by Sharon Dunn
“I’ll make sure there’s an armed guard outside Crew’s door.”
Sarah glanced out a window. “I called into the station when I couldn’t find you. They should be here by now.”
“We’ll go find them and post one outside Crew’s door until we line up something more permanent,” Bryan said. “I’m not sure what our next move should be.”
“I think we need to find Eddie. He loaned Crew his phone to call me. He’s the one who lured me into that building. I think he knows something.”
Bryan rushed out to the nurses’ station and told them to send the policemen to Crew’s room when they showed up.
They stayed in Crew’s room while they waited for the officers to arrive.
Sarah stood up. “Are you hungry? I can grab you a snack out of the vending machine.”
“Anything to fill the hole in my stomach.” His throat was parched. “Mostly, I could use some water.”
Sarah left and returned a moment later with a container of bottled water and several bags of chips. He gulped the water.
She scooted the second chair toward him, leaned in and touched a bump on his head he’d gotten courtesy of Mason’s thugs.
“What exactly did they do to you?” Her fingers were softer than rose petals.
“I didn’t get the impression they wanted to beat any information out of me. They wanted to incapacitate me. I’m a little foggy on the details. One of them grabbed my chin and said something about me going back to the fire tower and leaving the police force, about how any investigation I was pursuing would only lead to trouble.”
“But he didn’t use Tyler Mason’s name.”
“Of course not. It was intended as a veiled threat.” Bryan clenched his teeth. “Mason won’t tie himself to any of this.”
The officers arrived. Bryan gave them instructions as well as a description of the man who had impersonated medical personnel.
In the parking lot, morning sun lightened up the sky and warmed the air. Bryan rubbed his eyes.
Sarah offered him a sympathetic glance. “You must be tired.”
“Believe it or not, I slept some up on that hospital floor.” He climbed into the car and started it. “Where can we find this Eddie guy?”
“It’s still early. Lots of homeless people sleep down by the river in the summer. Some of them hang out at the library later in the day.”
“We’ll try the river first.” Bryan drove for several blocks. He checked his rearview mirror. “We have a friend.”
Sarah craned her neck. “How long has he been on us?”
“Since we left the hospital. He disappears and then shows up a couple of blocks later. He thinks he’s being sneaky.” Bryan turned away from the direction of the river. “Let’s lose him for good.”
He took the first on-ramp that led out to the highway. Bryan pressed the gas and wove through traffic.
“I can still see him back there.” Her words were saturated with tension.
He increased his speed, then slowed and took the exit leading back into town without signaling first. The dark car switched lanes and followed.
Bryan’s frustration grew. “When are these guys going to give up?”
“Can you lose him?” Sarah asked.
“Sure, but I don’t know what good it will do. Even when we manage to lose them for a little while, they always seem to have a good idea of where we’re going next, so they can track us from there.”
Sarah touched his forearm. “I have an idea where we could go that they wouldn’t expect—Naomi’s Place.”
Bryan’s back stiffened at the name of the pregnancy counseling center they’d gone to when Sarah had become pregnant. His throat clamped shut. He couldn’t respond to her suggestion.
She squeezed his arm. “The director will help us. We can hide out there until we’re in the clear.”
He felt tightness in his chest. Going back there would only remind him of how he had failed Sarah ten years ago. “You’re in touch with her, are you?”
“Yes, I work for an adoption agency, remember?”
Bryan clenched his teeth. There must be other places they could go to escape the endless cycle of being tailed.
“We’ve got to go someplace they’re not expecting us to go. Naomi might be able to loan us a different car. We could slip out the back,” Sarah said.
Bryan expelled a breath. Sarah had a point. They needed to do something unexpected. Something Mason couldn’t anticipate. “Is he behind us now?”
She glanced out the back window. “Not that I can see. Now is our chance.”
Bryan turned up a side street. “If he catches up with us, the plan is off.” He wove through several more residential streets.
Naomi’s Place was an old school that had been converted into a residence. Hedges and trees concealed much of the building from view. Bryan pulled around to the back.
Sarah took the lead, knocking on the door. A young girl, obviously pregnant, answered the door.
“We need to talk to Naomi. Tell her Sarah Langston is here.”
The girl eyed Bryan suspiciously. “I’ll go get her. You can wait in the living room.”
They walked past an industrial-sized kitchen where several girls laughed and joked with an older woman while they did dishes.
The girl led them into a huge room filled with what looked like secondhand furniture. The long, narrow room with several seating areas had probably been a classroom at one time. Bryan sat down on a plush couch as a knot of anxiety formed in his stomach. This was a trip down memory lane he did not want to take.
Though Sarah had lived here until their baby had been born, he had come only twice for counseling. Memories flooded his mind. He recalled the pressure his parents had put on him. They had never liked Sarah. They wanted the whole thing washed away as though it had never happened. He’d been too young to stand up for himself and then he’d taken his frustration out on Sarah, giving her the silent treatment when she needed his support.
He shifted in his chair, crossing and uncrossing his legs. Then he bolted up to his feet.
