Amos leaned back, eyes wide. ‘That was thirty years ago. You won’t be able to find that money. Can you?’ he added as a stunned afterthought. ‘That attorney was really old in 1989. I’m sure he’s long dead by now.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Tom said excitedly. ‘It’s another place for me to start hunting.’
Amos’s frown deepened. ‘I can’t remember his name, though. I haven’t thought about this in too many years.’ But his brow remained furrowed, thinking so hard that Mercy could almost hear it. ‘His name was like food.’ His lip curled a little in distaste. ‘Something gross that I didn’t like, but that my grandfather did. It was a joke between them. Every Christmas the lawyer would send my grandfather a case of the stuff. It came in little cans and you spread it on sandwiches. Like Spam, but not. Had a . . . devil on it.’
They all stared at Amos, completely confused, then Daisy broke the silence.
‘Oh, oh!’ Daisy exclaimed. ‘I know this one! Is it Underwood? Like the deviled ham?’
Amos snapped his fingers. ‘That’s it. Underwood.’ He made a face. ‘I hated that stuff. I had to pack deviled ham sandwiches in my lunch for months after Christmas because my grandfather never let food go to waste.’
Rafe turned to stare at Daisy. ‘How did you know about that?’
Daisy made a face identical to Amos’s. ‘My stepmother loved it, and it keeps forever, so we always had it on hand.’
‘What are you doing?’ Gideon asked Tom, who was now typing frantically on his laptop.
‘Starting a records search on that attorney,’ Tom answered. ‘This could be really important, Amos.’
‘I hope so,’ Amos murmured. ‘It’s the least I can do after everything.’
Mercy squeezed his hand. ‘You’ve already helped. You warned us about DJ and gave us information we didn’t have before, like Pastor’s name. The FBI knows who murdered poor Ginger too, so stop kicking yourself.’ Which was easier said than done, of course. Mercy knew that better than most, so she changed the subject. ‘What about the safe-deposit box key, Tom?’
‘Warrants are being signed off as we speak,’ he said. ‘Hopefully we’ll know what’s in it by the time we get back to Sacramento.’
‘He’ll be expecting me to have a key,’ Mercy said grimly, bringing her mind back to the confrontation ahead. ‘What if it comes down to that? What should I do?’
Rafe pulle
d out his own key ring and slid off a key. ‘This opens my safe-deposit box in Sacramento. It won’t look exactly like his, but it may be close enough that you can fool him momentarily. And sometimes momentarily is all you need.’
Mercy took it and put it in her pocket. ‘Thank you.’
Rafe pursed his lips, then whispered, ‘Promise me you won’t confront him.’
But that’s exactly why I’m here. To confront him. To distract him, so that the FBI could get Farrah, André, and Damien to safety. And then, hopefully, take Ephraim. Dead or alive. She hesitated. ‘I won’t sacrifice myself.’
Rafe closed his eyes. ‘Dammit, Mercy.’
‘Would you let him kill Damien if you could stop him?’ she asked quietly.
He shook his head. ‘No.’
‘It’s like that for me with Farrah. Don’t make me promise to sit by and—’ She broke off with a sharply indrawn breath when her phone buzzed in her hand. ‘It’s a text from Mama Romero. Her app is showing Farrah’s phone as active again. Ephraim must have turned it back on. Mama Ro sent a screenshot of the blinking dot on the map. She says it’s not in the same place as it was before, that it’s closer to the interstate.’
She started to show Mama Romero’s map to Rafe when her phone buzzed again and her heart climbed into her throat. ‘It’s Ephraim,’ she choked out. ‘He just sent me a text from Farrah’s phone with map coordinates.’ She swallowed, pushing her fear into the box in her mind, nailing it shut. ‘And a photo of Farrah, bound with duct tape. You can see André and Damien too, but just their torsos. They’re bound, too.’
‘Is there a message?’ Gideon asked tightly.
‘Yeah.’ Mercy cleared her throat and forced the words to come. ‘He says, “No cops or Feds or they all die”.’
