by Geri Krotow
Colt slowed the ATV and pulled off the beaten track, then killed the engine. Keith was off the seat and running before Colt had a chance to pull his weapon. Son of a bitch, getting old sucked. Thank God for gym time and adrenaline. Colt ran behind Keith, skidding to a halt and diving onto his front behind the wild shrubbery that rimmed the perimeter of the quarry.
What Keith pointed to made his heart stop.
* * *
“You bitch. I should kill you right here in front of all the future mothers.” The gunman held the AR-15 up, pointing at Abi’s forehead. She wasn’t worried about him, though. It was the driver standing near the now open steel doors that concerned her. And what if there were more men inside the bunker?
Keep him talking.
“You can’t upset them. They’ll never conceive at all if they’re stressed. A woman’s cycle is very sensitive, you know.”
Sweat poured down the man’s face and his eyes narrowed. “Brother Wise will decide who becomes a mother!” Behind the armed loser, Abi made out Claudia as she crept toward the bus driver who hadn’t detected her presence yet. The driver appeared riveted to the scene playing out in front of the bus between Abi and the guard.
“Look. Neither of us wants the girls to get hurt. Why don’t you get them off the bus safely, then you can take care of me? You know Brother Wise will not be happy if the girls see anything bad happen.”
He paused, actually appeared to listen to her. He cocked his head at an extreme angle. “You know, you might be right. But no bitch decides what I do!” He was foaming at the mouth, his missing teeth allowing for spittle to fly.
Please, Claudia, do it, do it!
As if she’d heard her, Claudia’s creeping turned into a flurry of motion. The bus driver screamed as Claudia took him out. Abi saw the retired Marine Corps General’s feet hit kidneys, groin, stomach. The gunman kept his rifle on Abi as he turned his head to see what was causing the commotion. His last mistake.
Abi grabbed the end of the rifle and in one smooth move the gunman was flying over her, landing against the bus and sliding into a heap with a satisfying “Oof!”
He held on to the weapon and Abi kept the barrel away from her, away from where she knew the girls were hiding. Using every skill she knew, she wrestled the AR-15 from the creep. It cost him his consciousness as she hit him in the head when he tried to grasp her ankles. She sank to the ground next to the bus’s tire.
“Where are the girls?” Claudia was next to her, appearing out of sorts in her torn, cultic dress but none the worse for wear.
“I sent them where we’d planned.” Abi wiped her brow, thinking. The girls were hopefully halfway up the quarry by now, if not out entirely, huddled together at the meeting point.
“We saved them, and SVPD will get the rest of the women from the trailer park. Now we wait for Wise to show up.” Claudia rested her arms on her bent knees, her hands dangling.
“Whoa—did you break your hand?” Abi pointed to the huge swelling of two of Claudia’s fingers.
Claudia laughed. “Yeah, probably. And I’ll break the other one if I have to.”
A loud, whopping noise caught their attention and they looked up to see a helicopter descending into the canyon. It wasn’t SVPD or an emergency life flight.
“We didn’t know about the helicopter.” Abi looked at Claudia, who stared at the aircraft.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. It has to be Wise.”
They started to crawl under the bus in unison, no words needed. The bus driver lay unconscious at the bunker entrance, not visible to anyone more than ten feet away. The armed guard that Abi had knocked out was on this side of the bus, and she and Claudia quickly dragged him under the bus with them. The scene Wise was landing in looked calm, deliberate. As far as anyone knew, the girls were in the bunker already, just as Wise had planned.
The helicopter landed not one hundred feet from them and before the blades stopped turning, two burly armed men got out and helped a frail, thin man to the ground.
Leonard Wise had come to reap his reward.
* * *
Keith watched Colt stare through his binoculars. He had left his behind when he’d originally run from the quarry, thinking he was going to help his department.
When he’d left Abi to die.
“Is it Wise?”
Colt didn’t answer for several beats. They watched the three men egress the helicopter and walk slowly toward the entrance to the bunker. “Yeah, it’s him. The bus driver is still out, lying by the door—I can make out his feet. No idea where the other man is, but he’s nowhere in sight.”
