Chapter 14 #3
It was. She was right. But getting to the bottom of everything and stopping the people perpetrating the attacks was one way he could protect Ollie.
“Okay, I have an idea. Can you give me time to make a phone call and get someone else here to take care of Ollie and to back up Piper?” Someone he could trust, who’d been undercover and off the grid for longer than this had been going on.
“Yes. As long as he or she can get here fast.”
“He can.” If he answered.
She nodded. “Fine.”
Sully got on the phone and said a prayer of thanks when his buddy Chris Gowen answered. “You available for a little protection detail?”
“Um . . . yeah, what’s up?”
In as few words as possible, Sully filled in his friend and fellow agent. “I know I can trust you—and you’re about the only one I can.”
“Give me the address. I’m on the way. You can explain everything else later.”
Sully did and hung up, taking a moment to give himself a pep talk. It was okay to relinquish the control. It was. Maybe if he said it enough in his head, he’d believe it. “Okay, he’s on the way. I trust two people with Ollie right now. Him and Piper. When he gets here, we can leave.”
She nodded. “Let’s tell Ollie.”
When Ollie came out of the restroom, she looked at them with a raised brow. “What?”
“I’ll let Elena explain.”
Ollie sat in the padded chair next to Elena. “Tell me.”
The tension in the air buzzed like a live wire. He had seen Ollie’s fear transform into something like determination, but it didn’t ease the knot in his chest.
Elena leaned in and brushed a strand of hair behind the girl’s ear and told her the plan. “You understand why I have to do this, right?”
Ollie’s lower lip trembled, and she clamped teeth on it, then sighed. “I just . . . I’m scared.” She shot a glance toward the hallway. “And Piper is just . . . something’s bothering her. She’s protecting me, but there’s something off.”
Elena blinked and Sully frowned. “I don’t know why you would think that,” Sully said.
Ollie shrugged. “Just a feeling.”
“Look,” Elena said, “I know this is hard, and if I could stay with you, I would. But I’ll just tell you straight up.
I’m desperately worried about my sister and believe her life is in danger.
I have to try and make sure she’s safe. And .
. . to be honest . . . you’re probably safer without me around.
Someone’s after me too, Ollie, and I’m afraid I’m putting you at risk by staying near you. ”
Ollie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I guess I can understand that. But what if they try to grab you? What if something happens?”
“I don’t plan to let that happen, but I’m also putting my trust in God to help me get through it all. To get me to my sister and dad and protect us all from danger.” Elena straightened. “And you’re going to be okay too, Ollie.”
“Promise?”
Elena cupped Ollie’s cheek with her hand. “I promise.”
Sully cleared his throat and stepped forward, feeling the weight of their unspoken fears. “Hey,” he said softly. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
“Be careful,” Ollie whispered. “I still have a lot to learn that books can’t teach me.”
Elena stood. She and Sully walked toward the conference room door. Piper returned from her phone call, looking wan and worried. “Everything okay?” he asked.
She smiled, but it was forced. “Yes. Hannah is just ready to see me. It’s been too long.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Let’s just get these guys and be done with it.”
Thirty minutes later, FBI Special Agent Chris Gowen pulled up to the jail in his Land Cruiser. Sully met him at the entrance to the building. “Thanks for doing this.”
“No problem. Your timing is impeccable. How’d you know I’d be available?”
“I didn’t. Just prayed you would be. Come on in and I’ll introduce you.”
Chris followed him to the conference room, and Sully made the introductions. Piper’s jaw tightened so hard he was afraid it might lock into position. But she shook the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Appreciate the backup.”
“Anything for my boy Sully.”
Ollie gave the man a thin smile, hugged Sully and Elena, and then disappeared back in the direction of her wrought-iron-enclosed “bedroom.”
Sully nodded. “All right.” He looked at Elena. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Sully led the way down the steps toward their vehicle parked under a canopy of trees. They climbed in and started down the winding road back toward Broken Chains Ranch.
“I know we’re just staying long enough for us to grab what we need to head to the compound,” he said, “but I sure would like to figure out how to unjam those signals when we get there.”
Elena raised a brow. “The only way to unjam them is to find the jammers.”
“I know. At least help is on the way.”
“Thank God.”
Yes, they definitely should thank God. He was the reason they’d made it this far.
He pulled off onto a side road flanked by dense thickets—a perfect ambush point for whoever had been stalking them all along. Sully drove until the headlights illuminated familiar land markers leading up toward Broken Chains Ranch.
Anticipation churned along with dread at what they might find when they got there. Had the others managed to hold their own? Had anyone been hurt? He turned onto the driveway and pulled to a stop just before he got to the gate.
“What are you doing?” Elena asked.
“Praying no one replaced the bomb Javier removed. That would not be good.”
“Oh. Right.”