“His name is Briggs Thomas. He’s a thirty-year-old construction worker from Boulder.”

“This is their new leader?”

Jack shrugged. “It checks out. We ran his background, and it all came back to support everything Willis told us. He’s a member of the church, and he ran a militant group out of his church up there. And now he’s living in Ellaville, living in the home of the pastor and his wife. Rumor has it that he’s looking for a suitable woman to make his wife. A moral woman of the church.”

“You have Patrick watching him?”

“Of course.”

I dragged my fingers through my hair. “At least we know what we’re dealing with.”

Jack sat slowly in a chair across from me, his eyes watching me. “Ruth and I are headed back to Arizona at the end of the week.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to take Ruth back there?”

“It’s her home. She wants to go back.”

In other words, she was insisting on going back. Another strong woman who wouldn’t take no from a man, no matter who that man was. I knew exactly how that was.

We’d spent the morning with Alli’s girls. There were more tears than I had ever seen, with both girls trying to convince Alli to give up her life in Ellaville and move to Memphis to be close to them. They seemed to think it would be easy for her to leave her business, her home, just because Harry had apparently left her a little money. They even tried to enlist me on their side of the argument. But they didn’t see the determination in Alli’s eyes. She’d spent her entire life being victimized by men. She wasn’t about to let these Guardians win over her.

Stubbornness. It was going to get us all killed.

But I was going because she was the only thing that made this world make sense for me.

“We should be back sometime next week.”

Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “Willis will be picked up by the local police department later today. After that, he’ll likely spend a few weeks in the local lockup before being transferred to Arizona.”

“And then?”

“And then he’s facing charges of corruption, vandalism, arson, and assault.”

“Really?”

Jack tilted his head slightly, a little smile lighting up his face. “Apparently, one of the Guardians started spilling his guts a few weeks ago. They have testimony connecting Willis and half the sheriff’s office to most of the harassment that Alli and Harry contended with all last year.” He sobered a little. “They also have a file on you. They know about the emails, and your signature is on some of the reports that were altered regarding Alli’s complaints.”

“I never did anything illegal.”

“They know that. But this guy, he’s trying to take everyone down. He’s suggesting that you were involved in it all, but you were smart enough to cover your ass.” He looked down at his hands. “You might get a lawyer when you get back to Arizona. I have a list of people you can trust that I’ll make sure you get. Just to be on the safe side.”

“I will.”

“And keep in touch with the attorney general’s office.”

“Not a problem.”

“We’ll get you through this, brother. We’ll just have to watch our backs. These people are pretty damn smart.”

“Unfortunately.”

Jack smiled. “Unfortunately.”

He walked me to the door and shook my hand. I couldn’t remember an employer ever doing something that generous before. But then again, I’d never had an employer who put his neck on the line for me, either. Jack was a unique sort of guy.

Alli was waiting for me in my truck, dressed in short shorts and a cute little pink t-shirt that made the new tan she’d gotten here in Memphis glow with health. I climbed in beside her, and she slid up against me, her hand planted firmly on my thigh.

I was already looking forward to getting to the first roadside motel.

 

 

Music blasted through the truck’s speakers, and Alli sang at the top of her lungs. I hung my arm out the window, loving the feel of the wind on my skin. We intended to drive only three hours today since we had gotten a late start, but the weather was so nice, and the road was so smooth, that we just kept going, feeling free and safe.

Safe was a relative notion, wasn’t it?

“What’s he like?”

I glanced at Alli. “Who? Conor?”

“Yeah. Is he like you?”

I shook my head. “He’s more like his mother: quiet, intelligent. Gentle. They were both so gentle that I sometimes was afraid to say anything to them when I was annoyed because they might not take it well, you know?”

“How long has it been since you last saw him?”

“Four years.”

“I’m glad we’re going to see him. I think it’ll be good for you.”

I kissed the top of her head. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“Where else would I be?”

I slid my hand over her thigh and stared at the road, reading the signs as we passed them. It was getting darker, but I felt good. The wound in my side had healed, and my bruises were nothing but a memory. I felt like I could run a marathon at the moment, go back and take on that obstacle course at Stone Security. A part of me wanted to drive all night, while another part was more than ready to find a motel. The idea of luxuriating in a motel with Alli for a few days seemed like heaven.

