by Debra Webb
Sasha looked outside. “Who’s coming?”
“I have to show you before they come. I might not get another chance.”
Sasha didn’t see or hear anyone. But if he had something to show her it could be important. “Okay.”
He went to the farthest corner of the shack and pawed around on the floor.
She had the perfect opportunity to run. His back was to her. She was standing next to the door. He was several feet away. But she needed to stay...to see what he intended to show her.
He stood, turned around and moved toward her. “I kept this. They don’t know about it. I wanted you to have it.”
He handed her a wad of papers. “If they find them, they’ll take them and then you’ll never have what you need.”
“I’ll keep them safe,” she promised. Her hands shook as her fingers wrapped around the pages.
The distant sound of a voice jerked their attention to the door.
“They’re coming,” he murmured.
He shoved the door closed and turned to her. “Stay away from the door. They’re here to kill us.”
* * *
BRANCH WAS JUST about to walk out the door when his cell vibrated with an incoming call. He didn’t recognize the number but it was local. “Holloway.”
“Branch, this is Rey. Sasha is missing. Her purse and keys were lying on the porch but I can’t find her. There are some guys here—they look like SWAT or something. They want to search the property.”
Branch was already climbing into his truck. “Do not allow them to search the property. Call Colt and Billy. I’m on my way.”
Branch had a feeling the SWAT types Rey meant were some of Packard’s security force, and they had no jurisdiction beyond the Packard facility and certainly not on private property. Unfortunately he doubted a little technicality like that had ever stopped them.
It took him six minutes to drive to the Lenoir house, and Franklin County Sheriff Colton “Colt” Tanner’s truck was already there.
Rey was on the porch.
“They’re in the backyard!” she shouted, pointing around the corner of the house.
As Branch rushed around the corner of the house Billy’s truck roared into the driveway. Branch didn’t slow down. Rey would send him in the right direction.
Colt had stopped the four-man team dressed in black and armed to the gills at the tree line where the backyard faded into the dark woods.
All four men in black seemed to track Branch’s movements as he approached.
“US Marshal Branch Holloway,” he called out, identifying himself. “Chief of Police Brannigan is here, as well. You gentlemen are trespassing.”
“Morning, Branch.” Colt nodded. “I was just explaining to these fine gentlemen that this is private property.”
“We have reason to believe our employer’s mentally unstable son is in those woods. He may present a danger to himself and to others. We have orders to take him back to the hospital.”
If he was here, Branch knew where he had gone. “Sheriff, if you and the chief will babysit these gentlemen, I’ll have a look around.”
Colt gave him a nod and Branch walked into the forest. He barely restrained the need to run until he was out of sight of the security team. Then he ran like hell. When he spotted the shack, he slowed down, stayed in the cover of the dense foliage.
Quietly and straining to hear any sound, he moved closer.
He couldn’t be sure if the man was armed or not. Rather than risk going in, he called out. “Sasha, it’s me. You in there?”
“Branch!”
Shuffling and muffled sounds told him that Devlin was with her. He held himself back when he wanted to rush inside and rescue her. He couldn’t do anything that might get her hurt...or worse.
“He’s my friend,” Sasha said.
Branch eased closer.
“I can’t protect you,” a male voice growled.
Branch wrenched the door open. “I can protect her.” He looked from the man who whirled to face him and then to Sasha. She looked unharmed but shaken. “I can protect you both,” he said to the man he recognized as Devlin Packard.
Packard shook his head. “They’ll kill us if they get the chance.”
Branch thought of the assault rifles the men in black had been carrying.
“Stay in the shack and lie down on the floor.” He looked to Sasha. “You, too.”
Sasha quickly obeyed. She grabbed the man by the hand and pulled him down, too. Branch took a position in front of the door. He called Billy. “I’m at the shack and they’re both here. He’s terrified of the guys in black. He thinks they’ve been sent here to kill him and Sasha. We need to get these two out of here and back to city hall.”
Thirty-five minutes were required to clear the area. Branch sweat blood every second of every minute. Knowing the kind of powerful man Packard was, he could have several four-man teams combing the woods. Branch kept expecting to be overtaken from one direction or the other.
When Billy and his officers arrived to escort them out of the woods, Branch took his first deep breath.
“The security team has been relocated to city hall via the sheriff’s department.”
Branch was glad to hear it. He opened the door and held his hand out for Sasha. “It’s clear.”
As soon as she was out of the shack she went up on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. “Don’t treat him like a prisoner.”
Branch nodded and offered his hand to the man still lying on the floor of the shack. “It’s okay to come out now, Devlin. No one is going to hurt you.”
The man took his hand and pulled himself up. He looked around as he stepped out.
“This is Chief of Police Brannigan,” Branch explained. “He’s going to make sure we get safely out of the woods so we can explain what happened.”
Still looking uncertain, the man nodded.
