Safe House Under Fire

by Elisabeth Rees

  She smiled to hide a sudden and strange sense of dismay. A return to normalcy would be fantastic but it would mean losing David in her life and, despite having chosen that path willingly, it still hurt.

  “Yeah,” she said. “That would be best for everyone.”

  “What would be best for everyone?” Astrid said, coming into the room with an iPad in her hand.

  Lilly crossed her arms and huffed. “It might be a good idea to stop listening to other people’s conversations, Astrid. You could hear something that you didn’t want to know.”

  “Whatever.” Astrid sat on a stool at the kitchen bar and put the iPad on the counter. “I need to speak to you, Mom, about an email I got from Dad this morning.”

  Lilly shot her eyes to David’s. “Did you say she could go online and check her messages?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. It’s one of our untraceable devices that allows incoming messages but blocks outgoing ones. It’s totally safe.”

  “I’d rather have my own iPad back,” Astrid said sulkily. “It’s not fair.”

  “We talked about this already,” David said patiently. “Your devices are confiscated while you’re in protective custody. It’s vital for your safety.”

  Astrid made a guttural noise of disapproval and Lilly knew that an argument was brewing.

  “What does your father say?” she asked, gearing herself up for the certain conflict that would follow. “This is the first time he’s emailed you in a while, isn’t it?”

  “He says he’d like to come to visit for my birthday.” Astrid was beyond excited. “That’s great, right?”

  Lilly was immediately suspicious. Rylan rarely made any effort unless there was a reward in it for him.

  “How will he get to Oakmont?” she asked. “Does he give any details?”

  “He says he’d like to book a flight but he’s a little short on cash.”

  The look that passed between Lilly and David let her know that her fears were shared, and she was thankful for the silent support.

  “He wondered if we could transfer some money to him,” Astrid continued. “And he can make some definite plans.”

  Lilly really didn’t want to ask the question, but knew she must. “How much does he want?”

  “Two thousand dollars.”

  David obviously could stay silent no longer. “What? A round trip flight from California to Pennsylvania can’t be more than a few hundred dollars. Why does he need two thousand?”

  “I don’t think it’s any of your business how much money he needs,” Astrid retorted. “He might need a car rental and hotels, and he probably wants to buy me a present too.” She turned to her mother. “Can we send him the money?”

  At that moment, Lilly hated Rylan for putting her in this position, for using Astrid to emotionally blackmail her into transferring money that would no doubt be spent on his extravagant vacation in Florida.

  “I’m sorry, honey,” she said. “I don’t have that kind of money to spare.”

  Astrid smiled. “I already thought of this. Grandma and Grandpa have savings. We could ask them for a loan.”

  There was no way on this earth that Lilly would ask her parents to fund Rylan’s vacation. “No, that’s not fair to your grandparents. If your dad wants to come visit, he’ll have to find the money himself.”

  “But if we don’t send him the money, he won’t come.” Astrid’s voice was rising higher and higher. “And I really want him to be here for my sixteenth birthday.”

  Lilly tried to be diplomatic. “Your father hasn’t contributed financially to your upbringing since you were born. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect him to pay his own way to visit his daughter on her sixteenth birthday.”

  “You don’t want him to be there for my birthday,” Astrid challenged. “You probably want David there instead, and Dad would just make it awkward for you.”

  “This has nothing to do with me and David,” Lilly said. “Please don’t try and put the blame for your father’s inadequacies on either of us.”

  Astrid knitted her eyebrows together. “What? You think Dad is inadequate?”

  Lilly’s skills of diplomacy were being stretched to the limit. “I think he could’ve tried harder to be a good father. There are too many times when he’s let you down and he should own up to that.”

  “He just needs a little money to help him out,” Astrid said, ignoring her mother’s concerns. “Why do you have to be so mean?”

  Lilly placed two fingertips lightly on her forehead, closed her eyes and sighed. She didn’t want to fight with Astrid, not when her heart already hurt from trying to distance herself from David. There was no gas left in the tank.

  As if sensing her pain, David stepped into the conversation.

  “Astrid, your mother is the least mean person I know. She’s kind and caring and beautiful, both inside and out. She’s made a lot of sacrifices for your happiness, and she has every right to expect your father to step up and finance his own trip.”

  Astrid stared at him, lips pinched. “You’ve never even met my dad, so you have no idea what kind of a person he is.”

  “I can make a pretty good guess,” he said. “He’s always too busy to call or come to Oakmont, he has no idea what grades you get, he forgets your birthday, doesn’t call at Christmas and hasn’t once asked you to visit his home in California. Am I close?”

  Astrid didn’t respond for a while, looking as though she had been slapped. She clearly couldn’t refute a single one of David’s claims and Lilly didn’t intervene to soften the blow. It was about time the truth was told.

  “My dad isn’t a deadbeat,” Astrid said finally. “You only hate him because you’re in love with my mom.”

  “I don’t hate your father,” David said. “And me being in love with your mom has nothing to do with your situation.”

  Lilly gasped a little. Did David just admit to being in love with her? Or was it a simple slip of the tongue?

