Cold Malice

by Toni Anderson

  RoguePawn75: He’s responsible for the whole thing—finding the guns, the raid, killing David—

  MustangGuardian: How did you not know this?

  RoguePawn75: I told you I thought someone inside the compound had ratted them out. I didn’t realize it had been a cop all along.

  MustangGuardian: You should have known. Have you made any other mistakes?

  God, she hated the power this man had over her. She thought of all her careful planning, all her years of sacrifice, working to execute their plan faultlessly and still he treated her like a child. Like he was in charge. Some days she hated him more than she loved him.

  RoguePawn75: No. Everything else has been flawless.

  A third person joined the conversation.

  EagleScreamr: He must have read the manifesto. He’s gonna figure out what we plan to do before we get the chance.

  RoguePawn75: No, he won’t. We are leaving the clues they are supposed to find. Everything is going as planned.

  MustangGuardian: What if this agent figures out who you are before you have a chance to finish?

  RoguePawn75: He won’t.

  MustangGuardian: How are you going to stop him?

  The empty screen was like a hungry animal waiting to be fed.

  RoguePawn75: McKenzie needs to be taught a lesson as to what happens to people who betray us. I have an idea that will take care of him.

  She quickly explained her plan. It was off script, but there was a good chance it would work. If it did it would be a brilliant display of cunning. If it didn’t, it would still form the starting point of their revenge against this bastard. The man who’d destroyed her life.

  RoguePawn75: But I can’t do it. I have other messages to send and a schedule to keep.

  No response.

  All her sacrifice and no one else was willing to step up?

  EagleScreamr: I’ll do it.

  A tremor of unease vibrated over her skin.

  MustangGuardian: You’re sure?

  EagleScreamr: Yes. When?

  She pondered for a moment. Was it wrong to involve him in such a dangerous mission? What if he messed up? What if he got caught? What if he couldn’t go through with it?

  She generally felt nothing when she took a life, but the people she killed weren’t human. They were vermin that needed to be eradicated. She forced the unexpected worry out of her mind. They all needed to make sacrifices in this war.

  RoguePawn75: It requires precise timing. I’ll contact you. Be ready to move at a moment’s notice and be sure to leave nothing behind.

  She logged off and stared into space. All these years of hard work and careful planning and everything came down to what happened in the next few days. But justice wasn’t going to wait forever. The FBI had better be ready to reap what it sowed. The government couldn’t hang on to power forever, and only those prepared for armed resistance would survive.

  She’d been born ready.

  These murders were for David, and formed the opening salvo of the revolution. Their names would go down in history, irrevocably entwined.

  Once she finished the first phase of the operation, thousands would rise up and join the fight. These people might not know her name yet, but it wouldn’t be long until she was synonymous with the most daring act in history. She’d save the republic for those it was meant for, and drive the others from its shores.

  Chapter Thirteen

  All the charm in the world and a federal badge weren’t getting him any play at the airline check-in desk. Apparently, no one was getting in or out of Boise by air for the next fifteen hours—and maybe then some.

  “There has to be something available?” Tess said plaintively to the attendant.

  The woman at the ticket counter took in Tess’s swollen nose and bruised neck, and shot Mac a nervous glance. He didn’t think it would do any good to deny he had anything to do with Tess’s injuries. It was his fault she’d been assaulted.

  Eddie’s attack had come out of nowhere. Mac had stood paralyzed in that observation room, not knowing what it might do to Eddie if he saw Kenny Travers suddenly rise from the dead. Would it have tipped the balance and made the sonofabitch snap Tess’s slender neck? It wasn’t a risk Mac had been willing to take. So, he’d stayed put, wishing he’d never put the woman in danger.

  Had something given her away? Or had Eddie always intended to attack her and bided his time, toying with her until visiting time ended? Was that how psychopaths entertained themselves in prison? And why attack Tess when his sentence was almost up?

