Black Moon Rising
Page 26
“Boyson had help from the outside. Transport no sooner pulled into the back bay than four guys dressed like ninjas came out of nowhere, disabled the transport team, and took off with Boyson.”
Luca’s mind churned through the possibilities, landing on one that almost leveled him. Dressed like ninjas. That meant they were all in black. In Sunny’s visions, the kidnappers were dressed all in black. Coincidence? Hell, no!
“What’re you thinking?” Trey asked.
“That Vale Luna has recruited a man who hates Sunny’s guts to help kidnap her kids…and kill her.”
“Much as I hate to admit it, that makes perfect sense. They couldn’t possibly know yet that Sunny and the kids are missing, though.”
“No, not yet, but we have a leak somewhere, otherwise Sunny’s visions wouldn’t be changing location.”
“I can’t think of anyone who liked the guy well enough to go down as an accomplice to kidnapping and murder.”
“None of the men, maybe, but I hear-tell Boyson considered himself a ladies’ man.” He pulled out his phone and called Brant Crawford. “Where are you?”
“Old Town. Just finishing up on a shoplift.”
“How soon can you head over to Cupp’a Joe’s?”
“Give me ten minutes,” Crawford said, and disconnected.
“Brant can probably give us a blow-by-blow—pardon the pun—given that he was forced to ride with that POS for a month.”
“You think IA finagled that?”
Trey lifted a shoulder. “Beats me, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Brant comes from a long line of cops. Who better than a genetic blueblood to ferret out a weasel in the hen house?”
Luca’s phone beeped that he had a text. Hopeful it was from Sunny, he picked it up right away. Not Sunny, but Libby.
Just told my folks re Sunny and kids. Want to talk to you ASAP.
Luca sighed and turned his phone screen toward Trey.
“You had to know this was coming. Want me along for the ride?”
“Probably best, since we’re both working the case.” He texted Libby back.
Can meet in 45 minutes. Station or their house?
Her swift reply came back in one word, house. “I hope Crawford shows up pretty damned quick. We’ve got to make it across town by ten.”
“The Keenes must be freaking out,” Trey said.
“Probably, but with any luck, they’ll have some useful information for us.”
“Maybe, but if Libby didn’t know anything, it’s unlikely they will.”
Before Luca could reply, Brant Crawford pushed through the door and strode directly to their table. “I guess you heard.”
“Grab a coffee and let’s chat,” Luca said, impressed that Brant had arrived in less than ten minutes.
With a quick nod, he beelined for the counter, calling out his order as he went.
Minutes later, the three of them were deep into discussing who might be stupid enough to help Earl Boyson. As it turned out, the list of possibles was longer than either Luca or Trey had expected. Three patrol officers, one vice detective, a records clerk, and four clerical personnel. All females.
“God save us from cops who can’t keep their pants zipped,” Trey said, only half kidding.
“God help whichever one of them it is who’s leaking confidential information to Boyson and the Vale Luna crowd.” Luca flipped his notebook closed, angry that someone he worked with could be so damned stupid and irresponsible.
Chapter 30
. . .
Luca had never been to Harry and Bebe Keene’s house. Sunny and Libby had grown up there, but other than that, he knew nothing about it. He’d sort of expected it to be Hollywood garish and ostentatious behind a wrought iron gate and set far back from the road at the end of a long curving drive.
Instead, the sprawling yet unassuming mid-century modern home sat on at least an acre of land. Luca had always been fascinated with mid-century homes. He didn’t care much for stairs, so a single level appealed to him. He also liked the abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows that were the hallmark of many of the homes built in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright.
“Nice place,” Trey commented as they went up the walkway.
“It is,” Luca agreed, and added wryly, “and I’m glad to see there’s no flashing neon.”
Trey grinned.
Inside, the furnishings were eclectic, which, if he had to choose a word, would also describe Bebe. Her movie roles covered every genre and her home décor ranged from antiques to modern and everything in between. The house wasn’t crowded with junk, but furnishings weren’t sparse, either. Basically, the Keene home was welcoming and comfortable, like the owners.
“Let’s go into the kitchen,” Bebe said. “Coffee’s on and I just took a cinnamon streusel coffee cake out of the oven.”
“Smells fantastic,” Trey said.
Luca could have sworn his partner smacked his lips in anticipation and for a moment, he wished his own appetite would return.
Following behind Bebe, he stopped for a moment to examine a wall of photos that depicted Sunny and Libby from infancy into adulthood. Carson and Maisie had been introduced into the mix, as well. Luca’s mind strayed to the babies he and Sunny would make together, and how amazing it would be to have their photos added to the wall, as well.
Thinking about the future he wanted with Sunny shot extra resolve through him, as if it had been administered like a dose of adrenaline.
Harry sat at the kitchen table with his head in his hands, but when they entered the room, he stood and offered his hand to both of them.
The doorbell rang and a moment later, the front door opened.
“That’ll be Libby,” Bebe said, fussing with plates and forks.
Sunny’s parents looked as haggard as he felt. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be, not knowing where your daughter or your grandchildren were. Or even knowing bad people were out to take those grandkids and kill everyone who stood in their way.
