Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“ I ’m going with you.” Melinda’s words were exactly what Lacy hadn’t wanted to hear.
“But . . .”
“No. He’s my husband and this has to stop. He can’t kill all of us. Randy stood up for me when I needed him. He chased down my husband in the dark and Cal threw him in a back yard to get annihilated by a dog. I will not let him deal with this alone.” She shrugged on her coat. “Are you going to try to stop me?”
She wouldn’t, but Connor might. He’d already told Lacy he didn’t want her there and she’d pushed the issue. “It’s not up to me.”
“I’ll grab a set of keys and follow you if I have to.” She didn’t blink as she stared at Lacy. Strength infused her stature.
“Okay, but just know that it’s Connor you have to convince, not me.” Lacy shoved a pair of gloves into her coat pocket and headed for the door.
Connor was already waiting for them in the parking lot with Cole and Edwyn. He looked up and his face immediately clouded over. “Lacy?”
Melinda interrupted her. “I told her I’m going. And I am. No one knows Tod as well as I do. It may not matter, but there are things that I need to say to him before the police take him away.”
“Speaking of which, I talked to Officer Daniels. He’ll be joining us in town,” Cole said. “He has some idea where Tod and his brother might be. He agrees that’s the first place to look for Randy, given the history.”
“Good.” Connor touched his side where his pistol was hidden under his coat. “Cole and Edwyn, take truck 2. We’ll follow in the car.”
Cole gave a nod. “Meet at the gas station. We’ll go from there.”
Lacy followed Connor to the red sedan Wayside had owned for years. She hoped Officer Daniels had already been scheduled to work today and they weren’t taking him away from Family. Officers often had to miss holidays. The idea that Officer Daniels might miss a rare, unscheduled holiday for their needs made her furious.
She buckled in and Melinda sat right behind her in the back seat. She remained silent and Lacy had the impression she was stewing over what to say.
“What if we don’t see them? If Tod and Cal aren’t where Officer Daniels thinks they are, what is the plan?” Lacy asked.
“That will be up to the officer. We’re there in the hopes that Randy will be there, and we can bring him home. I called the gas station, and they remembered him coming in this morning, but the truck is still there. Officer Daniels told them to leave it be and he’d check it out later today.”
“They’re hoping to pull evidence off of it?” Lacy assumed.
“Yes. They did say that there is no damage on the outside, so whatever happened to Randy didn’t happen right next to the truck.”
Melinda spoke up from the back, almost too quietly for Lacy to hear. “He’s not a fighter. Even if he tried to get away, he’s not built to fight back.”
Lacy was of a mind that if someone was trying to take her captive, she would fight back with everything in her, so would Randy. There was no way to know what he was capable of doing. “We’ll take a hands-off look at the truck when we get there, but I’m sure the guy working at the gas station is right. There’s probably no sign of him outside the truck,” Lacy said.
Her fingers tapped the armrest on the car, and she wished the trip to town was faster. Living in that area her entire life, the drive didn’t bother her, until she was in a hurry. She watched for any vehicles on the road. Maybe Randy had gone for a walk, lost track of time, didn’t return calls, and was on his way back home right now. She cringed at how Pollyanna her thoughts had become. Even the stressful year they’d had couldn’t take away her hope that nothing had happened.
Connor pulled into the gas station and parked behind the Wayside truck. Cole and Edwyn had already parked on the other side of the gas station alongside Officer Daniels in his cruiser. Lacy got out and stood back a few feet as she looked inside the truck as well as around it. All four gas cans still sat in the back. She could see the level of gasoline inside when the sun shone down on them.
“He made it here. He filled the tanks. What then?” she asked.
Melinda crossed her arms at Lacy’s side. “I have to wonder. He wouldn’t have gotten into a vehicle with them. Maybe Officer Daniels will ask for the security footage?”
“I hope he does. Let’s go over and see what he has to say.”
They joined all the men who’d gathered near the cruiser. Officer Daniels was speaking to the group. “It’s our belief that Tod and Cal are with one particular relative who tends to keep to themselves. He’s a recluse and tends to shoot first, ask questions later. We avoid interacting with him unless we have to.”
“I can see why you wouldn’t want to go check for Tod and Cal there before now. Is that our last resort?” Connor asked.
“Yes. The other three family members who live nearby agreed to a search of their residences. Honestly, since we hadn’t seen any vehicles from out of state and hadn’t found them at those more likely homes, we assumed they weren’t here.”
“It’s still possible they aren’t. Not likely, but possible. Right?” Melinda said. “I mean, this could be a horrible coincidence. He could’ve been taken by anyone. Right?”
Lacy bit her lip and closed her eyes. There was far too much hope in Melinda’s voice. As much as she had to agree, it was possible , it wasn’t probable .
