Lucas told her earlier that there were no guns stored in the cabin. So that meant she was going to have to improvise. Other than knives in the kitchen, she couldn’t find anything else that would work as a weapon. She did have a broom handle that looked solid. She picked up pieces of glass stuffing two of them into her pockets where she could safely hide them until needed.
Nick told her he’d be right there, but Cloverdale was nearly an hour from their home in Bennett Valley. She just had to get through the next hour, or however long it took for the police to arrive. She hoped they’d not get lost.
Her eyes wandered over the cabin where she’d spent a beautiful two days. She could smell him. When she closed her eyes, she saw what he looked like when he talked to her, the angle of his head, the way he smiled, what the touch of his kiss on her lips felt like. So many little things came racing through the fog of fear.
She prayed she’d have the chance to tell him all this.
It startled her when her cell phone rang.
Lucas!
“Is that really you?” Her heart was pounding, and surely he would be able to hear her ragged breathing.
“Absolutely, baby. Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
“But did they hurt you?”
“No. Big goose egg on my forehead.”
“God, Marcy, I’ve been a total and complete fool.”
“Where are you, Lucas? I’m all alone here and—”
“Nick called me. We just finished up an operation and I’m coming to California right now as we speak. Waiting for the transport. Won’t get there for a few hours. Nick says the police are on their way.”
“Good.”
“You have battery on the cell phone?”
“It was dead, charging it now.”
“Okay, nothing to do but hang tight. Let’s hope they decide to bale instead of coming to the house.”
“What do I do if—” Marcy saw three of the young boys come out into the clearing at the kitchen side of the house. “They’re here!”
She heard Lucas swear on the other end. “Get a knife. Hide in the bedroom closet. There’s a hatch there in the floor of the closet. See if you can get yourself in there before they come. Leave the phone on, but try to hide it.”
“Right. Bye.” She placed the device on top of the refrigerator where only part of the cord showed at the attachment to the plug in the splashboard.
Marcy wanted to say more, much more, but she knew they’d find the broken window and she didn’t have much time to get herself hidden.
The closet floor was covered with empty bags and a suitcase. She brushed them aside and found the ring of the hatch, pulled it toward her and saw the dirt beneath the cabin floorboards. Carefully, she pulled the closet door closed, and tried to distribute the bags so they would fall over the hatch opening, perhaps giving her more time. She was small enough to slip down through the square hole and then touched the ground, stopping to listen.
Chatter from the young men trickled down to her from on top as she heard them climb through the window and begin searching the house.
She wondered why Lucas had asked her to leave her phone on, but she guessed he wanted to listen to whatever was going on, since he couldn’t be there.
Fingering the glass chard in her left hand and the serrated knife in her right, she sat on the cool dirt and waited without making a sound. Her stomach growled so much for a second she wondered if they’d be able to hear it. She wished she had the water she’d left on the counter, or the bananas she’d brought from her escape. No doubt the boys would find them and realize she was near.
Orders were being given between the men. They removed themselves from the place the way they’d entered, and soon all was quiet.
Except for the crackling she could hear. Then she could smell it.
They’d set fire to the house.
Chapter 39
‡
LUCAS HEARD THE unmistakable sounds of fire raging through the cabin. Already at thirty thousand feet, there wasn’t a thing he could do, except text to Nick and Devon and let them know. He’d lost connection to Marcy’ cell. He hoped she’d be able to get out before the smoke got to her, as this was more of a threat than the fire itself.
Lost contact with Marcy. House on fire.
Holy shit. I’ll call the PD. They should be there by now. You in the air?
Yes. Taking direct to SF. Renting a car.
Hold it, let us pick you up.
If you can, sure would appreciate it.
Okay BRB.
Lucas was crammed into the oversold airplane, but because he was active military went to the head of the standby list. He texted Kyle to let him know he was on board. Kyle let him know the soccer team was leaving and Donna still wouldn’t leave Alfari’s side.
Good. I think she needs it, Lucas texted him back.
Thinking the same.
He decided not to add any further worry onto his LPO’s shoulders, so didn’t tell him about the fire.
He relaxed the seat back and pulled his baseball cap down over his eyes, and attempted some sleep. No telling what he would be doing later. He’d be no good to anyone if he was exhausted.
An hour into his rest the phone pinged with a message from Nick.
Fire out. No sign of Marcy or the others. Will update if any news.
Lucas managed to sleep the whole rest of the flight. The stewardess tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to reset the seat to its upright position. He barely had enough time before the wheels hit the pavement, in a landing far from smooth, the big plane swerving and rocking as if driven by a fighter pilot landing on a carrier. He checked his phone as they taxied to the gate and there were no further texts. His stomach turned over. When he mentally counted the hours since he’d last eaten, he discovered it had been nearly twelve.
He followed the line off the plane, his legs and neck stiff from sitting in one position for so long, but all the same, he was grateful for the shut-eye. Now he needed to find Marcy. He was hoping Nick had something he could go on.