“Any sign of Abi or Claudia?”
“Not yet. Wait—damn it!” Colt threw the binoculars at Keith, who caught them and immediately started focusing on the bus.
“They’re under the bus. They’re going to have to take down Wise and the two men. I’m heading in.”
Colt stared at Keith. “You have to stay here. You don’t have a weapon, and you can be the lookout for the police department. Talk to Rio.” Colt pressed the speed dial for Rio before he handed Keith his phone. “You’re our comms link.” Colt disappeared into the brush that surrounded the quarry’s edge, headed for one of three paths that led to the bottom. He’d be behind the helicopter within five minutes.
“Rio here—Colt?”
“No, it’s Keith. Colt’s going into the quarry. A helicopter with Wise and two bodyguards landed. Abi and Claudia are under the school bus. No sign of the young girls, and it appears Claudia and Abi disabled the bus driver and a second man, probably another guard.”
“I’ve got units headed in, Keith. They’re going to have to park a good half mile away and run in on foot, to stay out of earshot. Unless Wise and his guards are neutralized by then.”
“Roger.” Keith kept the phone to his ear, watching Colt’s progress with the binoculars. Once he ascertained that Colt was doing all right, he swung the glasses toward the bus. Wise and the two men were drawing perpendicular to the front of the bus. He told Rio as much.
“Keep the information coming, Keith, and whatever you do, don’t even think about going in there after Abi. Do you hear me? Colt, Claudia and Abi have this, Keith.”
“Roger.” He’d stay there as long as he could—as long as Abi and Claudia appeared to be in command of the scenario. If things went south, all bets were off.
* * *
Abi took the safety off the AR-15 and aimed at Wise. Claudia was running out from behind the bus, her feet nearing the men’s. Abi considered herself a good shot but it was never easy, targeting a bad guy so close to a colleague. She wanted to close her eyes, just for a second, and imagine Keith next to her, telling her he loved her. She’d have to settle for the warm feeling that knowing how he felt gave her. Abi was close enough to hear Claudia’s voice, and as Claudia distracted the men, she crawled on her stomach until she was out from under the bus and up against the front right tire. Still hidden from Wise but able to stand and take him out when needed.
“Brother Wise, it’s been awful. We were ambushed and a group of strange men led the girls into the bunker, after the doors were opened. Two of our brothers were sacrificed.” Claudia sounded just like the religious zealot she wasn’t.
“Calm down, Sister Claudia. Tell us what happened. For real this time.” Abi saw Wise shrug off his escorts and he looked from one to the other, nodding at each. They hoisted their weapons, also AR-15s, from their backs and held them aimed at Claudia.
“Why are you pointing those at me?” Claudia wrung her hands, still playing the distressed cult believer.
“We’re just keeping you safe, Sister Claudia.” Wise’s tone was a conciliatory monotone.
Abi took deep breaths, keeping her hands and arms still against her adrenaline rush. It would be so easy to take all three of the losers out
right now. But Claudia wanted them alive, if at all possible. No martyrs for any True Believers who were left after the takedown.
“Oh, Brother Wise, please, tell me what to do.”
“Come with us, sister.” Once again Wise nodded at his goons and they started to turn in semicircles on either side of him, sweeping the area to protect their prophet.
Claudia fell behind Wise and the thugs. Abi waited until they were closer to the bunker. She wasn’t going to let Claudia go inside alone; she’d never come out. Not alive.
When Claudia coughed sharply three times, Abi made her move. She ran toward the group from behind, keeping her steps as quiet as possible on the graveled base of the quarry. Before the guards reacted, she knelt and aimed.
“Drop your weapons now or Wise is dead.”
As the guards spun to look at Abi, Claudia moved. She wrapped her arm around Wise’s throat, throwing him off balance. His eyes bulged as he clawed at Claudia’s arm. His efforts were futile. The guards aimed at Abi, at the AR-15 she had in her hands.
