by Debra Webb
“There’s a lot we need to talk about,” he said, “but right now we have to get off the street.” He glanced around as if he feared someone might be watching. “Are the kids okay?”
The kids. She’d probably turned them upside down and every other way. “Unless my reckless driving caused any injuries.”
“We’ll check on them as soon as we’re out of sight.
Drive back to the mill warehouse. We’ll take cover there for the moment.”
Before she could ask him if he’d lost his mind, he explained, “I neutralized any threat there.”
Von couldn’t remember ever feeling so relieved. She waited until Trinity turned his vehicle around and then she followed in the truck.
Despite knowing he had neutralized the two goons, anticipation burned in her veins as they approached the old mill warehouse.
Trinity drove his vehicle into the building, she did the same.
They’d made a hell of a lot of noise, couple of gunshots, shattering windshield, bursting through those doors.
But there was apparently no one around to hear.
“Let’s check on the kids,” Trinity said as soon as Von had climbed out of the truck.
She followed him around to the back and they opened up the truck. It worried her that she hadn’t heard any wailing or crying out of her name from back there.
Von showed him how the hidden door in the faux stacked furniture operated. The light from the open doors shone into the back of the truck.
Tousled heads and wide eyes stared out.
Von smiled. “Come on, girls. You don’t have to be afraid now.”
One by one, the twelve children climbed out of the truck with Tara and Von assisting.
They all veered clear of Trinity until Von explained that he was their friend.
Von had never in her whole life been so happy to see anyone as she was to see Trinity.
If nothing else ever went right in her life again, this would be enough.
“There’s a long-wheel base panel van hidden over here,” Trinity explained once the little girls were unloaded and reassured.
Using the flashlights the kidnappers had dropped, he directed Von to the far corner of the building where the van was parked and covered. He pulled the drape from the vehicle, revealing the advertisement painted on the side. Premier Roadside Assistance.
Von turned back to look at the truck she’d ridden in across country. “With trying to escape I hadn’t noticed that.” She gestured to the advertisement painted on it. Southern Family Movers.
“We need to get the girls loaded into the van,” Trinity said, drawing her attention back to him. “We have to contact the agency, but first and foremost we have to get out of here so nothing looks amiss.”
“You’re going to have to explain what exactly is going on,” Von said as they moved back to where the girls were huddled.
“Load the girls,” he said, “then I’ll explain.” He gave her a look that said we can’t talk about it in front of the children.
While Von loaded the girls, Trinity moved his SUV to another dark recess of the building. Then, he got the two scumbags who’d driven Von and the girls here and loaded them into the back of the truck. They grunted and groaned, but the tape on their mouths prevented them from saying anything. Once they were in the truck, he taped their ankles together and reinforced the bonds around their wrists.
Trinity went to his SUV and ensured the weapon Robinson had used to murder White was secured.
Then he dragged Robinson to the truck to join his colleagues. Once he was secured, Trinity closed them up in the back of the truck just as they had done Von and those sweet little children.
He took the truck keys from the ignition and pocketed them and checked for any other telltale evidence of a scuffle he might have missed.
The drive-through doors were a different story.
He wasn’t sure what he could do for them after Von’s great escape, but he had to try.
When Von had pulled the panel van out of the building, Trinity closed the damaged doors as best he could. They looked like hell but they would have to do.
When he climbed into the passenger seat of the van, Von asked, “What’re we doing now?”
Trinity glanced back at the girls seated around the cargo bay. “We’re going to lay low until this is over.”
“What about the others?”
“I’ll explain—” he nodded toward the kids “—later.”
“Where to?”
“Someplace safe.”
2:40 p.m.
THE DRIVE TO MONTE SANO MOUNTAIN took twenty minutes. Mildred had relayed that Victoria had personally seen to the arrangements. A three-bedroom cabin, deep in the woods, high atop a mountain.
Bliss, considering what these children had been through. Not to mention Von.
She had spoken to Victoria en route and passed along the girls’ names and the names of their parents as well as their addresses. It was a shame to have to keep the girls from the reunion with their parents even for another minute. But until this thing played out, it was the only way to intercept the other children who had been abducted. Robinson had insisted, as had Lane, that more children would be brought to this location for transfer to New Orleans.
Trinity didn’t like using one of the scumbag’s phones, but it was necessary for the moment. He couldn’t risk turning it off and removing the battery in the event there was contact related to the next phase of the operation. He’d contacted the agency as soon as he’d taken it back at the mill warehouse, but only for long enough to relay that he was alive and on track.
“This is it.” Trinity turned back to the girls. “We’ll be safe here for a while until we can get you home to your families.”
Small smiles and weak cheers were his response. The kids were tired and hungry and likely still a little terrified that they would never see their families again. He’d have to find a way to take their minds off those horrors for a little while.
The key was under the mat just as Victoria had said it would be.
