Lisa? When she didn’t move, Clay led her to the exit, and handed her and the boy off to Blake. When they were safe, Clay rushed to Toni.
“Stand back,” he shouted and got a chest full of smoke.
She moved, a wracking cough taking her, and he jammed the pipe into the drywall as he’d done before. He made a large hole and lunged through. The smoke was thicker in this room, but he could make out empty beds.
“Hello,” he yelled. No answer. “I’m Deputy Clay Byrd. I have an exit for you.” He kept calling out as he went into the hallway.
He found the girls huddled by the bolted door. The sight of so many girls clinging together, abject terror in their eyes, tore at his heart. “Follow me. I’ll get you out of here.”
One girl stood and woodenly walked his way. The others followed, looking like zombies in a cheap horror film, except they were coughing and gasping for air. He’d expected them to flood toward him, but their reaction mimicked Lisa’s fear of leaving or disobeying their captors.
“Come on, girls,” Toni encouraged from the opening, her mouth covered by her shirt. “I’m Lisa’s sister. I’m here to help.”
They picked up speed and headed toward her. He urged them to move faster. Faster.
The flames burst through the front wall. The desire to bolt hit Clay hard, but he swallowed hard and remained in place until they all passed him. The heat curled against his back as he dove into the back room. He raced across the space and plunged outside.
“Where’s Rachel?” In the darkness, Lisa picked her way among the girls, who were gulping in fresh air and coughing.
“My daughter, where is she?” She gripped Clay’s jacket. “Ursula took her from me, and she’s not here.”
“She has to be at the house,” Clay said, already planning to go after her. He looked at Toni. “You stay here with the girls.”
“I’m coming with you.” Toni’s voice was raspy but firm.
“You don’t have any protection or a weapon,” he said, but wished he hadn’t said a word.
Not when she cast him a tortured look. One that reminded him of when she’d learned he’d become a deputy. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. He pulled his backup gun from an ankle holster. By the time he gave it to Toni, Blake had shrugged out of his vest and handed it to her.
Since she wasn’t deputized, Clay thought Blake might’ve objected, but he gave her a firm nod. She had to do this. He got that. So did Clay. Even if he didn’t like it. Clay texted Trent to tell him they were coming.
He replied. At rear of house. A woman and girl in front room. Guard at front and back. You take front. We’ll go on my command.
Will let you know when we’re in position. Clay texted back.
He shoved his phone into his pocket and looked at Toni, whose trembling hands were fumbling with the straps on her vest.
He gently moved her hands and fixed the Velcro then looked her in the eye. “Deep breath. You got this.”
She took the breath and gave a sharp nod. “I’m ready.”
Clay eased along the edge of the metal barn and followed the tree line. They would have to dart across the drive, so he made his way deeper into the woods. He kept going until they could take the guard sitting in a rocker on the porch from behind.
Clay waited for Toni to come alongside him. Their approach would be dangerous. They could catch a bullet from the guard. Or from Ursula when they got inside. He would do his best to stop that from happening.
“You ready to charge when Trent gives the word?” he whispered.
She nodded.
“Before we do, I want you to know I’m falling for you and I’m sorry—”
She silenced his words with a kiss. Her lips were cold, and yet, he couldn’t imagine not kissing her.
“All’s forgiven,” she said. “Let’s get this done.”
Elation worked hard to replace all other emotions, but Clay calmed his brain and texted Trent. In position.
Then we’re a go.
He signaled for Toni, and they shot out of the woods, careful to move as silently as possible. He climbed onto the porch, the wood creaking.
A gunshot sounded from the rear of the house.
The guard spun, lifting his gun.
“Drop it!” Clay warned. “Don’t end up dead like your buddy.”
At least Clay hoped the guard had taken the bullet and not Trent.
The beefy man slowly lowered his rifle to the porch.
“Hands on the wall above your head,” Toni snapped.
He turned and planted his hands on the rough siding. Clay moved slowly forward, keeping his gaze pinned on the man should he go for another gun. He didn’t move.