“Drop your weapons. Kill her and I’ll break his neck.” Claudia had taken several steps away from the goons, Wise’s weak kicks laughable as she firmly held him.
“Do what she says. Drop the rifles, brothers.” Wise coughed out the command.
The “brothers” dropped their rifles and held their hands up.
“On the ground.” Abi took over their apprehension, using zip-tie handcuffs. She looked up at Claudia.
Claudia had let go of Wise and was patting him down. She bent to feel along his legs and Wise used the one tiny window Claudia gave him. With a garbled shout, he brought his elbows down on Claudia’s head. Claudia fell over and Abi, certain the thugs were neutralized, ran to her. Blood oozed from a head wound. Abi started first aid and looked to see where Wise was headed. She’d thrown the rifles carried by his guards under the school bus. If Wise made a move toward the bus, she’d take him out.
Instead he headed for the bunker doors. Abi saw how slowly he was going and took a moment to check on Claudia. She ripped off the sleeve of her blouse and used it to staunch the blood flowing from Claudia’s wound. SVPD had to be very close if not here already.
“Claudia, can you hear me?”
She moaned. Tears of relief ran down Abi’s cheeks. They’d done it. They’d taken out the cult and Wise was moments from being arrested. “Hang tight while I finish off Wise.”
She crept forward, her eyes on Wise, knowing she had to take him out before he got into the bunker. He’d made it to the entrance and didn’t even pause to look at his fallen cult members, the men she and Claudia had knocked out. Instead she saw his gnarled hand move around the keypad. Abi raised her weapon to fire.
And then the ground shook, a large boom knocked her onto her back and a dark cloud blocked the sun.
* * *
Keith was halfway down the path into the quarry when the explosion hit. He’d decided to go in and help Abi and Claudia, since Colt had disappeared from his view. He rolled onto the ground, holding his ears. Once the percussion of the blast stopped echoing in the quarry, he opened his eyes. A huge dust cloud poured from the bunker entrance but, thanks to the summer wind, blew up and out of the quarry. Keith’s heart felt bigger than possible for his rib cage to hold. He only needed, wanted, one thing.
To find Abi.
He got up and started to run down the remaining twenty yards of path onto the quarry floor. He felt like a rabid animal, acting only on instinct. Keith had never faced losing all that mattered to him like this before. He’d thought his job had been everything, but he’d been wrong.
Abi lay next to Claudia, their forms still and covered in white dust. As he reached them, Abi sat up, coughing. Claudia followed.
“Abi!” Keith reached them and crouched down, grasping her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
Abi nodded. “I’m fine. Claudia—”
“I’m good.” Claudia’s voice rasped with dust as she struggled to sit up.
“Don’t move, Claudia. You were unconscious.” Abi tried to move toward her but Keith held her in place.
“You just survived a major blast. Stay tight.” Sirens wailed behind them and he heard the familiar beat of the life flight’s blades. The helicopter wouldn’t be able to land in the quarry as Wise’s craft had, not with the amount of loosened gravel and dirt.
“Where’s Colt?” Claudia ignored Abi’s and Keith’s admonitions to stay put as she got unsteadily to her feet.
“I’m right here.” Colt jogged up to them and didn’t hesitate to take Claudia into his arms, holding her for what seemed like an hour. Keith watched them and had to give them both credit. They’d decided to make a go of it as a couple, even with the high stakes of both their careers. Something inside Keith snapped—or was that his heart breaking? He loved Abi. But love meant you didn’t put the one you loved through hell. Hell was what he’d just experienced as he’d wondered if Abi was dead or alive. As a firefighter, he’d be asking her to go through this every day, with every fire alarm.
Abi deserved better. He couldn’t knowingly hurt her. Ever.
“What happened, Colt?” He had to ask Colt something before he lost his resolve and pulled Abi into his arms. She’d already shaken off his hands and was on her feet. He stood next to her.
“Colt?” Abi wanted to know, too.
