by B. J Daniels
He hated that her argument made sense, more sense than him trying to find Grace on his own. “Can you draw a map of the place?”
She nodded.
“Good. We leave at midnight.”
* * *
LOLA HADN’T DARED HOPE, but as she watched Colt studying the web of old logging roads around the mountain compound on the map, she let herself believe they could succeed. They would get in, find Grace and slip back out with her. Once she had Grace in her arms, no way would she let anyone rip her out again. Especially Jonas.
“I’ll need paper and a pen,” she said as she leaned over the desk. Their gazes met for a moment, his gaze deepening. She felt goose bumps ripple over her skin. Heat rushed to her center. Then he quickly looked away and began searching for what she needed.
She drew a map of the compound buildings, marking those that were used for housing. “I know you got a tour, but I thought this would help. As you can see there are two women’s dorms, one for the women with babies. There is only the one men’s dorm on the opposite side the main building.”
“What’s this?” Colt asked as he moved to her side to point at a large cabin away from the others and at the top of her diagram.
“Jonas’s. He likes to look down on his followers.”
“And this one at the bottom right?” His fingers brushed hers.
A shiver ran the length of her spine. She felt her nipples harden to pebbles under her top. “That’s the storage room, shop and health center.” Her voice cracked with emotion.
“And this one bottom left?” There was no doubt. He’d purposely brushed against her as he pointed to the only other structure. The bare skin of his arm was warm. His touch sent more shivers rippling through her. Her nipples ached inside her bra.
“Laundry.” She turned enough to meet his eyes. What she saw made her molten inside. His gaze was dark with desire as his fingers trailed up her arm to brush against the side of her breast.
* * *
WHAT THE HELL are you doing? As if he could stop himself. He looked into Lola’s beautiful violet gaze and knew he was lost. He wanted her. Needed her. Thought he would die if he didn’t have her right now. This had been building inside him all day, he realized. Maybe since the first time he’d met her.
“Colt?” she breathed, and shuddered as his fingers brushed over the hard tip of her nipple. She moaned softly, her head going back to expose her slim silken neck.
He bent to kiss her throat, nipping at the pale skin, and felt her shiver before trailing kisses down into the hollow between her breasts. “Yes, Lola?” he asked, his muffled voice as filled with emotion as hers had been.
When she didn’t answer, he raised his head to look into her eyes. He held her gaze, seeing the answer in all that lovely blue.
Cupping her other breast, he backed her up against the office wall and dropped his mouth to hers. Her lips parted and he took the invitation to let his tongue explore her as his free hand found the waistband of her jeans and slipped inside.
She let out a gasp as he found the sweet cleft between her legs. “Colt.” This time it was a plea. She was wet. He began to stroke her, drawing back to look into her eyes. Her head was back and her mouth open. Tiny sounds escaped her lips as he slowly stroked, until he could feel her quiver against his fingers and finally cry out.
Withdrawing his hand, he swung her up into his arms and strode to his bedroom. He didn’t want to think about later tonight when they would go up the mountain. Nor did he want to think about the future or even why he was doing this right now.
All he knew was that he wanted her more than his next breath. The only thing on his mind was making love to this woman who had captivated him from the first time he’d laid eyes on her.
Chapter Nine
Just before midnight, Lola and Colt loaded into his pickup and headed toward the SLS encampment. Colt had programmed his phone with the latest GPS information and had mapped out their best route up the mountain.
They’d both dressed in dark clothing. Lola had borrowed one of his black T-shirts. Her blond hair was pulled up under one of his black caps.
Earlier, after making love several times, they’d showered together, then sat down again with the map. His plan was to approach this like a battle.
Lola had showed him on her diagram what she thought was the best way in—and out again. The layout of the compound was star shaped, with the large main building at its center. It was where everyone ate, met for church and meetings, and where Jonas had his office.
From it, the other buildings formed the points of a star. At the top was Jonas’s cabin, on the left center were the women’s two dorms and on the right, the men’s dorm. At the bottom was the laundry to the left and the health center, shop and storage building to the right.
“Once we grab Grace, someone will sound the alarm. Everyone will get a weapon and go to the edge of the property.”
“The SLS is sounding less and less like a church by the moment,” Colt had said.
“If the intruder or escapee is caught, a second signal will sound announcing the all clear,” she’d said.
Colt had studied her for a moment. He couldn’t help thinking of her earlier, naked in his arms. He wondered if he could ever get enough of this woman. “You’re sure about this?”
She’d smiled, nodding. She really did have an amazing smile. “Whichever one of us has Grace gets out if the alarm goes off. Whoever doesn’t have her distracts the guards to give them a chance to escape.”
“Who will have Grace?” he’d asked.
“I guess it will depend on who finds her first. Once we approach the housing part, someone is bound to see us.”
Colt would have preferred a more comprehensive plan. “You must have some idea where they are keeping Grace.”