  Maybe the guy liked prison. Maybe the asshole genuinely hated Tess for not dying that night of the raid. Ironic, as Eddie was the only member of the family over the age of ten to have survived. Or maybe he knew something about what was going on with these murders and thought Tess might somehow give them away… That was a tantalizing proposition.

  What might she remember that could help Mac with this investigation?

  He wondered what Eddie’s old girlfriend was up to these days. Mac texted Dylan Walsh on a secure line urging him to check up on that lead.

  Mac needed to re-listen to the recordings of Tess and Eddie’s conversation to see if there were any other clues. He had the list of visitors and copies of Eddie’s correspondence and details of his internet activity which he’d also forwarded to Walsh. If Eddie was communicating with someone about these murders, they’d find out. It was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, time wasn’t on their side. By their nature, investigations moved at glacial speed, and they needed to stop these murders fast.

  Eddie-the-asshole was going to enjoy a few years added to his sentence, but maybe when someone had been inside their whole life that was a good thing. How would the guy survive in the real world?

  The airline clerk had been typing furiously but finally looked up at Tess with a palpable expression of regret. “I’m really sorry, ma’am, there’s nothing I can do out of Boise today. It’s not just the snow. One of our de-icing machines broke down. We have technicians working on it, but a new part needs to be brought in from Utah by road.”

  “Roads are open?” Mac raised his chin and ignored her disapproval.

  She nodded. “Storm’s coming down from the north. Roads to the south are still open.”

  Mac checked his watch. The idea of being away from the office overnight because of something as unpredictable as a blizzard drove him nuts, but having grown up in Montana he recognized the futility of arguing with the weather. Mother Nature did not consider anyone’s plans. He checked the weather app on his phone and sauntered over to the rental company.

  “Got any SUVs?”

  The guy nodded.

  “I need to be able to drop it at Salt Lake City.”

  The guy filled in the paperwork as Tess trailed slowly across the concourse toward him, wheeling her carry-on luggage like a kid dragging a teddy bear.

  He tossed the keys in his hand, nodded to the clerk in thanks.

  Tess’s hazel eyes widened when she spotted the keys. “You’re driving?”

  “This is the southern edge of the storm and the forecast is for it to move north in the next hour. Salt Lake City is south east and on a good day it’s only a five-hour drive. The airport there is a lot bigger. I’d rather take a chance on getting a flight outta there than waiting in Boise.”

  She gnawed her bottom lip. Aside from dabbing away the blood from beneath her nose she hadn’t cleaned up and her hair had escaped the pony she’d tied it in. And while her genes might have been warped, she was still one of the prettiest women he’d ever met.

  “You wanna ride to Utah?” he offered.

  Her eyes went huge. “You don’t mind?”

  Mac suppressed a smile. Seriously? He’d jump at the chance to ply her with questions for endless hours, to fill in the blank details he’d forgotten about. The fact he found her attractive was inconvenient, but he could deal with it.

  “But I’m leaving now.” There was something he wanted to see along the
way.

  She nodded eagerly.

  He grabbed some coffees while she used the restroom. Soon they were loading their carry-on bags and laptops into the rear compartment and climbing into a brand-new Jeep Cherokee.

  Tess was shivering and he couldn’t tell if it was a reaction to what happened with Eddie or the fierce heaping of winter they were getting. He turned up the heater and thrust a brown paper bag at her.

  “Supplies.” He caught her gaze and grinned.

  She peeked inside. “Donuts?”

  “You used to have a sweet tooth.” She wasn’t the only one with a good memory.

  “That was before the word ‘calorie’ entered my vocabulary.” She gingerly pulled one out and passed the bag back. She ate slowly with her coffee. Her color improved, but the red welts on her neck and swelling on the bridge of her nose were still neon bright.

  It had been a mistake to use her. He’d underestimated how dangerous Eddie was.

