Desolation Point

by Lisa Phillips

  Chapter 15

  Ellie forced away all thoughts but the ones that were a part of her training. This couldn’t be personal, or it would never be over. Laney is one of them. Now wasn’t the time to let that paralyze her.

  She pulled out her phone. They’d just shot someone.

  Correction: Alan Franz, the bank manager, had shot Simon Mills.

  Ellie made sure her silent phone didn’t have the flash on and pulled up her camera. She took a handful of photos. The group. The body.

  The people in the room—she couldn’t think about the fact she knew them—started to dissipate. The men who’d hauled Simon Mills in picked him up again. There would be physical evidence here, no matter how well they tried to clean up. Under the surface there would be proof to find. And now she knew exactly where to look.

  Exactly who the targets of her investigation were going to be.

  Drew squeezed her shoulder again.

  She turned to him. What could be said? They didn’t want to give away their position. Too many people in that room meant they would be seriously outnumbered in an arrest. Would the group cut and run, leaving the slowest behind? They would end up with only low-hanging fruit.

  This had to stay reconnaissance if they wanted to keep from being overpowered. If they wanted to gain the chance to get the whole group later. Those who escaped today could go to ground. They might never find them if there were escape plans in place.

  Ellie had no idea if they were prepared and ready to get away. Allowing them to escape the consequences was the last thing she wanted. Instead, they had to make sure every one of these people found themselves in handcuffs.

  Even Laney.

  A sob worked its way up her throat, but she swallowed it back down. Don’t let me give in. Ellie pulled up her texts and sent all the photos to the sheriff, along with a quick explanation of what had happened. He sent them here, and it hadn’t been a trap.

  Drew squeezed her elbow and motioned to the door. He mouthed, Come on.

  She nodded and followed him, watching her phone’s indicator to see when her messages were read. Drew tugged her around obstacles. Neither of them wanted to hang around and be sitting ducks.

  At the door she stowed her phone so no one could see the light. They stepped into the hallway.

  Halfway across, headed for the exit, the side door to the auditorium opened. A man she’d seen at church, but whose name she didn’t know, stepped out, followed by someone else. Ellie didn’t wait around to see who it was.

  “Run!” She shoved at Drew, and they sprinted forward. Her body was a mass of aches and pains, and fatigue, but she pushed all that aside.

  Footsteps, ones that spanned the end of the hall, followed them.

  Shots rang out.

  Ellie ducked her head. Instinct pushed her to press against the wall and make a smaller target out of her body. Drew swerved into her, then tugged her left, forcing her to change direction. He turned his body at the last second and hit the exit bar with his palm. With his right hand, he lifted a gun and fired off two shots.

  Ellie ducked between him and the door and cut right to find cover behind the other door. She fired two shots of her own back down the hallway while Drew stepped out and got out of the line of fire.

  He grabbed her free hand, and they ran. Ellie focused on breathing and getting her legs to keep moving. His breath was sharp and fast beside her. She listened to it and the pounding of their feet on the blacktop of the playground.

  Over the gate. Down the little alley between houses. Across the cul-de-sac to the street where he’d left the truck.

  She didn’t let any other thought creep in until she reached the truck. She should call in shots fired. She should call in the meeting and update the sheriff on what they’d seen. But she didn’t. They needed to regroup. Make a plan where they tracked down the group’s members one by one. With enough personnel, they’d get it done fast. Hopefully as close to simultaneous as they could.

  Ellie dialed the sheriff’s number. He answered with a short, “Ellie?”

  She sucked in breaths and tried to explain in broken words and phrases what had happened.

  “Do you want me to come to you?”

  “Tell him no.” Drew pulled the truck door open and shoved her inside. “Go. Get across.” He glanced back at the alley, like he was waiting for a gunman to show up any second now.

  She climbed in, groaning at the feel of that gunshot bruise in her chest.

