Sahdev frowned. “After the bomb today, they’ll step up their security. Everyone will be more vigilant. The pastor will likely assign additional patrols along the fence line.”
I shrugged. “Can’t be helped. Not leaving Mac in Bill’s hands for another night. If I can’t find Nicole, might just need to hunt down Bill and have a little talk with him. Make him see reason.”
“It might make more sense for us all to go over the fence,” Kyle said. “That way, if worse comes to worst, we’d have three armed men.”
Might be time to retire Kyle’s nickname. He was still recovering from the flu, but he hadn’t once used that as an excuse to get out of pulling his own weight. Not like in Portland when he was grazed by a bullet and lay around on his ass for weeks, bitching and moaning.
My dad used to tell me to man up. Mac would give me the stink eye if I used that old phrase, but it fit now. Kyle was stepping up, doing his share, acting like a man. Could be time to stop calling him Country Club.
“Something to consider.” Didn’t reject the suggestion, but bringing Kyle and Sahdev into a firefight would definitely be a last resort. What’s that old Bible verse—the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak? Got no doubt they’d do their best, but neither man had my training. Wasn’t sure if they could stay calm and in control when adrenaline was being dumped into their systems.
“Want you two to stick together.” I leaned over the map, then drew a circle with my finger. “This is your search area. If you find the kids, make sure Hannah sees you, so they’ll know you’re friendlies and not the pastor’s men. Radio me, then bring them back to the cabin. If you see or hear Bill’s men, hide. Don’t confront them.”
“All right.” Sahdev stood. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. If we come up empty in our search for the kids, we’ll meet back here around five and consolidate our plan to stake out the camp.”
“Got it.” Kyle jumped to his feet and pulled the keys to the jeep from his pocket, clearly eager to get going. He and Sahdev headed toward the door.
“Be careful.” Mac would kick my ass if either man got hurt trying to rescue her.
Kyle glanced back over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.”
After refilling Hector’s water bowl, I jumped on the bike and rode toward my search zone, the area where I figured the kids were far more likely to be found. Fifteen minutes later, I pulled off the road and hid the Road King behind some brush, then headed into the woods.
Dirt bike’s short pipes made for a noisy ride, so I kept my ears cocked, but heard nothing. They either ditched the bike or were far away. If the boy had a vehicle stashed nearby, likely they raced to the car and were now long gone. That case, we’d be shit out of luck. Girl would be free from the cult’s clutches, but we might never know what role—if any—the boy played in the explosions at the dam and the cabin.
About an hour and a half into my search, I heard a branch snap and two men speaking in hushed voices. Dropped into a crouch behind a fallen log and drew my Colt as the pair stepped into view. A two-way radio sounded, and the older of the men—Pastor Bill’s fourth deacon—pulled it from a pocket.
“James here.”
A crackling noise, followed by Pastor Bill’s voice. “Anything to report?”
“No, sir. If the bomber stuck around to witness his handiwork, he’s long gone now.”
“Keep looking. If you see him, shoot on sight.”
The pastor sounded mighty blasé about ordering a man’s death.
“Yes, sir. Will do. If we don’t spot him, do you want us back at camp in time for the wedding?”
Despite the static, I heard the pastor snort. “No, James, I don’t need you back for the wedding. I expect you to beat the bushes until you find that damned bomber. Over and out.”
James shoved the walkie-talkie back into his pocket, then glanced at his companion.
“You heard the boss.”
“They better save us some wedding cake,” the other man said, his voice sullen.
My radio crackled with an incoming communication.
The men jerked and swung their eyes in my direction.
Well fuck.
“Call for backup,” James ordered.
Before the other man could comply, I aimed, and shot both men in the upper chest. Their bodies dropped to the forest floor, the vessels that carried blood to their brains demolished. I stalked over to them to confirm the kill, pocketed their walkie-talkie, then quickly concealed the bodies under some branches.
