Case was already pulling the IV line from his arm before the man had even finished his sentence.
“Hey, you can’t do that!” the nurse chastised.
“Watch me.” He thrust his legs into the pants they’d only moments earlier made him take off, shoved his bare feet into his shoes, and snatched up his shirt, gritting his teeth against the pain. “Let’s go.” He pushed Holden’s shoulder to urge him out the door. “Show me where you were when you were knocked out.”
Heart hammered as Holden’s body crumpled to the floor and Kyra’s wide eyes registered recognition. She would have to die now, but every war had casualties. Hold the gun steady. You are the one in charge. “I said, I want Chloe’s phone and I want it now.”
Repeating the command didn’t seem to get through to Cedar Harbor High School’s newest teacher, however. She remained frozen with her hands up near her ears. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Her voice was barely audible and gruff with fear.
Patience wearing thin, the next words snapped out. “Don’t give me that! I know you and Holden concocted this coffee run so you could give him Chloe’s phone. Her real phone. Because the phone that you so innocently handed to the paramedics at the park, was yours, Kyra Radell.”
That earned a satisfying blink. Her hands even shook a little.
There was no time for this! “Come on! Where is it? Hand it over!”
Kyra’s mind seemed to be scrambling. That much could be told from the way her gaze kept darting down to Holden and then back up again.
“Stop thinking. Stalling won’t do you any good. Just give me the phone.”
Kyra moistened her lips, but still said nothing.
“Listen, you’ve got about three seconds to comply or I’m going to have to knock you out and search you for it.”
Kyra’s eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. But it was enough to raise caution. Caution that morphed into full out fear when she said, “I have a black belt in karate.”
There was no real threat to the words, and yet they made every hair on the arm holding the pistol stand on end because sudden realization washed from head to toes. Kyra’s hands were not held up by her ears in fear, but in an attack ready pose! It was suddenly very clear that proceeding with the utmost caution was probably the best course of action.
You didn’t plan on that did you? Father’s voice mocked from the back of the mind. Teeth slammed together. This had been planned so perfectly. All of it! Right down to the little detail of planting evidence at Principal Vaughan’s house where Candice was sure to find it—well okay, maybe that little detail had fallen into the lap, as it were.
This morning at the gas station. They’d both been pumping gas, and Candice had been on her phone like she was nearly all the time. It had seemed like pure providence to overhear her say she was running back to her apartment for the house keys she’d forgotten, and then she was going to go pick up a few things from the house while Vaughan was at the school supervising detention. She’d offered the detail that she didn’t like to get things from the house while he was there because there was “too much tension.”
It hadn’t taken more than a few minutes to drive over to Vaughan’s house, pick the back lock, plant the baggies of Fire on the kitchen counter, and then make an escape.
Honestly though… Maybe Candice loved her man more than the separation indicated, because she hadn’t run right to the cops. If she had, Vaughan would have been arrested for immediate questioning, but he’d been wandering around the park like the traumatized survivor he was, just a bit ago. And the way the cops had treated him made it very clear he wasn’t high on their suspect list. At least not at that point.
At their feet, Holden moaned and started to stir, drawing the mind back to the present.
A quick jab with the pistol indicated the exterior exit down the hall. “Move!”
Thankfully, Kyra didn’t try any of her black belt moves—if she really even was a karate expert.She seemed happy to do as she was told, for the moment. Did she really know nothing about the phone? Could one of the paramedics have made the switch? But how would they have had Kyra’s phone? No! It had to be her. She was just stalling for time! Well her time was running out, and fast!
As Case and Mick hurried to follow Holden down the hospital hallway, the nurse rushed after them. “Did you say you are looking for Principal Vaughan?”
All three men froze and spun to look at her.
“Yes.” They spoke in unison.
“Well, I just saw him in the hospital lounge not more than two minutes ago. I had just passed through there and was cutting down that back hall when I saw you”—she gestured to Holden—“stumbling for the stairs and followed you up here. Vaughan was sitting with the Schumachers.”
Holden was already speaking into the mic on his shoulder, but Case didn’t wait to hear his instructions. He also wasn’t bothering with waiting for an elevator. He pushed into the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time, Mick fast on his heels, and Holden right on their heels.
“My officers are on their way now.” Holden’s footsteps thundered down the stairs behind them.
Case had the fleeting realization that they must present quite a sight when they all three burst from the stairwell door into the hospital waiting room. “There!” he pointed.
Vaughan was sitting on the near side of a cluster of seats with the Schumachers, just as the nurse had said.
“Virgil Vaughan, you are under arrest!” Holden’s gun was already out of its holster and leveled at the startled man’s chest.
“What in the world…” Vaughan’s hands shot into the air.
Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher looked just as startled by the proclamation. “Holden, what is this about?” the pastor asked.
“Get down on your knees.” Case motioned Vaughan toward the floor.
The principal only stared at him dumbly.
“These are both undercover officers, brought in on my request to help me figure out this drug situation. The gig is up, Vaughan.” Holden moved a little closer, making the threat of his gun more imminent. “Candice found the drugs at your place this morning. We were only waiting for a warrant.”