Nick was waiting by baggage claim, but since all Lucas had was his carry-on, they made it out to the curb just in time for Devon to slip by and pick them up. The two men sat in the back seat of Nick and Devon’s Land Cruiser.
“Not going to lie to you, Lucas. The cops in Cloverdale and the Sheriff’s Department have an ongoing battle over the hearts and minds of the town, with the public pretty much split. So anything that is slightly controversial, you can bet there’s a fair amount of finger pointing.”
“Okay. I’m sort of used to that, on a much grander scale,” Lucas answered back. “Shit, we never know who to trust, so we don’t trust anyone.”
“That would probably work well in this case, too.”
Devon made a quick swerve to avoid a small car with blackened windows from hitting them. They had merged onto the freeway and took the overpass headed to 280 North.
“You okay, honey?” Nick asked as he leaned forward and put his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m fine. That asshole just doesn’t know how to drive is all.”
Lucas knew she was hauling ass to get them up to Sonoma County as soon as possible, while they had some chance to do some searching in the woods. But he wanted to get there without an incident, and he could tell Devon wasn’t used to driving fast.
“So you were saying there’s a pissing match going on. Is anybody focused on finding Marcy?”
“Oh yes, nothing like a murder to get the community all worked up. You know Cloverdale is a small town. That’s part of the problem. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.”
“Right now, I’m thinking that’s a good thing,” said Lucas.
“See, I made the mistake of calling the Cloverdale P.D. But your cabin is in the County, Sheriff’s jurisdiction.”
“So who did you tell about the trap door?”
“I told the Cloverdale P.D.”
“Okay. So who’s taking lead here on t
he search?”
“That’s what gets kind of interesting. We got some worried about stumbling onto a pot farm and getting shot.”
“Shit. We got terrorists with a training camp and they’re worried about pot?”
“Nope. They’re not worried about the pot. They’re worried about the gangs who guard the pot.”
Lucas checked the passing lights as they swung their way onto the five-lane 280 Freeway. There was practically no traffic. He tried to think about where she would go. Could she have gotten herself safely out of the house and was hiding in the forest? Or, did they capture her as she was forced out, take her some place else? Marcy had told him about the neighbor and the young boys. Lucas didn’t think they even knew how to drive.
“Someone’s helping them. We just have to find out who that is,” said Lucas. “The one in Tennessee? They had a whole house filled with paper money. Floor to ceiling. They’ve been making so much money selling drugs, they have plenty to buy political favors. They did it in Nashville. Those guys run the prison there. They could do far worse in a little town of less than ten thousand people, no problem.”
During the two-hour drive, Lucas and Nick discussed all the scenarios they could think of. If Marcy was on her own, it would only be a matter of time before she’d find a way to contact one of them. Eventually, she would. If she could stay hidden.
But if she was being held by yet another group, or worse, being transported to one of the larger training camps up in Oregon, they were screwed. That would involve a plan taking up hundreds of man hours and probably the FBI, just like when they had a large scale drug bust. The jurisdictions fell all over themselves for the percentage rights to the drug spoilage, but they had to play nice with the Bureau.
Lucas wasn’t prepared for the site of his little piece of Heaven, looking more like a burned out building in Bagdad or Mosul. Smoke still filtered up to the darkening sky. Perimeter lights had been set up, juiced to one large engine unit from downtown Cloverdale. Blue and red lights flashed, the vehicles fanning out like at a drive-in movie. Lucas walked like a zombie through all the noise of the radios, the generator and sound of the water pumps occasionally kicking in as a four man crew continued looking for hot spots.
The fire investigator introduced himself. He was one of the only men who wore a yellow jacket, but did not wear a hat.
“How did it start?” Lucas asked.
“They found something as an accelerant. I think you had lighter fluid or cleaning supplies under the sink, like most people? We think they poured it, ignited it and left.”
“Can I?” Lucas asked, pointing the charred spines of the once-beautiful cabin.
“Sure, just walk the perimeter. There are still hot spots inside, so don’t step there.”
“No problem.” Lucas and Nick began waling around the edge of the debris field.
“We cut the power of course. Your propane tank exploded,” the inspector said as he followed behind them pointing out the highlights of the destruction, like he was giving them a tour of an art gallery. “Any idea why someone would want to torch this place?”
“No clue,” Lucas answered him. “But it was broken into and vandalized not more than a week ago. Kind of a teenage thrill thing, we thought at the time. This goes along those same lines.”
“What did they take?”
“As far as we can tell, nothing.”
“I’m told you never met these people?” the inspector asked Lucas.
“That’s right.”
“The woman who is missing, Marcy Gelland, saw them,” offered Nick. I did see the break in, helped with the cleanup, and Lucas is right, it did look more like some kids having fun at his family’s expense.”
“And what makes you think it was kids, like the kids from next door?”
“Because they shredded some girlie magazines, right, Nick?” Lucas turned to Nick, who confirmed it.
“They peed on them, too.”
“So all they did was destroy? They didn’t take anything?”
