Accidental Eyewitness

by Michelle Karl

  “And I hope you don’t even think about firing a weapon in here,” said the man closest to them. He stepped between them and the angry thief. “Or there won’t be any more money. For any of us. Boss has never steered us wrong before. This hasn’t gone south, despite...” He glanced back at Ellen. Her breath caught in her throat at the malice in his eyes. He seemed to be taking her presence at their crime scene personally. As if he was angry at her for Rod’s death. Did these men know him? Had Rod been a friend to some of them, too? “Not yet, anyway. I’ll lock them in the walk-in until we’re done here and boss tells us what to do with them. You, stand guard while they’re inside.”

  One of the other men came with them as the first man led Ellen and Leo to the master bedroom’s walk-in closet. The closet was huge and had an exposed lightbulb overhead, illuminating racks of summery clothing on either side. She swallowed hard on a burst of hope as they were shoved inside. The door’s lock clicked behind them. She knew this house. She knew this room. And she knew this closet.

  She glanced at Leo, but he kept his eyes downcast. Was he praying?

  “Leo,” she whispered. “Hey, listen.”

  He looked at her and shook his head, pointing to the door. They’d left the one man behind to guard them, and Leo had a point. They needed to be as quiet as possible with their plans. She nodded and backed up, heading toward the far rear of the walk-in closet. Leo furrowed his brow, asking her a silent question.

  She reached down and slid aside several hangers that were laden with thick plaid shirts and warm jackets—always a necessity in northern BC, even during the summer months—and sighed in relief at the sight of the shiny gold handle she’d thought would be there. A number of the cottages she cleaned had large walk-in closets that were connected to both the master bedroom and a bathroom, but she hadn’t been certain whether this cottage was one of those. The rooms in the cottages all blurred together in her mind sometimes.

  She’d never been more relieved to be right. Leo rushed over as she pressed the small button on the side to unlock the connection between the closet and the bathroom on the other side, then closed her fingers around the handle and turned. The door opened.

  Leo grabbed her wrist and squeezed, and she understood the gratitude in the gesture. With silent steps, they crept into the empty bathroom. The door was closed but not locked. Ellen wondered if she should lock the bathroom door, but decided against it. The risk that someone might hear the click of the latch was too great, and she didn’t want to give any of the men an excuse to check on them.

  When she turned back to Leo, his muscles were straining under the effort of sliding open the window without making a sound. The panel gave a slight hiss with each shift on its tracks, but Ellen doubted it’d be heard beyond the room they stood in. Once Leo opened it all the way, the only barrier that remained between them and escape from the house was a bug screen.

  And a two-story drop to the ground.

  “We can tie the clothes together,” he whispered. “Make a rope out of the heavier fabrics and anchor it around the toilet or sink pipes. Lower ourselves down. Shouldn’t take too many shirts or pants to reach down there.”

  “It’s a good idea.” Ellen leaned over, trying to figure out where the drop would take them. “But I think this room is right above one of the living room windows. If anyone looks out while we’re lowering ourselves down, we’ll be seen immediately.”

  Leo nodded and tapped his fingers on his pant leg. “Then we don’t drop. We lower ourselves like rock climbers. If you can wrap one leg in the makeshift rope, you can walk down the side of the house, extending a little bit at a time, controlling the descent. That way you can shift your path around the windows. Then someone will only see us if they’re pressed up against the window and looking outside.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “But it’ll take a lot of arm strength. Are you up for it?”

  She shrugged. “It’s not like we have any other options. Let’s do it.”

  * * *

  Leo kept a close eye on Ellen as they slipped clothing off the hangers and tied shirt arms and pant legs together. He found it baffling that folks were able to afford to keep reams of clothes at their vacation cottage—not to mention all the expensive artwork and modern appliances—but he took no issue with hardworking individuals affording themselves some luxuries, especially when their investments provided employment to locals like Ellen. God’s blessings came in many forms, and it was what a person did with those blessings to help others that truly mattered.

  She worked diligently alongside him, both of them cringing every time one of the hangers shifted and caused the tinny clang of metal on metal. Part of Leo hoped that the damage done to his phone was superficial, that maybe it still worked and was broadcasting their location—but he knew he shouldn’t count on it. Also, the phone had looked awful, beyond hope. Which meant that they needed to get themselves out of there as fast as possible. If the RCMP showed up, it would be a nice bonus, but not something he was willing to place any stock in.

  After about ten minutes, they’d created an enormous length of clothing rope that sat coiled in the center of the bathroom floor. Leo wrapped one end around the base of the toilet, knotting it and pulling it tight with all his strength. The makeshift rope would have to support both of their body weights without unraveling or tearing. He was more worried about the latter.

  “I’ll go first,” he murmured to Ellen. “That way I can be at the bottom to catch you if the rope tears on your descent. You can watch me travel down and then do what I do.”

  The muscles in her throat shifted as she swallowed. Her nerves were showing, but she’d need to tamp them down again if they were going to make it out of the situation alive. Whoever the thieves’ “boss” was, that person had clearly been the one calling the shots—literally—and Leo had no doubt that as soon as the thieves received their next instructions, it’d be the end of the line for himself and Ellen.

