Treacherous Intent (22 page)

“There’s the yarn shop.” Elisabeth pointed to a small building to their left.

Liam scanned around and saw an internet café down the street in the opposite direction. “That looks like a good place.”

She nodded, her eyes apprehensive as they rested on him. “Be careful.”

He wanted to touch her face, as he had outside the parking garage. But he couldn’t do that to her. She deserved better. “You, too.”

He turned down a side road until he hit Long Street, one of the main streets of the town, bordered by shops. It ran parallel to the road they’d just been on. He glued his cell phone to his ear and started shouting, “Joslyn? Is that you? I can barely hear you.”

He didn’t have to walk more than a block before a Bagsic noticed him. The man wasn’t familiar to Liam, but he wore the distinctive purple and gray colors. Liam pretended not to see him and continued shouting into his cell phone. “Where are you? I’m here in town. Joslyn?”

Liam made his way toward the internet café and away from the yarn shop, away from Elisabeth and Joslyn. He kept shouting Joslyn’s name into his cell phone to draw the attention of any other Bagsics nearby, luring them away so Elisabeth could sneak inside and bring Joslyn out without being seen. He was almost to the front door of the internet café when he glanced in the window.

Sitting beside the window was a Bagsic at a table, typing on a laptop. He had finer clothes than some of the other gang members Liam had seen, although not quite as fine as Tomas’s. He seemed to be higher up the food chain, maybe just below Tomas’s level or equal to it. He hadn’t seen Liam and didn’t even look up as Liam walked past the window. But Liam noticed the flash of metal on his wrist.

He wore a vintage Rolex watch. The same watch Liam had seen in the photos of Joslyn’s father.

This man had been there when Tomas killed Felix Dimalanta. And he had stolen the man’s watch.

Liam’s jaw ached, and he realized he’d been clenching it. He had to stay focused or he’d never make it out of Penny Bay alive.

At the door to the internet café, he stopped and turned to face the street. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Bagsic following him duck into a souvenir shop—still within easy earshot.

“What?” Liam shouted into his phone. “You’re where? The lighthouse? Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

He pocketed his phone and turned back the way he’d come. He didn’t look into the souvenir shop and made his way quickly down the street to where it narrowed into the utility road and continued out of town to the lighthouse.

He thought he might have seen Tomas out of the corner of his eye as he passed a restaurant. By now his men would have told him what they’d overheard about Joslyn at the lighthouse, and they’d be following Liam. Hopefully at a distance.

The utility road was a straight shot that ended at the lighthouse perched on the edge of the cliffs. The road passed between two rows of historic houses converted into vacation rentals, gussied up with Christmas decorations even though it looked as though they were empty of tenants at the moment. There were one or two tourists milling around the lighthouse, but they were far down the path looking out to sea.

Liam’s cell phone rang. He saw that Elisabeth had called and hung up, as they’d planned. She was in position.

He took a deep breath. He continued walking until he’d just passed the corner of a house, then he suddenly cut right and ran around the side of the building. Shouts rang out behind him.

He took another right around the backside of the house and sprinted with all his might toward the utility road. At the same time, he heard the gunning of an engine. The Mazda truck.

Elisabeth shot into view, jamming down the utility road in an intercept course with him. She turned quickly onto the grass, the truck’s four-wheel drive handling the off roading with ease. She slowed as he neared her, and he took a flying leap, planting his foot on the bumper and jumping into the back of the pickup.

He landed against the metal bed, aware of Elisabeth accelerating back toward the utility road. He slid toward the tailgate, bouncing violently as the wheels jounced around on the earth. There was nothing for him to hold on to, so he just concentrated on not flying out of the truck.

Once Elisabeth reached the entrance to the highway, she stopped. Liam climbed out of the bed. The gang members were still far down the road, running toward them.

Joslyn opened the passenger door and Liam climbed inside. “Go!” He slammed the door and fastened his seat belt as Elisabeth jammed forward, then turned onto the highway.

It was a few miles before he was able to relax against the seat. They had done it.

But now there was no going back to his family for help. Tomas knew with certainty that Liam and Elisabeth had Joslyn.

And he wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t hesitate to hurt people, until he had her.

* * *

Elisabeth was a few miles from Penny Bay before she said, “Where are we going?”

