Sean wanted to deck that bitch.
A vehicle was approaching; it sounded like a truck. Micah moved forward, but Sean held him back. “Stay.”
Staying low to the ground, he ventured toward the edge of the cliff. It was quickly getting dark, and all he saw was the headlights of a truck. Then it turned and Sean noted a seal on the door and emergency lights on the roof. U.S. Forest Service most likely. The corrupt ranger. There were loud voices, shouting, but Sean couldn’t make out what was being said.
He pulled out his binoculars and looked at the scene. Ann and the ranger were arguing about something. It appeared that Ann won because the ranger looked pissed and stormed off into the meth trailer. Two men came out when the ranger went in and walked over to Ann. Damn, Sean wished he could read lips.
He looked around the camp. He hadn’t seen any sign of Micah’s little brother. But he spotted two dirt bikes, one small, one larger, next to the trailer closest to the cliff.
He went back to Micah. “Is your trailer the one closest to us? With the bikes?”
“Yes,” Micah whispered. “Did you see Tommy?”
Sean shook his head. “You said Tommy’s father is in jail?”
“That’s what Mom said. They never got married. He was this guy my mom was seeing for a while. He left when she got pregnant. Just like my dad left.” He frowned. “She said they didn’t want kids, but she loved us enough for two parents. She always said that.”
“Then believe it.”
He shrugged. “We wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t brought us.”
“She was under a lot of pressure.” Sean didn’t know what else to say to Micah. Lucy would know exactly the right words to make the kid feel okay about his mom and himself. Sean agreed with the kid: what mother would bring her young kids into the middle of this? But it couldn’t have been easy for her, a recovering drug addict raising two boys.
Sean glanced at his watch. Lucy had only been gone ten minutes. It felt much longer.
“I hate drugs,” Micah said.
“So do I.” Sean glanced at him. Now that the sun had gone down, the temperature had dropped substantially. He pulled out his extra sweatshirt and handed it to Micah. Micah put it on. It went to his knees. Sean rolled up the sleeves for him. “My oldest sister, Molly, overdosed on drugs. I was little, younger than your brother, when it happened. I barely remember her but my parents were so sad and angry and they blamed themselves.” He paused. Like Justin’s murder had forever changed the Kincaid family, Molly’s overdose had a similar effect on the Rogans. “You’ve been strong for three days, Micah. I admire that. Your brother’s going to need you.”
Micah didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, “Do you hate your sister?”
“Of course not. She didn’t want to die. Drugs are addictive, they destroy people. She didn’t know how to stop. Even with all the help my parents gave her, she couldn’t seem to get
out of the cycle. Sometimes—well, I was really small, but my parents were sad, and my brothers were sad and angry. I think they were mad at her but they also loved and missed her.”
Sean motioned for Micah to stay hidden. “I’m going to check out what’s happening. I don’t hear anything.”
He crawled over to the edge and looked down at the camp. The lights were on in all the trailers. He made out shadows and silhouettes but it was hard to discern how many people. Boxes were being taken out of the meth trailer and carried across the open space to the trailer on the far side. The ranger was still there, but Sean couldn’t see him. Or Ann.
He crawled back to Micah. “They’re definitely moving out,” he said.
“Did you see Tommy?”
“No.”
“We have to get him!” Micah’s voice cracked.
“Shh, I know. I’m working on a plan.”
“What?”
“I’m thinking.” He had no idea how to get the kid. He didn’t know if someone was in the trailer with him, or if he was even in the trailer Micah identified. Sean needed to get closer, but he wasn’t going to leave Micah alone. When Lucy returned, he would find a way down to the camp. He didn’t know how long it would take for them to pack up, but they didn’t seem in too much of a rush. He suspected a few hours, then they’d leave. They might even wait until dawn.
“Ten more minutes,” Sean said.
He heard the slide of a gun and a round being chambered. “You don’t have ten minutes, Sean Rogan,” Ann said behind him.
He kept his hands in sight and slowly turned around.
Micah leaned against Sean, shaking.
“Thank you for finding him. He’s been nothing but a fucking pain in my ass.”
“Don’t. Touch. Him.”
She laughed. “You should be more worried about yourself. I don’t kill kids.”
“Where’s Lucy?” Sean raised his voice, hoping Lucy could hear and would stay away.
“She’ll be fine. It’ll take her a while to get out of the woods at night, but she’ll make it. By the time she gets to the road, we’ll be long gone.” She stepped forward. “I’m not cruel. Micah, where did you hide my book?”
Sean frowned. “What book?”
“He didn’t tell you he stole it from me. It has everything I need for my business.”
Micah’s voice cracked. “You killed my mom.”
“The book, Micah.”
“No!”
“I said I don’t kill kids. But him?” She turned the gun on Sean. “My book, Micah. I’ll count to three. One.”
That’s why she was looking for Micah—not because he’d run away, but because he’d taken something from her.
“Don’t say anything,” Sean said. “That book is what’s keeping you alive, kid.”