I was about to suggest the idea when bright headlights flashed in the rearview mirror, filling the cab of the truck with light that was almost like the sun on a summer afternoon in the middle of the desert.

“Jerk,” Alli said, guarding her eyes with the palm of her hand.

I glanced into the rearview, my hand raised to flip it up so that the light didn’t reflect so harshly. But the vehicle behind us was much closer than I’d thought, slamming into the back of my truck and making it skid slightly to the left. It was a heavy truck, one that would take quite a beating. Taking a direct hit, though…I wasn’t sure how much of that it might take.

I slowed, thinking it’d just been an accident. Maybe the guy wasn’t paying attention.

That thought went out the window when he slammed into us again, the truck once again skidding to one side, the tires squealing on the asphalt.

“Crispin?”

I straightened in my seat, my eyes jumping from the rearview to the windshield. There didn’t seem to be any other vehicles in sight. We were in a rural area of Missouri, cornfields all around us. If this guy wanted to run me off the road, this was the place to do it.

I sped up, pressing the accelerator to the floor. We jumped ahead of the other vehicle, and I could just make out the frame of a utility van, one of those built to work as hard as a truck. The bumper was steel, which explained how it survived hitting the back of my truck without too much damage. But I couldn’t imagine it would survive many hits like that.

We were going upwards of ninety miles an hour, the road flat and straight, thank goodness. I held the wheel, searching hard for a place to turn off, a place to hide. But there was nothing.

“What’s happening?”

“Make sure you have your seatbelt on.”

Even as the words were coming out of my mouth, they sped up and slammed into us again. The truck skidded, the wheel nearly wrenching out of my hands. I managed to hold on, jumping lanes but still on the road. I pressed the accelerator even harder, watching the road disappear under us. There had to be a town coming up, a place where we could get some help.

“Call Stone Security,” I told Alli without looking at her, without taking my hands from the wheel. “Tell them we’re under attack.”

She leaned forward, snatching her bag up off the floorboard. But we were hit again just then, and the bag flew out of her hands, the contents spilling all over the bench, the floor. She cursed under her breath, leaning over to reach for her phone, but it had fallen against the door and was just out of her reach. I saw her hand go for the buckle on the seatbelt. I grabbed it, stopping her. The van slammed into us again, and the wheel wrenched out of my hand.

The world began to spin. We rolled, the windshield smashing with the impact. We landed on the tires, and the engine, by some miracle, was still purring. I slammed my foot onto the accelerator, and we jumped forward, but something was broken somewhere. We weren’t moving as fast as we should have been, and the back of the truck shuddered with every inch we moved forward. I guided the truck to the access road, and we got a little more traction on the asphalt. I glanced behind us and could see the headlights of the van following us. The front of their van was pretty messed up, but they were still coming, still chasing.

The truck made a huge squealing sound as I tried to accelerate. I could see them coming, could see the blow that was about to happen. The transmission was screwed. Smoke was filling the air around us, coming in through the open window.

“Hold on, babe,” I said as I turned the wheel sharply, guiding the truck into a cornfield. The tall plants would slow the van down.

We had to get out of this.

I lost track of the van, thought we might have actually gained an advantage. But when we burst out of the field on the other side, they were waiting for us. We slammed headfirst into the side of the van, the crunch of metal on metal deafening. My head jerked forward, slamming into the top of the oversized steering wheel. I heard Alli scream as stars burst in my line of vision. And then the dark tunnel came, and I was gone, out cold.

I’d screwed this up big time.

 

 

Gloria was whispering to me, telling me to wake up. Telling me that Conor was in trouble, and he needed me. They both needed me. I was tired, unwilling to get up, but she wouldn’t leave me alone. Begging, her voice became high-pitched, her face morphing into something else, someone else. A man with dark hair, a woman with red hair. And then she screamed, so close to me that I could feel the heat of her breath, the moisture of her spit.

“Wake up!”

I jerked back, the good feeling that had been with me earlier gone. My shoulders ached, my chest burned. My head felt like someone was trying to split it wide open. I blinked and opened my eyes, the world all in shadow for a long moment. It slowly came back to me—the accident, Alli’s screams.

