Chapter 5 #2
“I’m not. She was gone for two weeks, and when she came back, she woke me up in the middle of the night and asked me if I still wanted to go with her.
I did. And much like the night she snuck me to the hospital, we left.
” Elena frowned. “She knew of a cave—a tunnel—that led outside the compound. She’d taken me out that way to get me to the hospital, but that trip was pretty hazy.
I remember darkness and being scared out of my mind at the thought of being caught, but once again, she managed to bypass all the guards and get me out.
We spent that night at Broken Chains Ranch.
That was the first time I met Maya and her family.
Mom and Maya’s grandmother had become friends.
Apparently, they liked to ride their horses early in the morning and got to know each other.
Anyway, that night at the ranch, before I fell asleep, Mom said she had a place for me to go where Dad and LaRoche would never find me if I wanted to do it.
She’d gotten it all arranged during the time she was gone. ”
“Where was that?”
“An exclusive boarding school in Maine. She said she couldn’t stay with me because, while Dad might eventually accept us leaving, LaRoche would turn over every stone to find us.
I’d have to go under a different name and I’d be in hiding until I turned eighteen.
She had a new birth certificate, passport, and Social Security card for me. Everything.”
“So your real name isn’t Elena?”
“I was named Eleanor Higgins when I was born. But I’ve been Elena for half my life now. It doesn’t really matter what a piece of paper says. I’m more Elena than Eleanor at this point.”
“Wow.”
“Anyway, Mom said I wouldn’t be able to have any contact with her until it was safe.”
“At what point did she think it would be safe?”
“She said when I turned eighteen, but even then, it might be iffy because LaRoche and others don’t care about age.
They do what they want. And they were going to be furious that we left.
Anyway, she said she would find me whenever she determined that to be.
She would have to disappear too. I said yes, I wanted to do it.
I would have done just about anything not to have to stay on the mountain. So that’s where she took me.”
He let out a low whistle. “That’s not cheap.”
“Nope, but Mom had quite an inheritance sitting in a bank account she never told Dad or LaRoche about. She knew they’d take it. She took me and dropped me off and paid for my four years of high school.”
“And you and Maya wound up serving together in the Army? That’s wild.”
“I know. One of those weird things that you can only chalk up to divine intervention. Maya emailed me that she was starting the program at the ranch and wanted to know if I was interested in helping. Since I’d already been thinking of coming back to the area, it wasn’t hard to accept the invitation to stay at the ranch.
I’d been going to school nonstop, trying to stay busy earning my degrees and working.
Between the two, I didn’t have time to think about life.
” She sighed. “I’ve had a lot of time to think in the past six months. ”
She pulled Harley to a stop and held up a hand.
“What is it?”
“Saw another something I was looking for.”
“Care to share?”
“A signal. They know we’re here.”
And he had a feeling, that creeping-up-the-back-of-his-neck feeling, that he had a gun aimed at his head. “So . . .”
“So, we’re not dead yet. That’s a good sign.”
“Cute.”
She cut him a look and he narrowed his gaze at her.
Oh. She was sort of serious. That was concerning.
He was a federal agent, and he’d seen his share of trouble when it came to people being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
And this was the very definition of those two things.
“This isn’t a good idea, Elena. We should turn around and get some backup. ”
“I told you not to come. You go back. I’ll be fine. These were my people at one time.”
“No they weren’t,” he said, his hushed words for her ears only. “They were never your people.” And like he was going to leave her. His hand drifted toward his weapon.
“Don’t,” she said in a quiet whisper. “Don’t do that.”
He moved his hand to rest it on top of the saddle horn. “What was the signal?”
“Two quick flashes of light.”
“They were signaling you?”
“No, one guard was signaling to another to go warn the others at the compound we’re headed that way.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier just to text?”
She shot him a side-eyed look. “No phones are allowed. They have sophisticated signal jamming equipment. And that includes satellite phones as well. They leave everything turned on 24/7. Except when one of the leaders needs to communicate with the outside world.”
“To stay off the grid.”
“Completely off.”
“Wow.”
“I know. It’s very extreme, but this is what they do.”
“And they also shoot trespassers who ignore their warning signs?”
“According to the rumors.”
“So why are we riding into this without backup?”
“Because I need to get inside the compound and this is the only way I know how to do it.”
“How? You just said they know we’re here.”
“They do, but they don’t know why we’re here.”
“Why are we here?”
Her jaw tightened, then loosened. “Because I need to know if I saw my sister in town the other day.”
“You think your sister is still here?”