“I w-w-would do it again,” Jon gasped out. “Lucy. Be. Careful. W-what …”
She could barely hear him and leaned down. “What did you say?”
He whispered, “Not. There.”
“He’s going into shock.” Lucy glanced over her shoulder at Bobbie. “If we get him out, we can keep him warm and put in a tube to help him breathe-”
Bobbie shot Jon in the head without hesitation, so quickly Lucy almost didn’t register what had happened, even though his blood hit her face and chest. Then Bobbie aimed the gun at Lucy. “You’re lucky I don’t shoot you, too. You’re an idiot to think I’d lift a finger to help that traitor. And besides, I need a shield in case your buddies follow us in.”
Lucy barely heard Bobbie, didn’t have time to fear for her own life. She hadn’t expected her to shoot Jon so coldly. Her hands were covered in Jon’s blood and half his head was now gone.
“Get up, Lucy. It’s Lucy, right?”
Lucy slowly rose to her feet. She had one flashlight and no gun.
“Don’t be stupid, and you get to be my hostage. You might even be reunited with your lover, who’s tied up in my truck. I’ll let you die together. Move. Stay to the left. Follow the tracks. But mostly, just keep moving. There is no way out but through me, and I guarantee if you run, you’ll die. Either my gun or the mine will kill you.”
Lucy stepped over Jon’s body, her hand on the wall.
She needed to talk to Bobbie, establish a connection, an understanding, but she was at a complete loss. She couldn’t reason with someone so impulsive and violent.
Something brushed by her face and she jumped, stifling a scream.
Bobbie laughed. “You’re so funny! It’s just a bat.”
Bobbie’s tone changed. She’d gone from serious to humorous in less than a minute. But as Lucy thought back to what she’d said, even her threat had a hint of humor. She enjoyed it. She was in charge and she enjoyed Lucy’s fear. She’d shot Jon because she wanted him dead-but she also enjoyed how the violence scared Lucy. It relaxed Bobbie. Put her in control.
It was all about control. When Bobbie felt things were out of control, she was rash and dangerous. When she was in control, she was still dangerous, but not rash. Methodical and calculating. She could change plans on a dime, and as long as she controlled the situation, she was happy.
Lucy said, “Sorry.” She moved slowly down the tunnel. They were going at a downward angle-just steep enough that Lucy had to be careful where she stepped so she didn’t slip.
Bobbie laughed. “I wish we had time to get to know each other. We’re smarter than men. I always have been, at any rate. Smarter and sharper and more willing to do what it takes to get what I want.”
“It’s because people don’t expect women to be ruthless and in complete control of our lives.”
Bobbie pondered that as she poked Lucy with the barrel of the gun. “You might be right. Being looked at as soft and weak just because I’m a woman does give me a certain advantage.”
“I heard about your grand performance when you turned over your brother to the FBI.” Lucy’s foot slipped and she grabbed the wall. It was cold and damp. Her whole body felt frozen, and the only thing that kept her moving was the adrenaline of fear.
“Like you said, being a woman has certain advantages.”
“When I found out your brother had something on you that kept you from going after his son, I thought it might be the tape of your FBI interview where you lied about your dead husband and what happened, but this is something that he had on you six years ago, and Agent Sheffield stole the disk in December.”
“No more talking. Just walking. Hey, I made a rhyme.”
“Paul had already spilled the beans. Are you afraid someone else knows?”
“Shut up. Paul wouldn’t say a word because he’d be dead. It’s mutually beneficial that we both keep our end of the bargain.”
They came to a split in the tunnel. She remembered Jon’s words. Stay left had two meanings. Stay to the left tunnel or stay to the left of the tunnel? She shined her light down on the ground. The tracks split and went both ways.
“That way,” Bobbie said.
Lucy walked slowly, but Bobbie wasn’t patient. “Come on, move it!”
“I’m just curious,” Lucy said. If she could keep Bobbie talking, they would go slower, and Lucy was all about caution right now. Her heart pounded. She feared falling to her death far more than she feared Bobbie’s gun-and she was scared plenty of Bobbie’s gun.
