Chapter 7
Sully found Piper and Ollie at the indoor basketball courts. Ollie was red-faced and sweating but wore a smile as big as the sky. He hated to be the reason it flipped into a frown. And yet, here he was. Piper met his gaze, then tossed the basketball to Ollie and walked toward him. “What is it?”
He filled her in while Ollie continued to shoot baskets in between sipping Gatorade. She also shot him and Piper looks like she knew something was going on and didn’t like being excluded.
He waved her over. She jogged toward him, bouncing the ball. “What happened? We gotta leave, don’t we?”
“Not yet, but you’ll need to be ready.”
“I’m ready, just frustrated. It’s getting late and I was supposed to start training with Elena today.”
“Basketball and training?” Piper asked. “Isn’t that a bit much?”
Ollie scowled. “No. I planned for some downtime in between activities. You don’t have to treat me like I’m an invalid.”
“I’m just concerned.”
“Well, stop.” She crossed her arms and lasered Sully with a narrow-eyed look. “Tell me what happened and be straight with me. I need to know.” A pause. “Please.”
He filled her in on most of it. “We’re not sure they were talking about you, though. Could have been the intruder.” He pulled his phone out and scrolled to the pictures he’d just taken. “Do you recognize any of these guys?”
Ollie took the device and stared at the screen. “Yeah.” She pointed. “Him on the left. I don’t know who the other scumbag is.”
He exchanged a look with Piper. “So he’s mob affiliated.”
“Definitely,” Ollie said. “He was there with the other guy who pulled the trigger first and shot the old man in the back of the head.” She shuddered and crossed her arms. “All because he was short paying his protection money.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “How can someone do that?”
“It’s okay,” Piper said, her voice soft. She slid her arms around Ollie’s shoulders. The fact that Ollie let her do it spoke volumes to Sully. Most of the time, she didn’t seem to care for the motherly touch Piper occasionally tried to bestow on her. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Ollie shrugged, but her lips were tight, her face a shade lighter than he liked. “He’s not on the watch list we have,” he said.
“Rhino,” Ollie blurted.
Sully’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“They called him Rhino. I just remembered. He’s new. They said something about making sure he could be trusted. They made him watch, then had him shoot the man again.”
That name hadn’t been in her statement.
“Rhino? Has to be a nickname,” Piper said.
“You never know these days, but yeah, probably.” Sully frowned. “So what do the mob and the preppers have in common? What are they working for? What is it they want?” He looked at the pictures again. “Because they are working together. On something.”
“Coming after me?” Ollie asked. “If these preppers are like most, they know this land, this area. Wouldn’t surprise me if they decided to hire them or something.”
It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. The fact that she knew the man in the picture said that it was actually a distinct possibility. He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know and I won’t figure it out standing here. I hate to admit it, but I also don’t know if it’s safe to stay here.”
Ollie wilted. “So you want to leave just in case?”
He hesitated. “Maybe not.” He looked at Piper. “What do you think?”
She sighed and raked a hand over her head. “The trial is coming up soon.”
“Which means they’re getting more and more desperate,” Ollie said.
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Piper said.
“You don’t have to say it. It’s just common sense.” She shrugged. “As much as I don’t want to, maybe we should keep running. All I have to do is run faster longer. Then show up for the trial, testify, and get my life back. Such as it was.”
Sully could only pray it would be that easy. He had his doubts, but he’d keep those to himself. “I need to get in touch with Claire,” he said. “She’ll need to be brought up to speed.”
“No,” Ollie said, dropping the empty plastic bottle into the garbage can by the door. “Don’t tell her yet. The truth is, I don’t want to run if we don’t have to.”
Sully’s heart ached for the brave girl. “I know. I don’t want to do that either, but she’s our boss and we have to keep her updated.”
Piper shook her head. “I don’t know. I think we should go. We don’t know they’re after her, but don’t know they’re not either. We shouldn’t take any chances.”
“No, please,” Ollie said, “I want to stay.” She bit her lip. “Unless my being here puts the others in danger, of course.”
He hesitated. “All right. But be prepared for anything.”
Relief settled over Ollie’s pretty features, but Piper’s face hardened. She didn’t argue, just nodded. “Guess that’s the plan then. I’m heading to the house to shower and change unless you need me for anything else.”