Once the girls were inside exploring, Trinity ushered Von to the kitchen and gave her an update.
“Robinson murdered Agent White right in front of you? Are you serious?” she asked, her expression cluttered with disbelief.
Trinity nodded. “These people are ruthless.”
Von shook her head and started searching through cabinets for food. Unfortunately the supplies were limited to the essentials. Bare essentials.
“One of the men who drove the truck you were in received a text message that the additional cargo would be delayed. Midnight. With a tentative departure from here immediately thereafter. We have to stay put until midnight at the very least. Or risk losing out on recovering those children.”
Von turned to face him and leaned against the counter. “If anything at all feels off, they could hurt those kids.” She shrugged. “Or just keep going.”
“Exactly.”
“Not to mention you have to stay out of sight,” Von reminded him. “It’ll take time to get that part straightened out. Until then, you’re a wanted man. And I need you.”
“I know.” Trinity wasn’t about to waste time feeling sorry for himself on that count. These were the risks that went with the job. Robinson likely wouldn’t confess what he’d done but truth was on Trinity’s side. As Von said, it would take time, but justice would prevail.
Besides, he had the Colby Agency on his side.
“Okay, look.” Von pushed away from the cabinets.
“We need food. And clothes.” She looked Trinity straight in the eye. “I’m going shopping. You keep the girls occupied until I get back.”
Trinity held up both hands stop-sign fashion. “Whoa. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Von braced her hands on her hips. “I’m not the one with the APB sporting my description. I’ll be fine. There was a supercenter in the valley right before we started up the mountain. I’ll be back in less than an ho
ur.”
There was no arguing with Von Cassidy when she made up her mind. Trinity gave her the cash he’ brought with him and the agency credit card.
And she was off.
He strolled into the great room where the girls were piled around the television.
So long as no one was bleeding or crying, he was happy.
THE SUPERCENTER WAS PACKED.
Christmas stuff was everywhere.
Von was always relieved when the holiday was over.
Those last-minute shoppers just wouldn’t give up until the bitter end.
Von shook her head as she guided her cart through the masses of bodies. Didn’t people have better things to do?
Since she wasn’t exactly sure of the girls’ sizes, she’d selected stretchy sweat shirts and sweat pants in children’s smalls and mediums and a couple of larges and in a variety of colors. Undies. And a pink set of the same in her size. A new shirt for Trinity.
Pizza. Lots of pizza and chips and soft drinks.
Cookies, and more cookies.
After what these kids had been through, they deserved all the junk food they wanted.
Since she didn’t want to use the cash or answer any questions and show ID, Von used the self-checkout line. It took a little longer, but she managed.
Once she’d swiped the credit card and signed off, she was ready to bag her goods and get out of this zoo.
If she hadn’t plopped a bag in the cart at just that moment or hadn’t glanced at the Santa for charity bell ringer outside the entrance doors, she wouldn’t have seen her.
But she did.
The blonde…the one Von had seen back at the barn transfer location in Chicago.
She was outside the store speaking on her cell phone. A big, broad-shouldered man stood close by.
Could be coincidence.
Huntsville was a fair-sized town, but still small compared to Chicago.
Von loaded her purchases into her cart and pretended to check the bags one last time. With her head down, she scanned the front of the store to see what the blonde would do next.
The man with her headed back out to the parking lot, his cell phone pressed to his ear.
Von’s heart seemed to stop beating as she watched the man walk directly to the slot where she’d parked the van. He circled it, all the while in deep conversation on his cell.
They had tracked the van here.
Something else she should have thought of.
The blonde entered the store and surveyed the crowd.
Von bent forward and tucked a bag on the bottom rack of the cart.
She had to get out of here, had to call Trinity.
There was no back way out of the supercenter. Only the main entrance and exit at the front.
Von was going to have to get creative.
She left her cart near the video rental kiosk and walked to the ladies room.
Inside, she checked the stalls to ensure all were vacant.
She pulled the cell phone Trinity had insisted she take with her from her pocket and called the cabin. There was no way to know for certain if they had tracked her here using the van or the phone, but this call had to be made.
“Hello.”
Trinity didn’t identify himself but Von knew his voice as well as she knew her own. “Get the children out of there now.”
“What’s going on, Von?”
“They’ve tracked the van or the cell.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. But if they know I’m in this store, they know I’ve been at the cabin. Get them out.” She tried to think what they’d passed on the road to the cabin. “The church,” she blurted. “There was a church a mile or so from there. Walk them through the woods until you reach the church.”
“Von,” Trinity said when she would have ended the call.
“Yeah?”
“What’re you going to do?”
She laughed softly. “You know me. I always figure something out. See you in a bit.” She closed the phone before he could say anything else. On her way out the restroom door she dropped it into the trash bin.
Strangely her cart still sat by the exit when she moved in that direction. The blonde was obviously combing the store searching for Von.