“You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat.” Bobbie giggled.
“Do you think that after six years, the Molina drug family would still care that not only did you kill Herve yourself, but you stole everything in his safe? And that you turned over that valuable information to their enemies?” Some of this was conjecture, but Lucy bet she was right.
Lucy had been thinking about this situation for the last twenty-four hours. She didn’t think it was a coincidence that Bobbie had made a deal with Lowell on the guns. He trusted her because she’d already been working for him.
“You’ve been working for Sampson Lowell from the beginning,” Lucy guessed.
She expected a reaction, but not a simple admission. “You are smarter than the men.”
“If I figured it out, the FBI will figure it out, too. And they have more information than I do.”
“Shut! Up!” Bobbie pushed Lucy down the tunnel to get her moving. Lucy stumbled and dropped her flashlight. It didn’t make a sound. It fell down a deep hole, the light bouncing off the ceiling until it broke or went out or was too far down to shine this far.
Lucy screamed.
“I don’t need you,” Bobbie said. “Meet the Hell Hole. You can join your fellow FBI agent Victoria Sheffield, Bitch Number One, at the bottom of the pit. But she had it easy. She was already dead before she went down.”
Bobbie lunged for Lucy. Lucy jumped to the left, her back flat against the wall. Bobbie lost her balance and stumbled. She reached for Lucy, but her foot slipped into the hole.
Her hand wrapped around Lucy’s ankle. Lucy fell hard as Bobbie pulled her down, grunting as she tried to use Lucy’s body to climb to safety. The side of the exploration shaft began to crumble and Lucy felt herself falling.
Sean heard Lucy’s scream. She was closer than they’d thought. They had been following the light ahead of them, their flashlights turned off, because Sean didn’t want Bobbie to know she was being followed. Then the light changed, faded, and there was only one beam.
“They’re at the Hell Hole,” Ricky told him.
“Stay back,” Sean ordered. He checked the harness Omar had strapped on him. The end was secured to the bumper of his truck.
Suddenly, everything went dark and Lucy screamed again. Sean turned on his light and rounded the corner.
Lucy was on the ground, clawing at the rocky bottom of the tunnel. Bobbie had her leg and was trying to use Lucy’s body as leverage to climb out of the exploration shaft.
“Lucy!” Sean reached out.
She grabbed his hand. Her hands were slick with dirt and blood and she began to slip. Bobbie’s weight was pulling her down.
“Ricky! Light!” Sean called out.
Ricky came around the corner and shined his bright light into the tunnel.
There was nowhere to gain traction. Nowhere to gain a foothold. Only his raw strength and the cable that strapped him to the truck held him in place.
He shouted into his radio and prayed they could still hear him, “I need more rope!”
Omar came back with, “That’s it.”
“I need more!”
Sean dropped his own flashlight and grabbed both of Lucy’s hands. The rappelling vest dug deep into his flesh, making breathing difficult, as he strained to hold on to Lucy’s hands.
“I’m moving the truck into the mine entrance,” Noah said over the radio. “I can get you ten more feet, max. Omar, move,” Sean heard before the radio went off.
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br /> Suddenly, the slack on the rope caused Sean to slide precariously closer to the edge of the exploration shaft. Lucy screamed as her legs went over the side. Bobbie shouted, “I’ll kill you!”
Lucy screamed again, this time in pain, not fear.
“What?” Sean grunted.
“Knife. She cut me.”
Ricky stood over the shaft with a small.22. Sean didn’t know he had it. “No, Ricky.”
Ricky shined the light into the pit where Bobbie held on to Lucy’s legs. “Good-bye, Aunt Bobbie.”
Ricky fired the gun, and suddenly Lucy was out of the pit and in Sean’s arms on the floor of the tunnel. He scurried away from the edge of the pit, the Hell Hole, and held her close. “God, Lucy, thank God. I can’t lose you.”
Ricky picked up the line, using it to guide him back to the mine entrance, giving Sean and Lucy a moment of privacy.
