Every Precious Thing lh-2

by Brett Battles

  Bear rock, then the forked tree, then the hill and the field and the rotting tree…

  She repeated the order like a mantra that would magically make each marker appear.

  It was bear rock. She wasn’t lost.

  “Thank you, God!” she said.

  Everything was going to be-

  “…ara…”

  A voice in the distance. Male? Female? It was impossible to tell. But one thing Sara knew for sure, it was coming from somewhere between the cabin and where she was now.

  Without wasting another second, she picked up her pace.

  The forked tree, then the hill, then the field and the rotting tree and the pile of rocks.

  The forked tree, then the hill, then the field and the rotting tree and the pile of rocks.

  The forked tree, then the hill, then the-

  Not more than fifty yards behind her, Sara heard a branch snap.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  “The path arcs through these trees, then past a couple of large rocks, one on top of another,” Diana said. “After that, it’s almost a straight line into the park.”

  They’d been moving as quickly as they could through the woods, but whatever tracks Sara might have left behind had been filled with muddy water.

  “We should spread out,” Logan suggested. “In this weather she could be thirty or forty feet on either side of us and we’d never see her.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Richard argued.

  “Stop it, Richard. He’s right,” Diana said. She pointed into the forest beside her. “You go that way about twenty yards. Logan, you do the same on the left.”

  Logan tucked his gun into the waistband of his pants at the small of his back, and headed into the woods.

  “Sara!” Diana called out.

  “Sara!” Richard echoed.

  Logan wanted to yell, too, but Sara wouldn’t know his voice, and if she heard him, she might run instead of stop. He plunged between the trees, his head swiveling back and forth, scanning as wide a range as he could. Every few seconds, he glanced at the ground, hoping to find some sign of her passage.

  It wasn’t long before he realized he was moving faster than the others. Their voices fell farther and farther behind him, but he didn’t slow his pace.

  Every few steps he wiped his forehead, the water flying off to the side. Though the tree cover did shelter him from some of the rain, it didn’t really matter. He was as soaked as if he’d just climbed out of a swimming pool.

  Somewhere ahead were the two stacked rocks Diana had talked about. Once he reached them, he’d have to wait for her so he’d know which direction to go next.

  As he stepped around another tree, his foot landed on an old branch and snapped it in two. He stumbled, but quickly regained his footing. As he looked up, he saw a flash of movement ahead.

  Even with the reduced visibility, he knew it wasn’t a deer or some other animal living in the forest. It was a person.

  Sara.

  He started to run.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  At first Sara thought she was just hearing her heart pounding in her chest, but the rhythm was wrong, and she soon realized the sound was feet running through the woods, heading in her direction.

  She rounded bear rock without even stopping.

  The forked tree. The forked tree. Next is the forked tree.

  But which direction was it?

  More to the right. No, no! To the left. More to the left.

  As she corrected her path, she slipped and went down, her knees and elbows slapping into the mud. Grimacing in pain, she forced herself back to her feet.

  She knew the person chasing her had to be one of them. She couldn’t let them catch her. She couldn’t let them know where Emily was. She began running again, but the footsteps behind her were closer now.

  “I don’t want to hurt you!” a voice called out.

  Right, she thought.

  There, just ahead, the forked tree. When I reach that, then it’s up the hill, then-

  “Sara! Please stop!”

  She chanced a look over her shoulder. The man behind her was as drenched as she was. He seemed to be alone at the moment, but she knew there were at least two others out there. She’d seen them on the ridge. Her pursuer was lean and strong. No way was she ever going to be able to outrun him. She had only one chance.

  As she ran on, she pulled her left arm out of the strap to her backpack, and swung the bag around so she could get at it. Fastened to the side was a twelve-gauge shotgun. She retrieved a couple shells from the side pocket, then pulled the gun loose and dropped the bag to the mud.

  The forked tree. Get to the forked tree.

  It was just ahead, big enough so she could hide behind it and use the fork to safely take aim at the man.

  She loaded the shells and sprinted the rest of the way to the tree. She leaned against the trunk, catching her breath as she listened to the man approach. Once it sounded like he was no more than fifty or sixty feet away, she slid into place, and propped the barrel of the gun in the fork. She chambered the shell, the distinctive clack-clack cutting through the storm.

  The man could not help but hear it, too. He stopped in his tracks, but instead of going for cover, he raised his hands in the air.

  “I’m not here to hurt you,” he repeated as his gaze found her in the break of the tree.

  “I’ll shoot if you come any closer!” she shouted.

  “Sara, I’m a friend. I came here with Diana and Richard.”

  “Liar!” She was suddenly sure her sister and brother were both dead. It’s my fault! My fault!

  Her finger tightened on the trigger.

  “I’m not lying. I’m here because of your family,” he said. “I’m here because of Alan and Emily.”

  So overcome by her own despair, she almost didn’t hear the names. Once she realized what he’d said, she froze. Then a whole new level of anxiety kicked in.

  He knows about Alan and Emily. They know about Alan and Emily!