“Alli!”

“He’s finally with us,” a strange male voice said.

I tried to sit up, but my hands were restrained behind me. I tugged at the restraints, the realization that they were locked in some sort of cuffs finally making its way deep into my consciousness. There were four men, all dressed in dark clothing. One had a gun. Alli was across from me, her arms also tied behind her. The top of her pink shirt was dotted with blood, and I could see an open gash on her forehead. She was watching me, her eyes wild.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “You?”

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t that sweet?” the man with the gun asked, coming up to stand behind Alli. “They’re checking on each other’s welfare. I guess even animals love their companions.”

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“I think you already know.” The man pressed the barrel of his gun to the side of Alli’s head, making her jerk to one side, fear and anger dancing together in her eyes. “I want Willis freed.”

“Willis has a warrant out for his arrest.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?”

“He broke the fucking law.”

One of the other guys slapped me hard on the head, making pain flare. “Language!”

The guy behind Alli pushed at her head, making her bend her neck at an odd angle. “You want me to just blow her brains out here and now?”

“No!”

He nodded slowly. “Then shut up and listen to me. You and your friends have Willis back at your facilities. I want him released. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“You make that happen, and I’ll let your woman go free. You don’t…” He moved the gun from her head down along the side of her face, shoving the barrel down into the top of her shirt. “We’ll have a little fun with her before we toss her in the trash.”

Alli’s eyes, filled only with fear now, jumped to mine.

“You touch her, and I’ll find you. I’ll kill you.”

“The thing is, your fate is set. You’ll be dead long before we deal with this little jezebel.”

I shook my head, a burden falling on my shoulders that was almost too heavy to hold up. “You’re Guardians.”

“And you’re brilliant.”

“Why do you care about Willis? He’s a cop, not a Guardian.”

“He’s one of us. He joined the Guardians after you left the sheriff’s office, after he realized how you stabbed him in the back.”

I tilted my head, looking at him from the corner of one eye. “And you’re one of his butt buddies?”

The man’s eyes narrowed. He charged toward me, flipping the gun around in his hand with just one quick movement. He knew his way around guns. A cop, maybe? Or a soldier?

He slammed the butt of the gun into the side of my head. Stars once again danced in my vision, and I could feel blood run down over my ear and neck.

“Watch your mouth!”

I glanced up at him. “Tell me what you want.”

He stood there a moment, the two of us caught in a staring contest for a long time. Then he lowered his gaze, turning to glance back at Alli.

“I want you to tell us how to get to Willis.”

“That’s going to be a trick. They turned him over to the Memphis Police Department this afternoon.”

Silence filled the dark, dirty room for a long moment. Then one of the other men began to curse.

“I told you, Danny!”

“Shut up, Kurt!”

“I told you they would turn him over. I told you this was a stupid plan!”

The one who’d hit me—Danny?—rushed across the room and pushed the other man out of my line of vision. I could hear him talking to him, but couldn’t hear his words. Alli was watching me, her eyes wide. I nodded slightly, just enough so she could see it. I wanted her to know I was okay, that I was going to get her out of this. But I didn’t want to encourage the wrath of that fool again.

“I could find out where they took him.”

Danny turned around and came back across the room. “You can find him?”

“Yeah.”

“But that won’t do us any good,” the other man said. “He’s probably already told them everything!”

“Shut up, Kurt!” Danny yelled again. He gestured to one of the other men, and that man pushed the other out of the room through a door I hadn’t seen before.

Good to know where the exits were.

“They might not have processed him yet. If you can get to him before they do, you could get him out without anyone being the wiser.”

Danny nodded, watching me closely. “You’re a cop. You could go in there and get him out.”

Not really. But if he wanted to think that, more power to him.

“How will you find out where he is?”

“I have to call Stone Security.”

“No, Danny, that’s not a good idea. What if he tips them off to what we’ve done? They’ll be here in a flash,” another of his men said.

“We’ll be gone before they can locate us.” Danny reached up and rubbed the side of his head with the barrel of his gun. “And we can control what he says.”

There was silence for a long moment as Danny studied my face. Then he began to nod. “You’ll get the answers we need? Help us get him out?”

“You let her go first.”