“We can’t take Joslyn back to Sonoma,” Liam said.

Joslyn shook her head. “Tomas knows I’m with you.”

“So we should find somewhere she can stay and be safe,” Liam said.

“We can’t leave her alone,” Elisabeth argued.

“No, we won’t do that. But I think I know someone who can help us. Head to Mendocino.”

The farther they got from Penny Bay, the more Elisabeth felt like her lungs were opening up and she could breathe freely. She could feel Joslyn, sitting next to her, slowly stop trembling.

Elisabeth squeezed her hand. “You’re all right now. We’ll keep you safe.”

Joslyn squeezed her hand back. “It’s been a nightmare.” Her head bent forward, and her straight dark hair fell forward over her face.

Joslyn closed her eyes and her jaw worked. “I’m so ashamed of what I’ve done.”

“We know about the Tumibays and the shipping container,” Elisabeth said gently. “You didn’t have any choice.”

“I shouldn’t have gotten involved with Tomas in the first place.” Her brow winkled in distress. “I was working at Perkins Electronics, putting myself through school, and he just came up and started flirting with me. I was floored he even noticed me. I was always the shy one at school. He was handsome, masculine, and he was so persistent.”

Elisabeth remembered the charisma of her ex-boyfriend, how starstruck she’d been when they’d first started going out.

“It didn’t take long to realize I’d made a mistake going out with him. I was going to find a way to leave him,” Joslyn said softly. “I was working up the courage when he... My dad...” Tears began to flow down her cheeks. “It was my fault. If I hadn’t been dating Tomas, Dad might still be alive.”

“Stop thinking like that,” Elisabeth said fiercely. “You’re not to blame for the crimes Tomas committed.”

Joslyn sucked in a deep breath, which calmed her. “You’re right. It’s what Hannah told me, too.”

“Who’s Hannah?”

“She’s the woman who I was working for in Oregon.” Joslyn gave a watery smile. “She’s been wonderful. She was there for me when I lost...” Her face abruptly fell.

Dread began to pool in Elisabeth stomach. They’d suspected Joslyn was pregnant. “Did you have a miscarriage? Oh, Joslyn.” She squeezed her hand again.

Joslyn blinked away more tears. “The stress and fear took a toll on my body. I didn’t expect it, but I really wanted my baby. Hannah helped me through it. She’s been praying for me and teaching me about grace.”

“Grace?” Elisabeth was confused.

“God’s grace,” Joslyn said. “About how Jesus died for me, and no matter what I’ve done, I’m forgiven. I didn’t think it would be so comforting, but it’s been helping me so much. I feel so much less alone.”

Elisabeth had become used to feeling alone. She realized that she was tired of it, but she also wasn’t sure if she was ready to believe in a God who allowed bad things to happen to His people. How could Joslyn find God comforting in the midst of all the things that had happened to her?

“I was almost happy,” Joslyn said. “I don’t know how Tomas found me.”

“Did you go to a clinic?” Liam asked.

Joslyn nodded. “I had to use my real name, but they promised me that the medical records were secure.”

“The Bagsics probably hired another skip tracer who hacked into servers, looking for mention of you. But how’d they find you in Penny Bay?”

“They must have found out I hitched a ride with that farmer,” Joslyn said. “They’d only need to ask at the stores on the farmer’s route to see if anyone saw me.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I have such a hard time believing that there’s any way to get away from them.”

“I have somewhere to hide you,” Liam said. “I have a cousin with a house in the mountains around Mendocino. He works for the county sheriff’s department, so he can both hide you and protect you.”

“For how long?” Joslyn said. “I can’t hide forever.”

Elisabeth didn’t want to ask this, but she had to. “When Tomas killed your father, did you see it?”

She swallowed and nodded. “I was hiding in the kitchen cupboard. I thought for sure he’d find me. But Dad told them he didn’t know where I was, and then they...” She cried softly for a few minutes.

“We will put him away,” Elisabeth said. “We won’t let him get away with that.”

“But you don’t understand,” Joslyn said. “I can’t testify about the murder. Other people who testified against the Bagsics disappeared....”

“I saw something else that might help the case,” Liam said.

Elisabeth peered at him. “You did?”

“I saw a Bagsic member in Penny Bay who was wearing Felix’s vintage Rolex watch.”

