Austin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and intertwining his fingers. “I’m not very proud of that. It’s the only time I’ve ever manipulated you, and I’m sorry for that. But it was necessary.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember when I told you I kept a spare key hidden under a statue here in case I got locked out? And I asked if you did something similar at your house?”
Connor hadn’t thought about that conversation since it had happened. At the time, it had seemed just like one man giving advice to another. Now he saw it for what it really was. “And I told you we had a fake rock hidden in the bushes by the door.”
“Kim told me that’s where her mom hid hers when she was growing up, so I thought she would probably do the same thing, too. But I needed to be sure.”
“How did you get out?”
“What do you mean?”
“Of prison. In the Czech Republic.”
“I would rather not talk about that.”
“You want to be my dad. You want me to trust you. Tell me how you got out.”
Austin looked down, shook his head, then took a sip of his coffee. “You should try it.” He nodded at the second mug. “It’s good.”
Connor didn’t respond.
“Do you remember when you were four, you wanted to know what I did at work? And when I told you I was a programmer, you asked me what that was?”
“No.”
“Anyway, we sat down at the computer together and I taught you just enough so you could write an if/then statement on your own. You were so excited. I’m glad to see you’re still using those skills.”
That part Connor remembered. But up until now, he would have sworn it was Frank he had been sitting with. Thinking about it, that didn’t make sense, though. Frank managed the development of properties for Leewood Construction. He didn’t know anything about programming. He had even told Connor as much. “I don’t know how anybody can sit behind a computer and do that stuff all day,” he had said. “That stuff’s all mumbo-jumbo to me.”
He was surprised the two contradicting memories had managed to exist in his head for so long without ever raising a flag. It was the sort of thinking, he understood now, that allowed people like the sunners to hold on to their beliefs even when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
“Anyway, in those days, I was as a senior software engineer for the city,” Austin said. “My primary job was upgrading and maintaining the code used by the New York Independent System Operator.”
Connor suspected he looked confused, because the next thing Austin said was: “I wouldn’t expect you to know who they are. Not a lot of people do. It’s complicated, but basically, they manage the flow of electricity up and down most of the East Coast.”
If Austin had stopped right there, Connor would have had enough information to sketch together the basics of what had occurred—it was a horrifying thought—but he kept going. “While I was in jail, I met a man named Aden Tindol. He was the only other American I ever saw there. He said he was Army. Busted for solicitation. He was out after only a few days. I figured he would forget about me a week after he was gone. But then, about a year ago, he paid me a visit. Said if he got me out would I be willing to do something for him.
“I wish I could tell you I asked what it was. I wish I could tell you I even cared. But I just wanted so badly to be back here with you that I would have done anything.”
“What did he want you to do?”
Austin wasn’t ready to answer that question yet. “You know, when it all went down, I asked Mark and Hillary for help. They could have afforded to get me a good lawyer, but they bought into Frank and Kim’s story and just turned their backs on me. I had known them for ten years and they didn’t even consider the possibility that I might be innocent. If they had helped me back then, none of this would have happened.”
Connor knew Mark and Hillary were Olin’s parents. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. But he wasn’t going to let go of the question he had asked before, so he repeated it. “What did this Aden Tindol want you to do?”
“He wanted to see if I could hack into their system and take it down for a while.”
It was exactly what Connor thought he was going to say. He also now realized it was why Austin had wanted him to come home early. He hadn’t had anything to talk to Connor about—he’d just been trying to get him out of harm’s way. Not that it did anything to make up for all the horrible things he had done.
“Aden said he would get me out and set me up with enough cash to start over.”
“That’s how you bought the house you’re flipping now?”
Austin nodded. “He told me it would be smart to stay off the grid. That meant no company paperwork, no nine-to-five job.”
“And that’s how you were paying me, too, wasn’t it?”
Austin nodded again.
Connor didn’t have to ask if the money Austin had left for him at the house had also come from Aden. “Did you know what he was going to do when you shut down the city?”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t think the power outage was the end game, but I didn’t think it would be as bad as it was.” Austin paused, then added, “I tried to stop him. Before everything went down, I found a guy. Carlos something. Took about a month, visiting sketchy bars at night and discreetly asking around. He was supposed to go into Aden’s liquor store and take him out. I told him to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. I hoped to put an end to this whole thing before it started. But he screwed it up.
“Aden had told me what would happen if I didn’t go through with my end of the bargain. He would kill you and me both, he said. So at that point I didn’t have any choice.”
Connor took a deep breath, tried to process all of the information. Then he asked perhaps the only question that really mattered right now. “What are you going to do with all of us?”
CHAPTER 58
Dylan was terrified Austin would shoot Connor when he turned around and got right up in Austin’s face. She couldn’t figure what he was thinking. Not even she would do something like that. Then she saw him contort his right hand, trying to move it only at the wrist and get it into his pocket. And she immediately understood. When Connor had lifted his legs earlier and shaken his hips, he had been trying to get something out. Now he was trying again.
