Chapter 6 #2
“—assured us this location was secure—” The speaker was one of the city men, his tone more suitable for a boardroom than a campfire. He seemed to be in charge. Sully mentally dubbed him Boss Man.
“We patrol twenty miles in every direction,” a slow, Southern prepper’s mountain drawl responded. “Your security concerns are—”
Sully grimaced, wishing he could move closer, but he didn’t dare.
“The FBI is already . . . that ranch is within . . . have to do is . . . her,” the second well-dressed man said.
Were they talking about Ollie? They did mention the ranch, but there were several ranches in the area.
They weren’t necessarily talking about Broken Chains.
Then again, Broken Chains was probably the only ranch with FBI presence.
And her? Didn’t mean they were referring to Ollie.
But could be. Sully exchanged a glance with Elena.
He pointed to his ear in a silent question.
She shook her head.
Great. She couldn’t hear either.
“—the girl is the priority.” Audible words once again from Boss Man.
“But—”
Boss Man pulled a gun so fast Sully blinked. He aimed it at the prepper arguing and pressed it against his temple. “You have your orders,” he said loud and clear. “Will you carry them out or should I dispose of you and find someone who will?”
The other man held up his hands in surrender, but not without a glare that promised retribution. Looking unfazed, Boss Man reholstered his weapon. “Get the girl.”
Again, which girl? Ollie? Or the one who ran from him at the ranch? Or . . . another girl?
Elena stayed still, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm. Sully had pulled his phone out and was snapping pictures. She shot him a glare. The phone didn’t make any noise, but if he did . . .
He took one more photo, then tucked the device into his pocket while his hand hovered over his weapon. She focused back on the conversation the group was having.
Only it appeared like they were done. One of the suits passed a briefcase to one of the preppers.
She didn’t recognize any of them. LaRoche wasn’t there and she wondered where he was.
Or if he was even still alive. A Google search had said the land still belonged to him, but that didn’t mean he was still living on it.
“Get it done,” one of the suits said. “We’ll be waiting.”
With those parting words, the suits climbed into their vehicle and headed away from the campsite. The remaining six men and two women sat in silence for a good minute. Then the one nearest Elena stood. “Everything is set. Let’s put it in motion. Alert the others that it’s time.”
Elena blinked. Time for what?
“I’m not sure about this, Owen,” a woman’s voice said from the far side of the firepit. “This isn’t part of our creed. Our way of life.” She stood and spread her hands. “What we’re here for.”
Elena bit her lip. Lindy Grace.
“You want out, LG, get out. But keep your mouth shut. This money is going to buy us a lot of supplies. Do our community good. Take care of a lot of people. That’s our creed, remember?”
Lindy Grace—LG?—nodded. “I know, but—”
“No buts. If you can’t be trusted, then you can’t go back to the compound.” He lifted his rifle and aimed it at her.
Elena swallowed a gasp and Sully shifted, his hand going to his weapon. The others shot to their feet.
“Owen, no!” The second woman’s shout echoed.
Elena clamped a hand over Sully’s forearm. They stayed frozen in place. Sully would intervene if he thought the man would kill the woman and then they might end up dead as well. But no way would they sit by and watch him shoot Lindy Grace.
Elena’s former friend lifted her hands in the surrender sign. “I may not want anything to do with this, but you know I’m loyal. No one’s going to hear anything from me. You do what you think is best for the group and I’ll just stay in my corner.”
Owen hesitated, then gave a short nod and lowered his weapon. If Lindy Grace didn’t mean it, she sure was convincing. Thank goodness. Sully relaxed enough to remove his hand from his weapon.
“Then let’s get back,” the man said. “We have some planning to do.”
Elena shifted and her boot squeaked. A soft, barely there sound that echoed in the stillness like a gunshot.
Sully shot her a look and the message was clear. Don’t move.
“What was that?” Owen spun, his gaze landing right where they were hidden. “Who’s there?” He pulled his gun once more and aimed it in their direction. “Come out or I’m going to start shooting.”
There was no way they could step out now. Outnumbered and outgunned. “Run,” she mouthed to Sully.
He gave a short nod and motioned for her to take the lead. She wasn’t sure if that was because he figured she knew the area better or because he was trying to put himself between her and a bullet.
Probably both. She didn’t waste time arguing and took off running through the brush and bushes, crouched low, heading for the direction of the ranch, doing her best to pick a path that would allow for the protection of the trees.
