CHAPTER Twenty Four
“Has Sam sent that address to you yet?” Ross asked. “We should be meeting soon, and we have no idea where to go.”
“I’ll call Janelle. Maybe she got it.”
When the three realized none of them had heard from Sam yet, they were concerned.
“He was going back to the office in Camdenton. Ross and I will go check on him. It’s not that far,” Camille suggested. “Go someplace public, and we’ll call when we find out what’s going on.”
Janelle headed to The Blown Tire for a beer. It was a Friday night, and she knew it couldn’t get more public than that. She sat at the side of the bar that faced the door, just in case.
Pulling up to the Camdenton Star, Camille noticed Sam’s car right away.
“Well, he’s here. He might have gotten caught up in something.”
“If that were the case, why didn’t he call or text?” Ross countered. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Almost simultaneously, Ross and Camille drew their carry pistols as they approached the unlocked outside door. Once inside, they saw Sam on the floor, obviously dead.
“Son of a bitch!” Camille said, gritting her teeth. “He’s picking us off one by one.”
The reality of that statement hit Ross like a speeding train.
“Yeah, and Janelle is by herself! Hand me your phone. I’m calling her.” Ross was relieved Janelle was safe and sound at The Blown Tire and told her to stay there. He and Camille had to call the police, and it would probably be a couple of hours before they could get free.
“DON’T LEAVE!” Ross demanded. “And don’t drink too much just in case there’s trouble waiting out there.”
Janelle was so shook up, she couldn’t leave even if she wanted to, and even though drinking herself silly to forget this nightmare sounded fabulous, her stomach was now in knots. All she could do was sit there, sipping a Sprite, nervously watching the door, waiting for Ross and Camille to arrive.
When the couple finally got to the bar, Janelle was just hanging up from a phone call, and she immediately told them what was on her mind.
“I have a flight that leaves at 12:47 a.m. from St. Louis. I can’t stay here.
It’s too dangerous. I’m too freaked out.”
Neither Ross nor Camille could blame her. In fact, Ross knew her well enough that he anticipated her leaving.
“I think it’s probably best,” he said, hailing the waitress.
“I think you’re smart, Janelle,” Camille added. “Where are you going?” “My flight is to Dallas. From there, I don’t know.”
“Text me and let us know where you land for good,” Camille added, giving her a hug while Ross paid her tab.
Ross and Camille followed Janelle to the Village to get her things, check out, and to officially see her off. Before she left, Ross had some final details to square away.
“Here, you might need this to get on your feet,” he said, handing her the checkbook and debit card to their joint account.
“Ross, I can’t,” she argued.
“You will,” he said. “I’ll open a new account. Just take it, please.”
Reluctantly, Janelle took the card and hugged him one last time. “You’re being awfully nice to me. I’m the one who brought this monster into all our lives. I’ll never forgive myself for that,” she said, starting to cry.
“You get far, far away from here. And we’ll take care of the monster,” he said.
Janelle drove off, and Ross wondered when he’d see her again.
“You’re such a great man, Ross,” Camille said, gripping his hand as they left the Village motel.
Ross smiled but felt a bit melancholy, wondering whether Janelle could really run from her troubles.
“If that’s true, why do I feel so horrible?”
“Because you care about her, and if you didn’t, there would be something wrong with you.
I know. I was jealous at first, but I admire your devotion to the people important to you.
It’s comforting to know that, God forbid, if something were to happen to us, you would be the great man that you are and not an idiot jackass like Ike,” Camille said, rolling her eyes.
Ross gave her a quick kiss before they got into the Bronco.
“I’m not sure I deserve you,” he said, “but I’m not gonna argue with the forces that put us together.”
Camille smiled at him, and he knew she loved him.
That smile made him so incredibly happy, but those few seconds of bliss were tainted by a rush of fear.
They were now the final two targets in Shane Simpson’s sights, and Ross knew that if he ever lost Camille—if he failed to keep her safe—he could never live with himself.
He was now extremely worried that somehow Shane Simpson would win this battle, and he would lose Camille in the worst way.
And if that happened, his whole world would come tumbling down.
Camille could see Ross was fiercely focused on their safety, and once she thought about it, in all her work as an investigator, she had never been in such danger. And it was this thought that occupied her mind as she drove back to the Point in the darkness of an eerie winter’s night.
“It’s kinda spooky heading down the lake road to the Point this time of night. After all that’s happened, can we just get a room somewhere?”
Ross didn’t even have to think about it.
“Absolutely! Head toward the dam. There’s a little place over there. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a place to sleep until we can get back to the cabin in the morning, when we at least have some daylight.”
Despite their recent horrifying experiences, both Ross and Camille slept soundly and woke to a light snow falling, which was absolutely gorgeous on the trees.
“Ross! It’s December already! It’s snowing! It’s almost Christmas time!” Camille said, completely bewildered. Time was passing so quickly.
Ross laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her cheek.
“I didn’t realize either,” he admitted as they watched the snow fall. “Let’s check out, go get a few things from the cabin, and get out of town for a while. We can take a break and get all of this off our minds.”
“That sounds wonderful,” she said, kissing him and giving him a big hug.
In the next few minutes, they checked out and were on the road. This first light dusting of snow had fallen throughout the night, but its light, powdery consistency barely covered the ground.
As Camille turned off the highway and onto Ross’s lake road, they both noticed faint tire tracks in the snow. They weren’t fresh because a layer of snow had fallen since they were made and nearly covered them up, but someone had been down his road.
“I sure hope those tire tracks are from the police coming out to ask us some more questions about Nolan or Sam.” Ross was trying to see if there were two sets, one going in and one going out, but it was too hard to tell.
Camille pulled into the clearing, and they didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Thank goodness, there was no car signifying an unwanted guest. Ross was trying to find footprints in the snow, but if someone had come up to the house, they would have done so before most of the snow had fallen.
“Stay back,” Ross whispered.
It was that moment when he noticed the window was broken and the door was unlocked.
Ross’s heart was about to pound out of his chest.
Camille desperately wanted to call the police, but knew there was no service. She was nervous as hell as Ross pushed the door open.
On first glance, nothing seemed disrupted, but then things went terribly wrong.