“No, we’re good right now. I’m going to talk to Maya and David and get their perspective security-wise. And Elena too, I guess, since she was there. Keep your phone handy in case we need to bolt.”
“Handy and on ring.” She nodded to Ollie and jogged toward the cabin. They had the use of a golf cart, but Piper preferred the exercise. He didn’t blame her. A lot of this current assignment consisted of sitting or standing. Most agents on protective detail moved when they got the chance.
He looked at Ollie. “I don’t want you too far from me until we figure out what this is all about.”
She nodded. Then sighed. “I’m tired. I’m going to get my backpack out of the locker, then I think I’ll go lie down for a bit before I meet up with Elena.”
He frowned. “Anything I can do?”
“No. I just need some more electrolytes.”
“I’ll walk you back to the house. There’s more Gatorade in the fridge.”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t bother to argue.
Once back at the cabin, Ollie grabbed her drink from the fridge and headed to her room.
Sully could hear the shower running from Piper’s bathroom, so he sat at the kitchen table to ponder their next move.
He sent a text to Maya asking if she’d mind coming to check on Ollie. Handy to have a doctor for a cousin.
She texted she was on the way.
He circled back to the situation he and Elena had encountered on the mountain.
Move or stay?
What was best for Ollie?
That was the question of the day, wasn’t it? Along with how did their safe houses turn out to be not so safe?
The only answer he had was that someone was tracking them. But again, how? He and Piper had both gone over the vehicle, all the luggage, even Ollie’s backpack on the off chance someone had managed to slip something in it.
There was one more answer he didn’t want to have to consider, and that was someone was betraying them. But who? Claire, Maya, and Elena were the only ones who knew the truth about why they were at the ranch. So, could Claire be the traitor? He couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
Footsteps on the porch brought him to his feet. A quick glance out the window confirmed it was Maya, and he opened the door before she could knock. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“I hope so. I could just be overreacting, but Ollie was chugging Gatorade. Granted, she was doing a lot of physical exertion, but she said she was tired and went straight to her room when we got back.”
She relaxed a fraction. “Ah, okay.”
He raked a hand over his head. “I’m being overprotective, aren’t I?”
She smiled. A gentle smile that she always seemed to have ready to share with him. “Not at all. Ollie’s lucky to have you looking out for her.”
Sully managed to suppress his wince at the statement, but he’d not even shared with Maya why he was helicoptering so bad over Ollie. Flashes from the night he’d lost his partner and the witness who’d been killed crashed into his mind, and he shoved them out with equal force.
“Hey, you okay?” Maya asked.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay.”
She raised a brow and then frowned but didn’t push. “Should I go knock on Ollie’s door?”
“Sure. Go for it.” Maya was one of the reasons he’d wanted to bring Ollie here.
Maya disappeared down the hall, and a knock on the front door pulled him back to it. He glanced out the window. This time Elena stood on the porch. He opened the door and his heart did that little thing he had no words for. Stop it. “Everything all right?” he asked.
“For now. I came to see Ollie. She’d mentioned wanting to learn some self-defense.”
“She’s not feeling so great at the moment. Maya just got here and went to check on her.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. We can set up something a little later.”
“That’s probably best.”
“Okay. Well. Good.”
“Yeah.”
Could the conversation get any more awkward?
She tucked her gloved hands into her pockets.
“Can you tell Maya that I met with the staff and filled them in on the attack on the perimeter like she asked me to do? Some of them are going to start doing patrols around the perimeter in groups of two, keeping an eye out for the intruder—and anyone else who’s not supposed to be on the property.
I left them working on a schedule that will still allow all the activities for the vets to continue uninterrupted, but at each place someone will be on guard.
” She bit her lip. “I’m also thinking about suggesting to David that he bring in some reinforcements. ”
“I’ll tell her or you can just come in and wait.”
“Sure.” She stepped inside and they seated themselves at the large round kitchen table.
“As for bringing in reinforcements, I can arrange for that if you like.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Well, it’s not your job, but sure.”
“It’s my job to keep Ollie safe, so this probably falls into that purview. And just so you know, I talked to the sheriff again this morning because while I may not know exactly what’s going on, I can tell it’s not good.”
“What’d he say?”
“He’s still investigating the preppers.”
She nodded. “He’s a good sheriff.”