Chapter XVIII
Allie stumbled down the front porch steps, feeling Connor holding her wrist in a death grip, as they ran for their lives.
"Take this." She passed him the pistol she had been holding, as they turned northward. She willed her stubborn feet to move faster, to try to keep pace with Connor. She felt like she was being half pulled, half dragged, as Connor tried to keep her next to him.
"Where's the closest phone?" he yelled, as they entered into the wall of pine and spruce trees that bordered the inn. Crack...a bullet hit the tree to the left of Allie, and she screamed in spite of herself. Oh, my God, he's coming after us. She looked back and saw a beam of light moving toward them. Crack...another one whizzed by her, and Connor responded by immediately yanking Allie to his right, changing direction.
"The closest neighbor is Ben, my gardener." Allie tried to keep her voice low. "A mile from here, I guess." She was starting to pant. "We're going in the right direction, I think."
Connor and Allie ran through the woods, swiping at the low-hanging limbs that slashed their faces. They jumped or tripped over fallen branches, Connor having to pull her up many times off the ground, as her shoe kept catching in the low bushes. Allie wished there had been a full moon, so she could see where she was going, but then realized that it would give the shooter an even better advantage.
Crack...another shot...but this one more distant. Had the gunman stopped chasing them? They paused for a moment to get their bearings in the pitch darkness, both of them breathless.
"We've got to keep going." Connor yanked her hand, and they took off again through the tangled mass of trees, and brush. "Allie...I'm..an agent for...the Treasury Department." Connor was breathing heavily, his words coming out in spurts. "I came here..." He took a deep breath. "...to investigate a counterfeiting ring." He stopped for a moment. He couldn't see the stunned look on her face. "Your husband was part of it." Connor bent over and tried to slow his breathing.
Allie was sweating, and the sweat was turning to an icy chill on her skin. She shivered as she put her hands on her knees to get her breath. She hung her head in shock, as she silently took it all in.
"Patrick's death was no accident. He was killed on that fishing boat, most likely by the two men at your inn." Connor knew he had to tell her as much as possible before getting to the gardener's house. They hadn't heard any more gunshots. He assumed that the larger gunman had gone back to the inn to gather the money. He continued to quickly and quietly tell her as much as he could, and was glad that she listened without showing any reaction. "Patrick and Ethan were the middle men. Patrick decided to keep part of the money for himself. It's hidden in the basement. That's what they came for tonight," he added. "We're damn lucky we weren't killed. I was going to tell you everything...try to convince you to move out for your own safety, when they barged in."
"I understand." Allie was quiet.
"We'd better get going. I need to call the police and my agency."
Connor grabbed her hand again, and they resumed their tortuous trek through the woods, revived by their short breather. Allie saw muted, yellow lights ahead of them.
"There's Ben's house." She breathed a sigh of relief.
They trudged up to the door of the stone cottage, and knocked on the brown, plank door. A gruff "Who's there?" accompanied by multiple deep canine growls was the reply.
"Ben, it's Allie. It's an emergency. Please open the door."
The door swung open immediately, revealing a gentle-looking, elderly man with white hair, a golden retriever standing next to him, now wagging its tail.
"Why Allie...what's wrong?" Ben looked from one to the other as he swept them into his warm living room with a large, weathered hand.
"Ben, this is Connor." She had to be quick. "He's a federal agent and needs to call the police. Can he use your phone?"
"Of course, of course..." He motioned to the black phone on the table next to his recliner. Connor immediately went over and started dialing.
"There's a man chasing us. He's been shooting at us in the woods. We don't know if he's gone back to the inn or not." Allie hated dragging Ben into this, but he was their only hope. She glanced at Connor, who was talking to someone now in a low voice.
"Well...we'll see about that." Ben patted her on the shoulder, then turned and walked over to the corner of the room next to the fireplace. He pulled out a rifle from its resting place against the wall, and made sure it was loaded. "Come over here, Allie, away from the windows and door." She obeyed him, going to sit in a chair by the dining room door. Now that she was in what she considered to be a relatively safe spot, she let her mind process Connor's startling revelations. It all made sense now. Patrick and Ethan, entangled in a counterfeiting operation. Who would have thought? So that was what he did on his long fishing trips. She wasn't quite sure how it all worked, but she figured that Patrick at some point, had handled large sums of money, part of which he tried to keep for himself. He was found out, and killed. She knew that Connor would give her more details later...but, it dawned on her that Patrick had put her and their guests in extreme danger, all for his own gain.
Allie watched, engrossed in her own thoughts, as Connor got up from the recliner and spoke to Ben. They turned to look at her, then went back to their conversation. She didn't care to be left out of their plans, so she stood up and joined them.
"Allie, I've called the local police and the feds." He looked down at her with a deadly serious expression on his face. "They're on the way to the inn now." He paused. "I'm going back there, too."
She started to protest, but he put his hand up.
"I'll be okay. I have to do this." He bent down and kissed her lightly. "It shouldn't be too long, and all this will be over." Connor gave her a reassuring look, then turned to Ben. "I appreciate this." He shook the man's hand. Before he opened the front door, he checked the gun for ammunition. With a quick look back at Allie, he was gone.
The Village of Gerard's Cliff Page 17