The gun cracked. Then again.
A bullet came way too close to her right cheek and she ducked left, then back right, zigzagging her way across the forest floor.
Sully was one step behind her, his footfalls steady and close.
Her brain filtered ideas by the second, searching for a hiding place.
A clearing to her right centered her. She knew exactly where she was.
She made a sharp right. “This way. To that tower.” The abandoned fire lookout tower stood out above the treetops, the skeletal frame rusted, but still in one piece.
It rose nearly forty feet in the air, steel stairs spiraling upward, the top platform enclosed in shattered glass and rotting wood. Ivy climbed up the lower supports.
“We’ll be sitting ducks if we cross that clearing,” he said.
“That’s why we’re going around.”
He followed her without question, and they hurried, staying low, slipping from shadow to shadow. The gunshots had stopped, but . . .
“They’re tracking us,” he said.
“I have no doubt.”
They followed the horseshoe-shaped edge of the clearing to reach the tower’s base. “Seems like it might be stupid to go up,” he said. “We’d just trap ourselves.”
“We’re not going up. We’re just going to make them think we did.” Elena studied the structure. The metal staircase creaked in the wind, the observation cabin swayed ever so slightly. Just enough to make her a bit nauseous at the thought of being in it.
“Good idea. I do not want to climb up there. What do you have in mind?”
“A stupid plan, but unfortunately, it’s all I’ve got.”
“Then it’s better than what I have. I don’t even have a stupid plan.”
She dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. She cut a strip of material off her shirt. “I honestly don’t think they’ll be fooled by this, but it won’t hurt to try. Even if they don’t believe we’re up there, they may want to make sure.”
“I’ll take it. That looks pretty rickety to me.”
“Exactly. I weigh a lot less than you.” Before he could protest, she started climbing.
The rusted metal creaked and groaned, and she pretty much expected it to collapse, but so far, so good.
She found a sharp piece of metal and stuck the fabric on it.
From her position, she could see their pursuers coming. If they looked up, they’d see her.
They stopped, and one pointed toward the tower but didn’t turn his gaze her way. She stepped down slowly, praying the movement wouldn’t catch someone’s peripheral vision.
“Come on, come on,” Sully called to her, his voice quiet but urgent.
Elena continued her snail-paced downward climb, and finally her feet hit the ground. “I think I did it,” she said, her voice soft.
“Definitely, but they’re closing in. Let’s get out of here. We’re not waiting around to see if this worked.”
He motioned for her to take the lead once more.
“The tower!” The shout reached her and she picked up her pace.
“They’re up there!”
Elena pulled in a shuddering breath. She couldn’t believe that plan actually worked. Once they were out of hearing distance, she looked at Sully. “What do you think all that was about? ‘It’s time’—for what?”
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good. I need to get back ASAP and fill Piper in. We may have to move Ollie again.”
She nodded. “I don’t know which girl they were referring to.”
“Exactly, but not taking a chance they meant Ollie . . .”
“Right.”
They finally reached the horses, climbed on, and aimed them toward the ranch.
An hour and a half later, Elena dismounted while Sully did the same. Once they’d turned the animals over to one of the grooms, they hurried toward the cabin that housed Piper and Ollie.
Only to find it empty.
“Where would they go?” Sully asked.
“Could be anywhere,” Elena said. “They think they’re safe here.” And the truth was, they might very well be. Would they be sounding the alarm for nothing? Traumatizing the teen over something that wasn’t even related to her?
Yet if they didn’t take every precaution and she ended up dead . . . well, that wasn’t an option.
Sully got on his phone now that he had a signal again. It went straight to voicemail. “Piper, call me when you get this. I need to know where you and Ollie are.”
“Come on,” Elena said, “we’ll ask if anyone saw them leave.”
“Let me check the kitchen and see if she left a note anywhere.”
A note? When she could call or text? Elena thought not but didn’t argue. The man needed to do it. She called Maya. “Where are you?”
“Out checking a fence behind the north pasture. Another one’s been cut.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
Silence. Then a sigh. “It is what it is right now, but thanks.”
“Are Piper and Ollie with you?”
“No. Why? What’s going on? You sound tense.”
Elena filled her in, ending with, “Something’s going on, but we couldn’t risk getting closer to hear everything. It could be they were talking about the girl we saw here or . . .”
“Or Ollie.”
“Maybe. I really don’t know how they could know she’s here unless they know who the agents protecting her are and connected you and Sully as relatives.”