Did it trouble me to get the drop on two unsuspecting men? Fuck, no. They had orders to shoot on sight and were calling for backup. And it meant two fewer men to contend with when I breached the camp, increasing my odds of bringing Mac to safety.
I hightailed it out of there, in case anybody heard the shots. As I jogged away, I radioed Kyle.
“We found the dirt bike,” he said. “The kids hid it behind some brush, then apparently took off on foot. No other sign of them.”
Damn. I miscalculated somehow, assumed the teenagers would have headed into my search area. I was in the wrong place.
Glanced at my watch. Ten past four. “Might as well hike back to the road and head to the cabin. We should rendezvous there close to five. Over.”
“You got it.” Kyle signed off.
I loped through the forest, jumping over holes, tree roots, and fallen branches on my way back to the road. My long strides ate up the distance, and I reached the bike by 4:30. I sped back toward the cabin and took the exit for Lost Dog Lake, the jeep carrying Kyle and Sahdev thirty seconds ahead of me on the gravel lane.
When we pulled up to Nicole’s cabin, the front door flew open and Hannah appeared, gesturing and shouting wildly. The teenage boy darted out from the far side of Nicole’s sedan. He dashed toward the porch, taking the steps in one giant leap. Hannah grabbed his arm. He pushed her into the cabin and slammed the door shut.
The boy’s face appeared in the window a moment later, then he dropped the curtain and disappeared from view.
I swung off the bike. Kyle and Sahdev climbed out of the jeep.
Crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. Here I’d been bad-mouthing dumb luck all day, and fate decided to hand us the kids on a silver platter. How ironic was that?
“One of you go round back and make sure they don’t try to get out that way.”
“I’m on it.” Sahdev jogged around the cabin.
“They needed a car, and Hannah remembered that Nicole’s sedan was here, with the keys hanging conveniently on a hook in the kitchen.” Kyle shook his head. “If we’d known, we could have sat tight and waited for them to show up.”
My cheeks puffed when I blew out an exasperated breath. “Ain’t that the way it goes.”
Grandpa used to say that. Actually he used to sing that line whenever life confounded him. It was from some song that was popular when he was a kid.
“What do we do now?” Kyle asked.
Cupped my hands around my mouth so my voice would carry. “Hannah, it’s Ripper. Kyle and Sahdev are with me. You know us. Tell your boyfriend we’re not working with Pastor Bill.”
I couldn’t hear it, but I imagined the frantic conversation going on inside the cabin. A minute later, the door opened and the boy stepped out, followed by the girl. Scowling, he took a defensive position between us and her.
“Don’t shoot,” Hannah called.
I raised my hands to show her that I wasn’t holding a weapon.
She stepped around her boyfriend, who wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back.
“Let go, Levi,” she said impatiently. “Ripper’s not going to hurt me. He’s Kenzie’s boyfriend. He needs to go and get her away from Pastor Bill.”
I jerked at the mention of Mac’s name, at the proof that she was alive and in the camp. Relief zapped every bit of strength from my limbs and I sagged, before straightening to face the kids.
Hannah tugged free of the boy’s arms and stepped
closer. The kid—Levi—stuck to her side, obviously ready to push her out of the way if I made a move.
Kind of admired the little shit’s protective stance.
“Hannah, they are working with the pastor.” Levi seized her shoulders and turned her to face him. “These guys approached my cabin with Pastor Bill’s men. I saw them. I was in my observation post in a tree.” He pointed to Kyle and me. “And then today the tall guy chased you and me when we were running to the dirt bike.”
Wait. His cabin? This high school student rigged the cabin and surrounding land with deadly booby traps? He watched us from an observation post in a tree?
“You built all those booby traps.” Kyle shook his head. “You blew up the cabin and killed Tyler. What is wrong with you, you homicidal little shithead?”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t blow up the cabin.”
“Really.” Kyle’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “You blew up the fence, but somebody else blew up the cabin where you happened to be living. Are you going to tell us that you had nothing to do with the explosions at the dam, too?”
“The dam? What the fuck, man,” Levi sputtered.