“There is always a possibility we’ve got it wrong,” Officer Daniels confirmed. “Innocent until proven guilty. I just have to look at the facts as I have them and right now, they are our prime suspects.”
Melinda’s jaw hardened and she nodded her agreement.
“Because of the danger inherent in driving up the driveway, I’ll have all of you wait parked beside the road. I’ll notify you if I find Randy and when you can come in to get him. Understood?”
Connor nodded and looked at Melinda for confirmation. Lacy touched his arm, letting him know he was scowling at Melinda. He immediately relaxed his features. “Are you good with that?” he asked Melinda.
“I’ll have to be. I’m not going to go rogue on you or anything. But if it comes down to negotiating with Tod, I’m the one who can do it.”
Officer Daniels frowned slightly. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’ll drive up, ask if I can look around his place. If I see the vehicles you described parked anywhere near the house, that will be evidence I can use to call a judge and get a warrant. Hopefully, I won’t need to.”
Lacy cringed inwardly. These two were not masterminds. They were greedy and narcissistic. Those things alone made them believe they were smarter than anyone else. In some ways, that made them more dangerous too.
She climbed back into the car and Connor followed the cruiser out along a dirt road, past farms, fields, and fences. When Officer Daniels turned on his blinker, Connor pulled off the road and parked. Edwyn parked directly behind him, then called.
“This is Connor.”
Edwyn answered, “I thought it would be good to have an open line of communication. Before you came over, I gave Officer Daniels Lacy’s phone number. That’s who he’ll be calling if we need to come up.”
Lacy tugged her phone from her pocket and made sure the volume was turned up. It had been less than reliable after getting soaked and there had been no time to replace it. “Hopefully my phone doesn’t let us down. I almost feel like it would be better for you to call my number and have him text Connor.”
“I’m sure it will be fine and he’s already driving up the driveway. I can’t really have him change now. Just keep an eye on your phone,” Edwyn answered.
Connor turned the phone to mute, “Are you sure you’ll get a call?”
She shook her head. “I’ve missed at least two calls that I know of.” If they relied on her phone, there was a chance everything could go very wrong.
Three shots went off in rapid succession and Officer Daniels quickly backed out of the driveaway. He yanked onto the road and pulled onto the other side of the road. As he rolled down his window, more shots came from the house hidden in the trees.
“There are two cars up there matching the description. Do not engage. Head back for town.” He pulled back onto the road and drove off.
Connor shifted the car into gear as Melinda opened the door and ran out. Lacy screamed for him not to leave her. He watched as Melinda raced up the driveway where Officer Daniels had just been chased out of.
“What in the world?” Connor couldn’t imagine what she hoped to accomplish but he couldn’t let her run in there alone. “Don’t move.”
“If you think I’m letting you go in there alone, you’d better think again.” She unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Lacy, I can’t lose you. Please. Stay in the car so I don’t worry about you.”
She shook her head. “And leave me here to worry about you?”
“Blast it, woman. I love you. You can’t do this to me.” He’d die before he let her get shot.
“Blast it, Connor, I love you too. Come on.” She opened her door and headed down the driveway after Melinda.
Cole yelled at him as he got out. “What are they doing?”
“Apparently, taking over.” He wasn’t sure what else to say.
With that, Edwyn and Cole joined him as he jogged after the women. At least the shooting had stopped for now. He slowed down some as the house came into view. A man sat on an old wooden rocker on his front porch. A long barreled pistol lay across his lap, though he didn’t immediately aim at Melinda and Lacy.
“Who you looking for?” he asked.
Melinda stopped about forty yards from the house and yelled her answer. “I’m looking for Randy.”
“He the stringy young guy with his pants too big?” the man asked.
Melinda didn’t answer directly. “Can I see him?”
“Don’t think so. He’s busy right now.”
Lacy made it to Melinda’s side. “So you admit he’s here?”
“I didn’t say nothing of the sort.”
“But you did,” Melinda pushed.
Tod came out the front door and stood behind the seated older man. He held a rifle. Connor cringed at the sight. That gun had a much longer range than the pistol. He jogged faster to reach the women.
“He didn’t say anything. What do you want?” Tod sneered.
“Randy,” Lacy answered. “We know you took him.”
“You don’t know anything.”
Connor put himself in front of Lacy, but Melinda pushed in front of him. “You have no right to take anyone. Randy didn’t do anything to you.”
“Oh, but he did. He set off the fire alarm. That one action put Cal in the hotseat, you see, the way he had the doors set to unlock in a fire alarm isn’t legal. Investigators found out about it and now he’s facing an investigation. Mostly though, we knew you’d come to look for him.” Tod laughed.
Cal’s voice came from behind Connor, and he realized a serious error. He’d assumed the old man had been the one firing on Officer Daniels. It was probably Cal out in the woods. Now they were stuck and couldn’t leave.
