“No problem,” Mace said. “Look, do you need to go to a hospital right now, or can you tough it out for a few hours so we can get closer to home? I’m concerned about spreading out our security while Clemens is still out there fighting like a cornered rat. We’re safer if we’re all together. But if you’re in a bad way—”
“No. I’m fine. I’ll wait. Take me straight to Lu. Please. That’s all I want.”
The SUV had studded tires, so it could handle the narrow, twisting mountain road even in the deep night and the thickening snow. The fire glowed on the ridge behind them. Jim got onto his phone as they drove. “Yes, I’m calling to report what appears to be a house fire out on Bailey Ridge. No, ma’am, I’m not at the scene myself. I saw it from the road across the ridge, from probably about ten miles away. Looks bad from here. Yeah, sure. Thanks, ma’am. You have a good evening, too.”
Nate pulled out his burner and called Elisa. She picked up on the first ring.
“Yes?” her voice was high and anxious.
“Hey,” he said. “It’s done. We got him.”
“Oh my God.” Her voice choked off. “Is he…is he all right?”
“Yes. He’s pretty beat up, but he’ll pull through. We don’t want to check him into a hospital here. That spreads our security thinner. Hang on.” He turned around, and held the phone toward Josh’s functioning arm. “Your sister.”
Josh lifted the phone to his ear. “Lu?” His voice broke.
Nate turned away to give Josh some privacy and got into the driver’s seat.
After they’d put some miles behind them, Mace reached out and patted his arm. “Yo,” he said gently. “Slow down, man. There’s fresh snow on this road. You got him, okay? He’s safe. You can relax now. Want me to drive?”
“I’m good,” Nate assured him.
“Fine, then. Let me tell you the plan. You drop off me and Jim at that rental car place right outside of Bellamy so I can get myself a clean car. Then Jim and I will blast right on back to Granger Valley to debrief Anton and Fi. I don’t like having just one guy cover them while Anton is still under the weather. You guys swing by to get Elisa, and meet us at the hospital with Mitch and Clint. You got all that?”
“Sounds good,” he said.
“You’re good to drive?” Mace frowned. “You’re not crashing, are you?”
“No. I’m fine. I’m great.”
The hours crawled by. It wasn’t too long now from the eight AM opening time of the rental car place in Bellamy, so he let just Jim and Mace out at the diner next to it to wait. But Mace was reluctant to go. His worried gaze alternated between Nate’s face and Josh’s. “I’m having second thoughts. Maybe I should stick with you guys.”
“No, go on. You and Jim both go cover them,” Nate urged. “Go.”
“If you’re sure. See you at the hospital in Granger Valley. And hurry. That kid needs patching up.” Mace smiled at Josh.
The kid tried to smile back, to ghastly effect, but he got points for trying. “I’m good,” Josh said, but his voice was thin. “I’ve been through worse.”
“Hang tough,” Mace said. “Check in regularly. Ping me every hour.”
“Will do,” Nate said.
Jim Wong patted Josh gently on the back and got out. The two men jogged across the deserted highway toward the car rental place.
Nate pulled back out onto the road, and they drove in silence for a while. Then Josh leaned forward. “Hey.” His voice was hesitant. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Nate said. “Whatever you want.”
“Did my sister hire you for this job?”
Nate smiled briefly. “No, she didn’t,” he said. “I just wanted to help her out.”
“That’s one huge fucking favor,” Josh said. “I don’t know you. I never even met you, and I’ve never paid you to look out for me. So why are you here?”
Nate thought about it. “Because your sister loves you,” he finally said.
When he glanced in the rearview, Josh was giving him a crooked, knowing smile that was a lot like Elisa’s. “Or maybe because you love my sister,” he said.
Nate grunted under his breath. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you.”
“No? Why not?”
“Because I haven’t discussed it with her yet.”
Josh grinned, even though it looked like it hurt. His teeth were bloody.
“Can I call her again?” he asked.
“Hell yeah. Be my guest.” Nate pulled up Elisa’s number on his burner and passed it back to him. “Take as long as you need.”
“Lu? It’s me,” Josh murmured. “Yeah. We just left Mace and that other guy, Jim, to rent a car so he can go back to his brother. He said it would be about an hour. Maybe a little less. Yeah. Oh God, Lu, don’t, please. Please…I know, but if you start up, then I won’t be able to stop. I can’t fall to pieces yet. Not until it’s over.”
True thing. Nate did not feel triumphant in the least. He felt like he was under a looming shadow. Hunted. Stalked. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It took passing a state trooper going the other way to make him notice that he was driving like a bat out of hell.
It was almost impossible to lift his foot from the accelerator and slow down.
22
She had to stop checking the clock. She was doing it every twenty seconds. Clint and Mitch talked quietly in the front room, eyes on the monitors. It was starting to snow. She was glued to the bay window, from which she’d be able to see the highway exit, and Nate’s blue Jeep, the second it got off the highway.
Josh would be in that Jeep. It was too good to be real. She was so afraid that the joke would be on her. She didn’t even remember how it felt not to be afraid. She lived it, breathed it, slept it, woke to it. It was her natural state of being.
The anxiety was making her feel sick. Literally sick to her stomach. Her head was whirling, and her stomach flopped, as if her blood pressure had just plummeted.
Weird. She hadn’t eaten anything yet, but that was nothing new, as nervous as she felt. Another wave of that feeling came, hard on the heels of the first. It was bad.
And strange. Like she was a vessel that was filling up with dark, cold liquid.
A loud, rattling thud sounded from the other room. The two men had stopped talking. The silence was absolute.
Sudden, paralyzing fear gripped her. “Hey, Mitch? Clint?” she called.
No answer.
She forced herself to move toward the kitchen. She was unsteady on her feet. “Mitch?” she called. “Everything okay with you guys? I’m feeling kind of…oh shit.”
She doubled over, as pain stabbed up into her temples. Her vision went dark.
When it flickered back, she was on her knees. From that vantage point, she could see two big, black-booted feet, toes up, sticking up from the other side of the kitchen island. Beyond that, Mitch lay sprawled on the floor face first, next to the dining room table.
“Mitch!” she called. “Clint? Are you sick? What happened?”