Was anybody home? He didn’t hear any movement or noise coming from the other side of the door. Once again he set his flashlight down and grabbed the doorknob, hoping that the room he was about to enter was as empty as this one.
He opened the door and winced as it gave a faint groan. The door led into a kitchen and he instantly recognized it. The plain beige walls, the white blinds at the window above the sink, and the clock on the wall shaped like a gator...it was intimately familiar.
He’d sat on one of the stools at the island and eaten pizza for a Christmas party. He’d drunk many a beer on the black leather sofa in the next room.
He was in Sheriff Trey Walker’s house. Those drugs were in Trey Walker’s garage. No wonder the sheriff had steered the team exploring the tunnels to the ones nearest the swamp. He’d had to protect the one that would lead them here.
Fear sliced through the shock of discovery. He’d told Trey he was leaving Savannah alone. He had to get out of here. He had to get to Savannah.
He made a call to Daniel and told him to get to Trey’s house and sit on it, that there was evidence that needed to be protected. After the call, he ran the way he had come, leaving through the tunnel and racing as fast as he could to get to Savannah.
He followed his purple marks until he exploded out of the exit in Mama Baptiste’s shop. He didn’t speak to the startled woman as he ran by her and out the front door where his car was parked.
All he could think about was that he’d not only left Savannah alone but also given her attacker a heads-up that she would be home alone.
He would process his shock at Trey’s disgusting corruption later. Right now he needed to get to Savannah’s house as soon as possible.
His mind was blank other than with need to protect the woman he loved. It didn’t matter that she didn’t love him back. He could live with that. What he couldn’t live with was being even partially responsible for anything bad that might happen to her.
His heart dropped to his feet as he saw Trey’s car parked two doors down from Savannah’s house. Nobody was in the car. He was with her, Josh thought. He was with her right then, and she was nothing but the person who ruined whatever drug business Trey had been conducting through the tunnels.
You ruined everything. That was what the attacker had said to her that night at the inn. Now Josh understood what she’d ruined.
Josh squealed into her driveway and was out of the car before the engine had completely shut down. As he knocked on the front door, he noted the wiring that indicated to him she’d done as she’d told him she was going to do. She’d called Buck.
But no security system would stop her from opening the door to the sheriff. She would have no fear of letting him inside. She’d have no idea that the danger to her wore the uniform of authority.
He knocked twice, and when nobody answered, he ran around to the back of the house. The back door was open, and he peeked inside and saw a half-eaten omelet on a plate on the table.
He stepped inside, and it took him only minutes to clear the entire house. Nobody was home. He stepped out the back door and looked around. Trey’s car was here. He couldn’t have taken her anyplace far.
He stared at the bush and knew with a heart-stopping certainty that Trey had taken her underground to kill her.
* * *
TREY HADN’T TAKEN her far before he tied her hands behind her back. “Why are you doing this? What have I done to you?” Savannah asked in tears as they went deeper and deeper into the maze of passageways. Trey remained silent, his gun shoved hard against her back.
“Please, Trey, just let me go. I don’t know anything about anything. I don’t know what I’ve done. I don’t know what you’ve done. If you’ll just let me go, I’ll forget all about this. I swear I won’t tell anyone.”
“Shut up.” Trey finally spoke, his voice harsh. “I don’t want to hear your sniveling another minute.”
They continued to walk the earthen burrow, and as they did, thoughts flew through Savannah’s head. She knew she was never going to leave these tunnels alive. She didn’t understand why, but she’d been marked for death, and these were her final minutes on earth.
For the first time in two years, she realized she didn’t want to die. She wanted to live, and not just the way she’d been living. Josh had been right. She’d been going through her life like Shelly’s ghost, but she wasn’t a ghost, and Shelly would have wanted far better for her.
She’d been foolish to believe that she could go through the rest of her life only holding on to memories and not realizing she needed to love and be loved, to build new memories and live life to the fullest.
Shelly would have wanted that for her, and instead of the silly ghost walks to pay tribute to her sister, her tribute should have been to live well and find happiness. Like Josh had done...he’d lived his life as a tribute to his brother.
Now it was too late. Trey had taken her down so many tunnels she was utterly lost, her sense of direction had abandoned her and if he shot her now she suspected nobody would hear the blast of his gun.
“Was it you who attacked me at the inn?” she finally asked, needing some answers before the horrible end she knew awaited her.
Trey didn’t reply.
“At least tell me what I’ve done before you kill me,” she exclaimed. She stopped walking and turned to face him, his flashlight a blinding beam in her eye. “Don’t I have a right to know?”
“Your stupid walks pretending to be your sister’s ghost got in the way of a lucrative business.”
“What kind of business?”
“I guess it doesn’t matter what you know now. Occasionally a fishing boat comes into the lagoon carrying packets of crystal meth. This often happens on a Thursday or Friday night...the same nights you were in the tunnels. We unloaded the packets and carried them through the tunnel to a holding area, where eventually it was distributed to a handful of drug runners.”