“Not a damned thing.” Lucas made his way over to here the bedroom closet would have been, swiped the charred detritus to the side with his shoe. The hatch cover was burned all the way through. Partially burned pieces of furniture and flooring had dropped down into the five foot space. Lucas remembered his grandfather telling him it was the safest place to hide if anything dangerous happened to them. He remembered playing in it when he was a child. It earned him a fair share of scoldings.
Lucas jumped into the space and searched the walls with his penlight flashlight. Someone had written “Boathouse.” He looked up to the inspector. “There a lake with a boathouse around here?”
“Over toward the camp there’s a man-made lake and I think a small shed protecting a pile of stacked canoes,” answered the inspector.
“Wonder how the hell she knew about that,” said Lucas. “Where is this lake?”
The inspector gave him a hand up. “If she came over from the compound next door, she would have run right past it.”
“Wonder how the hell she got out while the house was burning,” muttered Nick.
“I have no idea. But I hope to God she did. Let’s go.”
AT THE FIRE scene, Marcy had managed to scramble out through the flames, the smoke giving her cover. She hid in the scrub behind the cabin, undetected. A green van picked up the boys, who had obviously been waiting for it. The van barreled off down the road before any of the emergency vehicles arrived. The driver’s door was marked with some sort of official insignia she couldn’t read.
She wondered if other men were still at the complex and would soon be looking for her. She needed to make it to the boathouse so, if need be, she could wait it out until she was safe. Until someone she trusted showed up.
Seeing the coast clear, she ran as fast as she could until she got to the old red structure, pried open the locked wooden door and let herself in. She stayed in there while emergency crews were working in the distance. She wasn’t going to go out there in her sooty clothes and be arrested for being an arsonist. The only people she would reveal herself to were Lucas, Nick or Devon.
None of the fire crew or investigators even came close to looking at the boathouse, so she began to feel safe. She worked to stop from falling asleep in the warm space but was having difficulty. She was tired, dirty, and her lungs were filled with soot. She desperately needed a drink of water.
Marcy scrambled out the back of the structure, stooped down, lay against the dock landing on her belly, and splashed water on her face, taking long sips of water to quench her thirst. She quietly returned to the relative safety of the wooden structure.
Finally, the number of flashing lights diminished, and several vehicles left the scene. In spite of her efforts not to, she leaned against the doors of the little structure, and fell into a deep sleep.
Hours later, she was jarred awake when she heard a noise. Through the slim crack between the doors, she saw four figures jogging straight toward her. She braced herself, waiting until they stepped into the moonlight and out of the shadow of the forest, her hand firmly gripping the knife handle. If it came to it, she’d go out fighting. She was ready for the final showdown.
Chapter 40
‡
LUCAS CONSIDERED THE message might be a trap, but his heart couldn’t afford to wait any longer. If something had happened to Marcy, if she was injured or being held, or worse, the sooner he could find her the better. Devon held back to the shadows, just in case, while the three men approached the door.
As he got to within twenty feet of the outside of the building the red doors burst open and Marcy came running out, jumping into his arms.
“God, you’re safe, Marcy. Thank God,” he whispered as he held her shaking body. He felt her break down, as sobbing overtook her.
“Shhhh, shhh. You’re safe. We got you. Nothing’s going to happen to you anymore.” He was rocking her from side to side. Nick put his arms around both of them. Within seconds Devon was there
as well.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt in any way?” Lucas asked as he set her down. He brushed the hair from her face, blackened from the fire. He noticed a patch of her hair had been singed, but other than that, she looked pretty damned good.
“I’m fine,” she beamed back up to him, tears making white lines down her cheeks. “I was hoping you’d see my message.” She glanced over at the inspector.
“This is—”Lucas turned to the investigator with an apology.
“Russ Butler, ma’am. I work for the Cloverdale fire district.”
Marcy nodded and allowed Devon to grab her, but her eyes came back to Lucas.
“So glad you’re okay. What an ordeal. You held up like a champ, Marcy,” said Devon.
The long looks Marcy was giving him as she spoke with Devon and Nick speared his heart.
“Come here,” he finally said as he opened his arms. She nearly collapsed into him. She was mumbling words he couldn’t make out. “It’s all over, Marcy. Nothing is going to happen to you. I’m here now.”
IT TOOK NEARLY an hour to finish with the Sheriff’s Department. Lucas was still combing through the rubble for anything left untouched by the fire and was coming up completely empty. The house was gone, completely gone, but it had done its job and protected her from harm, just like his grandfather had instructed those many years ago. Little did he know that some day those safety instructions would save the life of the woman he loved.
He had a new appreciation for how fragile life was. He also knew that he wouldn’t be able to put anything in front of his feelings for Marcy, and for her safety again. They needed to have a talk. He hoped she felt the same.
On the trip back to Bennett Valley, she leaned into him as they sat in the darkness behind Devon and Nick up front. His arm was draped around her shoulder as she snuggled into him. It had never felt so good to have someone need his protection.
His fingers traced up and down her upper arm. Marcy brought her right palm to his face as she lifted herself to look him in the eyes. “Thank you, Lucas. Thank you for everything.”
SEAL Brotherhood Lucas Page 22