“So, you decided to come all on your own. How nice of you.” Cal flipped open his revolver and slowly refilled it.
“You don’t have to do this, Tod. You wanted me. Trade me for Randy.” Melinda slowly put her hands up and took a few steps forward.
Tod aimed his gun at her. “You aren’t enough anymore. Honestly, without the money your death would’ve brought in, you aren’t worth anything anyway.”
“That’s what you say, but it’s not the truth,” Melinda stood taller.
“You don’t get to decide how I feel about you.” Tod closed one eye.
Connor found his footing, ready to tackle her. Instead, the old man yanked the barrel of the gun down. “What do you think you’re doing? It’s one thing to shoot at someone when they don’t know who it is. If you think you can take care of all five of them without a chance anyone will get away, then by all means, fire away. But I don’t want to go to jail for you.”
Connor took the distraction as a chance to pull Melinda back closer to him. There had to be a way out of this situation that he wasn’t seeing. If he reached for his own gun, either of them could scattershot, and take out any of them. He didn’t want anyone getting shot.
Edwyn and Cole backed up until they formed a circle, all of them facing outward so there could be no surprises. He heard someone behind him calling someone. Very quietly, he heard someone answer.
Cole taunted Cal, “You missed that officer. He made it out.”
“You won’t be so lucky!” Cal’s voice seemed to get closer.
Connor wouldn’t turn around and risk missing something from the men in front of him. He had to trust his own guys watching his back. “Tod, you need to let us go. That officer was supposed to meet us back at the gas station. Within a few minutes, he’ll see that we aren’t there. A few bullets won’t stop him if he knows there are five people held hostage in here. He’ll probably call in reinforcements.” Connor hoped he could force these guys into a little critical thinking.
Cal’s voice was now very close. “Let’s get them inside. Without a warrant, they can’t prove we have anyone and by the time they get a warrant, they’ll be gone and so will we.”
“Oh, you planned to leave me holding the bag, huh?” the old man said. “That’s just like you two to run away. You ran off to the south when you were about to get arrested before, and now you’ll do it again. I’m not covering for you.”
Tod aimed his gun to the back of the old man’s head. “I don’t think you realize you were going to be the fall guy all along. Cal, gather them up and bring them up here.”
Connor held tight to Lacy’s hand while trying to protect Melinda from Cal’s grasp. Edwyn pushed back against Cal, and a tussle broke out between the two of them. Connor drew his pistol and aimed for Tod while Cole and Edwyn worked to immobilize Cal.
Melinda took off running toward Tod. Lacy screamed for her to stop. Time stood still. He pulled the trigger, and a wide pool of red opened over Tod’s chest. He looked momentarily surprised as his aim faltered, then he fell to the porch. Still.
Melinda stumbled to her knees with a gut-wrenching cry. Lacy took off after her while Connor kept the old man in his sites, just in case things took a turn.
“I always hoped I’d be good enough. I always hoped that eventually, he’d love me like he said he would.” Melinda’s sobs filled the air.
Officer Daniels pulled into the yard and got out of his car. Connor held his gun in the air, knowing that he’d have to answer for what he’d done. Even though Tod had been pointing his gun at Melinda, there were still questions to be answered.
Cal was taken into custody as Connor called in for the ambulance that was likely to determine he was dead on arrival. The old man didn’t move from his chair until Officer Daniels came to take him into custody. Once that was handled, he came over to Connor who was waiting outside the house to look for Randy.
When Melinda approached him, he turned her away. This part he’d be doing on his own. If Randy hadn’t made it, he didn’t want Melinda to see that. It worried him that they hadn’t heard any noise from the house during the arresting process.
Officer Daniels told Melinda and Lacy to head back to the car along with Cole and Edwyn. He would take Connor inside to look for Randy. The whole scene had changed. Whereas just an hour before, he’d been sure he would get shot, now the house felt oddly haunted, dirty, and lonely.
Both men had out their pistols in case someone they didn’t know about was waiting to ambush them. There was no way to know if the house was empty until they cleared it. They’d looked through all of the rooms and had almost given up when Officer Daniels saw a narrow door in the living room that seemed to lead up to an attic.
Cobwebs hung from the corners, and something scurried near the top of the dark staircase.
“Got a light?” Connor asked. “All I have is my phone.”
“By the way, thank Edwyn for the idea to call dispatch and leave the line open so they could hear what was going on. They radioed me right away and I was able to head back. I thought you had followed me out.”
“That was my plan. It didn’t work out so well.”
Officer Daniels pulled a flashlight from his duty belt, and they slowly crept up the rickety staircase. In the far corner, near a single pane window, lay Randy. He was unconscious, but Connor could see the rise and fall of his body.
“Praise God. He’s alive.”