Murrook Farm (Sam & Jody Series Book 2)

by Lois Kay

  “What if he isn’t bluffing?” Sam asked. “What if there is a bomb? I’m sure the Explosive Operations Response Team and Fire Department will tell me to evacuate the building.”

  Trishia groaned and pressed her hand against her temple, where a dull, throbbing pain announced the upcoming arrival of a massive headache. “He’s bluffing,” she snapped. “That sick son of a bitch is bluffing, Sam. He has to be.”

  Sam’s eyes were full of sympathy when she looked at Trishia, but also shone with determination when she walked toward a phone on the desk.

  “I’ll make the call to start preparing staff,” she announced calmly. “I’m sorry, Trish, but the safety of our guests and staff is my responsibility. In case Martin Coles is not lying, I don’t want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt, or worse. Besides,” she added with a sigh. “We’re not a hundred percent sure the call came from him. For all I know this could be totally unrelated.”

  “You don’t believe that Sam,” Trishia said in a defeated tone.

  “No, I don’t. But there’s a difference between faith and facts, Trishia. I hope you understand I have no choice in the matter.”

  Trishia shot Sam a glance and sent her an apologetic smile. “I know, Sam. And I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

  “No worries, my friend, I share your frustration and anger, believe me.”

  “Why don’t you update your staff and I’ll call the guys from the bomb squad?” Trishia suggested, already pulling out her cell phone and dialing a number.

  Jody pushed back her hair, and cast a look at the three teenagers who were sitting quietly on the couch, looking at Sam and Trishia with worried eyes. She knew they had to get ready to leave as soon as possible. “Come on girls,” she said gently. “Get your stuff together. Just take the bare necessities. We’ll get the rest after this is all over.” Jody grabbed her cell phone from the table. “I need to make some calls, but I’ll be right with you.”

  While Fiona, Yarra, and Alice headed for the bedroom, Jody dialed the number of the reception desk. She was mentally running through the emergency protocol. “Miriam? It’s Jody. Listen, get ready to evacuate as soon as you’re told. Please let all department supervisors know, so they’re ready to act immediately. Is it possible to call anyone who hasn’t made it into work yet and tell them to stay home until further notice? Ann from Human Resources can help you. And please, print out a list of all our guests and their room numbers.”

  “I’m already working on the list and Brian is meeting with the department heads,” Miriam answered. She sounded calm, but Jody knew her well enough to hear the undertone of tension.

  “Great job. Thank you. I’ll be back in touch again soon, Miriam. Don’t hesitate to call me. I know we’ve gone through many drills over the years. We can do this, alright?”

  *

  “No, I want those cars to stay where they are,” Trishia said, bringing the phone to her other ear. “I still believe this is Coles’ ploy to leave the building undetected. So, stay put. Reinforcements are on the way.”

  Trishia had hardly finished speaking when she heard the sirens of rapidly approaching fire trucks. She tucked her phone away and opened the door to call in Gary and Peter who were quietly discussing the situation in the hallway. They both sported worried frowns.

  “Peter, forget about the disguise we planned. I want you and Gary to go to the lobby and see how things are developing. I’ll take the girls down to the car and see to it that they’ll be able to safely leave. After that, I’ll join you, and we’ll search every nook and cranny of this building until we find that bloody bastard.”

  “On my way,” Peter answered, already heading for the elevator, with a worried looking security guard in tow.

  “Trish?” Lucy’s voice held a slight tremble. When Trishia turned, she saw the tears in Lucy’s eyes. “Are you staying here? What if—?” Lucy swallowed hard and had to take a deep breath to prevent breaking down completely.

  “I’m sure there’s no bomb,” Trishia tried to reassure her with all the conviction she felt. She pulled Lucy into her arms and held her close. Her anger with the man who was responsible for Lucy’s fear grew stronger every passing minute.

  “Where will we go?” Lucy asked softly.

  Trishia’s eyes caught Sam’s, and the two women exchanged a look of understanding. “Back to Murrook Farm.”

