"It's not set in stone."
"Seems pretty set in stone to me." She stood. Threw the tacks toward the wall. They pinged off the surface, two shooting back at her shins, the rest going off in different directions and falling back to the floor. "Anything else is false hope."
He stood. "Isn't that what you've got here? A foundation that thrives on the last bit of the emotion? A foundation that hones it and finds the lost."
"I'm not lost." A prick of something hit the back of her eyes. "What I've got is a woman I've considered a mother figure fighting for her life, a sister trying to be the hero when for the first time ever I wish she would worry about herself. A doctor who wants her dead. A little girl who is lost but won't come home, her mother in the hospital and her family worried sick. And I'm not even close to having answers. I'm the farthest from it."
"Let me help." He tugged her closer, his hand finding her face and his lips moving against hers, brief. Sweet. "Don't make me bring in the younger version for reinforcements."
"That's dangerous."
"It works."
Until it didn't. She wasn't going to put the eleven-year-old version of him in jeopardy. She broke their connection and moved toward her desk. The dossier from Elliot's mom was open and scattered, the papers mixed up and askew.
Trish Delane.
Chance Carter.
Morgan Bellows.
Theo Trenton.
Anne Morris.
Sam scooped up the last two, put them side by side. Harper's face was in her peripheral vision. She reached for it. Slid it next to the other two. His inclusion in the dossier made little sense. Sam held it up as Elliot moved toward her, his hands across his chest. "This one... These other stories all have heroic aspects."
He fingered through the details. "Suicide is anything but heroic."
Unless there'd been something he was protecting. A punishment he'd been exacting. A message he'd been sending.
Had that been Haley's angle the night she'd gone back to the Knight's house? "Haley was talking about memories she had regarding Claudia's accident. Like she's to blame for Claudia's condition and Anne's disappearance. And a couple of weeks ago I might have been inclined to believe it, but..."
Her gaze hit Elliot, the way he stood there waiting, all his attention centered on her.
"She asked me not to follow her. Promised that she wouldn't do anything reckless."
His mouth formed a firm line. "I don't think she knows the difference between safe and reckless. Your sister is impulsive—which can be both good and bad."
A whoosh of silence hit the room as everything powered down and the space was bathed in darkness. The only light came from the window and the streetlamp beyond.
Elliot's hand went across her mouth and his voice was a whisper in her ear, the Southern twang deeper. "We've got company." His hand slipped from her mouth. He unholstered his gun. "Expecting anyone?"
"No." The Colonel was sitting with Lucinda at the hospital—if they hadn't kicked him out after visiting hours were over—and she didn't know where Haley was. She whirled toward him, his proximity closer than she'd anticipated. The light from the street glinted in his eyes. Her heart beat a frantic rhythm inside her chest. "How do you—"
The front door slammed and they both whipped around. Elliot moved in front of her. She drew her own weapon.
He grasped her free hand. "If I go down, you run, got it?"
"I'm not leaving you."
His violet-blue eyes raked over her. "Promise me."
There was no way she'd leave him, but she wasn't stupid enough to point that out.
"I mean it. Something goes down, use a slingshot. Find somewhere safe. Bounce around if you have to." He moved toward the door in soundless steps. Motioned for her to get behind the open office door. He stood on the other side, his gun aimed.
Use a slingshot.
And then he disappeared out of the opening.
"Haley!" Ryan's voice was firm and clear as it bounced toward them from the outer office, angry. "I know you're here. I saw your car out front." His footsteps were clumsy against the tile as he approached Sam's office.
Sam moved to the place Elliot had left. Could see him in her line of sight, flat against the wall. Waiting. Ryan was out of sight.
"I've tried being nice. I need that kid. I know money doesn't mean jack to you—not with that trust fund—but some of us have had to work for what we have. I need the girl. My FDA approval depends on it. And you're going to lead me right to her. No more games."
The double click of a shotgun hit her ears seconds before a boom vibrated in the room. In her head. In her soul.