“I’ll take you to it,” Micah said.
“Just tell me where.”
“I buried it. You won’t be able to find it at night, but I can.”
Ann motioned to the two guys behind her. “Take Rogan to the camp and secure him. I’ll go with the kid.”
“I swear if you hurt him—”
“You’re not in a position to make threats,” Ann told Sean. “I’m not going to hurt him. He knows these woods better than anyone, it appears. He’ll find his way out soon enough.”
“Where’s Tommy?” Micah demanded, his voice cracking but holding his chin up.
“Don’t worry about Tommy. If you take me to my book, I’ll take you to Tommy. Deal?”
Micah nodded.
The two guys grabbed Rogan and zip-tied his wrists together, then led him along the edge of the cliff until it started to descend into the camp.
Sean looked over his shoulder and saw Ann, gun in hand, following Micah into the woods.
Special Agent Noah Armstrong, Lucy’s former training agent and a friend, wasn’t answering his cell phone or his home phone. She sent him a text message, telling him it was urgent she talk to him immediately, then she called her sister-in-law Kate Donovan. Kate taught cybercrime at Quantico and was married to Lucy’s brother Dillon.
“Kate, it’s Lucy.”
“Aren’t you camping?”
“I need to reach Noah.”
“I can barely hear you—are you whispering?”
“Yes. Long story, no time to explain. Sean and I found a meth lab.”
“In the woods,” Kate said flatly.
“There are two kids in jeopardy, a nine-year-old boy named Micah Sanders and his brother, Thomas.” Lucy had gotten as much information from Micah as she could while they were walking to meet Sean. “Their mother’s dead. There are three men and two women involved in the lab, and at least one forest ranger.”
“Where are you?”
“Sean told Patrick where we were going, and I have Sean’s phone. I unlocked Sean’s GPS signal and Patrick should be able to track it. We’re on the eastern side of the Shenandoah National Park. There was a fire in the area a couple years ago; the meth lab is in a valley created by the fire. There’s no obvious road going in and out that I can see, but there are three small trailers, two trucks, and a large trailer that appears to be where they’re producing the drugs. They’re packing up now.”
“I’ll call DEA. I have a friend who I trust. Just stay out of sight.”
“We can’t. One of the boys, Micah, is with Sean. His little brother is in danger. We need to get him out. He’s a potential hostage.”
“Lucy—”
“They killed his mother, Kate.” Lucy lowered her voice. “I don’t have time to argue. Tell your contact, and Noah when you reach him, that they are armed and dangerous. The meth lab is fully functional.”
“I got it. I’ll call Patrick for your coordinates, but even if there’s a team in the area, it’s going to take an hour or more to get to that location.”
“We’ll try to delay them.”
“Don’t do anything stupid!”
Lucy heard voices on the cliff—that couldn’t be good. “I have to go.”
“Lucy—”
She hung up and pocketed the phone. She hoped Patrick could pinpoint their GPS and Kate had the right contacts to get DEA or FBI out here as soon as possible. Because right now she feared that little Tommy was in the middle of the danger zone.
The best of all worlds would be to get Tommy from the camp and disappear into the woods until the cavalry arrived.
Voices again. Lucy scurried into the woods, stepping lightly, keeping within the shadows of the trees, grateful she was wearing all black.
“Where’s Tommy?” she heard Micah say loud and clear.
Lucy stopped. A female voice responded, but she couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Ann?
Flashlights reflected an area about twenty yards in front of her and to the right. She stayed behind a tree and watched. In the circle she saw Ann holding a gun walking with Micah, then quickly lost sight of them. Remaining in the circle was a restrained Sean—and two armed men. They started walking toward her, then turned down the slope to her right.
How could she make this choice? Follow Sean or Micah? The man she loved or an innocent little boy?
They hadn’t killed Sean, so it was likely that they wanted to keep him alive as a hostage or to interrogate him. Ann didn’t know she had escaped her binds; Sean wouldn’t have let it slip and Lucy hoped Micah hadn’t, either.
She didn’t have time to ponder. She waited until Sean and the men passed by her hiding spot, then she pursued Ann and Micah.
Please, Lord, look after Sean.
She wasn’t going to wait to act. She pulled the gun Micah had given her and followed Ann’s flashlight through the trees. She was gaining ground.
She tripped once and bit her tongue to keep from crying out when her knee hit a rock. It took her a moment to get up and shake off the pain. She thought she’d lost them and scanned the area, looking for a light, listening for voices. They had stopped. She quietly drew closer.
Micah was kneeling on the ground, practically hidden within Sean’s MIT sweatshirt, and Ann was closely watching him. What were they doing? At first Lucy thought that Ann was going to execute the kid, shoot him in the back of the head, then she saw that Micah was digging in the ground.
She got as close as she dared, shielded only by the cover of darkness.
“You’ve got balls, kid, but I don’t like games. That book is my life, and that means you
screwed with my life.”
