“Watch out!” Ellen shouted. Leo looked up as the car swerved onto the road’s shoulder.
The speeding car was heading straight for them.
NINE
The car tires crunched on the unpaved shoulder. The horses, terrified by the giant metal monster barreling toward them, bucked as the vehicle zipped past in an intentional sideswipe. Leo felt his body leave the saddle, and the phone flew from his hand as his arms pinwheeled in an attempt to correct his position—but he didn’t make it. He slammed into the ground on his back. Pain, sharp and blinding, shot up his spine and into his left elbow. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and curl up on the ground, but if his horse had bucked him, surely Ellen’s had done the same.
He tried to see through the sparks in his vision, and his stomach sank to see Ellen lying in the ditch, curled into the fetal position. Please, Lord. Let her be all right.
Before he gathered the strength to call to her, she moved. She raised her head and looked toward the horses. They were stamping and shaking their heads, eyes wide. He and Ellen needed to get to them before they decided to take off on their own.
“Are you all right?” Ellen shouted. “Leo?”
He had to try twice before he was able to take a full enough breath to respond. “I’m not sure, but we don’t have time to take stock of it right now. We need to get control of the horses before—”
The sound of a car engine revving shot panic into his insides. He wished he was only imagining it, but no—the driver was definitely coming back for a second pass, and both he and Ellen were lying vulnerable on the ground. He had a feeling that if the driver was armed, that person wouldn’t be using rubber bullets this time.
“Ellen, can you stand? We need to get the horses and get out of here.”
His vision was still hazy, but he watched her get to her feet and bolt up the steep ditch to where her horse anxiously paced on the shoulder. Through pure force of will, he followed suit and reached his horse just in time to grab the reins, swing himself up and get the animal moving. The car zoomed toward them a second time.
“Back into the woods!” Leo shouted to Ellen as the car swerved onto the shoulder again. Before they could tell the horses what to do, the animals both bolted toward the tree line as if on the same page as their riders. Once they were deep enough into the trees that the road was no longer visible, Leo instructed his horse to stop. “Ellen, hang on. We need to figure out what we’re doing.”
She pulled her horse to a stop, too, and waited as he came alongside her.
“I don’t know if anyone got out of the car to follow us, so we should keep moving. But I’m not sure what the best course of action is. The trail is muddy, and going back to the road isn’t an option in case they’re waiting.”
Ellen groaned. “Great. How did they even know we were there? Why can’t we catch a break?”
“If I had an answer to that, we’d have a much better idea of who’s behind all this, I suspect.”
“Can you call Jamie?” She pointed at his pocket. “Ask him to come out and pick us up. I’m sure once the car driver sees a patrol car heading their way, they’ll back off.”
“Good idea.” Leo reached into his pocket. It was empty. He groaned as he remembered why. “But not possible. I dropped it when the horse bucked. It’s back by the side of the road, and there’s no guarantee it’s even in one piece anymore. Either one of the horses might have stepped on it, or the car could have run clean over it.”
Ellen’s face fell. “Great. Just great.”
“At least it’s not pouring rain now.” He shrank at the withering glare she shot him. “I know, I know. It’s not much. We’ll figure something out.”
“If you’re about to tell me that the Lord provides, keep it to yourself.”
He had been about to say a variation on the theme, but her comment ruled that out. What could he say that wouldn’t cause all the inner pain she carried around to come flooding out? He wanted to encourage her, to reassure her that they’d find a way back to town, that they’d be fine without their position being monitored via GPS and that the police would get the case solved sooner rather than later, but he wasn’t sure if he believed the latter part of that. Of course God was looking out for them; he believed that with his whole heart, but all the phrases that came to mind seemed too trite or sounded to his ears like he’d be putting down her struggle. The last thing he wanted to say was something that took away from the reality of what she’d been through. Grief took many forms, and not recognizing that or refusing to accept it would be wrong.
Instead, he said the only thing that seemed right. “I hear you, Ellen. And I’m here for you if you want to talk about it. And even if you don’t.”
Her features softened. “Thanks.”
They continued walking the horses through the trees, but they had to step carefully in the dense wilderness and the partially obscured forest floor. A great deal of plant growth on the forest floor was lovely to look at, but made it difficult for the horses to see where they were stepping, presenting a whole other problem. After several minutes of silence, Ellen sighed heavily, but said nothing.
“Are you okay?” He didn’t want to pry, especially after leaving the invitation open for her, but her eyes looked unfocused, as if deep in thought. “If you have one, any idea will help, even if it seems unusual.”
“It’s not that it’s unusual, it’s more...potentially uncomfortable. I was thinking we could head west, back toward the lake, to the cottage nearest to where we are right now. I clean two places at the southernmost tip of Schroeder Lake, and I could get us inside to use the phone. Jamie could bring one of the trailers for the horses so we can get a proper ride back without risking the road again. Or he could have some officers come to ride the horses back to town and give us a lift. I don’t know. It’s a huge hassle, I realize, and I’m not scheduled to clean those places for another few weeks—right before the owners come back—but I’m sure they wouldn’t be opposed to us using a phone during an emergency. It just means picking through the forest for a bit longer, unless we wanted to risk the sludgy trail going back. But the nearest cottage isn’t far. Maybe five minutes directly that way.”
