She’d known Jenner all her life, too, and she could now see how that turned out. Frank was ripe for corruption. He wasn’t listening when she voiced her opinions on the testing he’d started. He thought because he wanted to expand and explore his skills, everyone else would want the same. His passion for the project meant he was relentless, despite what he said.
That scared her. While she was all for people exploring their abilities, she didn’t want the government mandating her choices. That was what had started the downfall here. The idea left her sick to her stomach. Hopefully after Frank viewed the results of Jenner’s similar passions, he’d change his mind.
Luke wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned into his chest, wishing for time to finish what they started this morning. Matt and Jillian sat on the swing together, holding hands. She was glad they now seemed comfortable with each other and had stopped making excuses for what they were obviously feeling, though she wasn’t sure they’d actually admitted the truth to each other.
Frank appeared at the door, relief on his face.
“Thursday at eight.” He came out and sat on the steps.
“In the morning?” Jillian asked.
“No, evening. That gives us a little less than fifty-six hours to bring this thing together. He’s sending a car to pick me up at the border. We’ll meet at his conference center on the outskirts of Robertsdale. Do you know where that is? Do you think we can do it?” Frank glanced over his shoulder at Luke.
“It’s better than trying to get inside his turf. His conference center is an old hotel. He started using it when we blew up the one he built. We know every corner and hiding spot inside. Let’s get out of here.” Luke handed Theo his backpack.
Olivia went inside, checking the locks on the windows and closing the blinds. Hopefully the cabin would still be standing when she came back. If she came back. No, she couldn’t think like that. This was her home now. She had to believe it would be here.
Luke helped her with her pack after she’d locked the door, stashed the key under the porch, and shrouded the cabin in an illusion of abandonment and danger. She leaned into his touch when he stroked her cheek.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
“I want to believe that, but I know you’re only saying it to make me feel better.” She placed her hand over his.
“Hell, no. It’s to make myself feel better.” He grinned, handing her a sheathed hunting knife. “You might need this.”
She took the long leather case, rubbing her fingers over the black handle before unhooking her belt and running the loop to her side. “This is a nice knife.”
Luke nodded. “It was my father’s.”
Olivia touched his hand. “Thanks.”
“We’re not going to get a lot of sleep over the next few days.” Luke scanned their group.
“I’d rather sleep after we get this taken care of,” Matt hoisted his pack onto his back.
“It’ll take two hours to hike to Willow Mill.”
“There’s no one left there,” Jillian said. “They were all dead. Their bodies were everywhere.”
“I think we should check it out.” Luke looked at Olivia and she nodded. “If we can get through Willow Mill, I can get us to Robertsdale with no worries.”
“People may be coming out of hiding by the time we get there. We might be able to find those willing to fight.” Olivia fell into step beside Luke.
Chapter 18
By the time they reached Willow Mill, Olivia’s throat was dry, and worry had caught up with her. She glanced around, the stench of decaying bodies clogging her airway despite the bandana she wore over her nose and mouth. Her heart broke for the lives lost and her inability to heal them. Not that her thoughts made sense, even to her. Luke shot her a sideways glance before leaning into a car to check out a dead man.
“Hard to tell, but I think that’s Walter Rutledge. He was a huge supporter of Jenner. See where that got him. Shot in the chest and left to be baked by the sun. What a tribute.” Luke nudged the body with the butt of his rifle, moving away when the stench caught up with them.
“Do you really think there’s anyone alive in this town?” Jillian stood on a newspaper box, studying the blank windows.
“I know there is. Not all of these people were drugged and complacent.” Luke held his hand over his eyes to shield the bright sun.
“There’s life,” Olivia said. “It’s hidden underground. A lot of fear and anger, too.”
“If you say so.” Jillian jumped off her perch and opened the door to the diner.
Olivia followed, the massacre in the diner more disgusting than the flies swarming the bodies on the street. The patrons had bled in the remains of their food. Dried pools of crimson and black covered the tables, the floors, and the plates. Most of the victims had been shot. Others had their throats slit, the wounds gaping open to reveal the inner structures. She fought the urge to vomit at the strong odor of death mixed with the stench of something burning.
The cook still held his spatula while his upper body sizzled on the hot grill. Briquettes of what might have been hamburgers surrounded his charred head. Olivia turned off the burners, doing the same with the other appliances. As the electrical hum subsided, the horror of the scene filled her.
What kind of a monster does this to people? She stopped, blinking when Jillian ran into the street. She followed to find out what was going on.
“What is it?” Olivia grabbed her arm when she caught up with her.
“He took the children.” Jillian motioned to an empty infant seat in the back of the only acceptable vehicle.
“Maybe he didn’t take them. Maybe the kids ran away. Maybe the people Luke were talking about rescued them?” Olivia latched on to her arm, stopping her.
An infant car seat sat in the middle of the road. Empty. A smudge of blood covered the bright blue balloon print. Olivia’s heart sank.
“Okay, so a baby can’t run away, but what if the older kids helped?” Olivia asked.
“Where would they have gone?” Jillian looked around.
“I don’t know.” Olivia turned.