  “You want me to be the one to fall?” She frowned. “I mean, our knots feel secure, but...”

  “I’ll catch you if it comes undone. I promise. But if you go first and I fall after you, there’s no way I’m expecting you to catch me. And if I go down first and the rope breaks as I go, I’ll probably be okay. If needed, you can jump from the window for me to catch you.”

  “Jump. From the window.”

  “Like I said, I promise to catch you.”

  She glanced sharply at the window and backed up until her knees bumped against the edge of the tub. “I don’t think I can do this.”

  That was a new development. He hadn’t heard her give any voice to weakness so far, despite Jamie’s perception of his sister. “Of course you can. You drove a boat at nearly two hundred kilometers an hour on that lake and then pulled a James Bond move to evade our pursuers. You can certainly climb down the side of a house or jump from a window.”

  She shook her head, more rapidly this time. “You don’t understand. I’m afraid of heights.”

  Of course she was. He’d known that while they were kids, but it hadn’t even occurred to him since they’d been reunited. And why would it? “Ellen, I don’t want to push you or freak you out even more, but this is a matter of life or death. And I promise, I promise you, I’ll be there to catch you if anything happens. Let me be your landing pad, your cushion. Unless you have a better option, this is our only exit and we’re running out of time.”

  Footsteps sounded in the hall outside the bathroom. Leo’s shoulders tensed. If they were discovered missing in the next few seconds, they’d be back to square one. Or dead. Ellen closed her eyes, squeezing hard. He wanted so much to wrap his arms around her and tell her that it was going to be okay, but even he was having trouble believing that the Lord would see them through this. If their survival wasn’t in God’s will, then he’d have to accept that. But God had also given him and Ellen brains and wits to use to the best of their abilitie
s, which meant they had a responsibility to fight for life. Not to sit back and let evil win.

  “Ellen?”

  “Go,” she whispered, eyes still closed. The footsteps in the hallway came closer and paused. “I’ll watch and follow, I promise. Let’s go.”

  He didn’t waste a second. Leo dug his fingers into the edges of the window screen and yanked it out, praying with each breath that the men in the hallway wouldn’t hear what they were doing or open the closet to check on them—or end their lives—in the next few minutes.

  Raised voices, muffled but ardent, came from outside the room. Leo wrapped a section of the rope between his legs front to back, then around his leg from behind and up across the front of his chest. He draped the end over his shoulder and across his back so that he was holding the loose end of the rope with the arm opposite of the shoulder that the rope was draped over. After making sure that Ellen understood how to match the rope positioning for her own descent, he climbed up onto the window ledge, turned backward, tightened his grip and stepped off.

  The strain on his wrists and fingers was immediate and painful, and he had a feeling that it would take longer than he’d like to get to the ground. Ellen’s face appeared at the window, looking out as he lowered himself bit by bit. Her complexion was so pale and green that he thought she might pass out just watching his descent. He fervently hoped that she’d find the strength to step off the ledge after him.

  He kept his eyes on her as he walked down the side of the house, shifting to a diagonal route to avoid the windows below—though it didn’t take long to realize that it was going to be very difficult to prevent the rope from ever slipping sideways. There was a real possibility that only one of them might get to the ground before the men inside saw the rope and came running out after them.

  Ellen looked over her shoulder, back at the bathroom door, then back at him. Worry filled her eyes. Had someone knocked on the door? She gestured at him to hurry. He increased his pace as much as he could safely manage, the pressure from the makeshift rope leaving burns as the fabric dug in and slid against his skin. When he bypassed the top edge of the living room window, he loosened his grip and dropped the final few meters. Then he released the rope so Ellen could pull it back up.

  He held his breath as she disappeared from sight. Would she remember how to loop the rope around herself? When she poked her head out again, he gave her a thumbs-up, which she returned before climbing up onto the ledge. He positioned himself below her as she turned around and began the tentative process of supporting her own body weight.

  During his descent, he hadn’t felt the rope shift at all, so he had a feeling the biggest issue would be whether Ellen could hold herself up long enough to make it to the ground. But as she stepped off, feet planted on the side of the building, he couldn’t help but note the muscles along her arms. She’d engaged her muscles from shoulders to forearms, and her biceps looked firm and strong. Cleaning houses was more physically demanding than he’d expected, clearly.

  He wanted to call up to her to offer encouragement, but it wasn’t worth the risk. As she reached the halfway mark, she turned her head and looked down at him. She saw the distance between herself and the ground, and a flash of panic crossed her features, disengaging her tight hold on the rope.

  She gasped, a tiny shriek escaping as she slid down several feet before her grip tightened and she stabilized, body bouncing with the give of the fabric rope. Leo heard a tearing sound and lowered his stance as she shut her eyes and froze in place.

  “Ellen,” he whispered. “It’s okay. You can let go now. You’re far enough down that it won’t be a long drop.” She nodded, eyes still shut, but she didn’t move.

  A door slammed somewhere inside the house.

  Ellen’s eyes flew open and she looked down at him in fright. Had that been the bathroom door? It didn’t matter—they didn’t have time to stand around and contemplate whether or not their absence had been discovered.