Right now, Von needed a ride.
Since the guy who’d been hanging around the blonde hadn’t looked familiar to Von, she was going to assume they had never met.
Because he was still outside, loitering around the van.
Von pushed her cart alongside a man’s who was exiting at the same time.
“Looks like another Christmas without snow,” she commented with a big smile. She had no idea what else to chat about. She wasn’t one to keep up with sports and she knew absolutely nothing about hunting.
“If you live here long enough,” the man said with an answering smile, “you get used to that.”
Keeping a wary eye on the man near the van, Von just keep walking right alongside her new friend. He was regaling her with the advantages of being a schoolteacher and having the holidays off. She was nodding and making agreeable sounds.
They could have been any other couple in town.
“Have a merry Christmas,” he said as he stopped at the trunk of what was presumably his car.
“You, too!” Von called, moving two cars over.
While he loaded his goods, she searched her pockets. “Oh, no!”
The man looked up from closing his trunk.
“I’ve locked my keys in my car.” She held her hands palms up.
He pushed his cart aside and started in her direction. “Is there anything I can do?”
She hurried away from the car with her own cart in tow. “I’ve done this before. My husband’s going to kill me. I guess I’ll have to call him to come get me.”
“That’s a shame.” The man shook his head.
“He’ll have to drag the twins out,” she said when her last comment didn’t do it.
“Twins?”
She nodded. “Only three months old.”
His face puckered with concern. “Well I’d hate for him to have to do that. You live nearby?”
“Just up the road.”
“Fine,” he offered with a nod. “I’ll give you a ride then. It’s practically Christmas but it’s the neighborly thing to do in any season.”
With her purchases loaded, Von sank into the seat and relaxed as he pulled out of the supercenter parking lot.
Her nerves were shot.
Any more close calls like this and she was going to have to think about changing careers.
Her Good Samaritan looked at her a little strangely when Von told him she lived in the house behind the church.
“Reverend Hardin’s house?”
Not good. He knew the place. “Yes. He’s my uncle. My husband and I are staying there until we find our own place. We just moved down from Chicago. He was transferred with his job. Are you a member of my uncle’s church?”
The driver shook his head. “I should be, I suppose.” He flashed a smile. “Not much of a churchgoer.”
Von had to bite her tongue.
He offered to help with the bags, but she insisted he hurry on home. His family was probably waiting.
It was almost Christmas Eve, after all.
When he’d driven away, Von stood there surrounded by blue plastic bags.
The cold whipped around her and she felt ready to collapse. It was getting dark, this day was almost over. But the battle was just beginning.
Since there hadn’t been anyone at the front of the church, she walked around to the back. No one out side but there was a door that appeared to lead into the back of the church or more accurately a closed in porch of sorts. Von opened the door and stepped inside. A long, narrow room, the walls lined with windows and benches, the benches lined with little girls. Trinity turned toward Von and their gazes locked.
“You okay?”
She nodded. She was tired. Emotion welled in her throat. She was so glad he was here.
/>
Trinity walked over and tilted her chin up to get a better look at her face and the breakdown she was trying really hard to hide. “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “We’re safe and that’s all that matters.”
She nodded jerkily. What he said was right. She knew. She was just too tired to cope at the moment.
“Come.” He ushered her over to a bench to sit next to the girls. “Stay put. I’ll figure this out.”
Chapter Nineteen
4:51 p.m.
Trinity approached the house behind the church. There were no lights on inside and one vehicle parked in the drive, a minivan.
Could be someone home despite the lack of lights as night approached.
The house was likely the church parsonage and it was almost Christmas Eve. Surely if there was someone home they wouldn’t turn away twelve little girls.
Silent inside. Trinity knocked on the door. Still quiet. The occasional vehicle passing on the street in front of the church was the only sound.
A couple more knocks and he felt convinced that no one was home.
He checked under the welcome mat, then the little concrete angel sitting near the door. The house key was under the angel.
People in the south could usually be counted on for leaving a house key handy.
There were no signs announcing one security system or the other protected the house. Trinity hoped he wasn’t about to alert the police to his location.
No beeps, whistles or bells sounded when he opened the door. He felt on the wall for a light switch and turned on the overhead fixture. The lack of a keypad near the door signaled that a security system was not part of the home’s amenities.
Trinity walked through the house, from the kitchen through the three bedrooms and home office. No sign of anyone. Most telling was that there was no milk in the refrigerator and no gifts under the Christmas tree. Kids lived here and the absence of milk and gifts was a good sign that the family wasn’t home and wouldn’t be back for a few days.
Headed for the door to go after Von and the kids, the telephone rang, stopping Trinity in his tracks. On the third ring the answering machine was activated.
Hello, you’ve reached the Hardin family. Be back for services Christmas Eve night. Leave us a message or call our cell phone. God bless.
