by Ann Simas
If he didn’t find Sunny pretty damned quick, there wasn’t going to be a future with her to look forward to.
He nosed into a parking space in the lot at the police station and they climbed out of the car.
“Want to walk across the street and grab a sandwich before we go back to work?” Trey asked.
With a start, Luca realized it was nearly four o’clock and he hadn’t eaten anything substantial since the day before. He could hardly subsist on a maple bar from the ever-present donut box inside the squad room and the slice of streusel cake at the Keene’s. He needed some protein to combat the dregs of his sugar high.
They each ordered a twelve-inch sub and ate silently while they polished them off. Back in the office, Luca couldn’t shake the troubling sensation that he’d missed something at the cabin.
He hovered over Jimmy Lee and said, “Got anything new?”
The IT guy smirked over his shoulder at Luca. “Not unless you want to know exactly which DVDs she purchased at the toy store.”
Just like that, Luca’s brain thawed and he grasped what he had missed before at the cabin.
He swore softly and bolted out of the room.
“Hey!” Trey called after him. “Where are you going?”
“Back to the cabin. The light on the DVD player was on.”
By the time Trey caught up with him, the engine was running and the car was moving. His partner threw himself into the passenger seat and buckled up. “The light being on doesn’t mean someone was there. It could have been on since the last time she was in the cabin.”
Luca slammed the palm of his hand against the wheel, cursing a red stoplight. He grabbed his flasher and slammed it onto the dash.
“Dammit, Luca, what’s the rush?”
Luca spared him a brief, frantic glance. “Still waters run deep!” he yelled. “The cabin wasn’t deep in the woods, but it’s probably got a goddamned bunker!”
. . .
It took Sunny little time to pack up essentials in one of the luggage totes. In the other, she crammed all the toys, DVDs, and storybooks, along with the kids’ PJs, blankies, and stuffed animals. She worked quietly and efficiently, placing the bags next to the small storage closet.
She opened the door and squeezed past the boxes she’d carted down from upstairs just a few short days ago. At the back of the closet was another door. She withdrew the cabin keyring and inserted the third and final key into the lock. The thick door opened outward, and unlike the interior doors, squeaked on its hinges.
Sunny prayed no critters had taken up residence in the tunnel. That included bears, spiders, and bats.
She went back for the bags, and clasping the small flashlight between her hand and the handle of one of the bags, made her way about fifty feet down the narrow passageway that led to the outside, emptying just to the east of the vehicle shelter.
Zach really had been something of a genius to devise every element related to the cabin so carefully and thoroughly. “Thank you,” she whispered to his heavenly self.
At the SUV, Sunny set one of the bags on the ground and used her key fob to open the rear compartment. She stashed both bags inside.
Back in the safe room, she packed two handle bags with what was left of the perishables, along with bottled waters, boxed juices, and anything else that would fit that would be suitable for feeding the children.
Once that was also deposited into the back of the SUV, she went back for Carson and Maisie. The two them stood at the entrance to the closet looking confused.
“Where were you, Mommy?” Carson asked.
“Getting ready for our next big adventure,” she said, working to keep her tone upbeat.
“I wike it heh-ya,” Maisie protested.
“I know, sweet pea, but now we need to go.” She made sure they both used the restroom and handed them each a baggie with their afternoon snack. “Don’t open them until we get into the car, okay?”
They nodded.
“I’m going to carry Maisie, and Carson, I’d like you to be in charge of the other flashlight. Can you hold it out in front of you, sweetheart, to light our way?”
“Sure,” he said, his excitement at being involved in their getaway obvious.
“I wanna fwashwight,” Maisie grumbled.
Sunny knew they didn’t have time for a debate. She pulled a small light from her pocket, turned it on, and handed it to her daughter. “Carson, when we go into the tunnel, I need you to shine the light on the door, so I can lock it up again, okay?”
“Okay.”
Sunny perused the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She moved over to shut down the laptop and noticed that the front camera was picking up the image of two men approaching via the driveway in front. She lowered the lid, scooped up Maisie, and said, “Let’s go, and be really, really quiet, okay?”
“Okay,” they both whispered.
Carson activated his light and preceded them into the closet. Sunny closed the door behind them. “Quiet now,” she reminded them in a whisper.
They moved out into the tunnel. As he’d been instructed, Carson stopped and turned, aiming the light at the door. Sunny set Maisie down. “You aim your light at the door like Carson, sweet pea.”
Maisie nodded with her whole body and the light danced an up-and-down jig.
With her hand unencumbered by the flashlight, Sunny was able to lock the door quickly. She scooped her daughter up again and said, “Let’s go, like quiet little mice.”
Maisie giggled and gripped her snack bag tightly in one fist and wrapped the arm gripping the small flashlight around her mother’s neck. The light bobbed erratically, which was slightly disorienting. Carson trudged ahead, intent on his mission, holding his light steady.
At the end of the tunnel, Sunny set Maisie down again and knelt to face her children at eye level. “Let’s turn off the flashlights, so we can save the batteries.”
Maisie handed hers over reluctantly. Carson shut off his light and gave it to his mother without argument.