She stared at him in shock. Drug trafficking? “Who else is involved in this besides you?” She was stunned at his words, at his utter lawlessness, but she wanted all the answers before she died.
“Enough talk. Keep walking,” he snarled.
They didn’t walk too much farther before they reached a deep alcove set back in the tunnel wall. “Inside, against the back,” he instructed her.
She wanted to balk, especially when she saw wires that indicated the entrance of the alcove was rigged with explosives. So, he didn’t intend to shoot her. He was going to blast the explosives and bury her alive.
She turned and tried to rush him, hoping to push him aside and run, but he easily shoved her backward, his gun leveled at her center. “Doesn’t matter to me how this gets done,” he said. “I can either shoot you or blow you up. Now get to the back like I told you.”
A bullet would end things immediately. As Savannah walked to the back of alcove, she realized she still entertained a modicum of hope that she’d be saved.
“Sit down with your legs out in front of you,” Trey commanded.
She did as he asked, and while he tied her ankles together with rope, any thought of escaping on foot disappeared. She’d thrown Josh out of her house and had said some terrible things to him. This was all her fault. If she hadn’t been so afraid to embrace Josh’s love, he would still have been at the house when Trey had shown up at the back door.
The only hope she had now was that Josh would have cooled down enough to return to pack his clothes. He’d realize she was gone and go hunting for her. She didn’t know if he’d figure out she was down in the tunnels or not.
All she could do now was pray that he’d somehow find her before Trey set off the explosives that would bury her forever.
“How could you be a part of this, Trey? As a law enforcement official, was the money good enough to twist you?” she asked.
“Better than good enough,” he replied and leaned against the wall as if he had all the time in the world. “I now own part interest in the amusement
park that’s going to make me a very wealthy man. I sure as hell wouldn’t have been able to do that on my sheriff’s salary.”
“So this was all about money.” As long as she kept him talking, she gave Josh more time to find her. “Was it worth it to sell your soul?”
He laughed. “What makes you think I had a soul to start with?”
“Did you kill my sister? Did she somehow find out something that put your operation at risk?”
“No way,” he replied. “I still believe Bo McBride killed your sister, but I had nothing to do with her death. The deal with the amusement park wasn’t even a thought then.”
With each moment that ticked by, Savannah’s hope of rescue diminished. “What are you waiting for?” she finally asked. Just sitting here, waiting for death, filled with regrets, felt like a particular form of torture.
“The boss to arrive,” he replied.
“Who is the boss?”
“It doesn’t matter to you. You’ll be dead in a matter of minutes.”
A dark figure appeared behind Trey. Savannah assumed it was the boss, come to witness or make sure that the explosives rigged were appropriately set.
“Put the gun down, Trey.” Trey stiffened, and Savannah rejoiced as she heard the deep, familiar sound of Josh’s voice. He’d found her. She didn’t know how, and at the moment she didn’t care. All she knew was that she was saved.
“You wouldn’t shoot a man in the back, would you, Josh?” Trey asked.
“Try me,” Josh replied in a harsh voice. “Besides, you aren’t a man. You’re vermin preying on the town and on the woman I love. Try me, Trey. I’m more than itching to put a bullet in your back.”
Trey slowly lowered his gun and set it on the ground. Josh turned on a flashlight and shone it on Savannah. “You okay?”
“I am now,” she replied with a sob of relief.
Before they could exchange another word, Josh was hit in the back of the head and fell to the ground, his flashlight falling from his hand. Mayor Jim Burns stepped over Josh’s body and looked at Trey in disgust.
“Good thing I came along when I did,” he said.
“I just want to get this done,” Trey replied and picked up his gun from the ground. “I never had the stomach for this kind of thing, and now we have two to kill instead of one.”
Savannah was in a state of shock. Jim Burns was the boss man? Josh had found her, but now he was going to die along with her. She wished he’d never found her.
“You knew the risks,” Jim replied. “This has to be done to protect our investments.”
Jim moved to what appeared to be a timing device connected to the wires. “I’ll give us ninety seconds to get far enough away before the blast.”
“How about two minutes?” Trey replied. “Just in case we’ve miscalculated the distance to safety or we stumble on the way out.”
Savannah watched in horror as Jim nodded and set the timer. The two men went running out of the alcove and down the tunnel to the left.
She looked at the unconscious Josh.
They had two minutes to live.
Chapter Fourteen
The minute the two men ran, Josh jumped to his feet. The blow to his head hadn’t knocked him out, but he’d played possum, knowing he stood no chance against two armed men.
Savannah gasped as he grabbed his flashlight and then raced to her and scooped her up in his arms. He ran down the tunnel to the right, unsure where he was going but knowing he needed to get as much distance as possible between themselves and the alcove that was about to explode.
He had no idea how much explosive they might have set, but if it was enough it might take down not just the alcove but the entire tunnel system. The explosion would shoot out and the force would follow the tunnels, potentially bringing with it fire and total destruction.
Josh tried to hold Savannah while at the same time wielding a flashlight so he didn’t run face first into a wall. His heart pounded with the tick-tock of a countdown to detonation.