~ ~ ~
Luke could only see Olivia’s back and Jillian’s frantic face. He jogged to the line of cars where they stood. Matt was further down, going in and out of buildings with Theo, and Frank trailing behind him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked Olivia as the smell of panic filled him.
“There are no children.” She nodded toward Jillian and mouthed, “She’s freaking out.”
Luke wrapped his arm around Jillian’s shoulder. “There’s a lot of death here.”
“And no children. Did he take the babies?” She turned to him, her eyes wide.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Probably. But let’s not think the children are gone until we know for sure. Martineo said the children were being protected. Maybe they were taken someplace safe before this happened.” He hoped, but he doubted.
“If Jenner took them, I will fucking kill him with my bare hands.”
“He deserves to die even if he didn’t,” Olivia said.
“I found your building,” Matt called from the general store at the corner.
“Come on. It’s time to find out if I’m right.” He latched on to the arms of both women.
It wasn’t safe for any of them to be out here alone. Jenner probably had guards watching, though what good it would do was beyond him. If this was how he was making his point, his guards would be too busy gunning down the inhabitants of other towns to stay and make sure they got everyone.
He looked over his shoulder as he ushered Olivia and Jillian into the store, scanning the trees at the west side of town. Everything seemed fine. He motioned to Matt, letting the two women go ahead to the low fire that burned in the stove.
“Can you do some consulting with your friends and see if we’re being watched?”
Matt rolled his eyes. “So now that it’s convenient, you believe the trees talk to me?”
“Yeah. Whatever. I’ll be back.” Matt closed the door.
Luke watched as he disappeared across the street, turning his attention to the covered bodies in the room. Matt had really thought ahead before calling them to the store. He knew the women were not overly sensitive, but there was only so much blood a person could take.
“Do you really think there’s someone alive here?” Jillian warmed her hands over the cast iron burner.
“If they left anyone, they aren’t alive anymore.” Frank moved one of the blankets Matt had used to cover the bodies.
“There are people here,” Olivia said.
Matt returned as Luke tapped on the back wall. “We’re in for a bad storm. A few hours from now, tops. Rain, lightning, and high winds. Traveling will be difficult.”
“What are we going to do?” Frank paced behind Olivia until she turned around and glared at him.
“We have to keep moving.”
“We have to get through Second Spring before the storm. After that it won’t affect us.” Luke knocked again.
He thought he heard a faint reply. Raising his hand to hush the room, he knocked again. There was a response. Before he could call the others, the wall opened and Martineo emerged.
“Damn, son. You made good time.” Martineo hugged Luke and Matt, giving them hearty pats on the back.
“What happened here?” Luke asked.
“They came in four days ago. Shooting. They didn’t ask for anything. They didn’t take anything. They just killed everyone. They broke down doors, smashed through car windows, shot anything that moved. Then they were gone. We found only a few survivors.”
“The children. What happened to them?” Olivia insisted, coming to stand beside him.
“They took them. Every single one. We tried to stop it, but they were so fast. I saw one of the guards haul a toddler out of a broken car window by her arm. He carried her down the street that way.”
“Son of a bitch. Who else is here?” Matt asked.
“Hart and Burk. Nat went ahead to see who survived and gather them together to wait for you. Simon hasn’t come back yet.”
“Who’s yelling?” a voice Luke recognized hollered from the rear of the room.
“Burk? You old coot.” Burk was at least five years younger than Luke, but his wisdom was far beyond his years.
“Luke. Are you serious? We thought you were dead. Well, dead to us, I guess. Word is that you’re all cozy with Jenner now.” Burk greeted him with a shocked expression and a one-armed hug at the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m so glad everyone has so much faith in me.” Something smelled wrong here, but Luke couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Who’s this you have with you? I mean besides the buffoon.” Burk gave Matt the same quick hug he’d given Luke.
Luke introduced the group, and Hart came around the corner. He seemed a bit taken aback at seeing them, but his expression changed so quickly, Luke wasn’t sure he’d actually seen it. Hart shook everyone’s hands and once again told Luke that Simon was still missing.
“She’s the new healer?” Burk pointed at Olivia. “Come this way, my dear. We have some folks who could use your help.”
Burk put his arm around her shoulders and led her toward the back of the room. Olivia seemed comfortable, but she glanced over her shoulder, and Luke caught a whiff of her concern. He watched Olivia go to the line of cots and assess her patients. Working quickly, she moved through three of the four injured men with grace and efficiency. Luke was mesmerized watching her work. Olivia gasped as she laid her hands on the last man’s chest.
“Can you come here?” She met Luke’s eyes.
He went to her side. “What is it?”
“He’s near death.” Olivia stared into his eyes. “His wounds are numerous. He has no desire to live.”
“You can save him.” Luke sat on the side of the bed, laying his hands over Olivia’s. “I’m sure of it.”
“Not if he doesn’t want it. I can ease his passing.” Tears filled Olivia’s eyes. “It’s okay. He’s ready to go.”
Tears slid down Olivia’s face as she worked over the man. There was a palpable force in the room, one that had everything to do with her and what she’d accomplished. Luke had been so caught up in the sheer miracle of it that he’d barely paid attention to what anyone was saying.