“Levi didn’t blow up the dam. Pastor Bill was behind that,” Hannah broke in.
All heads swung in her direction.
Sahdev raised his hands. “I suggest that we take a moment and calmly listen to everybody’s stories.”
Yeah. Everybody held a different piece of the puzzle, and we had to get to the bottom of this. I pointed at Levi. “You first. Tell us why you were staying at the cabin and why you rigged it with booby traps.”
Hannah jumped in. “Levi and I were driving to his Grandpa Kurt’s place in La Pine. Our car broke down a couple of miles from here. A nice man stopped to help.” She made a face at the words nice man. “The creepy cult took us in and offered to fix our car. Levi left to pick up the car from the mechanic, and he never came back.”
Kyle cleared his throat. “What happened, Levi? Why didn’t you come back for Hannah?”
“Instead of going to the mechanic, Deacon Morris drove me to Hood River and dumped me and our packs on the side of the road. He told me that if I knew what was good for me, I’d stay away from Hannah and the camp. Said that if any of the pastor’s men spotted me near the camp, they had orders to shoot to kill.”
Hannah gasped and flung her arms around his waist, as if Pastor Bill might materialize and try to wrest Levi away from her again.
“So, what did you do, kid? When the good pastor told you he’d kill you if you didn’t get lost?”
Levi slung an arm across Hannah’s shoulders and met my gaze with a calm composure that belied his years.
“What would you do, man? I went back for my girl. Well, first I walked around the town and gathered supplies. Then I came across a dirt bike in some guy’s garage, loaded it up and rode back toward Mt. Hood. I found an out-of-the-way hunting cabin and fortified it with the booby traps Grandpa Kurt taught me how to make. I mean, they told me they’d kill me if I came back, so I had to make sure nobody could sneak up on me. Then I watched and waited for a chance to contact Hannah.”
“Bird calls,” Hannah said. “We used our secret bird calls.”
Levi grinned, and they bumped fists.
I was gonna end up liking this kid, despite myself.
“Two of the pastor’s men stumbled on my cabin a few days ago. One of them got hurt in a Punji stake trap. The three of you showed up and helped Bill’s man carry the guy out of the woods. Of course I assumed you were members of his flock.”
“He told us that his men had found the man responsible for destroying The Dalles Dam,” Sahdev said. “They claimed that they saw bomb-making materials inside the cabin. We assumed it was you.”
“The fucker was trying to set me up.” Levi’s mouth twisted in disgust. “He wanted you guys to run the risk of navigating through the booby traps. Wanted you to do his dirty work. Maybe he hoped that you’d see me, assume the worst, and shoot me on the spot. Levi Greenburg dead, another problem solved.”
“Who blew up the cabin?” I demanded.
“Not me.” His blue eyes met mine, and he stuck his chin out, as if daring me to contradict him. “I watched it happen from my perch. After the three of you hiked out, two more guys showed up, Deacon Gary and Tyler. Tyler was a nice guy. We hung out at the camp while I was waiting for the mechanic to fix our car. Anyway, Gary forced open the door to the cabin, and they walked inside. Five minutes later he walked out alone and ran toward the tree line. The cabin exploded. Once the flames died down he ran back to the cabin and pulled out Tyler’s body.”
Kyle shoved a hand through his hair. “Gary blew up the cabin and killed Tyler? How? Why?”
“So witnesses would report the explosion and the smoke,” Sahdev guessed. “Which would validate the lie Pastor Bill told Kenzie about our deaths.”
Levi nodded. “And to get rid of Tyler.” We all looked at him, confused. “Tyler was hung up on Pastor Bill’s second wife, Justine. They’d planned to run off before the wedding, but they chickened out. He told me she was better off married to the pastor—she had a bunch of special privileges—and he said he was okay with it. Pastor Bill must have found out and decided to get rid of Tyler, to keep them from ever hooking up again. Blowing up the cabin was a case of killing two birds with one stone.”