“Who was it? What was he wearing?” Joslyn asked.

“Purple silk shirt, black slacks, gray tie. He had a computer.”

“That’s probably Richard Mendoza. He does a lot of Tomas’s computer work. He was there with Tomas in Dad’s apartment that night.”

“What I wouldn’t give to get my hands on his computer,” Elisabeth murmured.

“You can also testify about what you overheard Tomas say about the shipping container,” Liam said to Joslyn.

Joslyn shuddered. “What about the Tumibays? Daniel was the only one I saw, but I told him about the shipping container. He’ll need to keep me quiet about the fact I told him.”

“We found the shipping container on Tumibay property,” Elisabeth said. “I gave all the information to my contacts at the FBI. They’re tracing it now.”

“We will not stop investigating until it’s safe for you to come out of hiding.” Liam had a quietness and confidence that visibly calmed Joslyn. She nodded.

They switched off driving when they stopped for gas, and Liam drove to his cousin’s house deep in the mountains, a little ways off the winding road into Mendocino. The house was newly built, two stories with lots of long windows, surrounded by redwood trees. Elisabeth imagined that the owner could feel as though he was living in the middle of the forest glade rather than within the walls of a house.

Liam had called ahead, and Jeremy came out of the house to meet them as the pickup truck drove up the gravel driveway. He was tall and lean, similar in build to Liam, and he moved with the fluidity and grace of an athlete.

As Liam and Jeremy talked, Elisabeth hugged Joslyn goodbye. “I’ll call you to check up on you and keep you updated.”

“Don’t worry too much about me.” Joslyn looked up at the starry sky, framed by the tops of the redwood trees high above. “I can’t think of a more beautiful place to hide out. Although I’m dying for a Starbucks coffee.”

Elisabeth smiled.

“I’ll be praying,” Joslyn said. “I have to believe that God will save me—will save all of us somehow.”

The thought of being able to release her burdens suddenly seemed amazing to Elisabeth—and too good to be true. She was starting to realize just how tired she was. Maybe...maybe there was something there....

Or maybe there wasn’t. Maybe this Christianity thing was only for people who had family members who loved them.

Maybe she was fooling herself into thinking she wasn’t meant to be alone.

They drove out of Mendocino, Elisabeth at the wheel, and she was still lost in her thoughts when Liam got a call on his cell phone. “Hey, Shaun....What?”

She turned at the sharpness of his voice. Had something happened to his family?

“Do you trust him?” Liam said into his phone. “Okay, we’ll call him.”

“What is it?”

“A Bagsic member called Shaun with a message for you.” Liam’s tone was wary, but there was curiosity in his voice, too. “He says he’s willing to give us evidence against Tomas.”

SIXTEEN

I
t had to be a trap. Liam couldn’t think it was anything less.

But what if it wasn’t? Evidence against Tomas— With that, he could ensure Elisabeth’s safety, and the safety of his family and Joslyn.

Elisabeth’s expression was fierce. “Why would he be willing to do that?”

“We’ll have to call him to find out.”

Shaun had said that the Bagsic member had called his workplace at the Joy Luck Life Hotel and Spa and left the message to pass to Liam. He’d given a phone number, which Shaun texted to Liam.

He put the phone on speaker, and a man answered after only one ring. “Yeah?” A high male voice.

“This is Elisabeth,” she said.

“You called.” The man heaved a sigh. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“What do you want?” Liam said.

“You guys are skip tracers, right? You can help me disappear? I’ll give you evidence against Tomas if you can help me.” The man spoke rapidly, nervously.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t want to do this anymore and there’s no other way out of the gang except in a body bag.”

He seemed sincere. Was Liam being too trusting? Did he want to believe the man because he seemed to have the answer to his problems? “What kind of evidence?”

“A flash drive. I lifted the info from Richard Mendoza’s computer.”

The Bagsic in the internet café with Felix’s watch. “We’ll meet and you can give it to me.”

“I’ll give it to Elisabeth.” The man’s voice grew stubborn. “She helped Joslyn. She’s a straight shooter.”

“You’re not meeting her alone,” Liam snapped. He wasn’t sure if the look Elisabeth gave him was grateful or surprised at his protectiveness, but at least she didn’t look offended.