Failsafe

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  * * *

  “Where should we start? Philadelphia or Richmond?”

  “We already know from experience that she’ll change transportation to make her hard to trace. I’ll pull the video feed from the Philadelphia train station first. If we can nail down when she came in and whether she switched trains or if she left by taxi, it’ll get us a step closer to where she ended up.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to start your search in Richmond to see what name she’s using?”

  “If she managed to get a new ID, it’s possible she has more than one alias.” Owen opened his laptop and started tapping keys. He noticed a new alert on his screen, but he ignored it while he hacked into the security system of the Philadelphia train station. Not looking forward to spending hours staring at a computer screen, he decided to check the alert he’d noticed earlier. As soon as he did, his jaw clenched, and his fingers dug into the edge of his laptop.

  “Turn the car around.”

  “Why?”

  “That author back there was spinning stories when I talked to him.” Owen shifted his computer so Cheng could see the image displayed there. In it, a digital upload showed author Jackson Clark sitting beside his new girlfriend, a woman named Hannah . . . who looked just like Charlotte Martin.

  Chapter 42

  Charlotte synced the cameras she had set up on the interior of the house. Though she wanted to start on the ones outside, the empty database on her computer beckoned her to finish one task before starting the next.

  She downloaded a copy of Abigail’s genealogy file. Resetting the parameters, she dumped the information into the database. Birthplaces became current locations. Birth years were deleted and replaced randomly to generate believable ages.

  Charlotte recreated the firewalls she had initially set up on Jake’s computer to simulate security. As a final touch, she created a login screen, set a password, and copied the new database onto a flash drive.

  She was just securing her computer so no one could access it but her when Jake walked in.

  He set two suitcases next to the front door, along with his laptop bag.

  “Grandma and I are all packed, and I fixed Grandma a sandwich for lunch.”

  “Great. Thanks.” Charlotte stood and went through the equipment Ace had given her. She retrieved six surveillance cameras that could be used outside. “You know this land better than anyone. Where else should I set up cameras besides by the gates and in the barn?”

  “I’ll come with you to help,” Jake offered.

  “No, I don’t want your grandma home alone,” Charlotte insisted. She saw the irritation on his face and crossed to him. “I’m sorry, Jake, but I don’t want you to end up being a target.”

  Frustration and anger flared. “What about you? You’re the one they’re after.”

  “Yes, but they probably know they need me alive.”

  “Probably?”

  “I’ll be careful,” Charlotte said, knowing how hollow her words sounded as they passed through her lips.

  “How are you going to be careful? If these guys show up, what’s to stop them from killing you?”

  “I’m not planning on letting them see me,” Charlotte said. She opened up her bag and retrieved the weapons Ace had given her. She strapped the smaller of the two guns to her left ankle and tucked the Glock into the back of her waistband.

  “You look like you’re preparing for war,” Jake said.

  “I’m just being cautious.”

  “How long will it take you to set up the cameras?”

  “Not too long. I should be ready to leave in an hour or so.”

  “I’m going to call Max and Stella and have them take Grandma with them. We can meet up with them at the country club after everything is set up.”

  Knowing Jake wasn’t going to leave her here alone, she nodded her agreement. “Okay. I’m going to run down to the front gate and set up the camera while you get her settled.”

  “Don’t be long.”

  “I won’t,” she said as she headed for the door.

  * * *

  Jake wanted to tell Max to leave now with his grandma, that he would finish up with the horses. Unfortunately, he knew Max would want to see the job through himself. He also didn’t want to compromise the secrets Hannah had shared with him.

  Too restless to sit still, Jake left his grandmother eating her lunch and loaded their suitcases in the back of his dad’s truck. He wished he would have thought to have Hannah pack before rushing off to play spy, but he couldn’t deny that her uneasiness had sparked a sense of urgency in him as well.

  He still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the story she’d told him. Part of him wanted to believe she was living in an alternate reality, but her sincerity was convincing, and he doubted a normal person off the street would be able to access all of the equipment she now possessed.

  He wandered back into the office, noticing the cameras still in the case she had brought home from North Carolina. He picked one up and turned it on. An image immediately popped up on Hannah’s computer screen.

  Eager to help, he headed for the barn, the camera still in his hand. He checked on his grandma in the kitchen to see she was still eating and continued out the back door.

  When he reached the barn, Max wasn’t anywhere in sight, and all but two of the stalls were empty.

  He looked around the interior, trying to determine where a camera would give the most coverage. With Toby in mind, he decided the blind spot at the corner opposite the house would be the best option. If Hannah didn’t like his choice, she could always move it.

  He climbed up the ladder into the loft and opened the doors on the far wall that they used when they stored hay. Using the adhesive tape on the back of the camera, he pressed it against the wood on the outside of one of the double doors. He had just completed his task when he heard the distant sound of a car engine.

  * * *

  Charlotte perched on a low branch of an oak tree next to the front gate. She checked the angles and line of visibility before securing the camera to a branch above her. When she finished, she looked down and debated briefly. Should she open the gate so it wouldn’t look like anything was amiss? With it closed, it might act as a warning sign that someone on the property felt the need to heighten security. Besides, Charlotte seriously doubted a gate was going to keep these men from entering.