  The snow was coming down in thick cotton balls the wipers struggled to deal with. Despite the forecast it didn’t seem to be letting up, but Mac was familiar with this area and driving in these kinds of conditions. He actually missed Montana winters. There was a raw beauty in their ferocity. An elemental challenge in day-to-day living.

  After thirty minutes, the amount accumulating on the road started to lessen. The handling got better and Mac drove faster.

  “Did you notice he didn’t ask what murders?” Tess broke the easy silence.

  He nodded. He’d noticed. The sonofabitch definitely knew something about what was going on in DC.

  A look of revulsion crossed her features. “At least I can stop feeling guilty about not getting in touch with him for the last two decades. He’s repugnant. Did you hear what he said to me? About waiting for me to grow?” She hugged her coat tighter to her chest. “What an animal.”

  “I heard.” The words hadn’t surprised him. Eddie had always been a nasty fucker and prison hadn’t softened him any. Mac’s fingers tightened on the wheel. There had been times he’d gone along with that kind of perverted sexist language to get on the guy’s good side. The memory made him feel ill.

  “Did you know Ellie was being abused?”

  “No, I told you. God, no.” He turned to look at her, outraged. Then his outrage died. “Except for the part where she was forced into marriage and, trust me, I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

  Her next words made him wince. “Trust isn’t something I do anymore. Too many hard life lessons.”

  She wasn’t trying to wheedle into his good side. She was stating a fact.

  She slipped off her shoes and raised her knees to her chest, drawing her shoulders in. Her socks had math symbols on them and she wiggled her toes as if trying to warm them up.

  “Walt had a bedroom next to mine. Ellie’s was the farthest away from our parents’ room. I don’t remember hearing noises and she never said anything to me about what was going on.” Grief etched lines of remorse around her mouth as if what had happened was her fault. It wasn’t.

  “You didn’t live in a place that encouraged girls to stand up for themselves. Ellie was probably too confused or scared to fight back. Even so, I doubt they abused her under your parents’ roof. Your brothers were excellent at manipulating and threatening people but they weren’t brave.”

  “No kidding,” she agreed. “Attacking children.”

  Francis Hines’s behavior was more shocking. If what Eddie said was true she’d pawned her daughter off to a disgusting old man to hide the fact her sons had gotten her daughter pregnant.

  Mac could have saved Ellie but he hadn’t. That guilt never got old.

  “Did you know he had a girlfriend?” Tess asked. “Eddie?”

  Mac frowned. “There were a couple of women I remember him dating. Eddie wasn’t exactly the sort of guy to show a woman a fun time. He treated them like crap once he got what he wanted, but some women gravitate toward that kind of relationship.”

  “I remember Brandy. She wore skimpy clothes and too much makeup. Used to ride around on a motorcycle.” A smile touched the bow of her mouth. “I thought she was cool. Momma said she was a slut.”

  Mac had a vague recollection of the young woman. It was a valuable potential lead they only had because Tess had agreed to wear the wire.

  “What about you?” Tess said. “Were you ‘dating’ anyone?”

  “Nah. I was too worried about letting my identity slip to get involved with anyone, although,” he grinned, “it’s possible a little ‘dating’ happened once in a while. I was nineteen and trying to fit in.”

  “And the girls liked you. Yeah, I remember that, too.” She laughed and Mac watched her cheeks turn pink.

  “It’s funny, the age difference was like a thousand years back then. Now we’re older it doesn’t seem relevant,” she said faintly. “Time changes everything.”

  He shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t think she was trying to flirt with him. She seemed to be in a state of shock.

  He certainly didn’t think of her as a child anymore. When she’d put the wire into her bra he’d been locked into place as surely as if someone had poured concrete over his feet. She hadn’t flashed any real skin but the idea she might have had held him transfixed.

  Idiot.

  He must be more deprived than he realized. Come to think about it, he hadn’t had sex since before the Minneapolis case. He’d have to learn to deal with it because nothing was gonna change until this new case was wrapped up and that could take months.

  “I think Daddy was cheating on Momma, too.”

