Justice for Willa (Police and Fire: Operation Alpha) (San Antonio First Responders Book 10)

Chapter 18

ALEXANDER

Halfway to the cabins, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, but he didn’t look at it. There would be time after they got to the lake. His only focus at the moment was to get Willa up to the cabin safely. That was all.

Whatever was in the message could wait.

This is the kind of decision that he should have used through the years with his wife.

Annie was a good woman and they’d been head over heels in love at first. But they’d married quickly.

A whirlwind romance is what Annie told everyone who would listen, but that whirlwind stopped at some point and he’d remembered what his own grandmother had said when he was younger.

Marry in haste, repent in leisure.

There had been a lot of passion between them, but there had also been haste because Annie refused to let him into her bed until she had a ring on her finger.

Not just an engagement ring, but a wedding band as well.

And so he’d put one on her finger. Her parents had been less than thrilled, but they were both so sure that they were meant to be married that they’d pushed and pushed and finally, her parents had given in to get some peace within their house.

Meaning that they were done listening to Annie beg, argue, and whine.

They were also getting her out of their house and into his.

And that’s when things changed. Spending time alone had turned their blissful passion into anger. They were constantly in each other’s way. Over the years they’d found a way to coexist because neither of them wanted to prove her parents right that they were rushing headlong into marriage.

Even when her parents had passed on, they’d decided to stay together because at that point they’d been together longer than they’d been apart before getting married.

And somewhere, during all of that, he’d had the affair that created Willa down the line.

He knew what he was doing was the right thing, even if Willa didn’t see it.

And he was lucky to have a friend like Ted Tomlinson who was willing to help him get Willa away from Landon.

Ted was a real lifesaver.

LANDON

The house was empty when he got there. A quick look through the window beside the front door told him that the alarm had been set before she left.

There was no indication that she’d left for any other reason, so he didn’t panic.

She was taking time away to clear her head.

Likely her grandfather had gotten her to agree to that.

Later, he’d have to talk to Alexander Rogers about interfering in her life.

Landon smiled thinking about what Willa was going to say to her grandfather at some point.

Likely, she was chafing as much, if not more than he was.

He took out his phone and called Gus.

Gus answered before the second ring. “Thanks for calling the Matrix. No, Neo’s not here, but I am! I am the-”

“Gus, it’s Landon.”

“Hey, Danger Ranger.”

Landon wondered what name he’d be given next.

“When was the last time you saw Willa?”

“Uh… At her house. Her grandfather, and I use that term loosely, came by. He told me to skedaddle and I did because Willa said I could and then they had some kind of talk, I’m sure. Her granddad always wants to talk.”

Landon couldn’t argue with that.

“She texted me and told me she was going away for a few days.”

Gus made a noise that sounded like a huff or a cough, he couldn’t tell. “Ahhh, okay.”

“So I’m guessing you don’t know where she went.”

He heard some keyboard strikes and then something sounded like chips.

“What are those? Cheetos?”

“Dude… you got it. Only thing when I’m killing zombies.”

Click Click Click

“Zombies.”

“Well, I was killing zombies, now I’m looking for a tracker.”

Click Click Click

“Tracker?”

“Yeah. When you called I searched for Willa’s cell phone but it didn’t ping back. I bet she’s in an area where there’s no cell phone service.”

Click Click Click

“I’ve been telling the boss that she needs a SAT phone. Uh that’s a-”

“Satellite phone. I know.”

“Sorry. Just wanted to make sure.”

Click Click Click

“Yes! I am a GOD!”

“Gus?”

“She’s approaching Canyon Lake. There’s only some tiny cabins up there. Mostly off the grid and definitely no cell service. She must really want to have some privacy.”

“Or someone else does. Okay, I need you to get me whatever kind of information you can find on that cabin.”

“Normal channels?”

“Every channel and under the rug, too.”

“So this isn’t official law enforcement business?” Gus sounded both curious and a little excited.