‘Let me see,’ Rafe asked, his voice harsh with renewed fear. ‘Sonofabitch. Damien’s got blood all over his shirt.’ He closed his eyes, drew a breath. When he opened his eyes, they were clear and focused. ‘Give me the coordinates he sent.’ He typed the coordinates into his map app. ‘Burton’s coordinates match the map in Mrs Romero’s screenshot. He is closer to the highway than where he called from before by maybe ten miles. We’re not far now. Another twenty minutes.’
‘That’s good, though, right?’ Mercy asked. ‘That he’s closer to the highway?’
Rafe shook his head. ‘I think he’s just getting in position for his getaway. Gideon, take the next exit.’
‘I will,’ Gideon said, then glanced at Tom. ‘Can you let Agent Schumacher know where we’re going?’
Mercy whipped around to stare behind them, noticing, for the first time, the SUV tailing them. It was black, a carbon copy of the vehicle in which they were riding. ‘Agent Schumacher is following us?’
‘Yep,’ Tom said. ‘She caught up to us about an hour ago.’
Right about the time he’d opened his laptop. ‘You knew you had backup,’ she accused. ‘That’s why you were comfortable letting someone else keep watch.’
Tom sighed. ‘Schumacher is a good agent, Mercy. Try to trust us, okay?’
Mercy blew out a breath, trying to control her temper. ‘I did trust you. You, Tom. Not some agent I don’t know. I guess Molina knows, too?’
Gideon put on his turn signal for the upcoming exit. ‘She does. And I was the one who called her, not Tom. I trust Molina, Mercy. She’s got a lot more experience with hostage situations than you do.’
Mercy saw red. ‘And I have more experience with Ephraim Burton than any of you! Goddammit, Gideon.’ Fury had tears springing to her eyes and she wiped them away. ‘I thought you understood that Burton means business, but you’re all caught up in the rules.’ She spat the word. ‘If he touches one fucking hair on Farrah’s head—’
Rafe pressed his finger to her lips. ‘Stop. Do not say things you’ll have to take back later. I don’t trust Molina either, but I do trust Gideon with my life. And yours.’
Mercy jerked her face away, pursing her lips. She faced forward, looking at no one and willing her tears not to fall. These weren’t tears of sadness. These were tears of pure rage and she hated it. ‘Did you know, Rafe?’
He exhaled quietly. ‘Yes.’
That was that, then. No apologies, just a simple yes. Goddammit. She’d trusted them. She’d trusted Rafe. I should have known better. I should have come alone.
There was a rustle behind her and Daisy was sliding her arms around Mercy’s shoulders. ‘Rafe’s right. Gideon saved you, Mercy. He broke a lot of rules to do it. So did Rafe.’
Mercy swallowed, the gentle words hitting her hard because they were true. Her rage collapsed from a raging fire to barely smoldering embers. ‘I know.’
‘Then trust Gideon with Farrah’s and André’s lives. Rafe trusts him with yours and Damien’s. If there is a way to get all three of them out safely, these guys know how to do it. And Molina’s not all bad. Her bark is worse than her bite.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Rafe said, and Daisy smacked his arm.
‘You are undoing all my hard work, Rafe. Look, Mercy, I get it. I really do. But you need to understand that Gideon went through the same thing when you were taken. So cut him some slack, okay? He’s a good agent. And he loves you.’
‘Dammit,’ Mercy muttered, shame replacing her fury. ‘Now you’re making sense.’
Daisy chuckled. ‘I thought so. You want to hold Brutus? She’s good for situations like this and you left your cats back at Rafe’s.’
Mercy shook her head. ‘No, I’m okay. I’m sorry, Gideon. I was out of line.’
Gideon met her eyes in the rear-view mirror. ‘It’s all right. And you’re right. You do know Ephraim better than any of us. That’s why you’re here. You and Amos.’
She glanced at Amos and found him nodding reluctantly. ‘We’ll do our part, Mercy,’ he said. ‘Let the Feds do theirs.’ He looked over her head to Rafe. ‘Feds and detectives.’