Luca and Trey both offered to assist Bebe but she declined with a flutter of her hands. “If I don’t keep busy, I’ll go stark-raving mad.”
Libby hung her purse on the back of a chair, then leaned down to exchange a kiss with Trey.
With coffee poured and coffee cake plated and served, the five of them sat around the table. Without exception, every pair of eyes stared into the depths of their coffee cup.
“Have you heard anything?” Harry asked. “Anything at all?”
Luca gave him a rundown of the purchases they’d had confirmed so far by the department’s IT whiz.
“Oh, dear,” Bebe said. She picked up her coffee cup, but set it right back down because her hands were trembling so badly.
“She’s expecting a night attack,” Harry said.
“Does she know how to handle a rifle?” Trey asked.
“All of us are marksmen. Taught the girls to shoot when they were still tadpoles.”
Libby smiled. “We could barely hold those rifles up, so Dad rigged an adjustable stand for the barrel to rest on. That probably accounted for our many bull’s-eyes.”
Trey considered his new love interest with a raised eyebrow. Luca knew exactly how he felt. He still had a lot to learn about Sunny, and God willing, he’d get the chance over the course of their lives together.
“Do you….” Bebe cleared her throat and began again. “Do you know who…that is, have you confirmed that the Vale Luna people want the children?”
“We’re operating under that assumption,” Luca said. He fiddled with the handle of his cup. “We have a bit of” —he shrugged— “I don’t know if you’d call it good fortune on our side, but the agent I spoke with at the FBI says they have a mole in Vale Luna. He’s not due to check in for another two days, but apparently they have some sort of covert communication thing worked out if the need to talk arises sooner than the appointed check-in time.”
Harry leaned forward on his elbows. “Did they give you a
nything at all? Has there been any chatter about Carson and Maisie, or Sunny?”
Luca exchanged a look with Trey, undecided about how much he should reveal to the elder Keenes. Trey darted a quick glance at Libby, who seemed to send him some kind of signal, because when he looked back at Luca, he nodded.
“Everything Sunny discovered about the February twenty-eighteen black moon rising and the child sacrifices to Diana has been verified by the FBI operative. They’ve chosen Carson and Maisie because they share the bloodline of the Vale Luna founders.”
“Dear God,” Libby said, stunned. “Despite what Zach wrote in those letters, and the things Sunny found on the Internet, I’d hoped it was all just gobbledygook.”
“Why would they want the children so far in advance of the event?” Bebe said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“It has something to do with” —Luca hesitated to say the word because of the negative connotation, but dammit, they were the kids’ grandparents— “with taming them.”
“Taming them?” Harry roared. “Like they’re animals that can be bent to the wills of those insane fanatics?”
Luca steeled himself and explained. “They want them docile and unresisting when it comes time to complete the sacrifices.”
“No wonder Sunny took the children and ran,” Bebe said. “She’s seen something and she doesn’t think any of us are capable of keeping them safe.” Her eyes flew to her husband. “We have to figure out where they are.”
“Can you think of anyplace she would feel secure taking them?” Luca asked, surprised by the desperation he heard in his voice.
“I wish she’d left her damned laptop behind,” Libby said. “We could’ve searched her browser history.”
Trey put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We can’t change what’s happened so far, but we can try to come up with some locations familiar to her, where the kids would be comfortable.”
“There’s Grandma Addison’s place,” Harry said. “I mentioned it the night we were all at Sunny’s being briefed on her visions and this damned cult.”
Luca experienced a ray of hope that was quickly dashed. It wasn’t likely Sunny would head somewhere familiar to her family. She’d probably be more inclined to head to a place she’d gone with Zach, or just her and the kids alone.
“Remind me again where that’s located,” Trey said.
“Near Laramie,” Bebe said, “bordering the eastern boundary of Medicine Bow National Forest.”
Harry elaborated. “It’s an old cabin that’s had additions over the years. Got all the modern bells and whistles now, which means electricity and indoor plumbing, but not much else in the way of amenities. Rustic, I guess you’d call it. For a short time, they could manage it there.” He glanced down at the printout of Sunny’s purchases. “From the looks of this, she was stocking up for a place where she could do some cooking.”
“Does she have a tent?” Luca asked. “I didn’t see any credit card purchase for one.”
“None of us are much on outdoor camping,” Libby said. “We wouldn’t even sleep under the stars in the back yard unless we could have our sleeping bags on the chaise lounges.”
Chaise lounge brought to mind something else entirely for Luca. He allowed himself one brief moment to savor the memory of him and Sunny on the chaise, and after that, on the quilt…. His gut clenched and he almost couldn’t bear thinking of his life without her. “Can you think of anywhere else she might consider safe? Maybe someplace just she and the kids went to?”
Try as they might, Sunny’s family could come up with nothing. Sunny was a homebody. She took pride in her home and loved being there with her children.
“Before we go,” Luca said, “give us directions to the cabin. I’ll give law enforcement in that area a call and have them do a check for us. If she is there, I’ll go up immediately and bring them back.”