“This is personal, Gus. If we can salvage something for law enforcement, great, but I’m worried about Willa right now.”

“I am, too. Awesome Avenger.”

“Thanks, Gus.”

“I’ll get right back to you, watch your phone for incoming messages.”

“I will.”

ALEXANDER

It wasalmost eerie that as soon as they arrived at the cabin, anincoming call set his phone vibrating in his pocket. He stopped and fished it out looking at the screen. It was an incoming call from Ted. He touched the screen of his SAT phone to answer the call, ignoring her narrow-eyed stare, he gestured for Willa to go into the cabin.

“What is it, Ted?”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Right now? I just got up to the cabin with Willa.”

“I’m sorry to have to call you like this, Alex, but… Annie just came over to the house and she’s… she’s in a state.”

“Annie? What’s wrong?”

Alex gestured again and Willa sighed as she entered the house, the screen door banging closed behind her.

Ted sounded like he was whispering into the phone. “I can’t make any sense of it. She brushed right past me and she and Sophie are out on the patio.”

“Then why are you whispering?”

Ted laughed and the sound grated on Alex’s nerves.

“Would you want to face them alone? I do not, thank you very much.”

“Well,” Alex sighed, “If you find out what’s going on, then… then let me know.”

“No. No, sir. I’m not going to sit here and be a target for your wife, Alex. I heard enough to know that they’re talking about you. Well, about your marriage. It sounds like it’s really serious.”

Alex rubbed at his forehead, pausing to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I’m here with Willa, Ted. I’m trying to protect her.”

“What? So? You’re up at my cabin! Who’s going to trace her there? Look,” he huffed as if he was at the end of his patience, and if he felt anything like Alex did at the moment, he was, “come down here, talk to Annie. Maybe even explain the danger that Willa’s in. That might help to bridge the gap.”

Alex felt like he was being split in two.

He knew that Willa was in danger, but he also knew that Ted was right.

The cabin wasn’t connected to Alex at all. Sure, he’d spent time there in the past, but it wasn’t anything tangible.

Willa would be safe there at the cabin for the time it would take for him to get back to San Antonio, talk to Annie and get her to… possibly… see reason.

It could work.

“Fine. Fine. Look, let me call Annie and tell her I’m on my-”

“No. No, don’t. If you tell her she’s coming, I know Sophie is going to drag her out of here. I told you, Alex. Sophie hates you right now and the two of them together are fanning the flames.”

Alex wanted to scream. “Fine. Fine. I’ll be on my way in a few minutes. I just have to tell Willa that I’m going.”

The relieved sigh that Alex heard made his teeth gnash together. “Oh, good. I’ll be here, hiding until you come over.”

“And then?” Alex prompted him.

“And then I’m probably going to keep hiding. This is your mess, friend. You get to deal with it.”

“Great.” Alex ended the call and headed for the cabin. Willa would understand. He knew that she felt bad about the troubles he was having with Annie. He knew it was all his fault, but he wished that Annie could see what a wonderful person Willa was and not hold his indiscretion over her head.

He opened the door and Willa looked up from her place on the couch.

“Is this yours?”

“No.” Alex gestured to the room around them. “It belongs to a good friend of mine. We’ve known each other since we were boys. I told him about the danger that’s following you around. He agreed that it would be a great idea for us to come up here and relax a little.

“No one in San Antonio would know that I’ve spent time here or that I even know the owner. When we come up here to fish, we never see anyone else.” He smiled a little. “We never see any fish either.”

She smiled back at him. “Sounds like fun.”

He shrugged.

“We fish. We drink. And we talk, not usually in that order.”

“Okay, so why do I get the feeling that you came in here to tell me something.”

He shook his head. “Because you’re a smart woman. That was a call from my friend. My wife,” he saw Willa’s sympathetic frown, “is over at his house talking to his wife and he said Annie’s really mad about something. He thinks I should come down and talk to her.”