  She pressed her lips together, inhaled...and let go.

  ELEVEN

  It felt like her stomach had been left behind as she fell. Intellectually, she knew the drop wasn’t far, but she couldn’t help the rush of terror caused by the sensation of free-falling through the air. Almost instantly, the fear was abated as strong arms cradled her back and legs, stopping her momentum and keeping her from becoming a splat on the ground.

  “I did it,” she murmured. “I can’t believe I did it.”

  “I can,” Leo said. His voice brought sudden awareness to her arms, legs and torso. Her skin began to warm at the sensation of being held in his protective embrace—such an innocent gesture, and yet she couldn’t stop her traitorous heart from beating a little faster.

  Leo looked down at her with something akin to pride, and her stomach came back to her, this time twisting with anticipation. He lowered his face toward hers and she held her breath. Was he going to...kiss her?

  And if he was, why wasn’t she stopping it?

  Because this is what I want, she admitted. Denying it wasn’t going to work, not after this. Her limbs were just as frozen as they’d been before stepping off the ledge above, and her insides were entwined in the same knots. Fear mingled with surprise, but she welcomed it and closed her eyes—

  And felt his lips plant on her forehead in a gentle, feathery kiss. The same kind of kiss a person gave their baby sister. Or their cat.

  Disappointment coursed through her adrenaline-fueled limbs, sweeping aside the tension to shove a pile of exhaustion in its place.

  “I’m proud of you,” he said.

  That only made it worse. But what could she say? This was neither the time nor the place to confront her emotions. “What do we do next? Which way?”

  “The horses are just past this side of the wall, so we should—”

  Another door slammed. Raised, angry voices sounded from inside, followed by more thumps. Closer this time.

  “We need to get out of here,” Leo said. He set her down and grabbed her hand, and despite her frustration, she didn’t disagree with the urgency to get moving. They crept along the wall toward the backyard, but when they reached its edge, Leo jerked back and pressed his spine to the siding. He raised a finger to his lips.

  The back door slid open and Ellen listened as men stepped outside, yelling at each other.

  “Then search the perimeter! I don’t care how long it takes, we can’t let them escape this time. This operation is in enough hot water as it is.”

  “But we’ve already got what we came for, can’t we just leave? We’ll get them another time. They don’t know who we are and haven’t managed to track us down so far. I don’t get why we keep going after them. We simply lie low, they don’t find us and we’re home free.”

  “You know that’s not how boss wants to play this. Now that the RCMP have made a connection, it’s only a matter of time before we get busted. We have to get in and out and eliminate obstacles along the way until we’ve—” The man stopped talking. “Did you hear that?”

  Ellen looked at Leo, who shrugged. She hadn’t heard anything, either. Leo peered around the corner, then flattened again, shaking his head.

  Moments later, she heard the sound of car tires crunching against pavement.

  “Could it be the ringleader?” she hissed. “Leo, if that’s their boss—”

  He nodded, then looked around the corner again. “They’re gone. If that’s the boss of this band of thieves, they might have a meeting. They’ll be distracted. Actually...” He raised one eyebrow. “How do you feel about jacking a car?”

  “Do you know how to do that? And how are we going to get to the front of the house without anyone seeing?”

  He didn’t answer, but lowered himself all the way to the ground and began crawling forward on his belly.

  Before she’d witnessed Rod’s death and the robbery, Ellen had loved th
e open-concept layout of the lake’s vacation cottages—the giant windows all around the main living area, letting the light in and warming each building naturally. The sunlight had always been comforting, soothing. A wonderful change from the days when she’d cleaned local office buildings and retail stores. She still took those contracts sometimes to supplement her work at Schroeder Lake, but those places tended to be dark, a little dingy and a bit depressing at times due to the lack of natural light and the proliferation of fluorescent bulbs.

  She flopped down, too. The cool grass felt oddly refreshing on the fabric burns across her hands. When Leo moved, she saw the matching burns on his hands, though his looked much angrier. They belly-crawled across the side of the house toward the front. She held her breath as they passed beneath the windows. Raised voices still came from inside, but no one ran toward them waving a gun, which was a comforting thing.

  As they approached the edge of the exterior, an electronic whoop filled the air. Leo froze and Ellen paused behind him. He looked back at her, puzzled. Then he leaped to his feet and ran toward the front of the house.

  Alarmed, she did the same, though she couldn’t help but wonder whether the events of the day had taken a sudden toll on him, if he’d maybe taken a blow to the head that she hadn’t seen—but as she rounded the corner of the house, she saw why he’d run.

  An RCMP patrol car sat in the driveway. The car doors swung open, and Staff Sergeant Clyne slid out of the driver’s seat while Trucco climbed out of the passenger side. Less than a second passed before yet another RCMP vehicle rolled into the driveway. Her brother sat behind the wheel.

  “Clyne!” Leo shouted as he ran toward the officer. “Trucco, get back in the car! There are armed men inside!”

  The staff sergeant’s attention snapped from Leo’s approach to the forensic examiner, who’d exited the car. “Get back in the vehicle, Ms. Trucco, before you get yourself killed!”