Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Max’s flashlight roved across the expanse of wilderness.
To his left and right, Devon and Tanner waded through tall grass as they searched.
The lights of other searchers shone from farther away.
Nothing was audible over the crashing waves.
The moon was half full, just peeking out from behind the clouds.
He couldn’t stop picturing the photos in Heather Barnes’s murder book. The livid marks on her neck.
And the cold cruelty of Ryan Hearst’s expression in the courtroom.
The police, along with Max’s team, had converged on the wildlife refuge south of town.
Bethany had only given them a general description of the location of the wooden house.
She hadn’t been there in years. But the refuge was a hundred and fifty square miles in size, spanning twenty miles of coastline. It was a lot to cover.
Two hours had now passed since Lana’s abduction.
Max’s eyes stung, and he told himself it was just the salty spray from the ocean. He had to stay strong for Lana. They were almost there. Any minute, they’d find her.
Hold on a little longer, he thought. I’m coming.
Tanner signaled. Max ran over to him. There was an old wooden beach house up ahead.
Using hand signals, Max directed Devon and Tanner to spread out. They switched off their lights, keeping low.
But when they got close enough, Max noticed the caved-in roof. This was just a ruin. Nobody here.
“Shit.” Max checked his phone. Nothing from his detective friends or the other searchers. Nothing but unhelpful status updates from Sylvie, who was still poring over video back at the office.
Devon and Tanner had already moved on, continuing their survey.
After ten more minutes, the terrain lifted slightly. A low hill appeared, with huge rocks deflecting the water’s spray beneath.
There was a dark spot on the hill.
Max studied it with his monocular. It looked like another abandoned cabin. Then a flash of yellow light caught his attention.
The light had come from inside that structure.
Then Tanner texted that he’d spotted a car parked on a stretch of dirt road. It matched the description of Trevor Allen’s vehicle, though Tanner wasn’t close enough to get the plates.
This had to be it. Adrenaline flooded his body anew. Max texted the detectives that they might’ve found Hearst’s hideout.
Do not engage, a detective wrote back. Wait for us to get there.
“Fuck that.” Max signaled Go with his hands to Devon and Tanner.
His men fanned out to approach from different sides.
Devon and Tanner flanked around the back, while Max took the front. He kept to a slight angle to stay out of sight of the window. As he got closer, he crouched in the grass, listening. Then dashed forward again.
He reached the front door and pressed himself to one side of it. From inside, there came a muffled sound. Like quiet footsteps or knocking.
Someone howled. Then a grunt. A thump. Scuffling.
He had to hurry. From his shoulder holster, Max drew his M9 Beretta.
A glance in the window told him nobody was in the front of the building. There was a rectangle of light shining against the wall inside. Like a doorway to another room. The source of the light. But Max couldn’t see more from this angle.
He twisted the knob on the cabin’s front door. It opened by a centimeter. An inch. Voices spoke.
“If you had the guts, you’d have already done it.” It was Hearst.
Max pushed the door wider, and there was Lana, her back framed in the next doorway. She had her arms extended in front of her, pointing at Hearst.
She held a pistol. “I’m leaving now. If you try to stop me, I swear, I’ll kill you.”
His arms were extended, palms out. Blood flowed from his nose, marring the lower part of his face and his shirt. Had Lana done that? Max’s heart lifted in triumph, thinking of his girl fighting back against that twisted fucker.
Hearst took a step toward her. Max flinched, still holding himself back.
“Where will you go? We’re miles away from anyone. You don’t know where I put the car keys.” Hearst’s eyes flicked down to the gun. Lana’s body was rigid with tension.
Max sensed Devon and Tanner beside him, but he waved his men away. He stayed low, still peeking through the front doorway. He was afraid to do anything that might distract Lana. Hearst was far closer to her than he was. If she looked away, Hearst would go for Lana’s gun.
Yet Max couldn’t line up a decent shot, either. Lana was in the way. He couldn’t risk hitting her.