Colt looked up from his embrace of Claudia, his hand holding the top of her head to keep her bleeding under control. His grin was as white as the quarry dust. “I didn’t have to do anything. Wise had the opening booby-trapped with explosives. The bus driver was supposed to disarm the trap before they put the girls in there. When Wise tried to get in, he blew himself and the bunker entrance to smithereens.”
Abi stood still and Keith watched her take it all in. She finally turned to him.
“You didn’t go to your department, Keith. Why?” Her eyes sparkled through the dust particles, her smile a whisper.
Keith knew what Abi wanted. She wanted the happy ending that Colt and Claudia were having. But he couldn’t give it to her.
“I needed to know you were good.” His voice was hoarse and he couldn’t blame it on the dust. If there were tears on his cheeks, she’d surely see them—the powder that caked all of them would only highlight the sign of his tumult.
“I’m good.” She looked at her feet and then back at him. She grabbed his hands and shrugged. “All in a day’s work for a firefighter, right?”
“Right.” He let go of her hands, saw the confusion on her face. Keith pushed her hair back from the side of her face. Wiped away the tears that streamed down her cheeks, too. She knew. “Abi, I’m sorry—”
“Don’t do this, Keith. I know what you’re thinking. You’re going on emotion. It’s scary to see an op play out. But I’m not going to be doing this kind of work anymore. Not all the time.” Her hand pulled on his forearm and he dropped his hand. Abi’s chin lifted and she stared at him, her eyes pleading as tears fell. She was filthy, her front covered in dirt and quarry dust, her hands torn up from her adventure, her hair matted and snarly. His chest tightened. He’d never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. There’d be none after Abi, no one ever like her.
“I’d never ask you to quit your job, Abi. You’re the best. You need to be able to work for Trail Hikers whenever they need you. And it’s not you. It’s me.”
“I don’t understand.” Her lips trembled and the sight of Abi in pain over him hurt.
“I’m a firefighter. I don’t pick and choose missions, or work in dangerous situations part-time. I do it every day, all day. I’m always on call, always an alarm away from the last fire I’ll ever battle. I can’t ask a family, a wife, to go through that constant anxiety.”
Abi’s eyes brightened. “You said ‘wife.’”
He shook his head.
&nb
sp; “I can’t, Abi.”
“You’ll change your mind.” She held his gaze and he saw sorrow, compassion, soulful comprehension. “We belong together. We’re not done, Keith.”
Shouts and the pounding of feet running into the quarry surrounded them as police, EMTs and firefighters arrived. Abi broke eye contact and turned away.
“Chief, anything you want us to know?” Tiger stood next to him, holding out an SCBA.
Keith shook his head. “We won’t be needing those. There’s nothing to put out—the blast closed up the entrance.” Tiger relayed Keith’s message to the other firefighters. All Keith could do was stare at the pile of rubble, tons of rock that had been a bunker entrance only moments earlier.
And the woman standing near it.
Abigail.
Keith did the hardest thing he’d ever done and turned away. Put one foot in front of the other. No matter what Abi thought she wanted, no matter that she believed he’d change his mind. He wouldn’t. He loved her too much.
Chapter 22
The first week after Wise’s death and the demise of the True Believer Cult blurred into two, then three, as Abi waited for Keith to come back. To text, call or show up at her house. She wanted to go to him but sensed he needed space. As she worked side by side with Silver Valley PD to wrap up all loose ends of the case, the weeks turned into a month and she had to accept that Keith had been speaking his truth. He wouldn’t be with her no matter how much he loved her—in fact, his love was keeping him away. She spent twelve-hour days at the station to distract herself from the emotional pain of their breakup, eager to close out what she hoped would be her last law-enforcement venture.
She had a business to open and get off its feet. Her heart ached at staying in the same town where she could run into Keith again, knowing he’d chosen to let go of what they had. But she’d fallen in love with Silver Valley, too. She wasn’t going to let a second love pass her by. If she couldn’t have Keith, she could have her new life in her new hometown.
“Abi, you’re done. Let the police officers finish this.” Rio stood in front of her in the conference room as she filed paperwork into a dozen storage boxes that covered the huge table.