A crash of one of Lucinda's vases made Sam dash toward Elliot. Another set of footsteps—these ones far more sure—came. The double click sounded as she reached Elliot.
There was a body on the floor near Lucinda's desk—Ryan's. A shadowy figure was nearby, the muzzle of a shotgun trained in their direction.
The boom was unmistakable as she grabbed Elliot's shirt.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Six months ago
THERE WAS A bottle in her hands. It was halfway to her lips, the sharp smell causing her stomach to roll. That had never stopped her before. There was only a bit of the amber liquid left in the bottle. She could suck it down in very little time.
Haley froze. She wasn't drunk. The world wasn't spinning with the noise of the entire universe on hyper speed in her brain. And whatever was in the bottle wasn't a concoction she'd placed inside the glass to protect herself and keep bad choices to a minimum.
It was actual alcohol.
One mouthful could ruin the pitiful grasp she had on sobriety. It could ruin the one chance she had to save Sam. Save Simon.
Save herself.
She sucked in a breath. She tossed the bottle down the embankment. The black lettering on the bottle blurred as it bounced once before skidding to a stop at the base of a pine tree.
Claudia was in front of her. Blood dripped down her face, the gash on her head more gruesome than Haley remembered. A slice of the tissue gapped open, the majority of blood coming from this area. In the past Haley had been a screwup, but now she didn't have to be.
Claudia's eyes were glassy and unfocused as Haley ripped a patch of the inner lining from her jacket. Wrapped it around the gash in the woman's head. A gash she wouldn't survive without medical attention. A CAT scan. MRI. Sutures. Overnight monitoring.
They didn't have time for that. If history dictated anything, they moved from this time to the beach. To where Claudia was drowning under water. And there was no way to guarantee someone would happen along and rescue her a second time.
"Claudia." A puff of white escaped her mouth as the chill registered. The smell of snow was in the air.
Claudia shivered and her teeth chattered uncontrollably, invading the silence.
"Can you tell me how we got here?" Before Theo—she was almost sure the man standing behind her was him—came and did whatever he was going to do.
Haley put her arm around Claudia's back and looped an arm around her neck. Her limbs were like uncooked hot dogs, her legs not doing much to help Haley guide them out of this mess.
There was a reason she'd followed this story so far. She wasn't going to let anyone die before she had a chance to see it through. Show it to the world. Expose whoever she had to along the way.
Even if that meant exposing herself.
The chattering increased, Claudia's free hand clutched to her chest.
"Where's your daughter?"
The woman's gaze didn't change, the chattering of her teeth only halting for the briefest of seconds.
"Her name is Anne. Same eye color as you. Almost your height at twelve. Has an amazing voice."
The article Haley had written came to mind. The accident Anne had been involved in was like an unstoppable train wreck. Anne should've died, but didn't. Instead she'd only lost her hearing.
And Claudia... She should've died, but hadn't.
<
br /> Claudia said you brought her to Shaver...
Haley stopped, shifted their weight. Claudia's legs gave way and then they were both headed toward the ground.
Haley found her footing and managed to lower Claudia to the cold earth. Found a spot next to her, the bit of snow covering gravel and grass soaking into her jeans. "Why are we here? What was so important I would bring you out here?"
Those brown eyes flickered, recognition right there. And then a sharp inhale. "Sam." Her eyes latched onto Hal. "We're here for Sam."
Sam? No. Sam hadn't been here. Hadn't been a part of this swirling moment in Haley's less-than-stellar history. She'd been at home. Safe. Unaware of Haley's poor choices.
The strip of cloth had slipped from Claudia's forehead. Haley adjusted it.
"Sometimes I want to snap your neck." A familiar voice chimed in, the swirl of nicotine already present. It sent chills down Haley's spine. Caused her hands to still on the woman in front of her and her heart to kick up.
The slow crunch of shoes on gravel and snow came closer. Haley didn't move. Then Theo stood in front of them. "Hello, Haley."