Willa nodded. “You’re still trying to work things out with her, right?”

He sighed. “Yes. I’m hoping she’ll forgive me if I grovel enough.”

She picked up a pillow, but set it down when dust wafted up from its surface. “Well, I’ll come with you-”

“I can’t bring you, Willa. She-”

“Still hates me.” She offered him a weak smile. “I get it.”

“I’ll be back in an hour or two, okay?”

“What about a phone? My phone has no service here.” She looked at him with a hopeful grin. “I’d love to call Landon and let him know where we are.”

Alex shook his head. “I thought I made it clear. You really do need time apart from him. I thought we were going to talk about your relationship with him.”

“Well, you won’t be here to talk to and I just want to reassure him that I’m okay.”

“I’ll contact him if you feel like that, but a few days away from him shouldn’t be a problem. Right?”

“Right.”

She said the word but she didn’t sound like she meant it. “What is there to do around here anyway?”

“There’s a lot of books. Some of them I brought up here. You can probably find some with my name in them. I left a bunch of them here myself.”

She brightened at that. “Sweet. I love reading.”

He grinned back at her. “I know.” Alex stepped closer and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I am sorry, Willa. I’ll get back as soon as I can.”

Willa shrugged. “I’ll probably take a nap if nothing else.”

“Good idea.” He let go of the breath he was holding. “I know you’re mad at me, but I’m only doing this for your own good.”

With that, he went out the front door and locked it behind him.

Whatever was going on with Annie, he was going to figure it out and come right back. The timing of this… it sucked. He laughed at his own word choice. He might be old, but he was managing pretty well with slang.

WILLA

She really didn’t want to be up at a cabin, especially almost an hour outside of San Antonio. She had work to do and if the cabin had a decent Wi-Fi system she could have done it. Since when did her grandfather have a satellite phone?

She huffed out a breath and then flopped back on the sofa, sending up a shallow layer of dust.

“Yuck.”

She stood up to head into the kitchen and opened the door to the refrigerator.

A desiccated lime, a half empty bottle of pickles, and a few bottles of beer were the only contents beyond ketchup and mustard on a shelf in the door.

She wasn’t going to touch a thing in there.

She found a cup and turned on the tap only to see it come out brown for a good ten seconds before it seemed clean enough to drink. So she didn’t bother.

That’s when she remembered that her grandfather said that he had groceries in his trunk.

Obviously neither of them remembered that before he left.

She knew that his difficulties with his wife started because of her.

Because she was the living, breathing reminder that her husband had cheated on her with another woman. So Annie wasn’t likely to thaw around her anytime soon.

Taking off her t-shirt, she turned it inside out and, and laid it on the sofa cushion before she laid her head down. He’d be gone for an hour or two… not likely. If Annie was angry, she didn’t think that there would be a quick resolution to it.

She might as well get her sleep.

These two days were going to suck.

LANDON

Landon walked into the SWAT conference room at the Northern San Antonio Ranger Station and saw everyone turn in his direction.

Weston gave him a look. “You having one of those feelings?”

“A lot of those feelings.”

Weston nodded. “I got the message you forwarded from that tech guy. We may have to borrow him from time to time.”

“You can talk to Willa about that.”

Weston winced a little. “I don’t think she’d share.”

Landon smiled. “Probably not.”

Miles looked at the map projected on the wall. “That looks like it could be restful.”

Duval coughed and shook his head. “I’m getting deliverance vibes. Break out the banjos.”

Kelly squinted at the map. “Those properties are expensive, Duval.”

“People don’t have to be poor to qualify for creepy. Sometimes the ones with the most money are the worst kinds of people.”

Landon nodded. “That’s the feeling I’m getting.”

Weston looked at his team and smiled. “Saddle up, boys.”

Miles held out his hand to fist bump Duval, but the other man just gave him a look.

“Get in the wagon.”