  Drew got in behind her. He took the phone, maybe seeing that she wasn’t going to be able to think this through right now. “Yeah. You got the photos?” He paused, listening. “Copy that. I’ll keep you posted.”

  He hung up, already pulling out.

  “What did he—”

  “We’re going to meet him first thing. Tonight, we lay low. He’s going to the judge to get warrants so we can dig up these guys from whatever holes they crawl into.”

  That meant Laney, too.

  “And he’s going to call Mark. Get some help.”

  She wanted to say something. Tried.

  Drew squeezed her knee and then grabbed the wheel again with both hands as he hit the gas and headed for the highway. “Right now, all we’re going to do is hunker down and pray we didn’t stir up the hornet’s nest.” He didn’t sound happy. “He had to know what we were walking into, but he said nothing. He sent us after Barb, on a wild goose chase that led to murder.” He blew out a breath and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. “Now we just have to stay alive long enough to testify to it.”

  Ellie blinked.

  “You should buckle your seatbelt.”

  She did as he asked. Teeth gritted. Then Ellie shut her eyes. Her breath stuttered mid-inhale. His hand squeezed her knee. She wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. Then sleep for a week. She couldn’t even think about telling Drew about that worst time in her life.

  Would they ever get the chance?

  “It’s going to be okay, Ellie. I know it doesn’t seem like that right now. But it will. I promise.”

  She felt the tear roll down her cheek and didn’t bother to swipe it away. Laney had been her best friend since Kindergarten. Even through the separation of college, her friend had been there for her. They’d visited often. Talked on the phone all the time.

  Laney knew everything about her. Every sordid thing she’d ever done wrong, she’d confessed it all to her friend. Certain that her sounding board would love her, no matter what. Now she knew it was nothing but lies. Ellie had leaned on her for support, but her friend hadn’t done the same. Laney had been pulled into something serious, with bad people and broken laws. She’d said nothing. She’d given them no indication that she’d known exactly what they were walking into.

  And when Alan Franz had pulled that trigger, she’d just stood there like it was no big deal.

  Now Ellie was sitting here in Drew’s truck while the fabric of her life unraveled.

  . . .

  He gripped the phone. “No, she’s not okay. And I think we have a tail.”

  Mark said, “Can you lose them?”

  “There’s nowhere to go.” And neither of them were in a position to get out and hike for hours. They’d been driving for miles, doing circles around the town until it was safe to find a place to lie low. They’d get back to his cabin at some point but would they even be protected there? “I can try and outrun them. I don’t know what else to do.”

  “I’m about two hours out of town.”

  “I thought you were bringing a team?”

  “There was a threat made to the college. My boss reassigned everyone. I managed to persuade him that Alvarez and I should be left to you.” Alvarez was the guy who’d been sitting with Will Maxwell for hours, debriefing him about this whole mess. Protecting Ellie’s father while the two of them tried to chase down Barb.

  And what a can of worms that had turned out to be.

  Drew sighed.

  “Listen, I know it’s not ideal…”
<
br />   He didn’t need Mark apologizing. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out.”

  Drew took a sharp turn. Ellie’s head lolled against the window. Passed out, or dozing and half asleep. He figured her body had shut down after being pushed way too hard and way too far. He couldn’t carry her. Not with his knee like this. He was close to the breaking point himself.

  “I gotta make another call.”

  “Okay.” Mark hung up, no questions asked.

  Drew was glad for it. He needed to get on with this if he was going to get Ellie out of here and lose the person following them. They were hanging back, far enough he wasn’t completely convinced they were in pursuit. But something about it just didn’t sit right. Would it turn aggressive before he could get his plan in place?

  Ten minutes to get there.

  Ellie’s phone started to ring. He could hear the vibration against the sides of the cup holder he’d shoved it in. She roused, pulling it out so she could look at it. “Laney.” Her voice was thick with sleep, though he didn’t think she’d been completely out.

  Drew took the phone. “Don’t answer it.”