Savannah didn’t say a word, nor did he attempt any conversation. All he cared about was getting away from the alcove, as far and as fast as possible.
The deep rumble of the explosion erupted from someplace behind them, but instantly he felt the force of displaced air at his back. He immediately set Savannah on the ground and shielded her with his body, unsure what else to expect.
The earth shook around them, and dirt and rock fell from the ceiling, pummeling Josh on his back. Dust filled the air, choking them both. Then silence.
He remained on top of her, trying to catch his breath and waiting to make sure no more earth would shift. He finally sat up. He first looked down at Savannah, who appeared to be all right, and then shone his light ahead and through the dust-filled air. He was grateful to see that the tunnel hadn’t caved in.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” he said, unsure how solid the tunnel structure really was now. Once again he scooped her up in his arms and continued forward, seeking any exit that would take them up and out.
It felt as if he walked forever before he realized that somehow they had wound around and were now in the main tunnel that ran between Savannah’s house and the swamp.
He carried her up and out by the bush in her backyard and hurried into her back door. He set her on the edge of a kitchen chair and then rummaged in the drawer for a knife to cut the ropes that tied her wrists and ankles.
She was covered in dust, including her face, making her brown eyes appear even larger than usual. When he freed her, she jumped up off the chair and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He held her tight, thanking every deity he could think of that he’d found her in time, that she was safe and sound. While he would have liked to stand and hold her forever, he was aware that this wasn’t done yet.
He released her and stepped back. “I’ve got bad guys to get in jail. You lock yourself in here and stay hidden so nobody knows you’re home. Don’t show your face until you hear me calling to you.”
“Do you think anyone heard the blast?” she asked.
“Doubtful, but I’ll know when I talk to Daniel. If anyone heard it somebody would have reported it by now.”
He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Right now he had an advantage since Jim Burns and Trey Walker believed he was dead. As long as they continued to believe that, he had some time to get things into place for a takedown of the two top authority figures of the town.
He called Daniel, and for the next fifteen minutes the two men set into place what needed to be done. “Come by Savannah’s when you have things in place,” he said and then hung up.
“I’m going to change clothes,” he said to Savannah. “You make sure the alarm is set and then stay away from any windows, and Daniel told me there’s been no report of an explosion.”
He first went into the bathroom and used a washcloth to clean away any dirt that was present on his face, neck and chest. He left the bathroom and entered the spare room, where he quickly changed into a clean pair of jeans and a button-down white dress shirt.
When he left the bedroom, he found Savannah sitting on the edge of the tub in the bathroom, still covered with dirt. “Are you going to be okay here alone?” he asked.
She nodded. “As long as the bad guys believe I’m dead. Jim Burns and Trey Walker are influential people. Are you going to be able to have them charged and arrested?”
“Trey has a garage full of evidence, and I have a feeling once he’s under arrest he’ll turn on Jim like a gator twirling to catch a fish.”
“You’ll come back here when it’s all over?” She looked achingly vulnerable, and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms once again.
But he had no right. She’d made it clear to him where they stood with each other before he’d left her house earlier. When he’d taken care of Jim Burns and Trey Walker and the danger was gone, he’d return here to pack his bags and leave her life forever. “I’ll be back,” he replied.
; She stood. “I’m going to take a long, hot bath.”
“If I’m gone when you get out, you’ll know Daniel picked me up.”
She gave him the alarm code to leave the house and rearm the system when he did.
He left the bathroom and closed the door behind him. She’d be fine without him now. She would choose whatever life she wanted without him in it.
He went into the living room and stood next to the window, where he could peer out but couldn’t be seen by anyone. He was still shocked to learn that his boss and the mayor of the town had been in cahoots in a drug trafficking ring. Who else might be involved?
He was eternally grateful that when he’d gone down into the tunnels in search of Savannah, he’d managed to follow the sound of Trey’s voice to find and save her. And his heart ached with the knowledge that his time with her had come to an end.
He would never again see her smile at him across the breakfast table. He would never hear her laugh again as he regaled her with one of his stories from his youth.
He’d never know what might have been if she’d loved him.
He hadn’t loved Savannah just for the past two weeks. He felt as if he’d loved her for his whole life. He shook his head as if the motion could dislodge the pang in his heart.
Daniel had been equally shocked when Josh had shared with him what had happened and what he had learned. Hopefully he had managed to do what Josh had asked, and by the time darkness fell, the town would be rid of two nefarious characters who had abused their positions of power.
Daniel pulled up, and Josh quickly punched the numbers in to allow him to leave without setting off the alarm. He made sure it was secure again and then raced to jump into the passenger seat of Daniel’s car. Daniel roared away from the curb.
“Did you get what I wanted?” he asked his friend and coworker.
“You’re lucky I’m good friends with Judge Bolton. He was a bit reluctant to issue a search warrant, but he was more ticked off by the idea of a corrupt cop and mayor, so he signed off on it.”
“They aren’t just corrupt. They tried to kill Savannah and me,” Josh said tersely. “My greatest pleasure will be getting handcuffs on both of them.”
The Deputy's Proof Page 15
