Chapter 16
16
Timothy was becoming desperate. No, that wasn’t exactly right. He’d been feeling desperate for a while now. Desperate and edgy and nervous. None of it was good.
“Think about that sea,” he whispered to himself. “That was some powerful stuff.”
His thoughts returned to that Bible and all the stories that Mark had told about Jesus. Sure, the guy had performed a bunch of miracles on people. But what had stuck with Timothy the most was when He’d calmed the Sea of Galilee and saved those guys’ lives.
“Jesus, how about calming my storm?” he said. “’Cause I could sure use some help right about now.”
For a full second, he waited. Half expecting a lightning bolt or something to appear from out of nowhere. But he didn’t even feel better.
Nothing had happened, which was a real problem. Considering he had only one option, Timothy felt like crying. What he needed to do was stop thinking and do what he needed to do. Then he could return home and get to stay alive for a while. Maybe even have a life.
How could he, though? If he followed through on his orders and actually killed the Amish girl, her death was going to be on his shoulders. Like, forever.
He didn’t know if he was going to be able to live with that kind of burden. Sure, he’d killed that dealer, but his death wasn’t the same.
Not really.
Plus, he’d looked into her eyes and had seen nothing but a pretty, frightened blue. There was nothing mean or evil inside of her.
Staring at the phone in his hand, he contemplated smashing it to pieces. Anything to avoid another call from Kane.
But if he did that, he’d be even worse off. If he didn’t answer whenever Kane called, they might hurt Audrey.
Glancing down at the small tablet he found in the motel room, he reread his notes.
Name: Stephanie Miller. Location: a cabin on the east section of the Russell Ranch. One of the men who watched her was vigilant and ex-military. The others? Two of them seemed like they were just as tough. The last? Well, he was a snitch and a liar, since he’d told Timothy a lot about Stephanie for just a hundred bucks.
He’d also promised to be late on his rounds so Timothy could look around a little bit.
Which, ironically, made Timothy want to beat him so badly he wouldn’t be able to walk for a couple of days. What kind of guy would knowingly let a stranger onto his boss’s land for a hundred bucks?
He was just wondering if he should drive by the guardhouse again when his phone buzzed.
Already feeling the cold pool in the pit of his stomach, he answered.
“Hey, Kane.”
“Timothy, long time no contact. You should have checked in by now.”
“Um, yeah. Well, I was waiting to get more information for you.”
“Yeah? What do you have?”
“I’ve gotten a lot of information about the girl. She’s staying on a big ranch.” Timothy paused, hoping that Kane would understand just how difficult taking out the Amish girl was going to be.
After two beats, Kane said, “Is that a problem for you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s private property.”
“And?”
“And there’s a lot of security there.”
“Even if they have a whole security team, no one can be everywhere at once. You just have to take your shot and then get out of there.”
“I understand.” When silence met his words, Timothy forced himself to continue. It wasn’t like he had another choice. “I think I have a plan.”
“Good. When should we expect it done?”
“Soon?”
Kane’s voice lowered. “We need more than that, Timothy. We’re going to need a lot more than that.”
Cussing under his breath, Timothy felt sweat drip down his spine. “I’ll have it done within two days. The guy who I talked to is shifty. I don’t know if he can be trusted. He might be setting me up.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “You have two days. If I have to call you again, you aren’t just going to be hearing my voice on the other end. You’re going to be hearing Audrey’s. And she won’t just be scared, buddy.” His voice deepened. “Do you believe me?”
“I believe you.”
“Are you sure? You think I can trust you to do what I say?” He lowered his voice. “Or do you think I need to come down there and supervise? Of course, if I have to drive all the way to Crittenden County, I’m not going to be going there by myself. I’ll want to travel with a friend or two, and they’re not going to be as understanding of your deficiencies as I am.”
Bile surged in his throat before he choked it back down. “You won’t need to do that.”
“Good. Then stop overthinking everything. No, just stop thinking. No one expects you to do that. Take care of the girl and come back. And don’t forget to bring some evidence of her passing.”
Evidence? He cringed. What was he going to have to show them? “Okay,” he replied.
“Don’t sound so sad, buddy. If you do a good job, there’s some benefits for you. You’ll have proven yourself. You’ll be one of us.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Sure. The dealer was supposed to be your initiation, but we can count her as it instead. We’ll be all good then.”
Timothy wished he could believe that, but by now he knew when Kane was lying through his teeth. His words came a little too fast and the cadence slipped. Even if Timothy killed the Amish girl and brought back proof, it wasn’t going to be enough to make them forget. They still wanted that dealer’s money, and instead all they’d gotten was the police hanging around, asking questions.
“I’ll take care of her.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Two days. Max.”
His mouth went dry. “I might need more time.”
“You’re not going to get that. Not only have the cops started asking questions, but they found your guy’s body. Things aren’t looking good for you, buddy. We need to get rid of that witness.”
“They found him? I thought you dumped him in a lake or something.”
“What we did with him ain’t the problem. All of this is on your shoulders. That girl can’t testify, Tim. If the DA gets her to testify, we’re all going down. I was there, and Stew ordered you to meet with the guy. You understand?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” Kane clicked off.
Feeling tainted, Timothy tossed the phone on his bed. Stood up. Paced.
All he had to do was sneak onto the property, break in the door, and kill the girl. The guard told him the cabin wasn’t near the big house. No one would hear either her screams or the gunshot.
Then he could drive back home and finally put all this behind him. If they weren’t lying and didn’t kill him as soon as he got back to Ohio.
But ... as he remembered those blue eyes, Timothy knew he couldn’t do it. There had to be another way.
What he needed was to scare her off. Make her want to run farther. So far that neither he nor anyone in the Arrows could ever find her.
Then maybe he could run too. Call up Audrey and explain everything to her.
Then, yeah. Maybe she’d follow him, and they could start a new life someplace else. Somewhere where they could start over fresh. In Georgia or Seattle or Mexico. Anywhere she wanted. He didn’t care.
As long as he had her, everything would be just fine.
He forced himself to pretend that he still believed in fairy tales.
With his new plan in mind, he headed out. He had a package to deliver to Miss Stephanie Miller. It was time to pay a visit to the Russell Ranch.