Chapter Seventeen
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Vivian lunged for her purse like she was about to sprint out of the hospital room.
Delaney stepped in front of her. “Vivian, wait. You can’t go rushing out there. It could be a trap.”
“It’s my daughter,” Vivian said, her voice sharp with panic. “She said they’ll kill her if I didn’t go alone.”
“And we’re going to get her back,” Delaney insisted, and once again she had to block the woman from running out the door. “But not by walking into something blind.”
The door swung open behind them. Noah stepped in, followed closely by Sheriff Chase. The sheriff's tan uniform was damp from the rain, her expression set with the kind of seriousness Delaney knew meant bad news.
“We pinged Ava’s phone,” Noah said, brushing rain from his jacket. “It was at County Line Road. There’s an old facility registered under a shell corporation that used to do business with Hale’s institute.”
Vivian gasped, her hand tightening around the strap of her purse.
“But the phone’s off now,” Noah added. “It stopped transmitting right before we walked in.”
Vivian let out a shaky breath and gripped the back of a chair. “No. No. That means they took it. They did something to her.”
Delaney placed a steadying hand on her arm. “It means we need to be smart. Ava is alive. She reached out. She wants to be found. But we have to be careful or we risk walking into something worse.”
Something that could not only get Vivian killed but also Ava. And anyone else who went with her. Because despite what Ava had said in that text, Vivian couldn’t go in there alone.
“That facility is isolated,” the sheriff explained. “If someone is waiting, they’ll see headlights long before we’re close.”
Vivian looked from Delaney to Noah, her face pale and stricken. “You think it’s Hale?”
“We’re not ruling him out,” Noah said.
Sheriff Chase made a sound of agreement. “It obviously points to Hale. That was his facility once, but someone could have chosen that location to set him up.”
“Someone like Lawrence,” Delaney said.
The sheriff nodded. “But I’m not ready to rule out Wade either.”
Delaney met the sheriff’s gaze. “You think Wade might have had this planned in case he got caught?”
“Or he was working with someone else,” Chase spelled out. “Someone who’s tying up loose ends. He could have passed instructions along to lure Vivian into a trap. Maybe this is his way of covering his own tracks. And the tracks of whoever hired him.”
Vivian pressed her fingers to her lips, her voice trembling. “He wants me dead?”
Delaney shook her head. “We don’t know that. But we’re treating this as a worst-case scenario.”
“We’re wasting time,” Vivian spat out. Her voice cracked as she looked at each of them. “Ava’s out there, and if I don’t go, they’ll kill her.”
Delaney stepped closer, steady and calm. “We’re going. But we’re going smart.”
Noah had already pulled up the aerial view of the old facility on his phone. He turned it toward them. “Vivian will drive solo, just like the text asked. Eli and Delaney will follow about two car lengths behind her.”
“We’ll turn our lights off as she gets close to the building,” Eli added.
Noah nodded and pointed at the screen. “You’ll park here. There’s a stretch of trees you can use for cover just off the gravel path. Sheriff Chase and I will be one vehicle back. We’ll circle and come in through this service trail behind the building.”
Sheriff Chase tapped the screen, marking the trail with her finger. “If this is a trap, they’ll be watching the main road. We’ll try to come in unnoticed.”
“And what if they see I’m not alone?” Vivian asked as she blinked back tears that threatened to spill.
“They won’t,” Delaney said. “You’ll drive in, and we’ll hang back until we get eyes on Ava.”
The sheriff opened the door and motioned for her deputy to come in. “Griffin, you stay here with Olivia. Keep her safe and alert the hospital staff in case anything changes.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the deputy said.
Everyone moved quickly after that. They geared up, checked weapons and radios, and headed for their vehicles. Delaney kept close to Vivian, watching her pale features and trembling hands as they walked to the SUV. She was holding it together, but barely.
Before they loaded into the vehicles, Noah stepped over to his van and unlocked one of the rear compartments. He pulled out a lightweight Kevlar vest and carried it over to Vivian.
“Put this on,” he said, holding it out to her. “We don’t know what’s waiting out there, and I’m not taking any chances with your safety.”
The worry and fear notched up in Vivian’s eyes, but she took the vest. The rain was steady now, cold droplets sliding down her face as she pulled off her coat. Delaney moved in to help her with the vest, tightening the side straps until it fit snug against her torso.
Noah handed Vivian a small earbud next. “This connects to our comm channel. Keep it in. If we tell you to run, you run.”
Vivian nodded, her movements stiff with tension. “Okay.”
Delaney caught her eye. “We’ll be right behind you. You’re not alone.”
Vivian gave a shaky breath and climbed into her car.
Delaney followed Eli to their SUV. Noah and Sheriff Chase moved to their vehicle behind them.
The plan was in motion. And the rain kept falling.
With Vivian ahead of them in her silver Mercedes, Eli and Delaney popped in their own earbuds, and he pulled out of the hospital parking lot, the SUV's headlights cutting a path through the steady rain.
Delaney watched through the window as they passed shuttered storefronts and dark houses.
The town was quiet, asleep. A few porch lights glowed faintly in the mist, but the streets were empty.
Eli drove in silence, hands tight on the wheel. The wipers slapped back and forth in a rhythmic beat as they turned onto Main Street, passing the diner, the feed store, and the courthouse. The small-town charm looked eerie in the storm, all warmth stripped away by the darkness and rain.
A minute later, they were on the outskirts of town, tires humming over the wet pavement as they took the narrow road that led toward County Line. Trees crowded close on either side, bending in the wind. Puddles scattered across the gravel shoulder reflected lightning that flashed like a warning.
Delaney’s phone buzzed with a message from Noah. “He says to use the infrared scanner as we approach the facility,” she relayed, already reaching beneath the seat to grab it.