  She climbed down and started to cross the short distance between the tree and the gate. The sound of an engine halted her forward progress. When it grew louder, she hurried back behind the tree so she would be hidden from sight and retrieved her cell phone so she could monitor the camera’s video feed.

  The moment she saw the men inside the approaching vehicle, her blood went cold. The SUV was different from the one they had been driving at her home in Pennsylvania, but she recognized the redheaded man in the passenger’s seat. The driver appeared to be Xi Cheng, the man she had seen in the photo Sheriff Hendricks had sent her.

  He slowed the vehicle as he made the turn toward the gate. Charlotte pressed herself against the tree to remain hidden, biting back a scream when a gunshot sounded. She struggled against the instinct to draw her gun, knowing the movement might very well put her in the line of fire.

  A second shot rang out, followed by the clang of metal on metal and the lock on the gate falling to the ground.

  The engine revved, and the SUV crashed through the gate and tore past her, kicking up dirt on the edge of the drive as it took the turn too wide. Though her instinct was to chase after them, she knew she wouldn’t be any help to Jake and Abigail if she was dead.

  Staying hidden by the trees, she started toward the house and used her cell phone to call Jake. It rang twice and went straight to voice mail. Assuming he had silenced it while he was working, she called the house phone as she increased her pace and made her way up the drive.

  “Hello?” Abigail’s voice came over the line.

  “Miss Abigail, it’s Hannah. I need t
o talk to Jake.”

  “Jake?”

  “Yes, your grandson.”

  “Oh, yes.” The way she said the words, Charlotte suspected she was struggling with her memory again.

  “Can you go find him for me? It’s important.”

  “Oh, well, if it’s important, why don’t you come on over to the house. I’m sure he’d like to talk to you.”

  Charlotte opened her mouth to try to counter Abigail’s confusion, but before she could utter a word, the line went dead.

  After seeing how they dealt with the gate, she was quite certain these men weren’t going to let anything get in their way, and they hit what they aimed for. Terrified they would set their sights on Jake or Abigail, Charlotte took off at a full sprint, praying she wasn’t too late.

  * * *

  Owen looked at Cheng in disbelief when the other man lifted a hand and knocked on the front door. “What are you doing? We just shot up the front gate, and now you’re going to knock and ask permission to go inside?”

  Cheng’s cheeks flushed.

  “Open the door, and let’s see if she’s inside,” Owen ordered.

  Cheng reached out to comply, but the door swung open before he could grasp the doorknob. The old lady inside smiled pleasantly.

  “Oh, hello. You must be the friends we’ve been waiting for.”

  Cheng recovered from the unexpected welcome before Owen did. “Yes, that’s right.”

  “Please come in. I’ll let Jack know you’re here.”

  The two men entered, and Owen let out a low whistle. “Nice place.”

  “Why, thank you. It’s been in my family for generations.”

  The elderly woman opened her mouth to continue, but Owen cut her off. “Where is Jack?”

  “He should be around here somewhere . . .”

  The sound of a door opening was followed by rapid footsteps somewhere deep in the house.

  “That must be him now or that pretty little wife of his.”

  “Wife?”

  “Yes. She’s such a dear. And smart too.”

  Owen considered for a minute that he might have made a mistake. When Jackson Clark rushed in and saw them, his expression told him he was exactly where he needed to be.

  Chapter 43

  Jake had notions of aiming his rifle at the men in front of him, but they were quicker than he was. The fair-skinned man lifted a pistol almost casually as Jake stepped between him and his grandma.

  “I don’t think that would be a wise decision. You don’t want anyone to get hurt, do you?”

  “Lower the gun,” the other man said, a gun in his hand as well.

  The sense of violation hung heavily with these armed criminals standing in his living room. Outnumbered and outgunned, Jake lowered his rifle and leaned it against the wall. As soon as his hand left the weapon, the Asian man across from him motioned him farther into the room and away from the gun.

  “You lied to me,” the redhaired man said with steel in his voice. “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know.”

  His face contorted with fury. “Don’t lie to me!”

  Jake measured his words, cautiously giving the truth without revealing any information worth having. “She’s out there somewhere. Looking for you.”

  “Oh, she’s looking for us, is she?”

  Jake swallowed nervously before responding. “She was afraid you would come back here, so she told us we should all leave for a few days.”

  The Asian man glanced down at his watch. “How long ago did she leave?”

  “I’m not sure. I was packing the car and tending to horses. It wasn’t long ago though.”

  “Grandma here said something about your wife.”

  “I’m not married. She’s confused.”

  “Even old people don’t get confused about stuff like that. Where’s the wife?”

  Hannah’s voice held an eerie sense of calm. “I think she’s referring to me.”

  Jake turned to see Hannah standing across the room, near the garage entrance, a pistol in her hand.

  Satisfaction combined with pure evil on the redhead’s face. “Well, well, well. It’s about time you showed up.”