Claudia's eyes widened as she tracked Theo's movements.
Haley couldn't move them both, but maybe she could sling Claudia to a hospital. To safety. To Sam.
Theo continued to advance. "I called the cops. I don't know how either of you are alive."
An image of a sharp turn and hitting the brakes came to mind, but there was a patch of black ice. And suddenly the wheels had no traction, the large tree coming at them fast. "You called the cops?"
Her heart slammed into her ribcage even as her brain rationalized that it was the best thing. For Claudia. If Haley went down for this crime, she went down. "Don't touch her. I don't know what you're here for—"
"If you'd have stuck around long enough in Iraq, you'd know I'd never hurt my own sister."
"What?" Sister? How had she not discovered that in all her research?
Her lips moved, but no words emerged.
He scooped Claudia from the ground and had her in his arms easily, as if she weighed nothing at all.
"You're supposed to be dead. I saw you burn, so don't talk to me about sticking in one place. You were out here that day. This day. You were out here with us. I know it."
He started moving downward. "You want a story, Haley?"
She followed. "No." The word resounded around them, and for once it was true. It wasn't a platitude she used with hesitant individuals to get them to open up. "I don't want a story. I want the truth."
A scoff sent a burst of white from his mouth. "You don't even know what you're sitting on."
"What are you talking about?"
His blue eyes pierced her. "Hope Alive. You think the Colonel set up that foundation to rescue a bunch of lost idiots? If that were true, they'd need a larger staff. Open your eyes. Who finds all the accounts? Who talks with the clients before they consult with your sister? He's doing something bigger."
"Sam would've said something." She would've... No. No, the Colonel barked orders, laid out guidelines. And Sam was so interested in helping anyone—using her degree and her intuition—she wouldn't think to look deeper. And after last year with Theo...
She'd spent more time beating herself up about it than anything else. And Haley should've been there.
"Hope Alive might be saving people—bringing families back together—but it's also catching the criminal that would otherwise slink into the darkness undetected."
"That can't happen with every case."
"It does. You ever wonder why Kent Morris came to Hope Alive now and not five months ago? Why I was missing for years before my wife brought it to their doorstep?"
"Desperation?"
He stopped so fast Haley had to shift off the trail to avoid hitting him. Ended up skidding downward over icy tree roots and soggy leaves. Found her footing near a grouping of trees.
"I was supposed to die in that warehouse. I was supposed to be dead to the world. No one was supposed to go down with me. When you're dead no one looks for you. They know where you are."
"There were other people in that warehouse." She could see their faces—didn't know their names, but rage boiled in her bloodstream even now.
"You're the one that came to me. Your sister was dead. My sister was dead. And you said you had answers."
It can't end like this.
She'd given Vi a large envelope, the words inside detrimental. To Haley. To Theo. To the man behind it all.
"I didn't believe you at first." He shifted Claudia. "My sister was fine. Your sister was alive. And then you were attacked."
It's going to be okay.
There were snapping fingers, but they didn't belong to Theo. She could see them in her mind. Could feel the shift of being transferred from Theo's arms into another's. They held her closer. Like she was more than a victim to be rescued. Like she mattered.
You can't bury the evidence.
Simon's voice was clear.
There wasn't a choice. Haley had known it when they told her in the hospital afterward. She'd made the call. To protect what they did. The innocent lives they were saving.
Because Theo was right. If the world thought you were dead, they didn't look for you. Except she had. Until that night.
"You slippery SOB." Lucinda stood in front of them, a gun centered on Claudia. Her hair was wild, her hospital gown flowing in the breeze to reveal a pair of sweatpants and a fuzzy pair of slippers. There was an IV coming from her armed hand, the other one held tightly to her chest. "You think one bullet can stop me?"
Everything around Haley stopped. "What are you doing?"
Lucinda's gaze swung to her, wild. "What I should've done a long time ago."
Haley had left her safely in the hospital. She took a hesitant step toward the woman her mother had called her friend. "Lucinda, put the gun down."