“Just hand that to me. In exchange, I’ll make this quick and painless, I promise. You won’t feel a thing.” Hearst was openly staring at the gun now, hands flexing.
And Lana still hadn’t moved. She was paralyzed.
If Max didn’t do something right fucking now, Hearst was going to grab that weapon and kill her.
He made his decision. Max rose and stepped fully into the front room.
“Lana, get down!” Max aimed his M9, praying for an opening.
That same second, Hearst’s eyes connected with Max. Hatred burned there. He lunged at Lana.
Max was about to squeeze the trigger.
But Lana’s gun went off first.
Abruptly, Hearst’s body froze. The man looked down at the mess of dark red in the middle of his stomach.
Lana fired again.
Another gory patch appeared, this one at his chest. Hearst sat backward onto the floor, going limp. His head bowed.
The pistol in Lana’s hands was shaking.
“Hey.” Max tucked his own weapon back into its holster, edging toward her. “L, it’s me. Can you put the gun on the floor? Gently, okay?”
Her knees bent, and she set the pistol on the floorboards. “Max…” It was like all the energy had gone out of her. She looked ready to fall over. He crouched down to steady her shoulders. Lana was staring at Hearst’s body, so Max turned her head to face him instead.
“It’s over now. You did great. You made sure he can’t hurt you anymore. He can’t hurt anyone else ever again.”
Max pulled her against him as she sobbed.
Max didn’t let her out of his sight while the paramedics bandaged her wrists and checked her other injuries, or when the detectives asked questions.
Finally, the police agreed to let him take Lana straight home.
Devon drove them, while Max sat with Lana in the back, holding her. Tanner was driving a separate car.
“You want to go to your place?” Max asked. “Or mine?”
“Yours.” She had her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed to his chest. “Is it too late ask Aurora to come over?”
Devon smiled sadly in the rearview mirror. “I already called her. I’ll let her know to meet us at headquarters. I’m sure she’ll beat us there.”
Lana nodded. Max ran a hand over her hair. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there,” he whispered. “I should’ve stopped him.”
“I had a gun on him, and I almost didn’t stop him, either. My finger was on the trigger, but it wouldn’t move. It took hearing your voice to give me the courage. Why couldn’t I do it before?”
“Because that’s not you, L. You’re willing to give second chances to people who don’t deserve it. Even people who’ve hurt you.”
“Don’t you dare compare yourself to…”
“I’m not. I’m just saying there’s nothing wrong with you. The fault isn’t yours. It takes a different kind of strength to face down the worst in people, and still leave room for mercy.”
Max would’ve killed Ryan Hearst for what he’d done without a moment’s doubt. But he was thankful that Lana was different from him. The world needed more idealists like her, even though it still needed defenders like Max, too.
But enough big thoughts. That was making his brain tired. He just wanted to hold his girl and love her and give her everything she needed.
When they stepped into Max’s apartment, Aurora was waiting. She ran over. “Lana!”
The two women embraced, and they both dissolved into tears. Lana and Aurora went over to the couch and lay down, arms around each other, talking quietly.
Max sat with Devon at his kitchen counter, drinking glasses of orange juice. Maybe, a very long time ago, he’d been a little jealous of Aurora’s closeness with Lana. But now he was just thanking the stars that Aurora and Lana had each other.
“You okay, Max?” Devon asked.
“Trying to be. Thanks for being there tonight.” It was Devon’s job, but it was more than that, too. They both knew it.
Devon patted him on the arm. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.” He managed a smile. “And thanks for not calling me ‘sir.’”
“I figured we were finally past that.”
They were a family. Max knew Lana didn’t like hearing that because it implied they had a sibling relationship. But it was more like he and Lana were the stand-in parents, and Aurora was their grown-up, rebellious daughter. And Devon…yeah, he could hang around, too. A something-in-law.
They were a family, and they would all take care of each other.