20. Dana
“How do you know it’s a trap?” Dale stands beside Logan, looking at the laptop, and I peek around their bodies. A map of the area is displayed on the screen in front of them.
“Both of our cars were right there a minute ago.” Logan points to a blank area, and I notice a slight tremor in his fingers. “Both GPS signals were cut within seconds of each other.”
Grabbing his phone from the table, Logan pushes a button and waits. Dale and I stand, frozen, exchanging the odd glance with each other as the other end of the line remains unanswered.
After half a minute, Logan tries again. Or maybe it’s a different number. I have no idea, but it doesn’t matter. No one picks up.
As he disconnects and places his phone on the table, a flash of uncertainty crosses his face. I’ve never seen Logan unsure of himself like this.
“Is there anyone else?” When Jessa and I were taken into custody last year, I remember a pretty big team.
Logan is already shaking his head.
“Divide and conquer,” he mutters to himself. His body slouches.
I used to think arrogant Logan was the worst side of him, but it isn’t. This deflated side is. I would take overconfident, chauvinistic Logan over this person with me now. At least when he was barking orders and getting in our faces it felt like things were happening. Like there was always another play up his sleeve. This feels like—defeat.
“What do you mean?” Dale asks.
I almost forgot he was here with us. Judging by the surprise on Logan’s face, so did he.
“This was a setup. All along. I spoke to Grizz when they made the stop. The abandoned car was gone. They must have planted it, hoping we’d send a scout to check it out. They thinned us out and kept chipping away until…” Logan’s eyes meet mine.
“Until it was just us. Are they coming here?” I’m not sure I want an answer to my question, and Dale takes a step to the side to look out the front window.
“We won’t know until it’s too late. I’d be able to track them if the cars still had their GPS on. Give me a minute. I need to call this in.” Logan doesn’t wait for my response. Turning his back to us, he holds the phone to his ear, waiting a moment before he starts talking. Everything fades as my mind starts to skip around to today’s events before settling on one specific moment.
“There’s a tracker on Grizz.” The memory of him placing the small device I gave him in his pocket gives me hope.
Logan looks at me, his brows scrunched together. “What are you talking about?” He holds the phone away from his head and squares his shoulders on me.
“When we left my shop today, I found something in my bag. I showed it to him. He said that was how they found me, and he put it in his front jacket pocket.” I tap my chest as I speak to show him where I think it is. “What if he still has it on him? Can we track him?”
“Call you back.” Logan hangs up the phone and turns back to us. “How big was the tracker? Was it about this size?” He holds his phone out.
“No, it was really small. Like one of those memory cards in a camera.”
Logan’s eyes go wide as he moves to a bag and pulls out another, smaller tablet. “If it was one of our micro trackers, they may not have found it in a pat-down.”
I hold myself back for a moment, unsure if he’ll let me see his equipment, but I decide to chance it. I step to Logan’s side, and he doesn’t hide the screen as he taps different options into the keyboard. Dale flanks his other side as Logan chooses one, and a map of our location appears before he moves on to the next. He must be checking all the trackers they have to see if any are active.
As I wait, my eyes roam to my backpack, where I first found the little tracker, and my mind settles on the other item I’m carrying in there. The thing everyone wants.
I can’t keep this from him any longer. Maybe we can exchange it for everyone’s release.
“Logan, there’s something?—”
“Here.” He taps his screen, angling the tablet to Dale. “What’s here?”
I catch a glimpse of what they are looking at. It’s north of town, past the turnoff to the lavender farm. I’m unfamiliar with anything beyond Bonnie and Steven’s farm, and I know not many of the townspeople go out that way anymore. The road doesn’t lead to anything important. At least, I didn’t think it did.
“There’s an abandoned concentration mill and a mining camp farther up that way. It was built around the turn of the twentieth century. It’s pretty big,” Dale answers as both men turn to each other.
“Is—is that where everyone is?” At my question, they turn their attention to me.
A few moments pass before I get an answer from either of them, and I get the feeling they are both trying to protect me. This is all happening because of me.