  Hannah ignored him, speaking instead to Abigail. “Miss Abigail, why don’t you go over by Jake while I talk to these men?”

  So accustomed to responding to Hannah’s direction, Abigail started moving even as the redhead opened his mouth to protest.

  “Wait just a minute . . .”

  “Put the guns down and let them go,” Hannah said.

  “Now, why would I do that?”

  “Because if you do, I’ll give you what you want.”

  “You’ll give me what I want anyway.”

  “Are you sure?” Her chin lifted slightly. “My father didn’t.”

  “Then I’ll have to kill you too and go find the next name on the list of ghosts.”

  “The next person on the list can’t help you,” she said evenly. “I’m the only person who can open the database. You kill me, and you’ll never gain access.”

  For the first time since arriving, Jake saw the men hesitate. Unfortunately, it only lasted a second.

  “I may need you alive,” he said, lifting his gun a little higher, now aiming it at Jake’s heart, “but these two are expendable.”

  * * *

  Charlotte’s heartbeat immediately picked up speed, her whole world now at risk. She and Ace had been so sure she would be safe here, but, somehow, these men had found her. How?

  Hoping to stall, she decided now was the perfect time to ask that particular question. She lowered her gun, holding it at her side. “How did you find me?”

  “One of your boyfriend’s friends posted a picture of you online,” Owen said smugly. “Or is he your husband now?”

  “He’s a friend,” Charlotte said, refusing to be baited. She fought the urge to look at the grandfather clock across the room. The simple gesture might very well alert these men to the fact that she needed to stall them until help arrived. But her help was still at least an hour away.

  Part of her wanted to offer access to the fake database right away, hoping these men would be fooled and leave them alone. Knowing that giving in too easily might leave them all dead made her reconsider that plan.

  Hoping to steer the conversation away from her relationship with Jake, she focused her attention on Owen. “What I don’t understand is why you’re doing this.”

  “Money.”

  “You’re willing to sell out all of my father’s hard work—all of your father’s hard work—for money?”

  His voice was low and even. “You don’t know a thing about my father.”

  “I know he was instrumental in creating the database.”

  “Yeah, and what did he have to show for it? Nothing.” His expression went hard. “He ended up getting himself killed and left his family in poverty.”

  Charlotte let surprise register on her face even though Ace had mentioned his suspicions of foul play. “Killed? I understood he died in a car accident.”

  “It wasn’t an accident. He was murdered.”

  “I don’t understand.” Charlotte’s eyes narrowed. “What makes you say that?”

  “I’ve read my father’s journals. He knew someone was out to get him. He wrote about it only a few days before he died.”

  “Did he say who was after him or why?” Charlotte asked.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Of course it matters,” Charlotte persisted.

  “Not anymore. All that matters now is opening the database and collecting my paycheck. I’m done with all of these spy games.” Owen motioned to Cheng. “Go get the equipment out of the car. We’ll set up in here.”

  Cheng didn’t move, instead motioning to Jake. “He just said they were leaving here because they thought we might come back. How do we know they didn’t call in reinforcements?”

  “Good point.” Owen waved his gun toward Charlotte. “It looks like we’re going f
or a little ride.”

  * * *

  Jake couldn’t believe it. By trying to protect Hannah earlier, he had said too much. What little hope they had for someone to show up and help them was extinguished, and he now had visions of all of them left dead in some ditch as soon as these men got what they wanted.

  “I can’t access the database away from here,” Hannah said, her posture rigid.

  Owen sneered. “I’m not falling for your stall tactics.”

  “It’s not a stall tactic. Once the failsafe protocols were activated, the equipment requirements changed. It won’t work without another piece.”

  “Why would you volunteer this information?”

  “Because I want you to let them go.”

  Jake stared, speechless. Hannah didn’t look at him when she waved a hand in his direction, but he could see a slight tremble work its way through her body.

  Even though she was clearly terrified, she was trying to sacrifice herself for them.

  He didn’t know how it was possible, but she seemed to stand a little straighter when she added, “Like I already said, I’m the one you need.”

  Owen didn’t take long to decide. “First, hand over the gun.”

  Hannah looked down at her weapon like she had forgotten she was holding it. She seemed to debate the request, acting like it would be the end of the world if she complied, even though Jake knew she had a second weapon strapped to her ankle. It took him a moment to realize Hannah wanted these men to think she was holding her only weapon.

  Several seconds passed, the tension in the room increasing with each audible tick of the grandfather clock in the hall. Finally, she shifted the gun sideways and handed it to Owen, taking care that it wasn’t pointing at anyone when she did so.

  “That’s more like it.” Owen took the gun from her and released the clip of bullets from the chamber. Then he looked at her once more. “The old lady can stay, but he’s coming with us. Insurance.”

  “She can’t stay by herself,” Jake protested.

  Before he could continue, Hannah cut him off. “I just told you, I can’t access the database anywhere except from here.”

  “And we both know you’re lying,” Owen said evenly. “Anything you need, we can take with us.”