Danny immediately turned and went to Alli, grabbing a handful of her hair and jerking her head back. “She’s our insurance policy. We aren’t letting her go until you’re in the ground.”

“Then I’m not talking to anyone.”

Danny nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful. Then he slowly pressed his hand to Alli’s throat. I thought for a split second that he was going to choke her, but then his hand slid down over her chest and into her shirt. She cried out, a string of curses coming from her pretty, gloss-covered lips as he gripped one of her breasts.

“She’s going to be a lot of fun. And I bet you’ll enjoy the show, brother. See how well she pleases every man in this room—except you, of course—as often as we want.”

“Let her go!”

I jerked against my restraints, gaining my feet for a moment. But the other guy was still there, and he grabbed a fistful of the back of my shirt, forcing me backward. I fell, hitting my head on the concrete ground. Three blows to the head in less than an hour. That couldn’t be good.

Danny came to stand over me. “You cooperate with us, or she’ll be the one to suffer.”

I got it. I didn’t like it, but I got it.

“I need a phone.”

They clearly had no idea how things worked at Stone Security. When Danny asked me for the number, I recited the emergency hotline Jack had explained to me the day I went to work for him. No matter the situation, I call that number and work my code word into the conversation, and they’d get help to me as quickly as possible. It was designed for exactly the situation I was in at this moment.

Danny held the phone to my ear, and I listened to the distant ringing, working out in my head what I was going to say and how I was going to pass it off to them as cooperation. I was going to get Alli out of this if it killed me.

A woman answered politely, the sound of a smile in her voice almost surreal.

“Hey, can you put me through to Jack Stone, please.”

“Of course, sir,” she said, relief burning through me because her voice was loud enough that Danny could hear it.

A second later, a man’s voice came on the line. It wasn’t Jack, but he acted as though he was.

“Jack Stone. What can I do for you?”

“It’s Crispin, man. A cougar on the road.”

“Sure, brother. What can I do for you?”

“I was just checking in, wondering what went down with Willis today.”

“He was transferred as planned. He’ll be a guest at the county lockup for a couple of weeks,” the strange voice responded, once again flooding me with relief.

“That’s awesome, man. Thanks for all your help.”

“Of course. That’s what we’re here for. Anything else I can do for you, Crispin?”

“Nope. Thanks.”

The call was disconnected. Danny stepped back, a satisfied grin on his face. “Good boy,” he said, looking down on me like I was the fool in this situation.

“County lockup?” the other man said with despair clear in his voice. “How the hell are we supposed to get him out of there?”

“We’ll find a way. We’re doing God’s work, brother. He’ll show us the way.” Danny gestured to me. “Get him cleaned up and in the van. We move out in five.”

Danny walked away, apparently headed out to check on his other men. The one he left with us jerked me out of my chair and dragged me across the room to a large utility sink.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” he said. “Only one of you could possibly get out the door before I call Danny back in.”

I wasn’t planning on it.

He turned on the water and wet a cloth, using it to mop up the blood on the side of my face. He murmured under his breath as the bleeding continued despite his ministrations. Grabbing a handful of paper towels, he pressed those to the side of my head while trying to clean up the other side with the wet cloth. I stood still, feeling like a child being washed by his mother. I glanced over at Alli, caught her watching us with wide, fearful eyes. I nodded again, trying to reassure her.

“Stand still,” the Guardian fool barked.

Danny and the other two came back into the room. “Get them into the van.”

There was another van parked at the back of the large room. We were shoved into the back, Alli practically landing on top of me. I kissed her cheeks over and over again as she gained her balance and turned into me, stealing my lips for a long moment. Someone grabbed her and pulled her away from me.

“No touching!”

Two of the men got into the front of the van, the other two taking up positions near the back door. Alli moved into me, leaning against my side with her head on my shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay. Help will come,” I whispered against her ear.

“Don’t make me separate you!” one of the men barked.

Alli moved over just enough to satisfy them. The van started, and the vibration of the engine began under our bodies. I turned slightly, trying to get a view of the building as we pulled away from it, but I couldn’t make out more than the metal lines of steel siding.

We were on our way back to Memphis. I closed my eyes, sending up a little prayer for the first time in more than twenty years.

Let Alli survive this night.