  Were they being tracked? Laney could be calling just to talk to her friend. She could also be calling for any number of other nefarious reasons.

  “Drew—”

  He hit the button on his door panel. The window started to whir down and he tossed the phone out.

  “What are you—”

  “Stop screaming.” His head already hurt. And if she gave in, combatting the grief of betrayal by screaming, she would only feel worse afterwards. “Yes, your friend betrayed you. I’m sorry.” He took a breath. “You have no idea how sorry I am about that. But it’s done.” He wanted to know how he, with all his instincts from undercover work, hadn’t even realized who Laney really was.

  “The photos I took were on that phone!”

  Drew gritted his teeth. “You sent them to the sheriff, right?”

  “I wanted to answer it.” She paused a second. “I wanted to hear what she had to say.”

  That, he’d known. “Would it have been honest, or would she just be stringing you along still? Pretending to be your friend while she helps hold this town hostage.”

  She screamed, “I wanted to talk to her!”

  “I know.” Drew kept his voice even. He found the turn off, a blind corner. No brakes, not until the last second. He pressed them hard and swung the wheel to the right in one movement. Then he hit the gas. The tires spun out for a second but caught in the gravel of the parking lot. Drew shut his headlights off, not needing them to see where he was going considering he’d been driving this route since he got his license.

  He made his way to a space far to the right, out of sight, and shoved the car in park. He flashed the headlights once. A teen boy swung off a horse. He held the reins to another horse and stood beside it.

  Craig let the reins go and turned his own horse before he walked the animal away. Out of sight. The neighbor kid took a ridiculously low amount of money for all the ways he helped Drew out, taking care of the animal when he couldn’t. They’d met out on the trail, Craig’s parent’s ranch not a half a mile from here—so Drew didn’t worry about the young man getting home. He had a good dad, but Drew still saw that seed of something wild in him. The same thing he saw in the mirror.

  He’d picked his trainee. Drew and Craig were going to start working some local investigations together this summer, when the kid had finished out his junior year.

  “Let’s go.”

  She cracked the car door. He came around and took her hand before he walked her to the horse. “Hey, Spring.” He laid a hand on the side of her neck. The horse moved her head close to his, taking in his scent. “Your breath smells like apples.”

  He climbed on, then held a hand out for Ellie.

  “Where are we going?” She sounded sad. And lost.

  “Somewhere safe.”

  She put her foot in the stirrup, and he braced her weight while she swung on. There was a second of hesitation, then her arms slid around his.

  A truck pulled into the parking lot.

  Drew kicked with his heels, and Spring set off. He urged her faster, but not too fast. It was dangerous for her to go that speed with the lack of light. They knew this trail, though. Just like Craig knew the way home.

  He felt Ellie’s hands slacken. He grabbed them and patted her hand. “Talk to me. Don’t fall asleep.” She would end up falling off.

  “I told her everything. I—” Her voice broke. “I trusted her. Cried with her.”

  “I know.”

  Her arms tightened.

  Drew said, “Tell me.”

  “I had this boyfriend in college.” Her voice was soft, but broken. “I got pregnant. He seemed happy, and we went to the courthouse. Got married.”

  Drew’s stomach clenched. She was married?

  “A few weeks later, I—” Her voice broke.

  Drew waited, aware she was drumming up the courage to trust him with something as painful as her best friend’s betrayal. Maybe even more so.

  “I lost the baby.”

  Drew tightened his grip on her hand and tugged her body closer to his. She needed the comfort, as well as the warmth.

  “He filed for divorce. After all,” she choked the words out. “What reason was there to stay?”

  “I’m sorry.” He was. Drew was so sorry. Though, maybe it should have been Laney who was apologizing. He was still right to have tossed that phone out the window. Who knew how far their reach extended? She said nothing for awhile, then her quiet voice finally asked, “Where are we going?”

  “My place, to restock supplies. Weapons and ammo.” And they were almost there. “Then we’re on the road again. Staying in one place is dangerous.”