Sarah gazed up at him. “This place might not have good memories for you. But it does for me. I found kindness and God’s love here.”
“Let’s get this over with.”
She rose to her feet and met his gaze. “We never could have given her the life she deserved, Bryan. We were just kids.”
He slumped down in the chair, ran his hands through his hair. He studied her for a moment. The soft angles of her face, her creamy skin and bright eyes. “I know that now. I didn’t know it when I was seventeen. I guess I had this dumb idea that we could have been some sort of happy family, but Mom and Day were just so...”
“Your parents were right.”
Her answer shocked him.
“They were not nice to me. But they were right. The adoption gave all three of us a chance at a good life.”
He looked into Sarah’s clear, bright eyes. She seemed to have made peace with the past, even if he couldn’t.
A tall woman with dark hair streaked with gray stood in the entryway. “Sarah, how good to see you and...” She studied Bryan for a moment. “Oh, my, the name escapes me, but I remember you.” She looked again at Sarah, a faint smile forming on her face.
Sarah put her hands up. “Naomi, it’s not what you think. We’re not...” Color rose up in her cheeks.
Bryan stood up. “We need your help with a police matter.” Bryan flashed his badge. “It’s a long story, but if we could borrow your car and leave ours here, we’d really appreciate it.”
Naomi drew her eyebrows together and studied Bryan for a moment.
“Sarah’s in some danger,” Bryan said.
Naomi slowly nodded. “Sure, Sarah, if that’s all you need. I’ll go ge
t my key from my office.” She left the room and returned a moment later, holding the key and a photograph. “What’s so strange about you coming by is that I was just thinking about you. I’ve been sending out invitations for a reunion. You girls who were here that winter ten years ago had such a wonderful bond, I thought it might be nice for you to get together again. You remember these girls.”
She handed Sarah the photograph. Bryan peered over her shoulder. Sixteen-year-old Sarah with two other girls sitting in front of a Christmas tree.
“I didn’t have any trouble finding Rochelle. She still lives here in town, but we have no way of contacting Clarissa. The three of you were so close. I don’t suppose she stayed in touch with you?”
Sarah shook her head. “I got a postcard from her about a year after she left. She had a job in California. After that, nothing.”
She looked at Sarah. “I do hope to see you here for the get-together.” She handed the keys to Bryan. “It’s the little blue car. Maybe we’ll see you here, too.”
He shrugged noncommittally to avoid being rude. After all, she was helping them, and she seemed to be very important to Sarah. But at the same time he knew he didn’t want to come back here. The place was a reminder of the hole inside him over the life that might have been. The family he could have had if they hadn’t rushed things.
Bryan took his house key off the key ring and then handed the rest over to Naomi. “In case you need to go anywhere. We’ll make arrangements to get the car back to you.”
They walked out to the gravel lot where the car was parked. Neither of them said anything for several blocks. He still felt stirred up, unable to shake the regret that plagued him.
“Should we try the river first?” asked Sarah. “Eddie hung up when I called him. He might not be anxious to see us.”
“Or maybe he’s dying to tell us what he knows,” Bryan said. “Get that burden off his chest.”
“Let’s hope that’s what it is.” Sarah looked at the pedestrians on the street. “Eddie isn’t a bad person. I’m not sure what’s going on with him.”
Bryan parked some distance from the river. He got out of the car and waited for Sarah. At this hour, most of the homeless had wandered toward the center of town to sit in the park or the library. They walked past smoldering fires from the evening before. A man with a thick beard and tangled white hair slipped deeper into the trees when he saw them.
“Maybe we’re too late, huh?”
“No, I think we’re just in time.” Bryan pointed to a man sleeping beneath a piece of cardboard. His distinctive dress shoes stuck out from under the edge of the cardboard.
Sarah stopped. Her eyes filled with fear. “He’s not moving,” she said in a harsh whisper.
Mason couldn’t have gotten to him first. Or could he? Bryan stalked toward the prone figure. He lifted the cardboard, searching for signs of life. Eddie lay still with his eyes closed, hands at his side.
Sarah released a sharp half breath.
Bryan leaned closer to the prone man. He detected the slight up and down motion of Eddie’s chest. He poked him in the shoulder. Eddie sat bolt upright, his eyes growing round at the sight of them.
He angled away from Bryan, intending to get to his feet.
Bryan grabbed his arm and pulled him down. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
Eddie yelped with exaggerated pain, massaging his arm where Bryan had touched him.
“Eddie, we need to talk to you about Crew. I already know you loaned him your phone when you two were in the park yesterday.” Sarah got down on her knees, so she could look Eddie in the eye.
Eddie spat out his words. “He wanted to talk to you. I didn’t have anything to do with those men taking him. That wasn’t me. No.” Eddie grimaced, becoming more agitated. “Somebody else did that.”
“Is that what Crew meant when he said there were spies?” Sarah’s soft voice seemed to calm Eddie a little.
“For maybe five days now, there’s been guys around the river and down at the shelter trying to find Crew, offering money to anyone who knew anything and was willing to talk.” Eddie wrung his hands. “Not me, I wouldn’t take it.”
