12. Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
Aria
Lights were coming on, dotting the darkening landscape like stars in the night sky. I parked outside the office, and when I opened my car door, voices and the laughter of kids playing carried on the breeze.
I hurried to the office. They were about to close, the woman walking toward the door with the keys in her hand. I wrenched the door open, and she stopped.
“We’re closing.”
“I know, I just have a quick question.”
The woman started walking toward me again. “We’re booked for the next few weeks. You’ll have to go to the next town over.”
Shaking my head, I rushed on, “No, I’m not looking for a place to stay.
I was wondering…” I stopped, and started again, slower this time.
“My sister, she looks like me, and she’s been missing for a week.
She didn’t show up at work, and I’m getting really worried.
It looks like she met someone with the initials JW. ”
The woman frowned.
I raised my hands. “I’m not looking to get anyone in trouble. Honest I’m not. I just want to make sure my sister is okay.”
The woman looked at the door, then back at the counter, then swung her gaze to me. After a minute, she said, “Seems I grabbed the wrong set of keys. I’ll be right back.” Then she walked around the counter and into a room off to the side.
I hurried behind the desk and grabbed the registration book.
No computer. Strictly old school. I searched through the records, my heart pounding.
The clerk had been helpful, but she would only give me a minute.
I flipped the page, glancing through the names as fast as I could.
Another page flip. There it was. John Willis. Cabin 10.
I tore out of the office and ran down the path, peering at the little road signs. By the time I reached Cabin 10, I was out of breath.
I knocked once. The light inside clicked off.
I knocked again, this time louder. “Allie,” I whisper-yelled, “if you’re in there, answer the door. Please.”
A minute later I heard movement, then the lock unlatched and the door swung open. Allie stood there, her eyes wide. “Aria? What are you doing here?”
She was okay. I grabbed her and pulled her to me, hugging her hard. “I came to visit and landed myself in the middle of a mess.” I let her go and gave her a look. “And for a change, it’s not one of my own making.”
“Oh no. Aria, I’m so sorry.” She stepped back, looking over my shoulder. “Did anyone follow you?”
“Um no. At least… I don’t think so.” I walked inside, and she shut the door. “I have so many questions. Why is someone after you, and who the heck is John Willis?”
I pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat. The cabin was a single room with a bed, sofa, TV, small kitchenette, and table.
She waved a hand at me and then pulled out another chair and sat across from me. “He was a friend of Heath’s. He comes to town every few months and checks up on me.”
“Oh.” Tears pricked my eyes. “Allie, I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.” I swallowed hard. “I should have been.”
Allie reached across the table and took my hand. “I’m not going to tell you it’s okay or that it hasn’t been hard. But I also needed time, and you’re here now.”
Gripping her hand, I nodded. We sat in silence for a minute, then I said, “So tell me what’s going on.”
Before she could say a word, the door burst in, splinters flying in all directions. Two men stood there, one with a gun drawn. The gun. Dammit, I’d left it on the counter. He motioned to me with it. “Allie Andrews, you’ve been difficult to track down without your bodyguard.”
I jumped up before Allie could open her mouth, my pulse roaring in my ears. “That’s me. This is just my sister visiting from out of town. Leave her out of it.”
Allie’s slight gasp echoed in the room. The other guy looked between us. “Both of you. Let’s go.”
He pointed his gun at us as Allie came to stand beside me. We walked forward, slowly, and I whispered to her, “If you get a chance, run for it.”
“Aria—”
“Just do it,” I insisted. The man without the gun opened the trunk, leaving it open as he turned to us with zip ties. My phone buzzed in my back pocket, but I wasn’t going to reach for it. These goons hadn’t asked for our phones, and I wasn’t going to bring their attention to it.
Instead, I bumped into the guy with the gun, tangling my feet with his, and we fell. I kept waiting for the gun to go off, to feel the pain of being shot, but the gun fell from his hands and skittered across the gravel road. He landed with me on top of him, his breath leaving him in a loud oof.
“Run, Allie,” I tried to shout as the breath whooshed out of me.
The other guy shouted, and I heard feet running. The guy beneath me got free enough to land a right hook. My cheek cracked, and I tasted blood.
Black hoods. Zip ties. The last clear thought I had before the world went dark was that Brooks was going to be furious.