“Thank you.” She shoved both flashlights in to her jeans pocket. “Stay right here. Do not move. Understand?”
Both somber, their little heads moved up and down.
Satisfied that they would stay put, she crept toward the other side of the vehicle enclosure and peered around the edge of it.
Smoke curled from the vicinity of the cabin. Sunny pulled the satellite phone from another pocket and dialed the ranger’s station. “I’d like to report a fire,” she said, and gave them the milepost number closest to her driveway. “It was started by two men, one of whom is Earl Boyson, an escaped felon.” When they asked her name, she disconnected.
Time to get the kids into the SUV. With any luck, Forest Service personnel would respond before Boyson and his sidekick made it back to their vehicle.
Afraid to rely on the information Boyson had unknowingly presented about his plan, she eased out of the shelter and continued on into the meadow and toward a barely visible road on the other side that fed onto U.S. Forest Service land. From there, she could travel in somewhat of a half circle and catch the ranger station situated due west of the RV/tent park. Their parking lot abutted the highway.
As Zach had said, nothing like hiding in plain sight. Only Sunny didn’t plan to hide. She’d glean what information she could about the fire, then continue west on Highway 14, further up the canyon road. Even with the heavy summer traffic, she should be able to make Steamboat Springs in about four hours.
She’d find a little motel where the three of them could have a hearty meal, a nice warm shower, and a good night’s sleep.
By morning, the vague plan of action formulating in her mind should be well on the way to being solidified.
. . .
Luca and Trey were not put off by the barrier erected in the roadway by the Forest Service. They flashed their badges and explained why they were there and what they were looking for. After a brief communiqué with someone higher up the food chain
via walkie-talkie, the LEO, or uniformed law enforcement officer, allowed them to head down the long drive.
The closer they got, the more Luca’s gut clenched. He would never forgive himself if Sunny and the kids were in the cabin when it was torched. Damn, why hadn’t it registered sooner that DVD player was on? He should have checked it right then and there to see if it housed a new-release DVD. Some kind of cop he was.
“Stop torturing yourself,” Trey said. “Wait until you know there’s something to worry about.”
“Sage advice from someone who’s one of the biggest worriers on the planet,” Luca tossed back.
They reached the cabin and zeroed in on the person who seemed to be in charge. They showed their badges again and Luca voiced his concerns about Sunny and the children being inside.
The man, who identified himself as FBI Special Agent John Butler, said, “We’ve been through the cabin. No one was inside.” He studied Luca with a speculative eye. “Got something interesting on this, though. At three-forty-three, a call came in that two men had torched this cabin. The female caller gave the nearest milepost marker, the name of one of the men, and hung up without identifying herself. At three-fifty-one, a man who also wouldn’t give his name called to report that he could see a fire from the roadway and gave a general-vicinity location, relative to the RV/tent park up the road.”
Luca exchanged a glance with Trey, wondering if his partner tracked to the same thought he was having. From the grim expression on Trey’s face, he guessed it was possible. He looked back at the Special Agent. “There’s no way in hell anyone saw anything burning from the roadway. The cabin isn’t visible through the trees.”
“True enough.”
Luca re-examined the agent’s words. “Did she happen to name one of the men as Earl Boyson?”
“How the devil did you come up with that name?” Butler demanded.
Luca offered a brief explanation.
“So, there’s no doubt in your mind that Boyson was the firestarter. Why would he call it in, if that was the case?”
Luca’s brain tossed around a couple of possibilities. “The only reason I can think of is that he was trying to lure Sunny up here.”
The agent nodded. “I suppose that’s feasible. We’d notify the property owner, and she’d come up to inspect the place.” He narrowed his eyes on Luca. “You’re certain she was in the cabin when it was torched?”
Luca hesitated a moment before responding. “How else do you explain the first call identifying a man who beat the crap out of her? The place has security cameras, and it’s entirely possible they’re wired for sound.”
Butler crossed his arms over his chest and affected a stance Luca himself had used when he wanted to challenge someone. “That would be a pretty elaborate system for a cabin in the woods.”
“Her husband was a Navy SEAL,” Luca said, hoping that would explain it. He sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Special Agent Butler about Sunny’s visions. “You know how anal those Special Ops guys can get.”
The agent uttered an affirmative grunt with a little smirk. “True enough. I was an Army Ranger.”
Luca said what he always said when he met a soldier or a veteran. “Thank you for your service to our country, sir.”
A quick nod later, Butler said, “It was my pleasure, and I mean that sincerely. I love this country.” He glanced at the remains of the cabin, then back at Luca. “What say we go see if this little gal of yours had a hidey-hole somewhere in that cabin.”
Now that he was certain Sunny had long since fled the property, Luca couldn’t help feeling amused at the thought of how she would respond to being referred to as “little gal.”
Chapter 35
. . .
Sunny only had to stop twice on the drive up to Steamboat. Once the kids had to pee and the second time, they were begging for food. The choices of where to eat were sparse, so she was glad she’d thought to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to take on the road. She’d also opened and drained a can of mandarin oranges and stored them in a plastic container. And, of course, there were still plenty of cookies.