“Normally, she would be in the second women’s dorm where the other babies are kept,” she’d said. “But Jonas will know that I haven’t given up. He might have ordered that Grace be kept in the other women’s dorm.”
“Where were they keeping you before you escaped?”
She’d drawn in a tiny box. “That’s the cabin. It serves as the jail.”
“And you could hear Grace crying when they came to pump your breast milk?” She’d nodded. “You’re thinking they had our baby in this dorm, the farthest one to the west and closest to the cabin where you were being kept. I’ll take that one, then head east to the second women’s dorm if I don’t see you. They won’t expect us to come in from different directions.”
“We’ll meet up there. Or if the alarm goes off, just try to meet back at the pickup”
Now, as the road climbed up the mountain, he looked over at Lola. She appeared calm. Her expression was one of determination. She was going after her baby. Their baby. Her last thought was her own safety.
His heart ached at the thought of their lovemaking. He couldn’t let anything happen to this woman. Grace needed her. He needed her, he thought and pushed the thought away. What he needed was to get himself, Lola and their baby out of that compound alive tonight. Later he’d think about what he needed, what he wanted, what the hell he was going to do once Lola and Grace were safe.
The night was thankfully dark. Low clouds hunkered just over the tops of the tall ebony pines. No stars, let alone the moon, shone through. Colt thought they couldn’t have picked a better night.
Still, he was anxious. So much was riding on this and he felt they were going in blind. What he did know had him both worried and scared. If Jonas or any of his followers caught them...
He couldn’t let himself go down that trail of thought. If they wanted to get Grace out of there, they had no choice but to sneak in like thieves, find her and take her. Isn’t that what Jonas had done?
* * *
LOLA HAD BEEN lost in thought when Colt pulled the pickup over, cut the engine and dous
ed the lights. She’d been thinking about the ocean and the time she’d almost drowned.
Her father had saved her, plucking her from the depths and carrying her to the beach. She remembered lying on the warm sand staring up at the sky and gasping for breath as her father wept in relief over her.
She had no idea why that particular memory had surfaced now. Anything to keep her mind off what was about to happen once they reached the compound. She’d learned to let her mind wander during Jonas’s attempts to brainwash her. She would think of anything but what was happening—just like now.
With the headlights off, they were pitched into blackness. She listened to the tick, tick, tick of the cooling engine, her heart a hammer in her chest.
“You ready?” he asked, his voice low and soft.
She nodded and locked gazes with him. Colt looked as if there was something he wanted to say. She’d seen that same look earlier after they’d made love.
Earlier, she’d put a finger to his lips. She hadn’t wanted him to say the words that he thought he needed to say. Colt was an honorable man, but she couldn’t let him say things that he’d later regret. Nor had she been able to bear the thought of him pouring his soul out to her at that moment. Just as now.
There was too much riding on what they were about to do. Emotions were high and had been since she’d appeared at his door in the middle of the night. There was no need to say anything then or now, though she understood his need. She too wanted to open her heart to him because both of them knew how dangerous this mission was. Neither of them might get out of this alive.
Just as he started to speak, she opened her door and stepped into the darkness. She gulped the cold spring-night air and fought her fear for Colt and their daughter, a gut-wrenching fear that made her eyes burn with tears.
* * *
COLT SAT FOR a moment alone in the cab of the dark pickup. What had he been about to say? He shook his head. Lola had cut him off—just as she had earlier.
He sighed, wondering at this woman.
Then he got out, and the two of them headed through the dark pines for the hike to the compound.
They moved as silently as they could once their eyes adjusted to the darkness under the towering pines. A breeze stirred the boughs high above them, making the pines sigh.
Colt led the way until they were almost to the SLS property. The whole time, he’d been acutely aware of Lola behind him.
Now he stopped and motioned her forward. They stood inches apart for a long moment, listening.
Lola had suggested entering the property on the opposite side of the cemetery and the farthest away from any main road up to the mountaintop.
The main road was gated, so Jonas wouldn’t be expecting them to come that way. That was also the most visible, so they’d opted for this approach.
But now it was time to separate. Colt could feel the tension in the air, as well as the tension between them. Lola had made it clear that she didn’t want any words of undying love. But, after everything they’d shared, he felt the need to say something, do something.
He drew her close, looked into her violet eyes and kissed her.
“What was that?” she demanded in a whisper. “It felt like a goodbye kiss.”
He shook his head and leaned close to whisper, “A promise to see you soon.” As he drew back, he saw her smile. “Good luck,” he whispered, and turned and headed in the opposite direction, his heart in his throat. If things didn’t go well, he didn’t want his last memory to be of her standing in the darkness, looking up at him with those big blue eyes and him not doing a damned thing.
Now he thought of her slightly gap-toothed smile and held it close to his heart for luck. Ahead he saw the no-trespassing sign and knew a guard wasn’t far away.
* * *
LOLA TOUCHED HER TONGUE to her lower lip as she made her way through the pines. Just the thought of Colt’s kiss made her heart beat a little faster. If she’d been falling for him before that moment, well, she’d just fallen a little further. She warned herself that this wasn’t any way to go into a relationship.