  Trishia could feel Lucy stiffen. “You won’t be going alone,” she promised. “I’ll send at least four officers with you. Sam and Jody have a top-notch security system, it would be foolish not to use that right now. Besides, Coles is here, in the building. He’s trapped, and all we need to do is flush him out.”

  “How? He could disappear during the evacuation.”

  “The Reef is surrounded by police, and I’ve given the order to keep everybody who leaves the building during the evacuation together in groups that are overseen by my officers. Anyone trying to leave the group will stand out immediately and will be stopped. All exits are covered.”

  “What about Alice’s protection?” Lucy muttered. “It’s obvious that…that… psychopath is trying anything he can to get his hands on her.”

  “We won’t let him,” Trishia promised. “We’ll get him before he can try to harm her. Go on, love, get your stuff together, we need to go.”

  Trishia didn’t want to take any risks with the safety of her family and friends and herded all of them into the elevator. It was a bit cramped with eight people in the small car, but she knew it would only be for a minute or two. The ride down passed in complete silence, and all eyes were on Trishia when the elevator came to a stop with a barely noticeable thud. When the door slid open, Trishia was holding her gun in cold, but steady hands. Her eyes scanned the small private parking area, and when she didn’t see anything suspicious, she motioned the others to follow her to the car.

  Sam grabbed Trishia’s elbow and steered her away from the rest. “What if he’s waiting around here somewhere?” she whispered. “If he found he’s trapped, he could try to get to Alice when they’re trying to leave.”

  “They?” Trishia almost hissed. “Sam, you’ll get in that car and —.”

  “No, I’m needed here,” Sam interrupted. “As soon as the girls are out of the parking garage, I’ll go upstairs.”

  “Does Jody know?”

  Sam nodded. “Yes, and she’s not happy with me, but I have to do this.” Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. She shot Trishia a determined look and walked back to the car.

  Jody unlocked the doors of her car with the remote control on her key chain and the soft click echoed through the unnaturally quiet parking area. The three teenagers hopped in immediately, as they had been instructed by Trishia, helping Alice to sit on the floor of the car, so she would be completely out of sight. Lucy took a seat next to Fiona on the backseat, while Joan McDonnell crawled into the front.

  Jody shot Sam a desperate last look. “Sam?”

  It pained Sam to see the look of hurt on Jody’s face, but she couldn’t change her mind. “I own this place, sweetheart. I can’t leave our staff to handle a crisis like this by themselves. They need me here.”

  Jody knew Sam was right, but that didn’t help to ease the sadness, worry, and frustration she felt. “Be careful, Sam,” she whispered, before getting into the car.

  “I will be. I promise,” Sam answered. “Remember what Trish told you; if you reach the dirt road that leads to the house and you’re not escorted by two police cars yet, then keep driving.”

  “I will.” Jody bit her lip. “I love you, Sam.”

  “I love you, too. Please, be safe.”

  In the back of the car Lucy had rolled down the window, so she could grab Trishia’s hand one more time and pull her in for a quick kiss. “Be careful. If you get hurt, I’ll kick your butt.”

  Trishia smiled and kissed the back of Lucy’s hand before releasing it and stepping back. “That’s a good incentive to be careful,” she joked, glancing at Lucy one
more time before she turned to Jody to give her a nod. “Go ahead, Jody. We’ll see you all later.”

  Jody obediently started the engine and backed out of the spacious parking area. She nervously licked her lips when the barrier that divided the private parking from the rest of the underground garage slowly lifted, and she was forced to stop for a few seconds. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, and when she glanced in the rearview mirror, she could see Trishia and Sam walking right behind the car. Their eyes darted through the dimly lit area, and it was clear to see they were tense. Trishia and Sam hadn’t talked to her about it, but Jody knew there was a chance Martin Coles was hiding somewhere in the parking garage. The thought gave her chills and made her stomach churn.

  As soon as the red striped barrier was high enough for her car to pass underneath, Jody continued her slow drive and turned a corner which brought her on a straight path that led toward the exit. In the distance, she could see the daylight pouring through the doors that were open wide, and she exhaled. Only fifty meters to go and they would be outside.