They found a picnic table at a wayside stop. She’d never win a mother-of-the-year award for feeding her ravenous children the same meal over and over again while they were on the run, but the kids were happy with the fare.
While they ate, they discussed their third big adventure. Afterward, they used the bathroom facilities and piled back into the car. The kids quickly became engrossed in watching movies on their portable DVD players.
Sunny inserted the key into the ignition and latched her seatbelt. Before she could turn the key, a vision overcame her. She found herself in a circular clearing surrounded by a copse of trees. In the center of the clearing were two large, flat rocks. Atop each rock was a child. Even though they were older, she had no trouble discerning that they were Carson and Maisie.
She didn’t recognize the location, except that it was obviously part of the Vale Luna compound. Four men and one woman formed a half-circle at the feet of the children, who were dressed in simple white gowns and wore crowns of stars on their heads.
The children were tied in place with ropes that had been staked in the ground. Both were screaming and crying.
And then the vision, like a puff of steam, evaporated.
Sheer terror held Sunny immobile for several minutes.
By the time her heart rate had subsided, her mind began to process who and what she’d seen. In a much calmer state, she catalogued the participants. Zach’s parents, Miriam and Ezekiel. His brother, Zeb. Preacher Bill. And Earl Boyson. Each had held a dagger. Each had not only the crazed look of insanity, but also a gleeful expression of jubilance.
Sunny had no doubt of their intent and she, by God, was not going to allow it to happen. Still, it begged the question: What should be the next step that would prevent her children from being kidnapped and offered up as sacrifices? Obviously, nothing she’d done so far had put a kink in the works for Vale Luna.
Not for the first time, she was thankful for technology, in this case, the portable DVD players specifically. She had a lot of thinking to do, and answering a ton of questions from Carson and Maisie about a million different topics was not something she wanted to deal with right now.
She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and reached again for the key.
Once she estimated they were about thirty minutes away from Steamboat, Sunny glanced at her smartphone to see if she had reception. Four bars. Good enough. The phone call she’d planned to make tomorrow had to be made now. She eased into the next pullout and turned around to explain to the children why they’d stopped. Both of them were sound asleep.
Sunny pulled up the phone’s directory and dialed Bobby Killion. When he answered, she quickly explained the situation.
Bobby muttered a string of uncomplimentary profanities about cults, then said, “Get yourself and your kids to my place ASAP, Sunny. We’ll figure out what to do when you get here. In the meantime, I’ll start thinking.”
“Thanks, Bobby. I owe you one.”
“You don’t owe me anything, honey. You and Zach already gave everything to this country and that’s plenty good enough for me. Have you guys eaten?”
“We stopped along the way and ate some sandwiches.”
“You have my address, right?”
“I do, but I didn’t program it into the GPS, I wrote the directions down.”
“Good thinking. See you soon.”
Just over half an hour later, she eased her SUV into the Killion’s driveway. Bobby and his wife Carlyn came out to greet them.
. . .
Twilight settled over the Killion’s back yard. A small waterfall gurgled into the corner pond. Other than that, all was quiet.
Carson and Maisie were having their first sleepover with their new friends, Hayden and Brittney, who happened to be near their ages. The kids had played outside until the mosquitoes appeared, and put up no argument when Sunny announced ba
th time, then bedtime. All four children had fallen asleep quickly.
“Want a refill on your wine?” Carlyn asked.
Given that she’d only had one glass, Sunny said, “Sure.”
“Tell me,” Bobby said, “do you have a place in mind to go where you and the kids will be safe?”
“I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Sunny said, “and I think I know of a place where we can hide in plain sight.”
Bobby uttered a gentle chuckle. “I remember having a conversation with Zach when we got ourselves into a…situation in Afghanistan and he used those exact words.”
“That’s who I learned it from.” She glanced at Bobby. “I thought the cabin was the perfect place because Zach always said it was in plain sight.” She shrugged. “That didn’t pan out so well, but another possibility occurred to me earlier today. I’m surprised I didn’t think of it sooner.” She gave him a curious glance. “Hiding in plain sight usually works, doesn’t it?”
He nodded. “It sure as hell did the couple of times we did it. Where do you have in mind?”
“There’s a cop I know,” Sunny said, aware that she was about to take a huge leap of faith. She went on to explain about the visions and how she came to be involved in Della’s bike accident. She also talked about the arrest and subsequent assault, meeting Luca, and him witnessing one of her visions. Hoping to keep the desperation and panic out of her voice, she related the final vision, which had unnerved her more than any of the others just a few hours earlier.
Utter silence followed her admission. Almost afraid to look at them for fear they thought she was a nut job, Sunny glanced at Carlyn. Huge tears trailed down her cheeks.
“I think I have a plan,” Bobby said, his deep voice soft and compassionate, yet still steely.
“Thank God,” Sunny said, “because I haven’t been able to think of anything beyond getting to Luca’s.”
. . .
“What are you thinking?” Trey asked.
Luca shoved the fingers of both hands through his hair. Even though Trey knew him better than anyone, he wasn’t sure his partner and friend understood just how deep his feelings went for Sunny and her kids. “She’s managed to stay one step ahead of them without us so far, but how long can she keep up this game of cat-and-mouse?”