Noah’s voice barked over the radio, “Report!”
“I have her,” Sean said. “Lucy is safe. Bobbie Swain is dead. Give me a minute.” He needed to just hold her. It had been close, too close.
Lucy clutched Sean, didn’t want to let him go.
“I don’t want to die without you knowing how much I love you,” Lucy said.
She had finally said it, and though her entire body was shaking from fear and adrenaline and shock, her heart was no longer gripped by the fear of loving Sean. Her uncertainty was gone.
“I love you, Sean Rogan. I’ve always known it, but was too scared to say it. Still, you stuck with me.”
They had issues they needed to talk about. Their lives were not safe or simple; they were dangerous and complex, and either of them could die at any time. This week had proven that-trouble found them. But they loved each other, and that had to mean something. It had to be stronger than their differences, more important than their egos.
Sean stared at her, wiping dirt and blood off her face. His expression was almost as if he hadn’t heard her. “Luce-”
“I never want a day to pass where I don’t tell you how I feel,” Lucy said, holding his face in her hands. “You know the truth, you always have.” She kissed him lightly, looking him straight in the eye. “I love you, Sean Rogan,” she repeated.
Sean pulled her to him and kissed her fiercely, passionately.
She lost her breath again and almost forgot where they were.
He leaned back, pulling her with him, resting against the tunnel wall. She didn’t know if she could walk-her leg throbbed from where Bobbie had stabbed it, but the cut wasn’t deep, just painful. Sean’s heart beat rapidly against her palm. Then he smiled his impish grin in the pale glow of the flashlight and said, “I knew you’d come to your senses soon enough and admit that you’re deeply and madly in love with me.” His thumb trailed from her chin down her throat.
His voice cracked when he said, “I love you, too, Princess. And neither of us died today. I’d say it’s a win-win all around.”
FORTY-TWO
Two days later
Sean and Lucy walked into Albany FBI headquarters Tuesday afternoon. Sean was glad to finally leave Spruce Lake, confident that Tim and Adam Hendrickson could move forward on their resort. In light of the continuing police presence as local and federal authorities shut down the drug business and raided multiple buildings, seized several tons of marijuana, and removed all related computers and files, the brothers decided to postpone the resort opening until next year. Tim believed his financial knowledge and collateral would help bring redevelopment money into the area, and Adam planned to simultaneously open separate Boy and Girl Scout camps, something their father had dreamed about. They vowed to work closely with the people in town to develop a viable tourist area. Tourism wouldn’t bring in the big money of drugs or gunrunning, but it also wouldn’t get the townsfolk killed or imprisoned. Already, residents were calling Tim to thank him for standing up to the Swain family and for the first time in their lives, they felt both safe and hopeful.
Sean suspected the coming changes weren’t going to be easy and nothing would be quite the same. But with enough people committed to rebuilding the foundation of Spruce Lake on legal businesses, there was definite promise.
After the adventure in the mine, Sean had hidden Lucy away in the cabin while Noah coordinated four law enforcement agencies that descended on the Adirondacks by dawn-the sheriff, FBI, DEA, and ATF. Every agency sent a dozen or more people, and Sean wanted nothing to do with the initial interviews and justifications. Noah’s ability to organize the disparate groups into a unified team highlighted his military officer training, and Sean grudgingly admired his skill. He was more than happy to pass on any credit-or criticism. Sean just wanted to spend as much time alone with Lucy as he could. He’d never get tired of hearing her say I love you.
Their idyllic two days were over. They were called to Albany for a debriefing, and then would head home.
Lucy introduced Sean to the well-groomed Brian Candela, a stereotypical “suit” in the FBI. But his eyes were sharp and his manner professional. “We spoke on the phone the other day,” Candela said.
“Good to meet you, sir.” Being in this building made him uncomfortable, but Sean was trying to be polite and diplomatic for Lucy’s sake.
“There are just a few of us in the conference room. Marty and Dale went up to Spruce Lake Sunday, will probably be there for a few weeks as they weed through all the facts and fiction.” Sean grinned at Candela’s obvious play on words, feeling more comfortable than he had when he first walked in.