“Get upstairs,” Austin demanded.
Connor stayed nose-to-nose with Austin while he worked the hand around in his pocket, pulled out a pocketknife, and flicked it over to Dylan. It hit her chest with a soft thump—too soft to hear, she suspected—and slid down to her waist.
Her first instinct was to move, shake it off, hide it under her thigh. But that would be a lot of activity. It would draw Austin’s attention, for sure. Connor had put himself at great risk to get her that knife. The best thing she could do was stay still and hope Austin didn’t look down.
She didn’t realize Olin was looking at her, had probably seen the whole series of events unfold, until Austin and Connor were upstairs. He glanced at the knife and then his eyes returned to meet hers. He nodded. The message: Go for it.
Behind Dylan, Kim was making excited noises through her gag. Apparently, she had seen Connor toss her the knife, too.
No shit I’ll go for it, Dylan would have responded, if she could speak.
She shook the knife off, then trapped it between her thigh and the floor and slid it back an inch. She lifted her leg, repositioned, and slid it another inch. The process was painfully slow, but eventually she could feel the knife with the tip of one finger. One more push, and she was able to grab it between her pointer and middle finger.
Cutting through the rope was challenging. Twice she slipped and nicked her hand. Olin watched anxiously, unable to see what she was doing from his angle. Kim, who likely had a better view, made sounds of encouragement.
Dylan pressed her wrists against the rope while she cut to keep it taut. Finally, she cut through enough of the rope that the remai
ning fibers snapped and her wrists sprang apart. She untied the bandana Austin had used for a gag and spat out the sock. Then she untied Olin and, while he was removing his own gag, grabbed the keys Austin had left on the table by the stairs and unlocked the cage Kim was in.
Whispering, each asked the other if they were okay, and determined, considering the circumstances, they were all holding up about as well as could be expected. Kim, of course, was in the worst shape. But because of that, she also seemed like she was the most angry, the most ready to do whatever it took to escape.
“Let me see if I can figure out what’s going on up there,” Dylan said. “You guys stay here. I don’t want to make too much noise on those stairs.”
Olin and Kim looked at each other. Olin nodded. “Okay.”
Dylan crept up the stairs slowly, stopping every time one of them creaked. When she reached the top, she put an ear against the door and listened. She could hear voices. It sounded like Austin was doing most of the talking, but she couldn’t make out the words. He and Connor were too far away from the cellar door.
As much as she wished she could hear what they were saying, she was glad he and Connor weren’t standing right outside the door. At least it gave her a chance to get Olin and Kim upstairs without being seen.
She turned the knob to see if the door was unlocked. It wasn’t. But that wasn’t going to stop her. She knew how to pick more than one type of lock. It was a skill she had learned when she was going through what her mother called her “spy phase.” At first, her mother had thought it was cute. “You’re going to be our very own double-oh-seven,” she would tease. That came to a halt when Dylan had gotten caught trying to steal a can of cranberry sauce from the Whole Foods near her house. Dylan had insisted she was just practicing what she had learned. She said spies had to do all sorts of things, and she wanted some real-world experience. Her mom had believed her because it was, well, a can of cranberry sauce. But that didn’t make it any better.
Dylan pulled two of her bobby pins out of her hair. She slid one into the keyhole and fiddled with the lock’s pins until they were all in place, then used the second bobby pin to turn the lock. Easy as pie.
She pinned her hair back into place, turned the knob. She let the door swing open only a few inches before she stopped it. Just enough to get a peek at the main floor.
She could see Connor sitting on a sofa, facing her. He didn’t seem to notice she had opened the door. Austin was sitting in a chair facing him. He would have to turn almost all the way around to see her.
She quietly pulled the door shut and went back downstairs. “They’re both up there.”
“What are they doing?” Olin said.
“They’re in the living room. Just talking, it looks like.”
“What about?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear much.”
“What are we going to do?” Kim said.
Olin looked up the stairs. “I think we should stay here. We can wait until he comes back down and then take him by surprise.”
Dylan shook her head. “No way. We don’t know where this is going. Connor took a risk getting me that knife. We can’t take a chance that Austin will kill him before he comes back down for us.” That’s not what James Bond would do. Or Captain Marvel.
“What do you suggest?” Olin said.
“I’ll go back up there first. You two stay right behind me. They’re far enough away from the door that he won’t hear us coming up the stairs. Then, as long as they’re still sitting where they were before, we should be able to sneak up on Austin from behind.”
“What about the gun?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
Kim didn’t seem to like that answer.
“We have to do something.”
“Damn straight we do. I still need to know what he’s done with my parents.” Olin held out his hand. “Lead the way.”
Just before Dylan went up the stairs, she turned to Kim. “Actually, I want you to stay back. Let Olin and me handle this.”
“What? Why? That’s my son up there.”
And that was exactly the problem. Kim had lost her husband, might lose her son. Add to that the fact that she had been locked up for a long time in that little cage, and Dylan didn’t trust her to keep her cool. But she didn’t want to tell Kim that, so she said, “If something goes wrong, we’ll need another shot, and you might be all we’ve got.”