Lucinda's hand didn't waver from Theo's heart.
Arms curled around her from behind and yanked her against a solid chest. The cold blade of a knife met her neck. Stopped her cold.
"Not a chance."
____
The smell of blood was thick in the air. The raging fire of pain burned through one side of her neck, warmth sliding downward.
Haley was going to die.
Which was the most ironic thing ever, because for once she had everything to live for. And she knew it. That was the difference between then and now.
Maybe she'd been better in the dark. Better not knowing that life didn't end because dreams got put on hold. Or when bad stuff happened.
"Pick up the gun." The masculine voice made her jump. It was at her ear. Duct tape secured her hands and legs. The hand that held the knife to her neck shook.
Ryan's body was in the center of the room, his skull opened wide. Claudia slumped against Lucinda's desk, her breaths shallow and her skin pale. Theo was tied behind the desk—his hands bound to the chair, a gag in his mouth. There was a cut at the top of his head. Next to him, Elliot and Sam were tied in much the same manner on the floor. Elliot bled from somewhere on the right side of his body, his face pale, but his eyes were alive with anger.
No. No. This wasn't how this happened. She wasn't going to see her sister die. Wasn't going to watch Elliot, Theo, Simon, or Claudia go that same route.
"You don't want to do this, Jeff." Simon's voice was steady and clear. His weapon was still at his hip.
Lucinda had her gun trained on him.
The knife gouged farther into her flesh, the pain blinding. She forced her muscles to keep her up.
"Don't do this." Sam began crawling toward them. Toward Lucinda. And Haley wanted to stop her. Tell her to stay put, but the words were caught in her throat.
Lucinda moved her gun toward Elliot. "Don't make me pull this trigger, Samantha. He won't survive more blood loss."
Sam froze.
"You are just like your mother. Too trusting. Too giving. And you think all you need is hard work and int
uition to gain anything you want. I can assure you nothing is farther from the truth." She repositioned her gun on Simon's back. "Do as he said, Simon. Take out your gun. Make sure you aim for Elliot's heart. Then Theo's. And finally Sam's. Everyone will understand that you lost your mind after you learned that Haley—the woman you've been protecting for so long that there's a trail visible from space—is pregnant with another man's child."
"That's a stretch, don't you think?" His voice was firm, his brown eyes meeting Haley's. They were calm and sure as if he could get them all out of this mess. So typically Simon.
"Not at all. You've been following Haley forever. Getting her out of trouble. You even put up a good chunk of change on this place. Didn't you even recently demand that Haley start working here?"
He had. Of course he had. But he'd done it because he cared about people—everyone—not only her.
This had never been about her.
"One could argue that it wasn't because you believed in its principles, but because you hoped to settle Haley's drinking issues. Settle her down. Now take out your gun. And when you're done, you'll put it to your head and pull the trigger."
And even though she could barely take in a full breath, Haley still said, "Why do this? What do you gain?"
"What I should've had all along. This place. The money the Colonel has been wasting on the two of you. His complete attention should've always been mine. And none of this would be happening if you'd have continued on your drunken path. But you got yourself knocked up and sober. And here we are."
"Our mother was your best friend." Sam's voice was stern as she got to her feet. Took a small step toward Lucinda. "How could you betray her?"
Lucinda laughed in a way Haley had never heard.
"Your mother was never my friend. She hated me on sight. From the moment the Colonel met me on a tour overseas. When I separated from the military and ended up in this town. And I don't blame her. I saw him and knew he was different—that he could travel in time. That his ability far outweighed mine."
The Colonel could absorb and slingshot?
"He was dedicated to both the job and his family. He was never afraid. Not even when terrorists took down the towers in New York. He always had a plan. And I knew when Sam was born that he'd never leave his family. He'd never use what he could do to find greatness—harness secrets in a way no one else could. There was money to be made there, but he was never in it for that. And neither was your mother."
Threshold of Danger (A Guardian Time Travel Novel Book 1) Page 27