  A scream flew from her lips as her finger jerked the trigger.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  The shotgun blast echoed through the woods.

  Logan, flat on his stomach, felt the pelts fly through the air where he’d been standing seconds before.

  He’d been watching her eyes, and knew she didn’t believe anything he said. A split second before she screamed, her face scrunched up in rage. That’s when Logan dove left and hit the ground.

  The moment the pelt had flown past, he scrambled to the cover of an old pine. A second blast hit the trunk, but nothing touched him.

  Back in the direction of the two stacked rocks, he heard someone running. Then Diana called out, “Sara! Sara! Are you okay?”

  “Sara!” Richard joined in.

  “Diana?” Sara said, her voice low and uncertain. “Richard?”

  “Sara! Where are you?” Diana yelled.

  “Diana?” Sara called out more loudly this time. “Is that you?”

  “Yes. Are you okay?”

  “They’re here. One of them was chasing me! Be careful. He’s behind a tree in your direction.”

  “I’m not one of them!” Logan shouted. “Diana, tell her!”

  He could see Diana and Richard making their way through the trees now.

  “He knows about Alan and Emily!” Sara yelled. “We have to stop-”

  “Sara,” Diana shouted back. “He’s not with them! He’s with us!”

  Silence, then a disbelieving “What?” from Sara.

  Logan waved a hand, getting Diana and Richard’s attention.

  “He’s not with them,” Diana said, no longer needing to talk as loudly. “Alan sent him.”

  “Alan? Wha…what do you mean? Why?”

  “Honey, it’s okay. Just come on out, all right?”

  Diana walked past Logan into full view of the mangled tree Sara was hiding behind. With a frown, Richard held out his hand and helped Logan to his feet.
The two men then moved out behind Diana, Logan more cautiously than Richard.

  Another clap of thunder, this one farther away than before.

  Diana walked steadily toward the tree. “Come on out, Sara. It’s okay. Everything’s fine.”

  Sara still stood on the other side of the V created by some long-ago accident inflicted on the tree. The barrel of the gun had tilted upward, pointing at the clouds. Then both the gun and Sara disappeared.

  For half a second, Logan wondered if she’d run off again, but then she emerged from around the side of the tree and ran into her sister’s arms. Richard joined them, putting a hand on Sara’s back, and whispered something in her ear.

  Logan could see that weeks of stress and fear had taken their toll on Alan’s wife. Even as she hugged her siblings, she shot worried glances in Logan’s direction, as if she’d bolt if he so much as moved an inch in her direction. She was all survival and fear and determination.

  Finally, Diana pulled back and said something to her sister that Logan couldn’t make out. Sara asked a few questions, each time looking at Logan. Finally, the three siblings walked over to him.

  “Sara, this is Logan Harper,” Diana said.

  Logan held out his hand, but Sara didn’t take it. “You say you’re a friend of Alan’s but I don’t know you.”

  “No. I never said that. I said I’m here because of Alan. I am a friend of his lawyer, Callie Johnson.”

  “Callie? You know her?”

  “I’ve known Callie all my life. She used to babysit me.”

  This odd detail seemed to soften Sara a bit. “I don’t understand how you’re involved.”

  “She asked me to help,” he said. He gave her a quick version of how Alan had been looking for her, had enlisted Callie’s help, and how she had found out that Sara didn’t exist.

  “I still don’t understand why they involved you,” she said.

  “Because I’m a friend, and she knew she could trust me.”

  She looked at him, clearly not satisfied with his response.

  He shrugged. “And I know how to get things done.”

  “Like what?” Sara asked, growing tense again. “What needs to be done about me?”

  Logan paused. “At first, I think Alan just wanted to know what happened to you, for himself, and also for Emily, so when she grows up she’d understand why her mom went away.”

  “You said ‘at first.’”

  “When they realized you weren’t who you said you were, Alan became concerned.”

  Richard jutted out his chin. “He thinks she cheated on him or something?”

  Logan could see that Sara didn’t believe that at all. “No,” he said. “He became concerned that your sister was in trouble, and he wanted to help. He is her husband, after all.”

  “Oh, and you’re that help?” Richard scoffed.

  Sara touched her brother’s arm. Richard’s previous tough demeanor cracked a little, and he whispered to her, “Sorry.”

  She looked at Logan. “I am in trouble, but there’s nothing Alan or you can do. The fewer people involved, the better.”

  “But Alan’s your husband. Emily’s your daughter,” Logan said. “They’re your family.”

  “Don’t you see? They’re the reason I had to leave. The people after me, they don’t want me. They want…”

  “Emily,” Logan said, knowing that was what she was going to tell him.

  She nodded.

  “But why?” he asked.

  She took a moment, then said, “Because they believe she’s their property.”

  “What do you mean, ‘property’?”

  She looked at the ground. “Go back to Alan, tell him…tell him that I love them both, but it’s better if they just forget me.”

  Logan was about to ask another question, but Diana cut him off. “Okay. I’ve brought you to her. You’ve talked. Now you can go back to her husband and set his mind at ease.”