“Cuffs are on my belt,” Clay told Toni, not bothering to be quiet as the gunshot had alerted whoever was in the house to their presence.
She took them and jerked the guy’s arms down to cuff him. She searched him and recovered a handgun from a waist holster.
Clay let out a slow, silent breath. They’d gotten this far unharmed.
“Sit,” he commanded.
The guy dropped to the floor.
Toni looked Clay in the eye. “I’m going in for Ursula and my niece.”
28
Toni moved past the guard. He was the one who’d taken Rachel. Toni had to fight the urge to kick him after the way he’d treated Rachel and the other girls, but she held her anger. He would go away for a long time, and that punishment would have to be good enough.
She glanced into the window, seeing Ursula on the couch in the front room with one arm around Rachel and a gun to the child’s head.
Toni would have to negotiate with the crazed woman, but how? She wouldn’t know until she started talking to her. Toni eased open the door. She didn’t hear anyone moving inside, but assumed Trent had breached the back door. For all they knew, he’d been shot. Meant she needed to be prepared to face the other guard.
She turned the knob. Found it unlocked. She pushed the door in and darted away from the opening in case Ursula or the guard fired.
No bullet.
She waited a few seconds and took a quick look inside, stifling the cough trying to work its way out of her body. She spotted Ursula, still on a sofa with the gun pressed against Rachel’s head, before Toni jerked back. Poor Rachel was terrified.
“Come in, Agent Long,” Ursula said. “But leave your gun in the hallway.”
Toni didn’t want to enter unarmed. It was a foolish move and one law enforcement officers were trained never to make.
“Do as I say.” Ursula’s irritated voice came from the room. “I’ll let the child go if you do. You’ll work far better as a hostage.”
Toni wasn’t falling for that. She didn’t believe Ursula would let Rachel go under any circumstances. But Toni could never leave a child to fend for herself. She set her gun on the floor, going against everything she was trained to do, and stepped into the room with her hands raised.
“Now, that’s a smart woman,” Ursula said. “Isn’t she smart, Rachel? She listened to me.”
Toni took a quick look around the room. Searching for something. Anything she could use against Ursula. Nothing but a club chair, a wood coffee table, and an end table holding a yellow glass lamp. There was an arched opening behind the blue velvet couch, and she had to watch for someone to approach from that direction, but her gaze locked on poor Rachel, her hands clasped in her lap, her eyes wide and terror-filled.
“It’s okay, Rachel.” Toni cleared her throat to try to make her raspy voice sound more normal. “I’m here to free you.”
Ursula scoffed. “Like you have any way to do that.”
“I’ll serve as your hostage,” Toni said. “Let the girl go.”
Ursula’s red-lacquered lips slid into a slimy smile. “Did I say I would do that? I must’ve been mistaken. Take a seat in the chair, Agent Long.”
“I’ll stand.” Toni needed to exert some control here. “With the sheriff and his deputies outside, how exactly do
you plan to get away?”
“You’ll have them bring the car right up to the porch, leave it running, and the three of us will slide in and drive off.”
“You don’t really think they’ll let you leave, do you?” A cough worked itself up Toni’s throat, but she did her best to minimize it and not scare Rachel even more.
“Of course they will.” Ursula tightened her hold on Rachel’s shoulders. “Or this one will die.”
Rachel whimpered.
“She’s lying, Rachel,” Toni said in her most soothing tone. “You aren’t going to die, and I’ll make sure you’re reunited with your mother. Did you know she’s my sister? That makes me your aunt. And we’ll have the best time getting to know each other.”
“Oh, do shut up,” Ursula said. “Now, slowly open the window and call out to your fellow officer to get my car. Keys are inside.”
“Always planning for a swift getaway, are you?” Toni asked, stalling while she figured a way out of this. “Only people who break the law need to do that.”
“Please. After all these years, you can’t insult me.”
