“It could happen.” She walked with him to the back door and went through the kitchen.
She laid her sketch pad on the island and went to make some decaf. “Want a cup too?”
“Sure.” He picked up her sketch pad and held it up. “May I?”
“Sure.”
He flipped through the pages, and she tried to remember all she’d done in the book. A few pictures of him, but he’d seen those. Some of Will. A couple of Olivia. And tonight’s sketch. “Did you look at what you were drawing?”
“No, it was dark. Like I said, it was nothing.”
“Check this out, Jane.” He came to her side and showed her the sketch from this morning. A pile of guns were heaped in a wooden box under a twisted tree. There were several AK-47s on top of the pile. Several smaller crates held boxes of ammo.
“Any idea what that’s all about?”
She stared down at the sketch, and a crawling sensation made its way up her spine. The memory was close, so close. The tree seemed familiar, and in an instant she recognized it as the tree in the pictures. Those twisted branches had been the last thing Reid’s mother had seen before Moses snuffed out her life.
With a shaking hand Jane traced the largest branch. “Recognize that, Reid?” When he inhaled sharply, she knew he’d seen the same thing she did.
He took the pad back and stared at it for a long moment. “Was this before or after she died?”
“Before.” When he looked at her, she bit her lip. “I don’t know how I know that, but I do.” Then a torrent of memories hit her. “Guns. Your dad sold guns. I heard a guy buy these. I can almost see his face.” She covered her eyes with her hands. “Oh, why can’t I remember?”
He grasped her wrists and pulled her hands down from her face. “It’s okay, honey. Really. It will come when it’s ready. Don’t try to force it. Gun running. That’s interesting. I never knew that was going on, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Guns were everywhere in camp.”
“I think it was more than guns. I think there was a really dangerous bomb of some kind.” She covered her mouth with her hand. Where was this coming from? Was she right or was this something her subconscious was making up?
“A bomb?”
She nodded. Measuring with her hands, she showed him what she remembered of it. “It was a lead cylinder, I think, and it had a funny symbol on it. I remember now! It had that black-and-yellow radiation symbol on it. The trefoil.”
His gaze was troubled. “This might be more important than Mom’s death.”
But did it hold any significance for Will’s situation?
* * *
“Let’s look at those photos again.” Reid stuck the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, then fed the last piece of bacon to Parker before he washed the odor from his hands.
He’d been mulling over the picture Jane had sketched of the guns. How had that activity been hidden from him? He’d thought he’d been an integral part of his dad’s leadership of the camp. What else had his father hidden from him?
Megan hopped up from the island bar. “I’ll wipe down the counter and wash the skillet.”
Olivia sat at the island counter in her wheelchair. Shadows smudged the thin skin under her eyes, and her mouth was drawn. But her dark-blue eyes were alert and clear. “I’d like to see the pictures too. If you don’t mind.”
“I’d love your input.” Jane rolled Olivia’s wheelchair to the dining room table. “I’ll get the photos.” She stepped into the living room and quickly returned with the shoebox in her hands. She slid into a seat beside Olivia’s chair, and Parker settled by them on the floor.
Reid dried his hands and sat on Jane’s other side. “The pictures aren’t pretty, Olivia. Steel yourself.”
“I’ve seen many awful things people have done to other people, Reid. I’m sorry for your loss though. And for the shock this all must be. Thank you again for taking us in.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m honored to have both of you here.”
Jane slipped her hand over to his lap and squeezed his fingers. While he cared about Olivia, he’d done this for Jane. He returned the pressure.
She picked up the photos in the box. “Wait. Some of these are stuck together.” She gently peeled them away from each other to reveal three other pictures. “Look here. That’s the cylinder I remember.”
The picture showed a close-up of a lead cylinder with a trefoil on the lid. The next picture showed a box of guns lying in the bottom of a hole, and in the last one, he recognized the bricks of plastic explosives instantly. “That looks like C-4.” Reid’s gut clenched and he exhaled. “Jane, I think those are the ingredients for a dirty bomb.”
“Seriously?”
“I did a documentary about terrorism and was at the ATF headquarters. I saw something similar to this. It’s terrifying to think about whose hands it might have fallen into.”
“Could it still be buried somewhere in the woods?” Olivia asked. “Do you know for sure someone dug it up?” She flipped the picture over and gasped. “Did you see this sketch of a map on the back?”
“No!” Jane took it and stared at it, then looked up at Reid. “What if this is what Gabriel is after?”
Reid studied the map before leaning over to scoop up the rest of the pictures to leaf through. He stopped at the third picture and pointed out the cabin. “I think that’s the cabin where you stayed with your mother.” He traced the road on the map with his finger. “This leads back to camp. And look, there are directions for finding it. We need to see if it’s still there.”
“That’s clear up in Michigan. We can’t go there right now, not with Will’s situation.”
“Of course not. But you could ask the Michigan state police to check it out.”
She nodded. “True enough. I can send them this picture along with any other instructions I can find. The officer who headed up the raid that day was Captain Nick Andreakos. Let me see if he’s still working for the department. I could contact him directly since I’m sure he remembers it.”
Had Reid seen the captain? He vaguely remembered a big guy shouting orders and firing. And hadn’t Andreakos been the one who found the woman his dad had kidnapped?
She snapped pictures of the map and the cabin, then ran a search for Nick and found him. “He’s with District 3. There’s a phone number.” She placed the call, then turned on the speakerphone.
“Captain Andreakos,” a deep voice answered.
“Captain, this is Chief of Police Hardy in Pelican Harbor, Alabama. I’m in the Gulf Shores area. Do you have a moment?”
“What can I do for you, Chief Hardy?”
“Do you remember a raid on a cult called Mount Sinai? This would have been back about fifteen years.”
“Clearly.” His lazy tone sharpened. “That day was not something easily forgotten.”
“I was there that day too.” Jane launched into the circumstances of the days with her mother she’d forgotten. “In my possession I have a map of that area. I have reason to suspect the group had the makings of a dirty bomb they buried in the woods nearby. If I send you the information I have, would you be willing to go out and search for it?”