  “What?” That was news to him. “What makes you say that?”

  “I went into town with him once. Eddie was off somewhere, butchering a pig I think—probably with you now I come to think about it. Momma sent me to buy some groceries though Daddy didn’t want me to go with him. He bought me an ice-cream and made me wait in the truck for over an hour before we went to the store. I saw a woman looking down at me from the bedroom above the bar. Someone kissed her, but whoever it was stood in the shadows so I didn’t see his face. Might not have been Daddy at all, might have been my imagination, but I remember Momma complaining about smelling perfume on Daddy’s shirts sometimes. He got pissed and denied it.”

  There had been a room above the bar that regulars sometimes used to hook up if they got lucky. Tess wouldn’t have known about the room and come to think about it there were times when David Hines had disappeared when they’d gone to the bar as a group. Mac had never figured out where the guy went, always assumed it was on Pioneer business. He’d wanted to follow, but if he’d been caught he’d have blown his cover.

  But maybe David Hines was just your average adulterer, trying to keep his sins secret. Having an affair behind Francis’s back would have taken some balls, even for a man of David Hines’s stature.

  “I have the names of Eddie’s girlfriends in my notes. I’ll check them as soon as I get back to DC. See if they can be traced.” They were buried somewhere in his new apartment.

  “You kept notes?”

  “Yeah.” He tapped the brakes as he came up behind a semi climbing an incline. “I had to write them in secret and hide them in a special compartment in my truck. The Pioneers would have lynched me if they’d found out I was a cop.”

  Her hazel eyes studied him intently. “What you did was incredibly brave.”

  He shrugged, uncomfortable with her praise. He’d have done things differently now. “I just lived the same way you did for twelve months. Hardly brave when a ten-year-old could do it.”

  “I didn’t have any choice and I didn’t know any better.” Her mind seemed to go somewhere else for a moment and a frown crinkled the skin between her brows. “It was all we knew.”

  “Do you know how your parents met?” He was curious.

  “I have no idea. I remember them saying they bought the land in Kodiak after they got married. Momma came from money. She showed me the shack where they first lived while they
were building the cabin.” Her eyes grew huge. “The place always gave me the creeps…”

  He remembered the shack. On the edge of the woods over the hill from the main compound, it sat with an endless view of the plains. But road access had been limited which was why David Hines had chosen another site for the main buildings. Mac had searched the shack once. It was deserted but had been structurally sound. The place was empty aside from some blankets in a cedar chest and some logs to make a fire in the winter.

  “You think that’s where Eddie and Walt took Ellie?”

  “Either there or the barn where Walt attacked you that time.” The guilt rose inside him. “I never asked that day if Walt…” Christ, he couldn’t say the words.

  She shook her head quickly. “He grabbed my hand and made me touch him, but I ran.” A gleam entered her eyes. “He’s part of the reason I took up taekwondo. I told Trudy about what had happened and she suggested martial arts training.”

  Which had probably saved her life today. His fingers tightened their grip on wheel. “She sounds like an amazing woman.”

  She swallowed noisily as if holding back emotion. “Yes, she was. She taught me everything I’d missed out on growing up in isolation. She was the smartest person I ever met.” Tess turned in her seat to face him. “Thank you for what you did to Walt that day.”

  “I didn’t do enough.”

  “Whatever you did kept him away from me for those last few weeks.”

  He kept his gaze fixed on the road, the ghost of her sister drifting between them. “It wasn’t enough.”

  “Ellie would have forgiven you, you know that, right? She never held a grudge.”

  And all of a sudden he couldn’t speak, overwhelmed by the memory of a sweet little girl with red-gold hair and freckles.

  He let the silence settle as he drove another few miles.

  When he glanced at her again he noticed a dusting of icing sugar coated her cheek. Keeping one eye on the road, he used a thumb to gently brush it off. Her skin felt like silk.

  He cleared his throat. “You have donut on your face.”