She turned to Rafe. ‘I’m sorry. You’re right. Thank you for stopping me before I said something awful.’
Rafe kissed her softly. ‘I’m good. Now try to relax. We need a plan of action, given that we all know this is a trap. Is Farrah’s phone still active?’
Mercy texted the question to Mrs Romero, then nodded when Farrah’s mother replied. ‘Yes. And still in the same location.’
‘Then if it doesn’t move, it’s a lure. He might not have Farrah and the others there. Hell, he might not even be there right now, but that’s where he wants us. We can only hope we have the element of surprise. Hopefully he doesn’t know that Mrs Romero could see Farrah’s phone and that we were waiting for his next text.’
‘He turned her phone off,’ Mercy murmured. ‘He might think that kept us from tracking it. He’d had it turned off before he called me, because Mama Ro’s calls kept going to voice mail.’
‘And Damien’s and André’s phones were found in Damien’s car,’ Rafe added. ‘I’m hoping he thinks that we’re just leaving Sacramento and that he has a few hours before we arrive.’
That, at least, was comforting. ‘Should I reply to his text?’ Mercy asked. ‘Is there any way he can know where I am?’
‘Doubtful, but let’s make sure.’ Tom reached backward. ‘Give me your phone.’ Mercy did and Tom pulled another phone from his pocket. ‘Mine’s a burner,’ he said. ‘I never leave home without one. I’m going to answer him from my phone, spoofing your number. It’ll look like it came from you, but my phone’s untraceable.’ A minute later he handed her phone back. ‘Done. I told him that you were on your way with an ETA of seven thirty. It’ll be dark then. Burton thinks he’ll have that advantage.’
Gideon met Mercy’s eyes in the rear-view mirror, his expression severe. ‘This is what’s going to happen,’ he said in a tone that brooked no argument. ‘When we get to the stop, I want you and Amos to stay in the SUV. He had a rifle in Snowbush. He will b
e waiting for us again. We’ll park a quarter mile away from the coordinates and Tom and I will check them out. Rafe, you and Agent Schumacher will stay with the vehicles in case Ephraim’s watching and comes after Mercy.’
Rafe’s jaw tensed, but he nodded. ‘I’d slow you down, so yeah. Okay.’
Gideon huffed. ‘Come on, Rafe, you know you’d balk if I told you to leave Mercy.’
Rafe laughed then. ‘You’re right about that. It’s a good plan, Gid.’
Gideon shook his head. ‘I keep putting my foot in it.’
‘After this, I say we go out for ice cream,’ Daisy said. ‘You can buy me a double, Gideon, and I might even share with you.’
Gideon pretended to be scared. ‘I would never even ask. Nobody who values their life gets between you and ice cream.’
‘Molina’s here as well,’ Tom said conversationally. ‘So that you aren’t surprised if you see her.’
Goddammit. Mercy had figured as much, but it still pissed her off. ‘With a platoon of agents?’
‘SWAT,’ Tom corrected. ‘She and the team got up here about an hour ago. Flew in to Dunsmuir by helicopter and settled in to wait. They’ll drive to the coordinates, then canvass the area, looking for Burton and the hostages.’
‘And you’re just telling us all this now, Tom?’ Mercy asked through clenched teeth, terrified of what Ephraim would do to the hostages if he saw Molina and the SWAT team.
Tom put away his laptop, then turned in his seat to look at them. ‘Yes. You would have worried unnecessarily otherwise, and don’t even try claiming that I’m wrong.’
Mercy blew out a breath. ‘You’re not wrong.’
‘I know,’ Tom said, but there was no trace of condescension or smugness. ‘Also, there are vests and helmets in the very back. The windows of this SUV are bullet-resistant, but we’re not taking any chances. Daisy, if you could give everyone their gear?’
Daisy did as Tom asked and no words were spoken as they put on the tactical gear.
They remained silent until Rafe said, ‘Pull over here. We’re a quarter mile from the coordinates.’