  *

  A pair of cold, menacing eyes followed the car’s progress from underneath a parked SUV. Martin Coles had shed his disguise, assuming Trishia would have expected him to leave the building during the evacuation of The Reef’s guests who were already hurrying through the lobby and heading for the street.

  He suppressed a giggle when he realized his ex-coworker could not have anticipated his next move. It would be a glorious surprise. With barely contained excitement he shuffled backward until he could crawl away from the car he had been hiding under. He grabbed one of the items he had set on the floor in preparation for his final move. His eyes never left the approaching car, when his hand touched the cold, smooth surface of a bottle. He grabbed the item firmly and smiled when he thought about the effect his actions would have. It had been so easy to pry open the lids of a gas tank and siphon out most of the gasoline. He had filled a handful of glass bottles with a mixture of gasoline and oil and stuffed cotton strips in the narrow opening. He surely had put the shredded sheets to good use.

  Holding the bottle in his right hand, he used the lighter in his left hand to light the makeshift cotton wick that was now drenched with gasoline. He knew that anyone who paid attention would be able to see the flickering flame in the semi-darkness of the parking garage. But Martin Coles didn’t care. Not anymore. The time of his revenge had come, and a few minor details couldn’t stop him.

  *

  With a rapidly growing feeling of dread Trishia followed the car Jody was driving and kept her eyes wide open. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end, and a quick glance toward Sam showed her she was equally tense. Sam’s face was pale, which made her blue eyes stand out vividly. Her hands were clenched into fists, and her eyes nervously flicked from side to side.

  Trishia’s nostrils flared when she picked up a scent that was unusual. The parking garage always had a distinct smell of exhaust fumes and oil, but this time she detected something else as well and the closer they came to the exit, the stronger the scent became.

  “Sam,” she warned in a hoarse voice.

  “I know, I can smell it,” Sam answered.

  The adrenaline surged through Trishia’s body, increasing her heart rate and breathing. Briefly, her eyes caught the reflection of Jody’s in the rearview mirror, and with horrifying clarity, Trishia knew she had to make a quick decision.

  “Jody! Go!” she shouted, feeling the panic rise.

  The echo of her words was still bouncing off the concrete walls when she noticed a movement to her left and her eyes caught the flicker of a flame. For a moment, the world stood still.

  A burning object was thrown in the direct path of the car, shattering the silence with the noise of broken glass and the whooshing sound of erupting flames. In a matter of seconds, the floor was covered in flames, heading for the car. A second and a third object followed, creating a blazing inferno in front and underneath the car and Jody reacted instinctively. She hit the brakes.

  Trishia had pushed Sam behind a concrete pillar and had her gun trained at the spot where she had seen the small, flickering light. At the moment, Jody’s car was in the line of fire. “Please, stay in the car. Please, stay in the car,” Trishia muttered. But before she could fire one single shot another burning object flew through the parking garage, hitting the roof of a parked truck on the right-hand side of Jody’s car. There was a dull explosion and flames licked the smooth surface of metal when the gasoline gushed down covering the car. With horror, Trishia realized Martin Coles had not just aimed at that car without reason.

  “Oh, my God, no,” she moaned, opening her mouth to yell a warning.

  But Jody, who at first had looked at the erupting flames in front of the car with horrified eyes, had quickly recovered from her initial shock. When the parked car on her right had been hit, and the flames erupted in an inferno, she had noticed the white strip of fabric sticking out from the fuel tank. Immediately she had slammed the car in reverse and floored the gas pedal. The screeching tires created a small cloud of stinking rubber when she backed up the car as fast as she could, and Trishia could only hope she would be fast enough.

  “Sam, get down!” Trishia yelled, jumping out of the car’s path and hitting the floor with a painful thud when her elbow collided with the cold concrete. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sam had heeded her advice, and was on the floor, crawling backward as fast as she could.