Weston and Landon gave each other looks. The two men were acting like they had when they were kids.

The whole team of seven climbed up into the truck with an added tagalong shrugging on his Kevlar vest.

ALEXANDER

Nearly to Ted’s house, Alexander felt a pain in his chest not unlike that one time where he’d come close to having a heart attack.

He didn’t know what it meant, he just knew there was something wrong.

Taking out his phone, he moved off to the side of the road and opened up the message he’d ignored earlier.

It was from Landon.

The message title was SUSPECT SKETCH – I’d like to be there when she sees this.

And when he opened up the image on his phone, Alexander was relieved that he’d pulled to the side, because if he hadn’t, he very well might have lost control of his vehicle and plowed into the trees along the side of the road.

The image before him was unmistakable.

Ted.

Ted Tomlinson.

His longtime friend.

How?

How had he… he couldn’t.

He called Ted’s phone.

But it was off, sending him directly to the messaging system.

He dialed the Tomlinson’s home line and was relieved when it was picked up. Given Ted’s warning, he was expecting the person on the other end to yell at him.

“Thank you for calling the Tomlinson residence. This is Chloe, how may I help you?”

“Chloe?” Ted’s granddaughter. “Uh, this is Alexander Rogers. Is your granddad there? Or your grandmother?”

“Hello, Mister Rogers. No one’s here except for me and the servants. My grandfather left this morning for some kind of business thing, and he sent my grandmother and your wife to a spa for a couple of days. You knew that, right?”

“Oh! Absolutely, but I… I thought they were going to the spa next week! Sorry!”

“No problem, Mister Rogers. Do you want me to tell my grandfather or grandmother something when I talk to them?”

“No… No, please don’t. Your grandfather makes fun of my errant memory. If you could just pretend I didn’t call-”

“Of course, Mister Rogers… Or whoever you are! Have a nice day.”

He shifted the car into reverse and lurched back onto the road before straightening out his wheel so he could head back the way he came.

WILLA

She was exhausted.

Languid. That was a word she’d always loved. It sounded like it’s meaning, at least to her. It sounded like something heavy that you could lay out slowly and fall into.

But in her head, she saw the far side of the word too. She saw that she’d have to pick it up... and if it was heavy going down, it would be heavy going up.

And that’s how she felt.

Heavy. And waking up.

She heard footsteps around the room.

She smelled something like burgers on the grill. Hmm…

Her stomach grumbled as she got her hands under her to lift herself up from the couch.

“That smells great.” She sat up and stretched. “I was worried when you left, gramps, there wasn’t anything in the fridge to eat.”

“You don’t have to worry about your grandfather, Willa. He won’t be back in time.”

Her eyes opened wide, and she stared at the man sitting across from her in a chair.

Her past came rushing back to her, bringing her hands up to her neck to cover her throat and her scar. “How…”

He smiled and lifted a glass of wine in her direction. “I’m one of your grandfather’s oldest friends. He has no idea that you and I are acquainted. And I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to spend some time together.”

Willa shook her head and moved toward the edge of the sofa. She needed to get to the door. He was taller than her, bulkier too. She wasn’t much of a runner, but she’d never had someone chasing her before. She had a serious will to live, but that meant getting away from him.

She had to be thoughtful.

She had to be courageous.

She turned to look at the kitchen and saw the bags of food that were left on the counter. “Looks like you’re prepared to be here for a while.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him gesture toward the kitchen.

“I brought you something to eat and-”

She ran for the front door and twisted on the knob, yanking and pushing on the door. She couldn’t remember which way it had opened.

But it wasn’t opening.

And he was laughing.

And then she heard the metallic jingle of keys.

She turned around and saw him, still sitting in his chair, holding a drink in one hand and a ring of keys in the other.

“It’s my cabin, sweetheart. I was just waiting for you to grasp the idea that you’re in my house, with me, to do with what I want until I finish what I started.”

Oh god.

And she was all alone.

With him.