Her mother would have called it “going in the back door.” Maxine would not have approved of Lola having a baby out of wedlock when she could have married Jonas and given Grace a father.
But Grace did have a father. A fine father. Lola just didn’t see them becoming a family. She shook the thought from her head and tried to concentrate. Getting Grace back, that was all that mattered.
She hadn’t gone far when she saw a faint light bobbing through the trees ahead of her.
Ducking down, she watched as Elmer made his way along the edge of the property. She waited until he was well past her before she rose and sneaked onto the compound. The only lights were the ones outside the buildings that illuminated parts of the grounds.
Lola edged along the pines until she reached the edge of the men’s dorm. Only one light shone at the front. She moved cautiously along the back, keeping to the dark shadows next to the building and being careful not to step on anything that might make a sound.
She had no desire to wake anyone, though she thought the men’s dorm was probably fairly empty. All of the men would be on guard duty tonight and maybe even some of the women.
Elmer would be turning back soon on his guard circuit. If she hurried, she should be able to reach the closest women’s dorm and slip inside the nursery before he started back this way.
Before the first time she’d escaped, she’d had the run of the place, including the one women’s dorm, where she’d stayed with the sisters. She’d even helped with the babies a few times. Because of that, she knew where to find the main nursery.
“If I find her first, how will I know her?” Colt had asked.
She’d smiled and said, “You’ll know her and she’ll know you.”
“No, seriously.”
“There were two babies born in the past six months that I know of. The boy we saw in the laundry and Grace.”
At the end of the men’s dorm, Lola stopped to listen. She heard nothing on the breeze. The distance between her and the women’s dorms was a good dozen yards—all of them in the glow of the men’s dorm light.
She looked for any movement in the darkness beyond. Seeing none, she sprinted the distance and dropped back into the shadows. Her heart pounded as she waited to see if she’d been spotted by one of the guards. The only one she’d seen was Elmer, but she knew there were others stationed around the compound, more than usual, just as she’d told Colt.
As she caught her breath, she thought of Colt and wondered where he was. Saying a silent prayer for his safety, she crept along the edge of the building to the door to the main nursery and grasping the knob, turned it.
* * *
COLT RECOGNIZED THE guard as one he’d seen here yesterday. The man looked tired and bored as he moved along the edge of the property and fiddled with the handgun holstered at his hip.
The guard had only gone a few feet when he stepped into the shadows and suddenly drew his weapon like an Old West gunfighter. He took the stance for a moment, pointing the gun into the darkness ahead of him and then holstered his weapon again as he moved on to practice his fast draw a few yards later.
Colt had been startled for a moment when the guard had suddenly drawn his weapon. He’d been more than a little relieved to see that the man’s gun was pointing only at some imaginary person in the dark.
He slipped behind the man, closing the distance from the dense pines to the edge of the closest women’s dorm. Stopping to listen, he heard a sound that froze him in place.
A low growl followed by another. This part of the country had its share of bear from black bear to grizzly. But the low growling sound he’d just heard wasn’t coming from the darkness, he realized. Instead, it floated out of the open window on the back side of the women’s dorm. Someone was snoring loudly.
It gave him good cover as he moved cautiously along the dark side of the building. Only a dim light shone inside. Staying as far back as possible, he peered in. The large room was filled with bunk beds like a military barrack. He recognized the woman in the closest lower bunk. Sister Alexa, a woman Colt had met in passing the day Jonas gave him the tour.
She let out a snort and stirred. He saw her eyes flicker and he froze. She blinked for a moment before her eyes fluttered shut and her snoring resumed.
Colt ducked away from the window and made his way down to the end that Lola said could house a second nursery. The outside light high over the front door of the main building cast a circle of golden light.
He watched from the dark shadows at the edge of the light. He’d only seen two guards so far, one on the way in and another crossing the complex, before he’d made his way to the far end of the building where he would find the nursery.
From where he stood, he could see toward the cemetery where Lola’s parents were buried. He wondered about the small mound of fresh dirt next to them. Was something buried under there?
Jonas seemed like a man who didn’t take chances. At the very least, he would have buried a small wooden casket. Colt remembered seeing the shop on his tour of the complex. Followers made wooden crosses in the shop that they sold when they went into town to raise money for the poor, Lola had told him. She said she doubted the poor ever saw a dime of it.
“I think it’s Jonas’s way of keeping them busy and making a little extra cash. The crosses are crude, but I think people feel sorry for the followers and give them money.”
He thought now about the small casket he’d seen in one corner of the shop during his tour and swallowed hard. What if Jonas had filled the casket under that mound of dirt since their visit?
The thought made his stomach roil. He pressed his back against the side of the women’s dorm and waited for the guard he’d seen earlier to cross again.
From inside the women’s dorm, he heard a baby begin to cry. His heart lodged in his throat. Grace?