  Protecting her head with her arms, Trishia braced herself for the upcoming explosion and the accompanying change in air pressure. As soon as the flames approached the opening of the fuel tank, the makeshift wick caught fire, and within a few seconds a thunderous explosion lifted the truck up in the air, slamming the vehicle into the next car. The flames licked at the metal surface. The windows had blown out, and there was nothing that prevented the fire from entering the car’s interior, creating a blaze of heat and thick, black smoke.

  Jody had backed up the car as far away from the fire as possible, and when the fuel tank of the truck in front of her exploded, she felt her own car shake violently. A quick look over her shoulder showed her no one was hurt.

  “Trishia,” Lucy shouted in panic and Jody’s eyes frantically searched for Sam and Trishia. She found them both huddled behind a concrete pillar and the relief that flooded through her when she saw them move made her dizzy.

  Jody was trembling, and for a moment she feared she would be losing the contents of her stomach. Another burning object was hurled into the space in front of them, and she desperately wondered how many of those deadly cocktails Martin Coles had fabricated. With a loud, shattering noise, followed by an eruption of flames, the bottle landed on the concrete floor in front of her car, and she knew the burning gasoline would reach the vehicle in moments.

  “Everybody out,” she ordered, quickly unbuckling her seat belt. “Stay low, keep your head down. Go toward the corner and try to make it to the stairs. But whatever you do, keep your head down and stay behind the cars.”

  Lucy had already opened her door and was sprinting around the rear of the car to get to the other side. She yanked the door open, grabbed her mother by the arm and pulled her out of the car. “Run!” she screamed, already focusing on the other door.

  It was thrown open, and Yarra jumped out, pulling Fiona with her. Lucy pushed her sister in the direction her mother was going and expected Yarra to do the same. Instead, she turned around, extended her hand and looked pleadingly at a terrified Alice, who was frozen in place. Her face was unnaturally pale, and her bright, blue eyes radiated fear.

  “Take my hand, Alice,” Yarra begged, noticing from the corner of her eye that the flames were rapidly approaching. “Please!”

  Alice sat huddled on the floor of the car, and her eyes stared at a point in the distance. Her heart was hammering in her chest as the sound of flames and the scent of smoke threw her back in time. She didn’t have to close her eyes to remember her brothe
rs’ face when he was pushed back into his room. His big blue eyes had been wide with fear. Or the way her mother’s body had felt when she had landed on top of her, realizing that the woman who had given birth to her and who had been her best friend, had died.

  Alice remembered the eyes and hands of the person who had tried to kill her. The one who had mercilessly taken innocent lives and who had made her life a living hell. Looking up into Jody’s pleading eyes and seeing Yarra’s outstretched hand, something inside Alice snapped. For the first time since her mother and brother were killed, she felt a rage that was so intense it chased away all fear.

  “Nooooo!” Her voice was loud, reverberating against the concrete walls of the parking garage. “You killed them, you bastard. You killed them.” Before Yarra had the chance to stop her, Alice had jumped out of the car and was running toward the place where Martin Coles was hiding behind a big, black truck.

  “Alice! No!” Jody shouted.

  Yarra was about to run after her, but she was stopped by Lucy’s hands on her shoulders and Jody’s arms around her middle. “Alice!” Her voice broke. “God, Alice.”

  *

  Trishia was frantically trying to clear her eyes from the blood that was pouring from a deep gash in her eyebrow. She had been lucky though. Her ears were still ringing from the sound of the explosion, but her body was functioning, and a quick inventory showed her there was no serious damage.

  “Are you alright, Sam?” she asked the blonde next to her, who was rubbing her face and looking around with a dazed expression in her clear blue eyes.

  They were both on the floor, covered in glass, soot, and debris, and could feel the heat of the burning car that had exploded close to them. Too close.

  “I think so,” Sam answered, turning her head to see Jody had evacuated the car. “Jody,” she whispered.

  At that same moment, a blond fury came running down the parking garage, and Trishia and Sam recognized her as Alice.

  “Sam,” Trishia croaked a warning, and immediately Sam jumped to her feet, ignoring the muscles in her right leg that were screaming at her in agony. She tackled Alice, whose fall was broken by a pair of strong arms that pulled her behind the relatively safe structure of a concrete pillar.