  “Mom and me are happy as we are,” Astrid said. “We don’t need you in our lives, so please stop trying to control me.”

  Lilly felt the need to diffuse the tension. “David’s not trying to control you, honey. He’s trying to help you face reality.”

  “He wants to steal Dad’s place in our family,” Astrid said, picking up the iPad and heading for the door. “Why can’t you see it?”

  Lilly’s patience finally snapped. “Your dad doesn’t have a place in our family, Astrid, so how could David steal it? Your father gave up his place voluntarily.”

  Astrid stopped and turned, so slowly that Lilly had plenty of time to prepare for the rage.

  “He loves me!” she shouted out. “And he only wants a little money to come visit, except you’re too cheap to help him.”

  David held out a hand. “I think it’s time to give back the iPad,” he said. “I don’t want you reading emails from your father while we’re in the safe house. It makes you anxious, and we need you to be calm right now.”

  Astrid walked a few steps across the kitchen tiles and slapped the device on David’s flat palm.

  “You’re not cool,” she muttered. “You’re a tyrant.”

  “You remind me so much of Chloe,” he said as she stalked away. “She was just like you a few years ago.”

  Astrid stopped in the doorway and made an attempt to stare him down. “You messed up your daughter’s life, and now you want to mess up my life too.”

  “Astrid!” Lilly said. “That was a really unkind thing to say.”

  “It’s okay, Lilly,” David said lightly. “I’m learning to come to terms with what happened, and Astrid has helped me a lot, even when she’s trying to hurt me.” He smiled at her. “You’re a really smart kid, and I hope we can be friends one day soon.”

  Astrid let out a low, guttural growl and flounced from the room. �
�We will never be friends,” she said as she stomped up the stairs. “Ever.”

  David raised his eyebrows at Lilly. “Well, that sure told me, huh?”

  Lilly was so grateful to David for intervening and backing her up, for being a solid and dependable force in dealing with Astrid. But there were consequences to her siding with David. Astrid was clearly struggling to cope with her father’s unreliability and had built up a powerful fantasy in which Rylan was the good guy, the poor victimized parent being prevented from paying her a visit. And Astrid wouldn’t listen to the truth.

  “I should go after her,” Lilly said. “Thank you for helping.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” he replied. “Teenage tantrums are my specialty.” His expression changed to one of sadness. “It’s one of the joys of family life, right?”

  He held her gaze for longer than necessary and Lilly was reminded of Goldie’s comment about her and David’s chemistry. There was definitely something crackling through the air, an atmosphere impossible to touch, but easy to sense.

  Lilly was the first to look away, her stomach awash with butterflies from the lingering gaze.

  “I gotta go.” She turned and fled the kitchen, deciding that the best way forward was to pretend that their simmering attraction simply didn’t exist.

  * * *

  David was carrying out his checks on the doors and windows of the safe house when Goldie took him to one side in the hallway.

  “Green Fingers Florist confirmed that they received a request for flowers to be delivered to Lilly Olsen,” she said. “It was a telephone order from someone using a credit card that was later reported as stolen, and the man claimed that he wasn’t sure of the exact house. He only had a street address and asked them to knock on all the doors to find the right one.”

  “He must’ve been watching from a distance,” David said. “Waiting to see which house opened up. He must know that the street is unoccupied apart from us. Thankfully, I made sure to emerge from behind the house next door.”

  “We’re keeping all the drapes and blinds closed and staying out of sight,” Goldie said. “And the car is in the garage, so he won’t be able to identify where we are.”

  “We’ll have to implement a ban on turning on the lights at night,” he said. “I know it’s extreme but it’s the only way. Did you pick up any more extra transmission signals?”

  “Yeah, I did,” she confirmed. “A little longer this time and it disappeared as I tried to get a lock on it.”

  He leaned against the wall and rubbed his eyes. “This is driving me crazy. We need to do another sweep of the house to be sure we’re not bugged.”

  “I’ll start on it right away.” She touched his arm. “You look tired. This thing with Lilly has really got to you, hasn’t it?”

  His gut hadn’t stopped churning all day. “I don’t know what to do. How can I feel this way about a woman after only knowing her a few days?”

  Goldie shrugged. “I don’t know how love works, but I guess your heart leads the way.”

  “That’s true,” he agreed. “But Lilly’s heart is telling her that Astrid needs her time and attention right now.”

  “I can see why. Astrid has been really difficult to manage in the last day or two.”

  “I’ve also been thinking a lot about Carla recently,” he said. “After she died, I never thought I’d love another woman.”

  “And now you’re falling in love with Lilly, and you’re scared you might lose her too?”

  “It’s a very real possibility,” he said. “She’s being hunted by one of the most wanted criminals in America.” He rubbed his bristly chin. “I can’t stop thinking about the ways she could get hurt. How do I make it stop, Goldie?”

  “You keep a clear head and continue to do your job, making sure that Lilly and Astrid are both safe.” She rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “And when your feelings and worries for Lilly are too heavy to bear, you give it up to God. Let Him take the strain.”