Noah was sitting at the table with an older agent introduced as SAC Hart, a young woman, Agent Tara Fields, on loan from the cybercrime squad, and a secretary who typed on a steno machine like a court reporter.
“I know you’re eager to get home,” Hart said, “so we’ll make this as quick and painless as possible. Agent Armstrong has already written his report, so we have most of the information we need.”
Sean caught Noah’s eye, but couldn’t read his expression. Sean stood by every decision he’d made. But there were some things he didn’t want in any official record.
Fortunately, the questions were straightforward and related solely to the facts. It took them not much more than an hour to recount the events from when he and Lucy first arrived in Spruce Lake to Bobbie’s death in the mine.
Hart dismissed the secretary. “The official part is over. Off the record, I wanted to tell you that ATF Agent Omar Lewis is on official leave. ATF wasn’t happy about it, but I insisted. He acted with complete and total disregard for your lives, contrary to all training and protocols. I suspect, however, he’ll be back after an internal audit.”
While Sean was still furious about the sniper incident, he’d developed an understanding and even some respect. “When the bad guys win one time too many, sometimes we have to bend the rules to stop them.”
“Bending the rules, yes. Breaking them?” Hart shook her head. “Nevertheless, ATF is livid that they lost Sampson Lowell after more than a year of field work and twice that in research. However, we’re sharing everything we learn from those we arrested and the files we seized. Hopefully they’ll get him next time.”
Lucy asked, “What was in Jon Callahan’s safe deposit box? Was it incriminating against Bobbie Swain as we’d thought?”
Candela nodded. “That and much more. First, all the evidence and files Victoria took from the office were in the box, including the tape of Bobbie Swain’s interview in Miami where she turned on her brother. We’ve sent it to the Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico for further analysis, hoping we can learn something from her performance to help us in the future.”
Lucy said, “She was certainly a unique personality, but she was also a cold-blooded sociopath.”
Noah said, “I’ll get you clearance to review the tapes, Lucy. You’ll probably see something no one else did.”
Sean glanced at Noah, agreeing with the Fed but wondering why he chose to lavish the praise on Lucy now. Then he dismissed his flash of jealousy.
It didn’t matter what Noah’s feelings were, if they were professional or personal. Lucy loved Sean, and that was all he needed.
Candela continued. “The box also included a journal Callahan had kept recounting his early drug smuggling days with Paul Swain when they were teenagers. There was a falling out between him and Swain because Callahan had originally gone to law school to become a criminal defense attorney to represent Swain; while in college, Callahan decided to put it all behind him. He lived in Spruce Lake part time in order to keep his eye on things, but he knowingly turned a blind eye to the drug operation. After Swain went to prison, Callahan moved back permanently. But when he realized Bobbie Swain was behind it-and had covertly taken over her brother’s operation-he worked out a deal with Swain to get inside her operation. Swain wanted his sister dead, and Callahan wanted her influence gone.”
“And then she brought in Sampson Lowell,” Lucy said. “Raising the stakes and the danger.”
“Joe Hendrickson learned of the gunrunning plan-Callahan was unclear how-and he went to Callahan to do something. They agreed to contact the ATF, but at the same time Bobbie Swain’s people found out what Hendrickson knew and poisoned him, having the doctor rule it as a heart attack. Callahan went to the ATF to speed up the investigation, and that’s when Omar Lewis was sent undercover to work as the cook at the Lock amp; Barrel. Only Callahan knew Lewis was law enforcement.”
“I’m still unclear why Jon Callahan brought Agent Sheffield in, and why she didn’t inform your office,” Lucy said.
“The first part is easy-you were absolutely right that Victoria met Callahan while investigating the pirated DVDs in Canada. They started seeing each other romantically. After Joe Hendrickson was murdered, Callahan told her everything. By this time, Lewis was already in place. Victoria thought if she reported what she knew, she’d be called off because it was an undercover ATF operation at that point.”
“And she would have been,” Noah interjected.
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