* * *
ANOTHER HALF HOUR was required to get everyone transported to city hall. Devlin Packard was settled into an interview room and a court-appointed attorney was on his way. They were trying to move fast, before Jarvis Packard showed up and started to swing his weight around.
Billy, Sasha and Branch stood over the conference table and considered the drawings Devlin had given her. Several of the drawings showed a woman watching through the windows of a house. Sasha presumed it was her childhood home and that the woman was her mother. The other pictures showed men in black looking in those same windows. Sasha thought of the men in black who had shown up to take Devlin. Were these Packard’s security thugs in the drawings? Why would they be looking in the windows of her childhood home?
She shook her head. “I’m not sure what any of this means.”
“I think I am.” Branch picked up his cell phone and tapped on the screen. Then he turned to Billy and said, “Sasha needs to see Devlin. He wouldn’t talk to you, but he’ll talk to her.”
“I think he will,” Sasha agreed. “If there’s any chance he can explain what this means, it’s worth a shot.”
“We can try.” Billy opened the door. “You and I can watch from the observation room.”
“That’ll work,” Branch agreed.
Billy led the way to the interview room. Branch passed his cell phone and the drawings to Sasha. “Ask him if the woman in the drawings is this woman.”
Sasha stared at the image on the screen: Leandra Brennan’s face from twenty or so years ago. The photo was from a feature article in the local newspaper. She had noticed it when she’d done an internet search on the woman. Sasha thought of the woman’s accusations and renewed fury whipped through her. Then she suddenly understood what Branch was thinking. Their gazes locked and she nodded her understanding of his instructions.
Bracing herself, Sasha entered the interview room and sat down at the table. “Do you need anything to
drink or to eat, Devlin?”
He shook his head, the jerkiness of the motion warning her he was still agitated.
“I think we’ve figured out what you’ve been trying to tell us, Devlin.” She placed the drawings on the table in front of him. He looked from one to the next, the pages faded with time.
“Is this the woman you were watching and drawing?” She showed him the image on the screen of Branch’s cell phone.
He nodded, the movement frantic. “She’s not a nice person.”
“Did she hurt my parents?”
He shrugged. “She only watched. The men—” he tapped another of his drawings “—they are the ones who hurt them.”
“You’re sure about that?” Sasha reminded herself to breathe.
He nodded. “My father always stopped people who got in his way.”
Sasha forced her trembling lips into a smile. “Thank you, Devlin. That helps a lot.”
When she had reclaimed the drawings and walked out of the room, she stared at Branch. “He identified her. Why was she watching my family?”
But she knew the answer. The affair, or whatever it was that had happened between Brennan and Sasha’s father.
“Two of my officers are bringing her in now,” Billy assured her. “The moment Devlin identified her, I ordered a unit to pick her up.”
“What about Packard?” Branch asked.
“I have my best detectives headed to his house now.”
Was this really happening? Would Sasha finally know the truth?
* * *
TWO HOURS DRAGGED BY. Sasha was keenly aware of every second.
And finally Leandra Brennan confessed. With Branch at her side, Sasha watched from the observation room via the one-way mirror.
“He loved me more than her but she wouldn’t let him go. I tried to do the right thing since she was pregnant. But then I saw him again years later—after he lost his job. We ran into each other. He was drinking and I helped him get home. I knew after that day that he was still in love with me. So I decided to make it happen.”
“How did you do that?” Billy asked.
“I knew Mr. Packard would never allow anyone to get in the way of his hospital plans. So I set her up. I made her believe that Packard was taking shortcuts. I gave her altered site plans. I made Mr. Packard believe she wanted money.” She laughed. “For such a brilliant man he bought the story hook, line and sinker. He ordered his men to take care of her.” She frowned. “Brandon wasn’t supposed to be home that night. He was supposed to be with me. Only Alexandra and Sasha were supposed to die. But he got in the way and I lost him. If Sasha had died that night, no one would ever have known.”
Sasha couldn’t listen to any more. She left the observation room.
The idea that her mother had died because her best friend wanted her husband made Sasha sick. She would never know for certain how guilty her father was in the whole mess, if at all. But she did know that her father had tried to protect her mother in the end. That meant something.
Branch stepped into the corridor. “You hanging in there?”
Sasha shrugged then nodded. “I think so. I just need some time to think.”
“Rey is waiting to take you home with her. I’m staying here until I’m sure Packard and his minions are all accounted for and arrested.”
“Thank you, Branch. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
He gave her a nod. “We’ll talk soon.”
He was right. They did need to talk. Soon.
Chapter Eighteen
Monday, April 1
Sasha stood in the backyard of her childhood home and stared at the woods. As a child she had loved this place. She had explored every inch of those woods. She turned back to the house. It was a shame for it to continue to fall even further into disrepair. The house could be a home for a family. She would contact a Realtor and a contractor to get started with the cleanout and renovations.
There was a lot of work but it was time to move on from the past.