Eli nodded. “We’ll get eyes on whatever’s waiting for us.” He paused, glanced at her. “You sure you’re up for this? Your arm’s got to be screaming.”
“There’s pain,” Delaney admitted, checking the charge on the scanner. It was solid. “But I’m not letting it stop me.”
Their eyes met, his full of worry. “You know what. When this is over,” he said, his voice low, “I want to take you on a real date. No Kevlar. No bullets. Just you and me. Something normal for once.”
Even now, with the rain pounding and the threat waiting ahead, heat curled low in her belly. She hesitated, then glanced at him. “You think a date is a good idea?”
Eli kept his eyes on the road, but his mouth curved. “How else are we supposed to start something personal if we don’t date?”
Her pulse kicked. “The personal has already started.”
His smile faded just a little, his expression tightening as he looked her way. “Is that a bad-bad kind of personal? Or the kind that messes with our focus?”
“The second one,” she said. “Losing focus could get us killed.”
He gave a slow nod, then flashed her a quick grin. “Then we focus now. Personal stuff later.”
Her pulse revved at that, too, but she shut it down with the snap of the rubber band. A reminder just how fast things could go sideways. Just how fast a girl could die because Delaney didn’t get to her in time.
A flash of lightning streaked through the sky and yanked Delaney out of her own thoughts. Ahead of them, she saw Vivian’s car turn off onto the dirt path ahead. Eli slowed, turned off the headlights and eased the SUV behind her, parking just short of the tree line.
The facility loomed in the distance. Barely visible behind the curtain of rain, it stood like a forgotten relic.
A long, rectangular structure with a rusted metal roof and cracked siding, it squatted low to the earth like it had been abandoned for years.
Faded paint peeled from the walls, and a leaning sign near the overgrown driveway had once displayed a name, but the lettering was weathered to near nothing.
One of the windows had been boarded over with warped plywood.
Another flickered faintly with light, barely noticeable behind rain-streaked glass.
The surrounding grounds were cluttered with broken fencing, old farm equipment, and what looked like a water trough long out of use. Wind snapped through a collapsed section of roofing at one end, and the place gave off a sense of rot and forgotten things.
It didn’t look like a trap. But it felt like one.
Gripping onto the scanner, Delaney popped the passenger door and stepped out into the rain.
The scanner, a mid-range tactical model, had a range of about four hundred feet and could spot human-sized heat signatures with decent clarity in low-visibility conditions like this. She powered it on and let it calibrate.
Eli joined her under the cover of a wide tree limb. “Anything?”
“Just coming online now.” She swept the device slowly across the area ahead.
The building stood about two hundred feet away, partially obscured by brush and a rusted livestock gate. At first, everything was a blob. Then three bright signatures blinked to life on the screen.
“There,” she whispered. “Three heat sources inside. One of them smaller.” She zoomed in slightly, squinting at the rain-smeared display.
“Could be Ava. She’s close to one of the others.
Looks like… she might be hugging him. Maybe Jason.
” Delaney paused. “Can’t tell if she’s frightened or under duress. ”
Which didn’t make sense. And it had Delaney rethinking if this theory that Ava was being used to lure Vivian here. Ava wouldn’t be complicit in something like that.
Would she?
Delaney just couldn’t see that. But a teenage girl might be easy to manipulate.
Eli leaned closer, eyes on the scanner. “And the other heat source?”
“Larger. He’s standing off to the side and appears to be holding something. A phone, maybe.” She tilted the scanner, confirming movement. “No sign of anyone else outside. At least not within range.”
Delaney held her breath and listened. The wind rustled through the trees, rain drumming steadily against leaves and her hood. Beyond that, nothing. No voices. No movement in the shadows. No added heat signatures blinking onto the thermal scanner. Just the same three. Two pacing. One still.
Her grip tightened on the scanner as Vivian’s voice crackled softly in her ear. “I want to go in. Now.”
Delaney pressed her hand to the earbud. “Hold on. Give it another minute. Noah and the sheriff are almost in position. We go together.”
“I don’t want to wait,” Vivian whispered. “They said—”
“Yes, they said for you to go alone.” Delaney kept her voice low but steady. “But if we rush this, you could get killed. Ava, too.”
Delaney scanned the woods again and spotted two figures moving fast through the tree line. Noah and Sheriff Chase. They had parked without headlights, just like planned, and were moving in with practiced care. Each wore tactical gear, both armed and alert.
Delaney dropped her gaze to her phone and tapped her earpiece. “Noah, there are three heat sources inside. One is likely Ava. The other two are male, and Ava appears to be hugging one of them. No movement outside yet.”
“Hugging?” Vivian blurted. “Sonofabitch. What’s going on? I need to talk to her now.”
“Just hold off,” Noah insisted.
Hopefully, Vivian would do just that. Delaney didn’t want the woman rushing in even if it seemed that Ava wasn’t in some kind of immediate danger.
Delaney looked back at the scanner. No changes. Still just those three heat blooms against the grayscale background. Rain blew sideways across her face, cold and sharp, but her thoughts stayed locked on Ava. On whatever twisted game had brought them here.
“New heat source,” Delaney said, tightening her grip on the scanner. “Coming in from the back.”
Eli leaned closer, already pulling up the aerial map on his phone. “There’s a private road that cuts behind the property. If someone’s using it, they’d come in through the tree line right there.”
Delaney relayed the update through the earpiece. “Noah, Sheriff Chase, someone’s approaching from the back entrance. Looks like a man, moving fast.”
Vivian’s voice cut through the channel, sharp and unsteady. “God. It could be someone there to kill Ava. I’m not waiting any longer.”
“Vivian, hold—” Delaney began.
But it was too late. Vivian threw open her car door and bolted into the rain, sprinting toward the building.
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