“You mean because you’ve been a criminal for so long?” Toni noticed movement behind the arch, but didn’t let on and needed to stall. “I don’t get it. Why start the fire to kill the girls?”
“I had no one left to manage them. I need to start over. This child would be my beginning again like I’d hoped with Lisa.”
“Then, you took Lisa?” Toni tried not to sound surprised.
Ursula stroked Rachel’s hair. “She was a beauty like this one. When Nolan told me about her, I knew I needed to have her. So I put Sharkey in charge. He was infatuated with me and did whatever I asked. Luckily, Lisa played right into our hands. Came out to look at the ocean, and he snatched her up. I took Sharkey on as my lover as a reward.”
Through the arch, Toni saw Clay moving her way. He signaled for her to keep talking, and she had to work hard not to let on that he was creeping up behind Ursula.
“And you’ve had her all these years,” Toni said.
“Not me. The fool Hibbard. He fell for her. He wanted her in his life and kept her pure, kept her with him until she was old enough to bear a child.”
“So which one of you tried to kill Clay Byrd and me at the school?”
She frowned. “One of my stupid guards. He fell for one of the girls and wanted to take her out of the business. No way I could allow that. She convinced him to leave you notes to come to the school. Hoped you’d find her there. But I got wind of it, of course, and moved them. Can’t pull anything over on me. The fire and snake were my little surprise for you.”
Toni opened her mouth to say Ursula didn’t know about the initials Rachel left behind, but Toni didn’t want Ursula to get angry at Rachel, so she clamped her mouth closed.
“He was just like Hibbard, except I let Hibbard live because of his connections and what he could do to increase my business,” Ursula continued. “They should both have known there’s no room in this business for sentimentality. We don’t need relationships.”
“So that’s how you could so callously leave Jason behind,” Toni said, seeing Clay inch closer.
Ursula’s face turned to an iron mask. “I didn’t have a choice. Fritz forced my hand. But make no mistake. I saw the boy from the day after I left until you all arrested him. And I had Zach until you took him from me.”
“And Jason is going to spend most of his life in prison, if we have anything to say about it. You’ll be right behind him, but you’ll never be released.”
Ursula sat forward, her chest rising and falling as her face contorted with anger, just the reaction Toni was hoping for as it took her mind off the fact that Toni wasn’t listening to her command. Her hand with the gun lowered a fraction, and she launched into a tirade about how unfair law enforcement officers were and how Jason didn’t deserve to be where he was and Zach shouldn’t have died. She seemed not to remember she was holding Rachel anymore.
Toni gave Clay an almost imperceptible nod.
He took the last steps and grabbed Ursula’s arm. He raised it to the ceiling and wrenched the gun from her hand then poked her gun in her back. “Don’t move.”
Toni dropped to her knees and held out her arms. “Come here, Rachel.”
The child bolted across the room and flung herself into Toni’s arms. Toni held her fast. “I got your notes. The ones with your initials. That was very brave of you.”
“I wanted to leave. She was being mean, telling Daddy I had to go to work. I know what work means. I didn’t want to.”
Toni met Clay’s gaze over Rachel’s shoulder. “I promise she’s going to prison, and you’ll never have to worry about that kind of work ever again.”
Clay stood outside the house, the area lit up with flames and the twirling lights of emergency vehicles. He watched as Trent’s deputies put Ursula and her two goons into patrol cars. Thankfully, Trent hadn’t been hit by the guard’s bullet, and had secured both guards in a patrol car, and was directing the activity. A fire crew was fighting the fire that was quickly engulfing the structure, battling it back from the thick trees in the area and medics were checking out the girls.
Clay could hardly look at the girls without getting so angry he wanted to punch something. Punch it hard. But he kept glancing over there because Toni had insisted on staying with Lisa, Rachel, and Henry. He watched as her family was loaded in an ambulance. Toni stepped back.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital.” She gave a tentative wave.
The ambulance drove off, lights twirling but no siren blaring.