Case was done waiting. He pointed for Vaughan to take note of the pistol that Mick now held on him too. One of the drawbacks of being undercover in a school was the no firearms requirement, but thankfully Mick was under no such restrictions. Case looked Vaughan right in the eye. “Don’t make me tell you again, to get on the floor. What have you done with Kyra?”
The man sank to his knees in front of his chair, hands thrust in the air. “Drugs at my house? And Kyra? Do you mean Miss Radell? I have no idea what you are talking about!”
A sudden queasy feeling lodged in the pit of Case’s stomach. He glanced around at the group, even as he accepted the handcuffs Holden passed to him and cinched them around Vaughan’s wrists. “Holden was just knocked in the back of the head a few minutes ago, and when he woke up Kyra was missing. How long has Vaughan been here?”
Pastor Schumacher sputtered a little. “Why, Vaughan got here about the same time as you, Sheriff. He hasn’t left our group since before you went to get us coffee.”
The bottom dropped out of Case’s stomach. He glanced around the circle of people. Vaughan was there of course. And the Schumachers. Ashley Adams hadn’t moved from her chair this whole time, her wide eyes indicated her shock at all that was transpiring. The only one missing was—
Mrs. Schumacher dabbed at tears beneath her eyes. “Simon said he was going to go help you all bring back the coffee. But we haven’t seen him since he left.”
Case released his hold on Vaughan. “Parker, give me a gun. His car was in the hospital lot when Kyra and I pulled in!”
The cold frame of Holden’s ankle pistol was little comfort in his grasp when he rushed out into the parking lot and Simon’s green Corvette was gone. He loosed a word he rarely used, and then was immediately convicted. He tossed a glance toward the sky. Forgive me. Pl
ease protect her.
Case pinned Parker with a look. “Any idea where he would go?”
Parker squeezed the back of his neck. “His property is out in the woods a ways. He mostly keeps to himself. But I think he has a shed on the back side of his acreage. Either his house, or the shed. Those are the only places I can think of.”
Kyra’s mind scrambled as Simon prodded her away from the hospital at the point of the gun. The ferry whistle sounded. Another ferry was arriving already? Had it truly been that long since she’d melded in with the tourists this morning? But other than that sound, the hospital parking lot lay silent and still.
Despair threatened to steal even the strength to breathe.
They’d reached his car now. “Stop!”
She complied, feeling the bite of his pistol grinding into her spine. Leaning around her, he opened the driver’s door. “Get in. Climb all the way across. And don’t try anything or I will shoot you.”
It took her a moment to crawl past the gearshift. Tempted as she was to lash out with her heels, the thought of that pistol held her in check. Once she was settled into the passenger side, Simon sank into the driver’s seat. Still holding the pistol on her, he leaned over and thrust his hand into the closest boot. When he didn’t find Chloe’s phone there, he repeated the process with the other boot. Satisfaction curled his lips when his hand emerged with Chloe’s phone.
Ahead of them a nurse parked and got out of her car. Her turquoise scrubs and purposeful stride were all business.
Kyra opened her mouth to scream, but the point of the pistol slammed into her temple.
“Not a sound,” Simon ground out.
Kyra quailed as the woman disappeared inside and Simon pulled from his parking space. With the Corvette’s darkly tinted windows, there was no hope of someone from outside being able to see her now.
“Reach into the back and grab that blanket.” Simon demanded.
Hands weak with terror, she complied, finding a thin, fuzzy, camouflaged lap quilt. She held it out to him.
But he shook his head. “Put it over your head. And keep your hands where I can see them.”
They drove for about twenty minutes. Periodically, he jammed the gun into her side to remind her not to try anything stupid.
Willing away her terror, she bided her time, praying the whole way that Case would miss her and come looking for her. But the comforting sound of sirens hadn’t yet cut through the morning. The car decelerated. Turned onto a gravel road by the sounds of chattering pebbles beneath the tires. A few minutes later the sound slowed, and the car came to a halt.
No rescue seemed likely at this point. Tears stung her eyes.
There was a whoosh of air, a pause, and then the passenger door yanked open and Simon took her by one arm, hauling her out. The blanket fell away, but he didn’t seem to care about that now.
She glanced around, squinting at the brightness of the sunlight streaming through the swaying branches of towering evergreens. His Corvette was parked in the curved gravel drive in front of a log cabin. Weeds choked two flowerbeds on either side of the short walk that led up to a porch, but Simon didn’t take her that direction. Instead, he pushed her around the side of the house and onto a wooded trail, heaped up here and there by the roots of the evergreens. She stumbled and fell, pebbles and pinecones cutting into her bare knees.
He cursed her, no longer bothering to temper the volume of his voice, and yanked her painfully to her feet by one arm.
The fact that he wasn’t even bothering to be quiet any more made realization dawn. No one was coming for her! Her knees threatened to give out and take her to the ground again, but this time for good. Jesus! It was the only prayer she had the strength to utter, but it was enough.
Calm slowly seeped through her. The quaking deep inside, settled.
There was no more time to wait! If she didn’t act, her life was going to be over before anyone could help her.
She hadn’t lied about being a black belt. There were a lot of kicks she could try, but the roundhouse would give her the best chance at actually knocking him out.