There was an underlying hostility and superiority in Ann’s tone. She’d already killed at least one person—Micah’s mother—and had internally justified murdering a child. Lucy would stake her reputation—and her life—on it.
She pulled her gun, but kept it just behind her thigh, her index finger on the trigger guard. Shooting from the hip was primarily for closed quarters, and Lucy would feel more comfortable with ten feet between them rather than the twenty feet there were now. If Ann saw the gun she’d immediately take Micah as a hostage. Or shoot Lucy without conversation. Lucy would try first to talk but she suspected Ann was in a panic. She probably had promised her product to someone who would kill if she didn’t deliver, and that threat would put anyone in a dangerous mindset.
Lucy circled as Micah dug in the dirt. He was quietly crying, but trying to stop. Lucy wanted him to see her, to know that she was there and would protect him. But how could she warn him without Ann spotting her first?
“Here,” Micah said.
He held up a plastic bag with a black ledger inside.
Ann smiled. “Was that so hard, Micah?”
“Why did you kill my mom?”
“She was a liability, kid. And so are you.” Ann pointed the gun at Micah’s head.
Lucy stepped out of her hiding place and said, “Ann!”
Ann whirled around and aimed the gun at Lucy. “You fucking bitch,” she said. “If you’d just stayed put, you probably would have lived.”
“Let Micah go.”
“Of course. I don’t kill kids.” Ann’s snide tone said she was lying.
“Then let Micah walk away.”
“No.”
“Micah, run.”
Ann turned the gun on Micah. “Don’t move.”
“You said you don’t kill kids,” Lucy said, delaying.
“There’s a first for everything. Do you know what a big fucking headache he’s given me for three days? And then you and your boyfriend waltz in and I have to shut down my operation two weeks early? You cost me a hundred thousand dollars. Then you tell me you’re a fucking Fed.”
“I’ve already called my partner. The FBI and DEA are on their way. It would be better to give up now, without anyone else getting hurt.” Lucy focused on Ann’s eyes and hands, trying to interpret Ann’s next move.
Ann’s arm went up and her eyes went to Lucy’s chest.
Lucy fired her gun three times from the hip in rapid succession.
Ann got off a shot. The bullet whizzed by Lucy’s left arm.
Ann fell to her knees. She fired again, but her hand was shaking and the bullet went into the ground.
Lucy ran over and easily disarmed her. She picked up the ledger that Ann had dropped when she fell and handed it to Micah. “Get behind me,” she told him.
He was shaking, but did what she’d told him.
Lucy knelt next to Ann and searched her for additional weapons. She didn’t have any. Ann couldn’t talk. Though she was wearing a thick jacket, Lucy saw that all three bullets had hit her in the chest. She tore open the jacket to see if she could apply pressure. There was a
tremendous amount of blood. Micah had the flashlight aimed at them, his whole body shaking. Ann grabbed Lucy’s wrist, tightly at first, then lost strength and went limp.
She was dead in less than a minute.
Lucy turned her head away and closed her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to kill her…could she honestly tell herself that? Had she simply wounded her, Ann would have shot Lucy—or worse, Micah. Her training had taken over and she’d gone for center mass. Three bullets to the chest, two center and one above the sternum, all hitting where Lucy aimed.
“Is…is she d-dead?”
“Yes.” Lucy’s voice was sharper than she intended. This wasn’t the first time she’d killed someone to save herself or someone else, but the same surge of doubt and regret washed over her. Her mind instantly went to all the other possibilities. What she should have said or done. If she could have talked Ann down. If she should have waited longer before showing herself. But every way she sliced it, she couldn’t see it going any other way. The loss of a human life, any human life, hurt Lucy deep inside, in a place she couldn’t see or touch, but it itched. As if with each death, no matter how justified, a piece of her soul darkened.
“L-Lucy?” Micah touched her shoulder.
She let out a deep breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, then turned to the boy and hugged him. His thin arms squeezed her neck, calming her, reminding her why she had to shoot Ann.
“It’s okay. What about you? You okay? You’re not hurt, right?”
“I’m not hurt.” He didn’t let go of her, his little body shaking uncontrollably.
Momentarily, she said, “We have to find Sean.”
“They t-took him to the trailer.”
“I know.”
He stepped back and frowned at her, his brows furrowed. “Why didn’t you help him?”
“Because you were in danger. But,” she added quickly so the boy wouldn’t feel any unwarranted guilt, “we’re going to get him now. I have a plan. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but the FBI is on their way. I don’t know when they’ll get here, but we need to get Tommy to safety. That’s our goal. Can you be brave?” There were a lot of unknown variables, but she didn’t see another alternative.
His eyes flitted toward Ann. Lucy turned his face so he looked directly into Lucy’s eyes. “Micah, I need you to do exactly what I say. Okay?”
He nodded.
“First, rebury the book. We need to keep it safe for the authorities. And then we’ll rescue Sean and Tommy.”