“It’s most likely,” Logan answers, and Dale nods in agreement. There’s regret all over their faces.
Logan is a ball of tension. His brows are knit tightly together, and his jaw is clenched as his breathing turns deep.
Then I realize: We are at a fork in our journey. Is he trying to justify the decision he needs to make? Or is he trying to accept it? He’s the only one left here keeping me safe. His entire team is missing, and he’s left with me. He’s the last one standing between me and the two outstanding contract killers, and we’ve never liked each other.
“You need to find them,” I whisper. When I look into his eyes, I feel like I’m looking at him for the first time.
“Yes.” He nods solemnly.
“And you can’t take me with you.” I fill in the pieces he’s worried about sharing with me, and he nods. Of course I can’t go near there, and he can’t be in two places at once.
I get the feeling his decision isn’t an easy one. After all our fighting with each other, his concern surprises me. I never thought I would see Logan in a different light. Watching him struggle with his decision to leave me unprotected makes me reevaluate my perception of him.
Sure, he’s an arrogant ass who throws his weight around whenever it suits him. But now we appear to be on the same side, and his personality is one of his best qualities—when he isn’t using it against me. For the first time, I see him differently. He isn’t my favorite person, but I don’t see him as my enemy anymore.
His entire team is missing, presumed taken. Who am I kidding? He looks terrified. This is obviously something they hadn’t anticipated. The GPS to both vehicles has been cut, and all four of his men aren’t checking in.
“Dana, I—” He stops mid-sentence, and a weight shifts, bridging the gap we’ve created between us. I never gave him the chance to be anyone other than my enemy.
Now I see a guy who knows he is up against someone better prepared than he is, but he’s still going to try to save his teammates, and I understand him. I could have left Jessa at any time in the last ten years, and I never did. Not until the end, when I was forced to.
I never wondered what my life would have been like if I’d just walked away and left her to fend for herself. It was never my fight until I made it mine, and leaving her was never an option for me.
Logan and I have some common ground after all.
“I know.” My bottom lip trembles as I finish his sentence, and his eyes settle on mine in understanding.
“She’s safe with me.” Dale’s shirt brushes my arm as he stands next to me.
Logan’s eyes leave mine to focus on him. “I need your truck. I also need you to take her and run. Can you get another vehicle out here?”
“I’ll call the guys at the bar and have them bring my bike. I’ll have her in Spokane by nightfall. I know some people there who can help.” Dale checks his phone while he speaks, and Logan wastes no time heading for a cabinet beside the computers.
Joining us, he places a gun and a clip on the table, then moves back. Dale steps forward, taking the gun in one hand before loading it and sliding it into his jeans like it’s an everyday accessory.
“Here’s a burner phone. Link’s number is in it. Contact him if you get into anything you can’t get out of. He will help you.” Logan hands me the phone and turns to Dale, who is already holding out his keys, and I slide the burner into the outer thigh pocket of my cargo pants. “I’m sorry. I wish I had more time to figure something out.”
“Save it. You can tell me how sorry you are when I see you again.” I’m not sure if my words carry any confidence, and his smile goes nowhere near his eyes.
“Thank you—for helping her.” Logan turns to Dale. “Make the call.” He takes a step back to the table and grabs a bag. “I’m going to pack up the car. I’ll leave as soon as you have a ride.” Logan extends his hand toward Dale, and they shake before he breaks away and heads out the door, taking the tracking tablet and a duffel bag with him.
“Gather your things. I’m going to call the guys.” Dale turns his back to me, and I spin, finally making my way to the table where my backpack sits. Unzipping the bag, I pull out the only printed picture I have of Jessa and me.
Our smiles look like they belong to other people. I don’t remember the life that created mine anymore. My heart is heavy as I think about what else I’m carrying. Below the photo, wrapped in a sweater, Zane lies in secret. The magnitude of my predicament gives me pause, and I turn to look at the fire, still burning in the fireplace behind me, while I sling one of the straps of my backpack over my shoulder.
“Something’s wrong.” Dale holds his phone out to me. “I don’t have cell service.”