Toni hurried across the lot to Clay. “I need a ride to the hospital.”
“I didn’t want to bother you while you were with Lisa and her kids, so I already arranged it.” He pointed at Drake. “I don’t have a vehicle here so I called Drake, and he insisted on driving you.”
“You have a very nice brother.”
Clay forced a smile and started for the vehicle. He took a moment to appreciate his family, which he didn’t do often enough, but he’d seen such loss and hardship today. The girls’ families would be ecstatic to hear their daughters were safe, but the road to a normal life would be rocky for everyone.
Maybe even harder for Lisa after more than thirty years in captivity. Clay had heard stories about women who emerged years after being abducted and spending years as prisoners, but it seemed Lisa could hold the record for the length of time. Not a record anyone would want to claim.
Drake stood by the SUV, holding the rear door open for Toni. “Glad to hear about Lisa.”
“Yeah. Good news. But what she endured?” Toni shook her head and started coughing. “I can’t even imagine it.”
Even at a distance, Clay could see the same anger burning in Drake that was burning in him, but he also contained it. He handed over Toni’s phone. “Found it at the hotel.”
“Thanks.” She slid into the vehicle.
“We’re all praying for Lisa and her kids. For all of these girls.” Drake looked over at the barn, and his gaze darkened even more. “But the good news is, Clay got here in time.”
Drake gave Clay a knowing look, then closed the door and slid behind the wheel as if eager to get out of there. Clay didn’t blame him. This was one of those nights that would stay with all of them for the rest of their lives. Clay only wished Toni had asked him to come with her so he could leave too.
As if she’d heard his thoughts, the car door opened, and she crooked her finger at him. “Come on. Lisa will be waiting for me.”
He didn’t have to be asked twice. He climbed in the back with her. She smelled like smoke and had dark patches of soot on her face, but she’d never looked more beautiful to him.
She shifted her gaze to him. “I didn’t have a chance to thank you.”
Ah, so that’s why she wanted him to come with her. She’d likely forgotten all about her hasty kiss. A heat-of-the-moment kind of thing.
“No thanks needed. Just glad I chose
the right thing.” He explained about the choice Trent had given him.
“Sounds logical.” She smiled at him, a generous glowing one that lit a very tired face. He wished Drake weren’t there and she was in his arms so he could show her what her smile did to him. But it was probably for the better. She didn’t need relationship drama on top of everything else that had happened tonight.
Drake turned onto the highway. “Seems like you two made up.”
“Pretty hard to be mad over something so petty when you see what we saw tonight.” Toni glanced at Clay. “And to face death? Puts everything into perspective.”
Clay cringed. She could have died. If they hadn’t gotten her out of the barn, she would have. She’d resisted medical attention, but Clay would insist she be checked for smoke inhalation at the hospital. He wouldn’t risk losing her to the fire’s aftereffects.
Toni stared at the door to the ER exam room. She’d been examined by a doctor and pronounced physically fit, as had Lisa and her children. For that, Toni was thankful. But emotionally fit? No. Any little sound had Lisa and the kids jumping and looking over their shoulders, fear lodged in their eyes.
Toni had never felt such anger in her life. She wanted to march down to the jail, wrap her hands around Hibbard’s and Ursula’s necks, and squeeze until their last breath left them. She hadn’t even been this angry after her dad had been gunned down. He was an adult. He’d known he was putting himself in danger. He’d understood the consequences of his actions and had chosen the risks. But Lisa and her children? No. They’d done nothing to deserve their captivity and the life they’d been forced to endure.
Toni’s phone rang. Good. She needed a diversion.
Vance Danby’s name showed on her screen. He’d left her three messages while she’d been away from her phone. She swallowed her anger and answered as cheerfully as possible. “Sorry I didn’t call you back. I was in a situation here.”
“No worries,” he said. “The key fit a safe deposit box, as we thought. I sent the items to you but also wanted to let you know what to expect.”
Night Hawk Page 27