Staying in the forest wasn’t ideal, but what other choice did they have? And five minutes on a direct route in order to call for help sounded a whole lot more appealing than getting run down on the road.
“Are you sure? I have no doubt the RCMP can explain everything to the homeowners if there’s an issue.”
“I’m more concerned about our survival and keeping these horses from injury than I am getting fired from a cleaning job,” she said. “And yes, I’d let the police handle any questions after the fact.”
After the fact. After this was all said and done, after the local detachment had rounded up the thieves and arrested them for theft and homicide. After Leo had already returned to Fort Mason and gotten back into the busy rhythm of his own job, far away from Ellen. Why was it that although they were only hours away from each other, he hadn’t seen her for years and years?
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He’d seen her in passing now and again. But he hadn’t really looked. At least not the way he looked at her now—in a way that warmed him from the inside out. That made him want to submit a transfer request to a certain town a few hours south of Fort Mason.
Would he really be willing to leave his brothers for a woman? For love?
I’m not in love, and I need to stop that train of thought before it even leaves the station. I made a promise to a friend, and these last few days have shown me how right he was to ask it of me.
Leo needed to give up any thoughts of Ellen that weren’t immediately conducive to getting her to safety—because she was still in jeopardy and would continue to be until he found her a way back to the police station and the watchful eyes of her brother.
He suppressed everything that wasn’t relat
ed to the current situation and cleared his throat.
“In that case, lead the way.”
* * *
Curious. In a matter of minutes, Leo’s tone of voice had changed from concerned friend to matter-of-fact RCMP officer. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried by the shift. She swallowed down her compulsion to ask him about it and focused on helping her horse pick his way across the dense forest floor instead. She still couldn’t believe how easily Leo had backed off after her request not to talk about “God things”—she’d expected him to launch into a diatribe or a patronizing lecture based on sentiments she’d long since rejected.
When he’d respected her words instead, her heart had melted. Just a little bit.
A little bit more than it already has, she reminded herself. But his words came from a place of friendship and familiarity, nothing else. I need to stop reading into it.
“It’s not much farther,” she said, seeing a break between the trees. A green backyard peeked through tree trunks ahead—and then she noticed movement, like something dashing between the trees. She held back her gasp, wondering if maybe it had been a deer. Then she heard rustling from another nearby dense crop of growth. A sinking sensation filled her stomach and she turned back to Leo. He sat frozen in the saddle. “Should we...?”
He nodded sharply and shifted to get his horse moving again—but before the animals took more than a few steps, three men with black ball caps and red bandannas tied around their faces slipped out from the trees. Two of them blocked the way forward, and one shifted around behind Ellen and Leo on the path.
“You shouldn’t,” said one. He raised a gun at them, and the other two followed suit.
In front of her, Leo slowly raised his hands. Ellen took a cue from him and did the same, though what she really wanted to do was kick the horses into high gear and bowl these people over. However, that wouldn’t be wise—not with guns in play. Risking their own lives and those of the highly trained police horses wasn’t worth it.
“Off the horses,” growled the same man. “Keep your hands where we can see them.”
Ellen’s stomach churned. Was there a chance they could make a break for it into the trees? She glanced at Leo, who shook his head ever so slightly. If he didn’t deem it safe, she didn’t want to try it.
As they dismounted, the horses began to shift nervously. Ellen stroked Boomer’s flank, murmuring to the creature, but one of the armed men reached between the horses and grabbed her arm, pulling her forward.
“Up where we can see you,” he snarled.
Ellen gaped. “What, do you think I’m making sneak attack plans with the horse?”
“Ellen.” Leo’s tone held a note of warning.
She swallowed down her next volley of angry retorts, knowing Leo was right. Antagonizing these men was about the worst thing they could do. They needed to buy themselves some time and figure out a way to contact the RCMP again. She hoped that Jamie was already out searching for them. When Leo’s phone was smashed, Jamie would only have their last known coordinates on the phone-finder app to go on, but at least it would give him a starting point. She didn’t think they were that far from where they’d been run off the road.
Pinpricks of fear needled her insides as the thieves shoved her and Leo in front of the horses, forcing them to walk in between two of the armed men as they headed away from the clearing and deeper into the forest. The men held their weapons at the ready, as if they expected to use them at any moment. It looked strange to Ellen—the men appeared not very comfortable holding the deadly devices, more like people posing with an object because they thought it made them look cool.
She slid her gaze over to Leo, trying to communicate through gestures at the weapons. Are those filled with rubber bullets, too? But he only shook his head again and kept walking.