The only problem was, she’d never tried a roundhouse wearing stiletto heels before. Nor had she ever been faced with the threat of a gun, though they’d talked about that plenty in class. She’d also never attempted one while her victim was this close. Okay, make that problems. But she was willing to risk all the drawbacks. A little space, however, was key.
If she could just put some room between them…
She tossed a glance over her shoulder. His face was a mask of stone. Nothing of the kind school teacher that she’d thought him to be remained.
“Move!” He shoved her again.
Kyra picked up her pace. “You’re never going to get away with this.” Her false bravado didn’t fill her with reassurance. She knew it was a lie. Worse, she knew he knew it was a lie. She cast another glance to assess the position of his body.
He only smirked. “I already have. But you know that already.” His gaze swept over her, anticipation lighting his eyes. “I hope you’re not afraid of fire?” His smirk turned to a laugh that shot her through with terror.
Did he mean Fire the drug? Like he planned to force her to OD? Or fire fire? Like he planned to burn her to death?
The thought of either option made her mouth dry with horror. Metallic fear coated her tongue. Her vision turned blurry around the edges.
“Where are you taking me?” Maybe if she could get him talking he would remember his humanity and release her. At the very least it might help her hold onto her sanity.
“Shut up!” He shoved her forward again, this time into a little clearing before a shed.
Just the amount of separation she needed!
She balanced on the balls of her feet. Flexed forward as though she was still stumbling. In a flash, she tucked her shoulders, twisted her hips, and spun into a back-roundhouse kick.
At the same moment car doors slammed from back down the trail!
Kyra wasn’t sure if she pulled the kick because of the sound, or if Simon flinched toward the sound on impulse. Whatever happened, her kick only ended up glancing off his shoulder.
He cursed her, dropping his backpack as he rushed them forward. “Get in there,” his voice was once again quiet but demanding.
Still off balance from her missed kick, Kyra didn’t have the footing to fight him, and in the blink of an eye, she was shoved inside the shed and the door clicked shut behind her. Darkness descended.
Something heavy clunked into place. Kyra’s heart fell as she recognized the sound as a heavy wooden board being dropped into brackets. She’d just been barred inside.
Something skittered across the floor just ahead and to her right. A shiver of revulsion slipped down her spine. She scrunched her eyes tight, willing them to acclimate to the darkness so she could see if there were any tools in here that she might use to help herself escape.
And then she realized that Simon no longer had a gun trained on her. “I’m here!” she yelled, as loudly as she could. “In the shed! Help!” She was pulling in another breath, planning to scream at the top of her lungs when the sharp scent of gasoline froze her in place.
No!
She heard the distinct crackling of the blaze and saw the angry orange glow clawing through the back corner of the shed almost at the same instant. The ancient ultra-dry wood was almost melting beneath the hungry march of the fuel-spurred fire.
Scream!
Her inhale turned into a smoke-choked cough that only grew worse with each breath.
Stumbling back, she slammed her shoulder into the door. It only flexed a little, then rejected her. She tried again, still to no avail. Tears streamed from her stinging eyes now.
Flickering tongues of fire had now devoured the entire back wall of the shed and started to make their way along the beams of the ceiling.
Could she leap through it?
With the dim illumination she could see that the back of the shed had been s
tacked to the ceiling with old wooden crates, all of which were now in various stages of burning. She was in an old, spiderweb-infested, gardening shed. But there were no tools. Just a rickety wooden shelf to her right, and an old wooden wheelbarrow to her left, and the conflagration of crates at the back. No way to leap through those flames. Nothing to help cut her way out. No other exits but the boarded-up door behind her.
Kyra’s eyes fell closed.
Realization took her to her knees.
She was going to die.
Burned to death in this garden shed.
And she was never going to see Case again.
CHAPTER 18
Case’s heart slammed against his ribcage at the sight of the Corvette, doors wide open, and idling empty in front of the cabin. Already gone! Where to? He searched the area frantically.
A cloud of smoke boiled like a thick black pillar into the sky behind the house. “This way!” He tore around the corner of the log cabin, with the others hot on his heels.
The trail was only faintly visible, through the wide-open spaces between the thick trunks of the immense trees, but the thick layer of pine needles had been disturbed by recent footsteps. His breaths pounded against his teeth. He barreled forward.
“Case! Slow down!” Mick called from behind him.
Vaguely, he realized he was moving too fast for safety, but this was Kyra they were talking about! He had to get to her!
“Come on, partner! Let’s work together on this!” Damian’s voice was firm. Case was glad that he’d arrived on the ferry and shown up at the hospital just as they were all piling in the police cruisers to come out here, but he didn’t let the man’s caution slow him down this time.
The sound of a faint cry came from the glowing and crackling shed now visible ahead through the trunks of the trees.
God please!
It was too far. The flames were moving too fast. He wasn’t going to get there in time!
With his eyes on the cabin, he didn’t see a mounded-up root. He sprawled flat out. Skidded a ways before a pine tree brought him up short. Agony shot through his shoulder. Radiated clean to his toes. But he’d already scrambled to his feet. Lurched forward.
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