  “Exactly how am I supposed to do that when you haven’t told me why Sara’s on the run?”

  Ignoring his question, she said, “We’re done. We’ll drive you out and drop you off in Tusayan.”

  She put an arm around Sara, and started walking back to the cabin. Richard followed them.

  “Dev’s still got your phone,” Logan said, joining them.

  “I’ll get a new one.”

  The intensity of the rain began to ease.

  “Where will you go?” he asked.

  “Better if you didn’t know.”

  “You’re making a mistake.”

  “What mistake?”

  “You all can’t run forever.”

  Diana looked back at him. “We don’t need to run forever. Just…long enough.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  When Dev paid the entrance fee to the park, he was given a map and told the best place to start out was Grand Canyon Village. From there, the ranger said he could get pretty much anywhere using the free shuttle bus system.

  Dev didn’t care about park transportation. He just wanted somewhere with a lot of cars where he could leave the El Camino, then walk a little ways away and watch without being observed. The village turned out to be perfect for this. It was a mixture of rustic-looking motels, restaurants, tourist shops, and tiny cabins for the seasonal workers.

  He found a spot in a parking lot next to a gift shop called Hopi House. On the other side of the building was a wide sidewalk, then the canyon itself. Dev had been to the park a few times when he was younger, but the intensity of the view and the sheer scale of the canyon were just as breathtaking now as they had been then.

  He was able to find a spot along the walkway near the rim of the canyon from where he could still see Logan’s truck. The place was crawling with tourists, so there was no chance he’d be spotted.

  As he settled in to wait for Dr. Paskota to drive by, he noticed gray clouds moving in and threatening to blot out the otherwise blue sky. Looking around, he saw that several of the other canyon visitors were carrying umbrellas. He didn’t have one, but was getting the feeling it was something he might need very soon.

  Just inside the back entrance to Hopi House, he saw a display of umbrellas. He checked the road, saw no sign of the woman, and dashed inside. He made a quick purchase, and was back out in less than a minute. He was confident that even if she had driven by while he was inside, she would have still been around, trying to figure out where Logan and Dev had gone.

  Five minutes after he exited Hopi House, it began to rain, proving his timing had been good. It was a light rain at first, but then it got heavier and heavier. As the intensity grew, lightning started striking closer and closer. Park rangers quickly moved along the walkway, advising everyone to find cover inside one of the buildings. Dev joined the crowd on the covered porch of the El Tovar Hotel.

  An hour passed with no sign of the gray sedan. He thought the woman must have been cautious. Maybe she’d even parked somewhere else and was watching the El Camino on foot just like Dev was.

  Doing nothing to draw attention to himself, Dev looked around and indentified all the locations someone could covertly watch the truck from. Then, keeping his exposure to the open sky to a minimum, he visited each one by one. No Dr. Paskota, not even one of the men who’d been with her.

  Confused, Dev looked out at the road that led toward the entrance.

  Where the hell are you?

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Once they were back in the car and had reached the partially blacktopped road, Logan called Dev.

  “Hey,” Dev answered. “Everything okay?

  “Well, I guess. Yeah,” Logan said.

  “Did you find her?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And?”

  Instead of answering, Logan asked, “What happened there?”

  “Nothing happened here.”

  “What do you mean, ‘nothing’?”

  “She hasn’t shown up.”

  “At all?”

  “Haven’t seen he
r or her car.”

  That was definitely not what Logan had expected. He took a moment, then said, “Head back to Tusayan. Same gas station as before. I’ll be waiting there. But keep your eyes open. Maybe she’s just been waiting for you to come back out.”

  “You going to be there alone?”

  “Undetermined at this point.”

  “All right. See you in a bit,” Dev said.

  As soon as the line went dead, Logan called Ruth.

  “I’ve got someone in my office,” she said quickly before Logan could speak.

  “Anyone I know?”

  “As a matter of fact.”

  “Oh, God, it’s Jon, isn’t it?” Jon Jordan was the head of Forbus International, and the man responsible for blaming Carl’s death on Logan.

  “Yes. That’s correct.”

  “Well, please don’t tell him hi for me.”

  “I think that’s a sound plan.”

  Before she could say good-bye, he said, “Ruth, I need you to check on that cell phone that was in the car following me earlier. I have to know where it is.”

  “That might be a little difficult.”

  “Please, Ruth.”

  “I’ll tell you what. Let me finish up here, and I’ll give you a call back.”

  “How long?”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry. Talk to you soon.” She hung up.

  Logan set the phone in his lap and looked out the window, his mind willing Ruth to hurry.

  “Something wrong?” Diana asked. She was sitting in back with him while Sara sat up front with Richard.

  “I’m…not sure.”

  “Not sure about what?”

  “It’s probably nothing.”

  “Oh, I see. Now you don’t want to share.”

  He was tempted to remind her she wasn’t sharing, either, but instead he said, “The woman who was following us. My friend never saw her.”

  She became instantly concerned. “You don’t think she could have followed us to the cabin, do you?”

  “If she had, she’d have probably tried to take us by now, don’t you think?”