“Where are we going?” she asked. “My brother is in the RCMP, and this man is an officer. The detachment will know we’re missing if we don’t report in with them in the next five minutes. Thanks to you guys, our whereabouts are being monitored, so—”
One of the men chuckled, and the sound sent a shiver down Ellen’s spine. “Is that so? With what? This smashed phone?” The man pulled a flattened phone with a shattered screen out of his pocket and laughed. “Fat chance of that.”
Leo offered her a sympathetic smile. She’d tried and failed to bluff the thieves. Now she just felt sick.
His fingers found hers as the thieves ushered them through the forest. The warmth and strength he lent her as he squeezed her hand almost gave her hope that he had a plan, but when they broke through the trees and onto the lawn, a strange feeling washed over Ellen. She knew this vacation cottage, too.
The dropping temperature of late afternoon had caused the freshly dropped rainwater to evaporate and give rise to a misty ground fog. It gave the property’s exterior an eerie look, though Ellen knew very well that the house’s interior was painted in white and pastel yellow, and that the owners collected beaver-themed knickknacks. Many of the rooms inside resembled the retail shelves for tourists at local shops. A house didn’t get much less threatening than that.
The door swung open as they were marched up the steps. Another man with a black ball cap and a red bandanna tied around his nose and mouth appeared at the door. His eyes narrowed at Ellen and Leo, then took in their armed escorts.
“It’s about time.” He stepped back, calling into the house. Ellen noticed that he wore gloves. “Hey, boys! We’ve got company. For a little while, at least.”
For a little while.
Ellen hadn’t missed the implication. They’d been captured and brought to the site of a robbery in progress.
No one knew where they were.
They’d become prisoners of the very people who’d been eagerly trying to kill them.
TEN
“Move,” the man said, waving his gun as though it were a toy. Then he addressed their armed escort. “You two, take the horses out back.”
Ellen’s limbs refused to move. Her brain told her that the safest thing to do right now was cooperate, to keep these men calm while she and Leo thought up a way to escape. But her body had other ideas, and it wasn’t keen on being trapped inside a building with a bunch of armed thieves who’d killed her friend and had been doing their best to ensure she met the same fate.
“Let’s go, Ellen,” Leo murmured. “We’re going to figure this out.”
His words weren’t all that reassuring, because as the man who’d opened the door stepped aside for them to enter, she saw two other men walking around the living room and heard more thumps coming from the upper floor. Just like what had happened at the Fosters’ place. And now they were going to be killed, too, just like Rod, and—
“Breathe, Ellen. Through your nose. Slowly.” Leo’s hand touched the small of her back and guided her forward. She tried to control her breathing, but darkness hovered at the edges of her vision again and threatened to take over. If she collapsed here and now, that would be it. They’d easily dispose of her without resistance. She needed to stay upright and alert.
“We’re going inside the clean house,” Leo continued. “You do a great job cleaning these places, there’s hardly any dust collected on the surfaces.”
Why was he talking about housecleaning at a time like this? If they were killed in here, it’d just make a huge mess anyway, and—
Oh. She inhaled sharply. They were inside the house, and if the men wanted to make use of those illegal handguns they were waving around, there was no way they’d shoot her and Leo inside the house. It’d be messy, risky and would undoubtedly result in blood spatter on themselves, too—making the identity of the thieves that much easier to figure out. The men would have to dispose of their clothes somehow and find a way to wash the blood off without being seen by anyone or leaving evidence behind. Yes, there were ways to do all of these things
, but it added extra variables, which meant much greater room for error. And for thieves who relied on stealth and hidden identities to get the job done, making a mess would be unwise.
“What are we gonna do with them?” one of the other masked men growled. “Why didn’t you just shoot ’em outside?”
The man who’d led them into the house snorted. “Without the go-ahead? You want to have that conversation?”
“We been working hard enough to get rid of the lady already. Ain’t that approval enough? Why we gotta wait for some kind of green light?”
Someone shoved Ellen hard in the back, barking instructions. “I said move!”
She stumbled over her steps, but Leo’s hand remained glued to her at all times. It felt more and more comforting to have him physically connected to her, the deeper they were drawn into the cottage.
“Boss has a plan for how things are to be done. Putting a bullet through their skulls on private property isn’t part of the plan. They were supposed to be taken care of out on the road, and since that didn’t happen, the instructions I got were to just track them down so we can finish the job without interruption. Where else are we supposed to stash them until boss gives us the green light to get rid of them?”
One of the men raised his arms over his head and turned from side to side, attempting to appeal to his fellow thieves. “They were also supposed to be taken care of out on the water. And outside the center. But none of those worked, did they? And now we’ve got a lawman here with us listening to every word. You ever think that maybe none of those attempts have been successful because the boss is just really bad at coming up with a plan? Huh? I say we take ’em out back and put one through their chests. No complications, less mess, done. No one the wiser.”
“I said no. We wait.”
The man who wanted to kill them pulled his hand behind his back, like he was reaching for something. She’d seen the thieves keep their guns in their waistbands when they’d arrived at the Fosters’ place. Ellen thought she might be sick. “There’s a lot of money at stake, and more. I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said.
Accidental Eyewitness Page 10