  “Okay.” Her voice sounded hollow. Empty in a way that threatened to break his heart.

  “Then we’ll finish this, yeah?”

  He felt her nod against the back of his jacket. Both of them were so far past worn out it was a wonder they were still functioning. His hip smarted from the motion of the horse. When he got off, his leg would likely collapse. Ellie had a huge bruise—he would bet—from the gunshot. And that knife wound.

  Mark was on his way. Alvarez was already here with Ellie’s dad.

  The four of them, plus Will and the current sheriff, could do this. We can do this, right Lord? Despite what he’d said to Ellie, Drew had doubts.

  Especially by the time they got to his cabin.

  “Your house is on fire.”

  Chapter 16

  The air hung thick with the smell of smoke. Ellie’s eyes stung. She blinked away the gathering tears. “I’m sorry.”

  Drew tugged on the reins, and they continued on before anyone saw them. Around the area in front of his house, he headed toward the road. He pulled out his phone and made a call. But not without a glance at her, full of feeling. She nodded. He asked the state police dispatcher for emergency services then hung up abruptly.

  “So my phone goes out the window, but you’re allowed to keep yours?” The comment slipped out. Would she even have wanted to hold it back? Ellie wasn’t sure. Drew seemed to have some interesting ideas as to how all this was going to go down. And not much of it adhered to the rules she was bound to as a sheriff’s deputy.

  “It’s unregistered. So I can communicate with Mark under the radar.”

  A burner phone? Of course it was. She rolled her eyes, because he couldn’t see her behind him.

  Probably she could be a little more sympathetic about the fact all his worldly belongings were going up in flames. Ellie just couldn’t bring herself to feel that loss as well—even in sympathy. Far too much had gone on tonight. She was primarily reacting to the fact she’d laid her soul bare to him. Now Ellie had hit the point where her brain wanted to shut down. Where her heart felt the need to just be numb and avoid feeling anything at all—at least until she could process it.

  Drew knew about the baby she had los
t. It was years ago now, more than six.

  Her heart squeezed, but inside she just felt…cold. She’d grieved long and hard. Moved on with her life. And then in one moment, it all came rushing back. The child inside her. The loss. The betrayal. Maybe it would touch her like this every so often for the rest of her life. A reminder of the disaster. All the ways she had failed, things she hadn’t forgiven herself for. Things she hadn’t received God’s offer of forgiveness for, preferring to stay where she could feel the pain. So that she could remember.

  But that wasn’t honoring the life she’d had inside her.

  Drew walked the horse to the driveway and headed toward the road. Ellie pulled her arms from around his waist and adjusted her weight. Antsy for something…maybe a fight. That would certainly release some tension, though getting physical would end quickly given the state she was in. And it wasn’t like she was going to fight Drew.

  Maybe he would let her use the phone. “Can I call my dad with that?”

  “In a minute. Let’s figure out where we’re going to go next.”

  She bit her lips together for a second. “We could double back to the truck.”

  “That’s probably going to be our best shot at staying mobile if they’re rallying. They could be spread all over town, looking for us.”

  “So they know who we are, and now they’re trying to kill us. That it?”

  He shrugged one shoulder, the one in front of her face. “Getting back at us.” He paused. “Not many other reasons they’d need to burn down Eric and Alma’s house.”

  “It’s your house.”

  “I rent it from them.”

  “So that means you don’t care about it? Or any of your stuff?”

  He sighed. “I’m not the one out money.”

  “No, just all your personal possessions.” How was that not being out money? He’d have to pay to replace them, wouldn’t he?

  She’d been inside his house. There wasn’t much beyond furniture that she’d seen. Some artwork on the walls—photos he had printed for himself. Then a thought occurred to her. She gasped. “Your camera.”

  “Okay that I care about. There were a couple of pictures on there I hadn’t uploaded yet. It was on my dining table.”