So anybody who saw Crew in the park could have tipped off Mason’s men.
“But you dragged me to the fairgrounds when you knew full well Crew wasn’t there.” Sarah’s voice held no judgment.
Eddie hung his head. “The guy gave me fifty bucks. He said he wasn’t going to hurt you.” Eddie fidgeted and wiggled. “Can I go now?”
Sarah draped her hand over Eddie’s. “We know you wanted to help Crew. You’re his friend.”
Eddie clawed at his hair. “I heard they messed him up bad.”
Bryan sat on the other side of Eddie. “Do you know why?” He fought to keep his voice calm and gentle, like Sarah’s, so he wouldn’t spook the man. “What were those men after?”
Eddie gnawed on a fingernail. “Crew wouldn’t say. He just disappeared like five days ago. I didn’t know if he was coming back, but then he showed up. He’d heard they came after you ’cause of him disappearing.”
“Did he say anything else to you?”
Eddie stopped wiggling and pulling at his hair. “Only one thing. He said ‘if something happens to me, tell Sarah to go to the safe place.’”
Bryan glanced over at Sarah, who had gone completely white. “Eddie, you don’t say a word of this to anyone.”
Eddie put his finger to his lips. “It’ll be our secret.”
Bryan patted Eddie’s shoulder. “That’s right.” He helped Sarah to her feet.
Concern etched across Sarah’s face. “Eddie, why don’t you use that phone to call your parents? Spend some time at home.”
Eddie nodded and scratched his head.
As they walked back to the car, Sarah still had a stunned look on her face.
“You know what he’s talking about, right?”
“The safe place is a cabin in the backwoods.” Sarah opened the car door. “Crew and I ran away there when we were in a foster home that was less than wonderful. That must be where he took this woman.” She climbed into the passenger seat.
Once behind the wheel, Bryan turned to face her. “You remember how to get there?”
She nodded. “I think I can find it. You can’t access it by car. We’ll have to drive up to the lake and then hike in four or five hours. I have some daypacks at my place and a hiking map.”
“I don’t know if it’s safe to go back to your place.”
“Who’s to say he doesn’t have men watching your place, too? Besides, you don’t have a truck anymore that would make it up that mountain. My car is all-wheel drive.” She crossed her arms. “And I need to check on my cat.”
“Oh, yes, the cat.” The level of care she showed for everything in her life made her even more endearing.
“Mr. Tiddlywinks is pretty independent, but he’s been by himself for almost two days.”
Bryan couldn’t hide his amusement. “We’ll go back to your place for supplies, and to make sure your cat is okay. I don’t want to waste much time. We need to get to that cabin to see if the woman is up there.”
“You have an idea who the woman might be, right?”
Bryan let out a heavy breath. “We had a key witness disappear right before we were ready to take Mason to trial. Eva was the one person who could link Mason to the abuses that were happening.”
Sarah sat back in the car seat. “You think it’s her.”
“Why else would Mason be so gung ho to get to her? He’s overplayed his hand in a lot of ways. Sending his business partner to talk to you was kind of desperate.”
Bryan drove Naomi’s car across town, turning on the country road where Sarah lived. He saw no sign of a tail as he drove. Sarah’s plan to switch out cars had worked.
“How is Naomi going to get her car back?”
“I’ll call her,” Sarah said. “She can bring your car out here and make the trade. I’ll leave the keys in a place she can find them.”
Her house came into view. Bryan pulled up into the driveway. The area around Sarah’s house was flat and open. Not many places to hide. No cars were parked along the road.
“Looks okay,” she said.
Bryan pushed open the car door. “All the same, we better check it out.” His voice threaded with tension as his hand hovered over his gun.
FOURTEEN
They circled the entire house. The front door was unlocked just as she had left it on the day she’d run out of here. She pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Bryan peered over her shoulder.
Clearly the men had come back here after chasing them away.
Though the house wasn’t in complete chaos, cupboards and drawers in the kitchen were open. Desk drawers, file cabinets, even her bookshelves with the photographs on it, had been disturbed.
She shuddered, unable to let go of the sense of violation. “Why?”
Bryan pressed close to her, placing a calming hand on her back. “They were on a mission to get Crew. Maybe they thought they could find some information that would help them.”
A mournful meow came from the back of the house and a fat yellow cat appeared from around the corner. She swept the cat up and held him close. “Did you miss me?” She closed her eyes as he purred in her arms. “I know we don’t have time to deal with this mess, but I have to at least make sure he has food and water.”
Bryan nodded. “I understand.”
After feeding the cat, Sarah grabbed two backpacks from the closet, changed her clothes and found hiking boots. “These are daypacks. There’s food and water, supplies for extreme weather conditions and a first-aid kit.”
“We’d better get moving.” His voice filled with a sense of urgency.
Once they were out of town, it took only minutes before they were on a forest road headed toward the lake. Bryan checked the rearview mirror several times, though he was fairly confident they hadn’t been followed.