She glanced around the room, confused. “There is more pain here. Someone else is injured.”
“That’s it,” Burk said, seeming as confused as Olivia.
“No. There’s one more. Bleeding. Still alive, but not for long.” Olivia went from person to person, checking.
Luke took a deep breath, catching the odor of blood. She was right. He went to a door near the stairs and tried the handle. It wouldn’t open.
“What’s in there?” he asked, glancing around the room.
“Food storage.”
“Open it. Now,” Luke demanded. Something bad was going on down here.
“I don’t have the key. Only Simon does.”
Before he could say anything else, Luke kicked the door in. The odor was stronger here. Someone was inside—someone bleeding.
Olivia rushed in behind him, heading between the rickety wooden shelves at the back of the room. “Help me get him out of here.”
Luke rushed back, heaving the man against his side and carrying him out.
“What in the hell?” Burk came to help. “Simon. Come on, buddy. How’d you get in there?”
They laid him on a cot, and Olivia went to work. Luke turned. “Why was he in there? What in the hell is going on here?”
Burk was still wearing an innocent face, and Luke was reasonably sure the man had no idea. Scanning the room, his gaze settled on Hart.
“This was a test,” Olivia said, standing up from Simon and facing a fierce-looking Hart. “Did you injure these men?”
Burk seemed shocked. “Hell, no, he didn’t. We heard you’d willingly gone to Jenner and pledged your support. It’s hard to know what to believe anymore, especially when his soldiers are ripping and tearing our lives apart. We figured if you helped these men, the rumors weren’t true. It was Simon’s idea. Only he hurt himself more than he intended and still insisted we follow the plan.”
“You are all assholes. How dare you do this?” Olivia glared at each man. “Your friend could have died. He would have if we were later getting here. What if we hadn’t shown up at all? What in the hell were you thinking?”
Luke felt lucky not to be on the receiving end of her fury. She stared each of them down before turning back to Simon, who put a hand on her arm and said something too low for Luke to hear.
“We’re sorry, man,” Martineo said. “It was a dumb idea, and we should have stopped him. The propaganda out there is chilling, and it’s hard to know what to believe anymore.”
They stood in silence for a few minutes, watching Olivia work over Simon while Luke tried to put what had just happened into perspective. He did understand, as much as it frustrated him.
“What’s the next step, providing you still want us on the team?” Burk glanced at Simon, before turning to Luke.
Luke gave him the bare bones details of their plan. “Gather as many as you can and meet us at Jenner’s conference hotel.”
“Brilliant. We’ll be there. I think we can do this. Safe travels.”
~ ~ ~
Matt followed Jillian through the store. He reached for her, but she only shook her head and walked faster.
“What? What’s wrong?” He grabbed her arm.
“Nothing.”
“What has you freaked?” He wrapped an arm around her, leading her away from everyone else.
She studied him for a few seconds, her gaze locked on his chest instead of his eyes. He gently grabbed her chin and raised it, so she looked at
him. “Is this the horrible thing you haven’t told me yet?”
She nodded, tears filling her eyes. “It hits me at the weirdest times.”
“Maybe it would go away if you told me.” He didn’t want to pry, but the pain in her eyes was killing him.
“You’ll hate me. It’s bad enough I had to kill someone who tried to stop me from getting Theo and the others across the border. This is bigger than that. Awful.” A tear slid down her cheek. “Unforgivable.”
“I doubt it.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Come on, tell me while we walk.”
“Just remember you asked. You might wish I’d kept it to myself.” She took a deep breath. “When I realized what was going on with Jenner, I knew I couldn’t continue to work for him. I gathered as much information as I could and sent it to the underground. What I couldn’t send, I destroyed. He had me working on more than weapons. I worked on torture devices, too. That’s what woke me up, realizing what he was asking for. In his style, he tried to make me believe they were for a variety of uses, such as dental chairs.” She laughed.
“Dental chairs?” Matt wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“Yeah. Dental chairs with hidden spikes and razors. It didn’t matter that I’d destroyed his schematics. He found someone to build it. I saw them when he took Theo and me. That’s bad enough.”
“You can’t beat yourself up over that.” There was a lot more. Matt was sure.
“I knew they would come after me, and I made the stupidest mistake of my life.” She sniffed. “Instead of running to the border, I went home to get my mom and Theo. Jenner’s men came. I swear I’d only been in the house five minutes. I didn’t know why I thought they wouldn’t follow me. And because of my selfishness, my mother died.”
He stopped, brushing the tears from her cheeks. “They probably didn’t know you were there. Nothing would have been different, except Theo might have died, too.”
“When they stopped pounding on me and focused on her, she screamed at me to take Theo to safety. They were brutalizing her, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. The guards were so intent on what they were doing to her, I was able to escape and take Theo with me. They caught us a few hours later. I knew my mother was dead and that it was my fault, and I wasn’t going to let Theo die, too. Since I knew the twisted way Jenner’s mind worked, I was able to escape and get Theo out.”
Into the Fire Page 25