Kim needed barely a second to think about it. She nodded.
Dylan nodded back. She led Olin up the stairs, being just as slow and careful as she had been the first time. “I’m going to take a quick peek first, just to make sure nothing’s changed,” she said once she reached the door.
Olin was right behind her and biting down on his lower lip almost hard enough to draw blood. He gestured for her to go ahead.
“Okay, here we go.” She opened the door.
CHAPTER 59
What are you going to do with all of us? Connor had asked, and Austin still hadn’t answered it. He sipped his coffee, seemed like he was about to say something, and then sipped again. Finally, he spoke. “I guess that depends on you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t let them go. You know that. But you and I—we can still start over if you would like to.”
Connor was about to tell Austin that he wasn’t going to let him kill his friends when he saw the cellar door creep all the way open. Dylan and Olin stepped out. They looked like they had a plan, like they were counting on him to be a distraction, so he played along. “I get it. After what my mom and Frank did to you . . .” He nodded thoughtfully. “I can’t lose my whole family. If we have to get rid of Olin and Dylan, too, so there aren’t any witness, then I guess that’s what we have to do.”
Austin was looking at him funny. Like he could tell something about Connor’s answer wasn’t right. Had Connor agreed with him too quickly? He wasn’t sure. But it also didn’t matter. While he was talking, Dylan and Olin had quietly crossed the room and were now standing directly behind Austin.
They grabbed him. Austin screamed, started to fight, reached for the gun, but Connor grabbed it first. Then Austin twisted and flipped out of the chair and got free of Olin and Dylan. “What the hell?” he screamed, stumbling backward as he tried to find his balance.
“Where are my parents?” Olin demanded.
Balance restored, Austin lunged at Olin even as Connor shouted to get his attention. They fell to the floor, each fighting to be the man on top. When Austin managed to pin Olin down, Dylan jumped on top of him, wrapping her arms around him and trying to pin his arms to his side, but he shook her off easily.
Connor fired a shot into the ceiling. “Hey!”
Everyone turned to face him.
Although they all looked surprised, Austin was the only one who also looked bewildered. Probably because Connor now had the gun aimed at him. “Son, what are you doing?”
“Son?” Now Dylan looked a little bewildered, too.
“It’s a long story.” To Austin: “Get the hell off him.”
“But . . . what about what you just told me?”
“Why do you think I told you that? Get off him.”
Austin reluctantly stood up, took several steps back so as not to crowd Olin when he, too, got to his feet.
“Where are my parents?” Olin said again.
“Tell him,” Connor said.
Austin glanced nervously between Connor and Olin. “They died. In a fire.”
“In a fire you set,” Connor clarified.
Olin’s face twisted with rage. “You son of a—”
Connor could tell he was about to launch himself onto Austin again, so he fired another shot into the ceiling to regain control of the situation. “That’s not the way we’re going to handle this.”
“Why not?” Olin sounded like he was doing everything he could to control his anger.
“I don’t want you going to jail.”
Olin looked at Dylan
as if asking for a second opinion, and she gestured as if to say she agreed.
“We need some rope,” Connor said.
Dylan crossed to the cellar door. “Come on up!” she shouted. “And bring some rope with you.”
Kim emerged, holding a length of rope in one hand. It was so long that it dragged on the floor behind her.
Connor figured it must have been one of the ropes Austin had used to tie them up. Fitting, he thought, that they were now going to use that same rope on him.
While Connor kept the gun aimed at his father, Olin bound Austin’s hands. Then, as Connor looked around for something to tie him to so he couldn’t escape—the handle of the stove, perhaps—he had a better idea.
They weren’t just going to use Austin’s rope.
He shoved Austin forward to get him moving. “This way,” Connor said, directing him toward the cellar door. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 60
Connor found his cellphone on the kitchen counter. He used it to call Olivia, gave her the address for the cabin, told her they would be there waiting. She asked where Austin was, and Connor responded only by saying that she didn’t have to worry about him. He wasn’t going anywhere.
The reason he wasn’t going anywhere, Olivia found out when she arrived, was that Connor and his friends had locked Austin in a cage in the cellar. “They are the cages he kept my parents in,” Connor explained. “That’s where they’ve been this whole time.”
Olivia had arrived with half a dozen black-and-whites in tow for backup and a second detective Connor didn’t recognize but Olin did.
“That’s the man who was working my case,” Olin said when he saw him.
The detective looked like he had stepped right off one of those CSI shows—tailored suit, trim, his hair just so. He walked right up to Olin. “So they found his parents,” he said, gesturing to Connor. “What about yours?”
Olin couldn’t get the words out, so Connor stepped in to explain what had happened.
The detective’s only response was, “Shit. I’m sorry.” At least he sounded sincere when he said it.
A Reagan Keeter Box Set: Three page-turning thrillers that will leave you wondering who you can trust Page 22