I shrug. “That always happens out here.”
“Yes, but I checked just before Logan left, and we had it. Now it’s gone. That’s a coincidence I don’t like.” He looks around the room, and I freeze, afraid to move a muscle, as though any little movement will push something into motion I am not ready for. “Get your stuff. Pack light. We’re getting Logan and leaving on foot. Now.” Emphasizing his last word, Dale reaches around and pulls the gun from his belt.
The front door clicks open, and Dale aims as Logan comes into view. He sighs out a deep, relieved breath, lowering his gun as they make eye contact with each other.
Dale’s arms relax a fraction. “Damn. I thought?—”
An unfamiliar face peeks around Logan as he raises his arms, shaking his head at Dale.
“Drop it,” the man says as his eyes scan the room and land on me. “She’s here.” He angles a gun away from Logan to show us he’s armed, and everyone moves in slow motion, careful not to startle our intruder.
He walks Logan a few more steps into the room. Another person steps in behind them and raises his gun at Dale, who bends over and places his gun on the ground in front of him before kicking it away and raising his hands.
My backpack feels heavy on my shoulder. I’m holding everything they need, and I can’t let them have the files. Jessa died trying to destroy them. I can’t let her sacrifice be for nothing.
Grabbing the strap from my arm, I spin in place. They’re going to kill me anyway.
Using the momentum from my body, I swing the bag around and toss it onto the fire before stepping back and lifting my arms in surrender.
The hint of triumph tugs at the corner of my lips as someone shouts from behind me, “Get the bag.”
The man who entered first trains his gun on me and shouts orders as the other secures his weapon and grabs the poker hanging by the fire.
Helpless and out of options, I watch as he pulls the bag onto the stone in front of the fireplace and pats out the little flames that barely got started. Everyone stays still as the back door opens once more, and footsteps tread from the hall before the next person joins us.
“You!” Logan’s face is a kaleidoscope of emotions, and none of them are good.
“Me.” The woman smiles calmly at Logan, and he tenses further—if that’s possible. Walking over to the fireplace, she takes the backpack.
As she passes me, her raven hair catches my eye, the sun picking up midnight shades of blue in her strands.
Opening the bag, she takes out the photo and glances at me over her shoulder before pulling out the rest of the supplies I packed away. When she drops the sweater to the table, the gentle thud of the drive wrapped up inside makes me cringe.
She hears it too, and she pauses for a second before unwrapping the knit top and holding up the drive.
“I’m going to assume these are the files we need.” Her words balance between question and statement, and I stay frozen in place.
Logan shifts in my peripheral vision.
I don’t want to look at him. I lied to all of them. Four of them might be dead right now trying to protect me, and I lied to them. My reasons don’t matter.
“You said it was destroyed.” My betrayal crushes me as Logan realizes, once again, we aren’t on the same team.
“I was going to destroy it. Jessa is dead and no one should have it.” My excuse is pathetic. Contrary to what I expect to happen, Logan’s face softens. The severity of our situation must be sinking in.
“Interesting.” The woman speaks to herself as she pockets the drive, then turns to address the room. “Load?—”
“Wait.” She stops at my interruption, turning toward my voice. “Let them go. You have the files and me. That’s what the contract says, right?” The shock on her face turns into an amused smile, and I keep blabbering. “Just let them go. I’ll go with you. Please don’t hurt anyone else.”
Tears threaten my eyes. I don’t want my last stand to be me crying in front of everyone.
I glance at Logan, who meets my gaze before quickly turning back to glare at this woman. The tension comes mostly from him. She continues to move like she’s unaffected by the anger he radiates.
“That’s very brave of you, Dana.” The woman looks around at everyone before circling back to me. “We are taking him.” She points her finger in Logan’s direction, and he straightens at the finality in her tone. “But I’m willing to leave this one behind.” She points at Dale. “He will have to be knocked out though. We need time to complete our contract.”
“No.” Dale tries to answer for me.
“Deal.” Nodding, I accept her bargain. One of the men steps behind me, then my hands are pulled down and secured in front of me as Logan is led out the front door.