“Deacon Gary did say that he was a civil engineer.” Sahdev sat down on the bottom step. “He would possess the knowledge to bring down a small structure like the cabin, and very likely the dam as well.”
“It’s all part of the pastor’s Back to Eden plan,” Hannah said. “Kenzie showed me all the papers she found in his cabin, including a brochure from The Dalles Dam Visitor Center with a picture of the dam on the cover. Somebody drew a circle around the spillway with five Xs inside. You know, for the five explosions.”
Information assaulted me from all sides and my head was swimming. Mac was alive. Pastor Bill was behind Back 2 Eden. Deacon Gary was the bomber.
“What about Nicole?” I asked abruptly. “Why did she help you escape?”
“She finally saw through Pastor Bill’s bullshit. He told Kenzie that you guys died in the explosion, then she heard him talking to Deacon Gary about you on the walkie-talkie.”
“Do you know exactly where Mac’s being held?” I asked.
“Oh, shit.” Hannah paled. “I should have said something right away. Pastor Bill wanted to take me as his third wife tonight—the third Eve in his Garden of Eden. Kenzie offered to take my place, to marry Pastor Bill so that I wouldn’t have to.”
Do you want us back at camp in time for the wedding?
The deacon had been talking about Bill’s wedding to Mac.
If that fucker laid a finger on her... Every muscle in my body tightened and a vein in my temple throbbed so mercilessly that I thought I might have a stroke. White-hot rage pounded through my veins, the kind of anger that makes a man sloppy, that leads to mistakes.
I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes.
Remember your training.
Fighting the adrenaline that surged through my body, I willed a mantle of calm to slip into place. I summoned forth my old friend, my familiar spirit, my lethal doppelganger. He settled into my bones, wove through my muscles and tendons, rippled through my blood, and took possession of my brain.
When I opened my eyes, The Ripper gazed out at the late afternoon sky. I blinked, then glanced at Hannah.
“When and where is the wedding?” I made no threatening gesture, and my uninflected voice held not a hint of menace, but the girl must have sensed the change.
Hannah shrank back against Levi, her fear palpable.
The promise of death that hummed through my veins was not for her, so I took a step back, granting her the false comfort of distance. The Ripper wasn’t a monster. He might forget civility, but he wouldn’t cause undeserved pain.
She faltered. “The wedding is supposed to start at 5 p.m....in the chapel.”
/>
I glanced at my watch. 5:09 p.m.
TWENTY-ONE
Kenzie
It took freaking forever to get through this bogus ceremony. Not that I was complaining. I was in no hurry to become Mrs. Pastor Bill.
The congregation sang along while Ruth played two hymns on the piano. Rebecca read aloud verses from the Bible. Afterwards, Bill pressed a chaste kiss to his number one wife’s cheek before turning to face me once again. Deacon what’s-his-name gave a cringe-inducing sermon on womanly duties and the sanctity of the marriage bed. All the while, Bill grinned at me.
My mind kept returning to his nightstand full of sex toys. Maybe I’d kill him when he was pawing through the drawer, too distracted to notice that I was bearing down on him with a corkscrew.
I sighed.
In the entire history of premeditated murder plots, mine had to be one of the iffiest. Still, I had no choice but to make it work.
The deacon turned to Pastor Bill. “Will you take this woman as your divinely ordained wife and live together according to God’s holy ordinance?”
“I most certainly will.”
“And will you take this man as your divinely ordained husband? Will you pledge to him your duty, service, faithfulness, and obedience as you live together according to God’s holy ordinance?”
Bill watched me with eagle eyes.
I had to pledge duty, service, faithfulness, and obedience? Lopsided vows, weren’t they?
Sure. Why not. The intrinsic sexism of the vows should have rankled, but honestly, I didn’t care. Under the circumstances, no reasonable deity would hold my fake promise against me. The whole point of this little charade was to keep the man’s mitts off Hannah and to give me the opportunity to rid the world of a charlatan.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Okay.”
Bill’s eyes glittered. I’d no doubt he planned to make me pay for my flippant response.
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