“Is there anyone she might contact for help?” Trey asked.
Bebe spoke up. “She has a friend in Cañon City, an old college roommate. Her name is Debra.”
Luca added the particulars of that friendship to his notebook.
“What about Carla?” Libby asked.
“Who’s that?” Trey asked.
“Our cousin. Well, third cousin, actually. She’s Dad’s cousin’s daughter. She was one of those mistake babies, so she’s closer to me and Sunny in age than her siblings. We all were great friends as kids, and we still keep in touch.”
“You think Sunny would ask her to shelter her and the kids?” Luca asked, his tone dubious.
Libby frowned. “No, Sunny wouldn’t want to endanger anyone else, but both Debra and Carla might know of someone who has a place she could hole up in.”
Bebe looked at Harry. “Would she go anywhere up by Estes, thinking the Vale Lunatics wouldn’t look close by for her?”
“Surely not!” Harry said.
“Actually, it sounds exactly like something Sunny might do,” Libby said, her expression thoughtful. She leaned forward, glancing at both her parents. “Remember that place up in the Park? The Bald Pate Inn? She and Zach stayed there once when he was home on leave. Sunny said the place was deserted except for the two of them because it was the off season.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Luca said, jotting down the name.
“That’s pretty damned close to the Vale Luna compound,” Trey noted.
“How close is close?” Libby asked.
“As the crow flies, maybe a couple of miles.”
Libby frowned. “You’re right. The proximity of the inn to the cult compound is probably more than Sunny would be comfortable with.”
“Just to be sure, I’ll check it out,” Luca said. “One thing I’ve learned about Sunny is not to second-guess her.”
“Amen,” Harry whispered. “Like mother, like daughter.” He glanced at Bebe. “No offense intended, love.”
. . .
Sunny put the kids down for their afternoon nap and waited until she was certain they were asleep before she activated the secret door in the floor of her closet.
Zach had built this cabin before he’d ever met her. “Call me a conspiracy theorist,” he’d told her the first time he’d brought her here, “or a doomsday prepper, or just plain crazy, but the day may come when martial law’s being enforced or the terrorists arrive to fight us on our shores. We have to be ready.”
Knowing what she knew now, she was pretty sure there’d been a third enemy he hadn’t mentioned, even though they had to be at the back of his mind—his family and their infernal cult. She had to give him credit for his foresight and planning.
She grabbed a box and a flashlight from the dresser just outside the closet and made her way down the stairs. A reinforced metal door guarded the safe room beyond. Sunny withdrew her keyring, which held the key to the lock, surprised that after all this time, the door still slid open on whatever silent mechanism made it function. Even now, she marveled at the engineering feat of the small cabin above and the technologically advanced safe room below, complete with its own separate power source.
She flipped on the light switch just inside the room. Everything looked the same. A minimal coating of dust touched every surface, but other than that, the room was pristine. A set of bunk beds sat against one wall and on the opposite wall, a double Murphy bed. In between was a small table with four chairs and a tiny kitchen area that contained a bar-size sink and a four-foot counter with a propane camping stove at one end. A microwave had been fitted into a cabinet that held papergoods, several bowls, a cast iron skillet, and two pots. There was a drawer right below the microwave that contained utensils.
On the wall opposite, a built-in shelf unit housed a small TV, a radio, and a DVD player. She opened the box she’d brought down with her and extracted a satellite phone that she’d already programmed with essential contact numbers. She plugged in the charger and set it next to the radio. Separating the shelf unit from a gun cabinet was a narrow desk space that housed a laptop.
She closed the cabinet and relocked it. After the kids were tucked in for the night, she’d come back down and examine the guns and clean them, because they probably needed it.
Sunny tapped a key on the laptop and the screen blinked to life, projecting images gathered by the security cameras. She spent a few minutes examining them until she was satisfied nothing but forest creatures were wandering around outside the cabin.
Next she checked the tiny bathroom. It contained a three-foot-square shower and a toilet. Just the basics, but along with the bar sink, they would suffice, if she and the kids ended up having to retreat to the safe room.
Satisfied that everything was in working order, Sunny began the arduous task of carting supplies down the stairs. Zach had stored MREs—meals ready to eat—in the small storage room next to the bathroom, but she was pretty sure she and the kids would be a lot happier if they could eat a meal out of a box or a can when they felt like it. She left enough upstairs to get them through the next twenty-four hours. From then on, what she needed for the next day, if they could remain safely up in the cabin, she’d grab from below.
Upon completion of that chore, she went out to move the SUV to the shelter down below. It wasn’t a garage by any stretch of the imagination, but if anyone came creeping around the cabin, they wouldn’t be able to detect the camouflaged car shelter, or for that matter, determine anyone was inside the cabin. She broke a small branch off an aspen tree and used it to dust up the tire marks leading back up to the cabin.
When Sunny finally went to bed that night, her prayers centered around helping her keep her children safe and the crazy people that were Zach’s family far, far away.
Chapter 31
. . .
Luca couldn’t sleep. Three days had passed and they had zip on Sunny’s whereabouts.