  “For someone who claims not to believe in love,” he said with a smile, “you sure know how to give good advice when it comes to romance.”

  “Perhaps I missed my true calling as an advice columnist,” she said. “What do you think?”

  He laughed. “That’s a terrible idea, but I’d love to see it happen.”

  Beneath their laughter, alarm bells rang. Literally.

  “It’s a red alert,” David said, pulling the pager from his belt. “Henderson’s here. Secure Lilly and Astrid in their room and let’s go take him down.”

  Goldie was gone in an instant and David raced down the stairs, dialing the number of the agents in the house across the street as he went.

  “What have we got?” he asked when a voice answered. “Do we need backup?”

  “Military backup has already been requested,” came the reply. “We’re in real trouble here, Agent McQueen.”

  “Military backup? What’s going on?”

  “Take a look out the window.”

  David parted the drapes in the living room, peering through to the end of the street where a vehicle was just rounding the corner. It was large and slow, turning on eight enormous wheels.

  “What on earth is that?” he said to himself in amazement and horror, watching it lumber down the street, heading their way.

  Goldie had obviously heard his open question as she came running down the stairs, closely followed by Lilly and Astrid.

  “It’s a Stryker,” she said, her face drained of color. “A military-issued armored combat vehicle equipped with a machine gun and grenade launcher. Henderson must’ve stolen it from an Army base.”

  With Goldie’s military background, she was the best person to assess the most appropriate course of action. “How do you suggest we fight something like this?” he asked.

  Her reply was chilling. “We can’t fight this. We have to run.”

  EIGHT

  The huge green vehicle was like a tank on wheels instead of treads, heavy-duty and with a small turret on the top where the barrel of a gun was clearly visible. David knew that his bullets would offer no defense against its metal armor. The agent across the street was right—they were in real trouble.

  “He still might not know our exact house,” David said, clinging to a thread of hope.

  Astrid gasped, her hands flying to her face. “I opened my bedroom window to let in some air. And I never closed it.”

  “That’s all the evidence he needs.” David hustled everyone into the kitchen. “Let’s go.”

  As they ran, a torrent of bullets hit the living room window, shattering the glass and peppering the wall. In a split second, everyone dropped to the floor.

  “Get out!” he shouted, crawling to open the back door, beckoning Astrid forward. “We’ll find you a place to hide until backup arrives.”

  But Astrid was too afraid to move, curled up on the tiles with laced fingers on top of her bowed head. And the machine gunfire kept coming, sending pieces of plaster falling from the wall where the bullets were threatening to break through. The noise alone was enough to terrify anyone.

  “Go on,” Lilly urged, pulling Astrid’s sleeve. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Astrid cried out in fear. “But he’s outside. It’s safer inside.”

  David scooted over to her just as there was a break in gunfire and he was able to hear the return fire from the agents across the street. The distraction could buy them some time to escape unnoticed.

  “It might feel safer indoors, Astrid,” he said, “but we’re trapped. There’s a grenade launcher on that vehicle and if the house collapses, we’ll be underneath it.” He took her hands from her head. “Take a look outside. There are no walls to fall on us and there’s so much space to find somewhere better to hide.”

  Astrid lifted her head hesitantly and gazed toward the open door. �
�And we won’t die?”

  “We won’t die,” he said. “I promise that I won’t let anything bad happen to you or your mom. You need to trust me on that.”

  “Okay.” She began to crawl through the door, toward Goldie, who was already crouched on the patio, keeping watch. “You’ll keep us safe.” She appeared to be talking herself round, strengthening her mind. “I trust you.”

  Lilly followed in Astrid’s path out into the open, where the machine gunfire broke through the eerie silence in the yard. David scanned the area in all directions, scouting for hiding places.

  Shepherding everyone to the end of the lawn, he pointed to the high fence that ran along the back of the property. It was the best route to take them far away from Henderson’s bullets, and it would lead them to the next block.

  “We can all climb this, right?” he asked, looking down at Astrid’s bare feet. In her haste, she’d forgotten to slip on some shoes. “I’ll help.” He made a steady platform with laced fingers. “Goldie, you go first and check the ground for hazards. I’ll send Astrid over after you.”

  Before Goldie could place her foot on his hands, a huge explosion ripped through the air, creating a wind that blew across their faces and caused Astrid to scream. The whole house shook violently and the kitchen window crumpled, crashing from its frame to land on the patio outside.

  “Grenade!” Goldie shouted. “The next one might be closer. There’s no time to waste.” She grabbed Astrid’s hand and ran to the waist-high brick wall that lined both sides of the lawn. “Jump into next door’s yard.”

  David took Lilly’s hand and dragged her along with him, vaulting the property divider just in time to shield themselves from the next blast. The second grenade tore through the kitchen of their safe house, blowing out the entire back wall and taking out the wooden fence at the end of the yard. If they’d still been standing there, they’d probably be dealing with serious injuries by now.

  “We need to keep going,” David said, keeping hold of Lilly’s hand and running across the lawn of the unoccupied house. “Let’s head for the street and try to make it to the undercover agents’ house. We need a car.”