She had decided to keep her grandmother’s house. It felt more like home than this place, or any other, for that matter. Besides, how could she part with the home her grandmother had loved so much? She couldn’t. She would pass it down to her daughter when the time came.
Though she had reached a number of decisions, there were more to make.
The breeze shifted, wrapping her in the cool morning air. She hugged her arms around herself. She had taken an extended leave of absence from her firm. Brianne would finish her school year online. Together they would spend the summer exploring their options.
Jarvis Packard had lawyered up and was denying any knowledge of the story Leandra Brennan had told. Not that Sasha had expected him to own his part in the deaths of her parents. Brennan had also insisted that Packard had ordered Alfred Nelson’s death, as well. Unless Brennan had proof of her allegations, there was a very good chance Packard would walk away unscathed. Sasha was grateful to know the truth finally and she felt confident Brennan would spend a very long time in prison for her heinous deeds.
Brennan had conspired to end the life of Sasha’s mother—her former best friend. Brennan had wanted Sasha’s mother’s life for her own. The cost had been irrelevant.
Sasha shuddered. She was extremely grateful to Devlin Packard for helping to reveal the persons responsible for the murders of her parents. She might never have known for certain without him. He was headed back to his posh resort-like rehab facility. Sasha wished him well.
More important, Branch had stood with her through this journey into the past. He was the real hero here.
The sound of a vehicle arriving drew her attention to the house. Speak of the devil. That would be Branch. She walked around front and watched as he climbed out of his truck. As he moved toward her, anticipation fizzed in her belly. She would never tire of watching him move or hearing him talk. He smiled. Or seeing him smile.
“Morning.”
“Good morning.” They met on the front walk. It was actually visible now. Branch had sent the lawn service that took care of his grandmother’s property to tame the jungle around this house.
“Billy called,” he told her. “Dr. Farr cut a deal with the district attorney. He’s going to testify that Jarvis Packard gave him a position on the hospital board of directors in exchange for his expert testimony about you.”
Sasha pressed her fingers to her mouth. She had known Farr was lying. When she found her voice again, she asked, “Will his testimony make the difference we need?”
He nodded. “Packard has an entire legal team, but I think Farr’s testimony will make the difference.”
“This is really good news.” Sasha felt immensely relieved. “Thank you.”
Silence lingered between them for a moment. When Sasha could bear this new anticipation no longer, she asked, “Did you make your decision?”
He nodded. “I did.”
She held her breath. She had no right to expect Branch to alter his life plan for her or for Brianne.
“I’m staying in Winchester.”
Relief whooshed through her. “I’m sure your parents and your grandmother are thrilled.”
“They are.” He grinned. “To be honest, I’m really happy about the decision. It wasn’t an easy one to make but it feels right.”
“I’m glad.”
He held her gaze for a moment. “Good to know.”
They were dancing all around this thing between them, but right now neither of them could emotionally afford to go there. They both needed time.
“I’ve taken a leave of absence to take care of things around here, so I’m not going anywhere for a while either.”
“Sounds like a smart plan.”
His tone was guarded. Was he worried about where they went from here? Frankly, she was definitely worried but they had other c
onsiderations—like a preteen daughter.
“I think so. I want to stay close—at least for a while. Give you a chance to get to know your daughter.”
The anticipation that lit in his eyes made her heart skip a beat.
“I’d like that a lot.”
Sasha nodded. “Good, because she can’t wait to meet you.”
Brianne was giddy with excitement. She couldn’t wait to learn all about the other half of her family.
A grin peeked past his guarded facade. “The feeling is definitely mutual.”
Branch and Brianne had spoken by phone every day. As soon as the plane landed yesterday she’d wanted to drive straight to his house, but Sasha had insisted on her taking a moment to acclimate herself.
“Would you like to come in and say hello in person?”
He nodded. “I would.”
They walked up the front steps together. He reached to open the door and she hesitated. “I wondered if you might like to come to dinner tonight. Brianne and I are cooking.”
“Name the place and time.”
“Seven, at my grandmother’s?”
He gave a nod. “I’ll be there.”
He opened the door and Sasha walked in ahead of him. Brianne was loping down the stairs.
“Hey, sweetie, this—” she gestured to the man next to her “—is Branch.”
Brianne stood on the bottom step for a long moment while she took in the real-life man who was her father.
Branch broke the ice by stepping forward and extending his hand. “It’s very nice to meet you in person, Brianne.”
She put her hand in his and gave it a shake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Brianne and I were about to take a walk. Maybe you’d like to join us.”
“Sure.”
They walked back outside and wandered across the yard. Sasha hung back to watch the two of them together. It was amazing how much Brianne looked like her father. Sasha had known but it was so much more evident in person. She also understood that this fledgling relationship would not be so easy every day. Right now her daughter was in the honeymoon phase of this new discovery. There would be bumps in the road along the way, but for now they were both committed to building a solid relationship. Sasha was immensely grateful things were progressing so well.
