Daisy did as Tom asked and no words were spoken as they put on the tactical gear.
They remained silent until Rafe said, ‘Pull over here. We’re a quarter mile from the coordinates.’
Gideon did and Mercy suddenly felt sick. This was it. They were going to face Ephraim Burton. And she was going to trust her new family to make sure that all of them walked away alive.
Except for Ephraim. I want to see him die. Painfully.
Dunsmuir, California
Wednesday, 19 April, 4.25 P.M.
Sonofabitch. Ephraim backed away from the road, his heart pounding like a motherfucker. They’re here. Already. How are they here already?
But they were, specifically Gideon and that tall blond Fed who’d visited the Sokolovs’ house twice on Sunday, and they were approaching the tree stump where he’d left Farrah Romero’s phone.
How were they here already? They’d just left Sacramento half an hour ago. Mercy had said so.
Mercy had clearly lied. Rage bubbled up and he had to breathe through it so that he didn’t punch something or snarl. Because Gideon and the Fed were so close that they might hear him.
She’d lied and disobeyed, bringing the Feds. How many others were here?
Was she even here? If she’d double-crossed him . . .
Motherfucker. He was going to kill all of the hostages and he was going to make it hurt. He crept back to the camper, fuming. He’d parked off the road about a quarter mile away but had been about to move the camper even deeper into the forest. It was too late for that now. If he started the Escalade’s engine, Gideon and the other Fed would hear it and come running. And even if they didn’t, he’d be shocked if law enforcement hadn’t barricaded the road.
He’d thought he’d have at least two or three hours to prepare, even if Mercy did tell the cops. Instead, he’d wasted what time he had sleeping. Goddammit.
He needed to find another way out. And of the three hostages, Dr Romero was the one most likely to help make that happen. The other two he’d kill now, because there’d be no controlling them. Together they might be able to overpower him.
Leaning Granny’s rifle against the side of the camper, he drew Regina’s gun, gave the suppressor a tightening twist, and opened the camper door. Both Damien Sokolov and André Holmes were motionless except for the deep breaths they drew. He wished he had time to let them wake up. He wanted them to suffer, not die in their sleep.
He frowned, because the bench seat of the dinette was empty. Dr Romero had been there. Where the hell was she?
Ephraim stumbled backward at the sight of the woman on the floor as she rolled to a stop at the open door. Her feet kicked out and he stumbled backward several more steps, gasping at the sudden pain in his groin. Romero lay on the camper floor, her legs halfway out the door, bound feet dangling. Breathing hard through her nose because he’d duct-taped her mouth, she lifted her head enough to glare at him.
If she’d kicked him one inch lower, she’d have had him curled on the ground in the fetal position. As it was, it hurt so bad that he was dizzy with it. But he wasn’t down for the count.
I am going to enjoy killing you.
He staggered to his feet and grabbed her by the duct tape that bound her ankles, holding her feet away from his body as he pulled a knife from his pocket and sliced the tape. Once her feet were freed, he yanked her up by her shirt collar. ‘You will cooperate or die,’ he whispered. ‘But you get to see your fiancé die first because you don’t know how to behave.’
He leaned down to pick up the golden gun he’d dropped when she kicked him, but straightened to backhand her hard when she tried to twist out of his grasp. ‘Bitch,’ he snarled softly.
A loud thump from inside the camper made him jump. Then swear, because the camper’s stereo began blaring. It was only static because the dial had been set by the honeymooners to a Nevada station, but it was loud.
The nightmare only got worse when the New Orleans cop appeared in the doorway, using the door’s frame to push himself to his feet. The only saving grace was that his hands were still cuffed behind him.
I guess he wasn’t asleep, Ephraim thought numbly, and then his brain kicked back into gear. He yanked Romero back to her feet, nearly stumbling when she tried using her body weight to drop out of his grasp. She did stumble, but then she paused . . .
And kicked Regina’s gun under the camper.
‘Fucking bitch,’ he hissed, dragging her a few steps backward as her fiancé staggered down the stairs, murder in his eyes.
Fucking hell.
‘Stop! FBI!’
The shout came from the direction of the clearing where Gideon and the other Fed had been nosing around. ‘Fuck,’ he snarled. The Feds were coming. Grabbing the rifle from where it leaned against the camper, he aimed and fired at the New Orleans cop who was charging him.
The man was built like a linebacker, so the shot should have hit. But it didn’t because Romero threw herself into Ephraim, knocking his arm so that his shot went wide.
He turned to shoot again, but the cop had taken cover behind the camper and Ephraim was out of time. He shoved the barrel into Romero’s back. ‘Move. Now.’
She glared at him. But she walked. Actually she stomped, making way too much noise.
‘Faster,’ he whispered. ‘And cut the noise, or I will go back to New Orleans and kill every member of your family after I kill you.’
Her jaw set and she moved faster.
Twenty-nine
Dunsmuir, California
Wednesday, 19 April, 4.30 P.M.
The silence in Agent Hunter’s SUV was so oppressive that Amos wanted to shout, speak, whisper – anything to make it stop. To get some relief. He was antsy, needing to move. To do something.
‘Where is Gideon?’ Mercy whispered, the sound making him jump.
‘He’s all right,’ Agent Schumacher said from the driver’s seat. She’d joined them seconds after Gideon and Tom had taken off to explore the coordinates that Ephraim had given them.
The coordinates to the trap Ephraim had prepared.
‘How do you know he’s all right?’ Mercy insisted.
‘He’s been in contact with me,’ Schumacher replied. ‘They’re fine.’
But Amos didn’t believe her. The woman’s mouth was tight and her shoulders even tighter. Of course, that could have been disapproval that the four of them were there to begin with. Luckily Daisy had passed him one of the rifles she’d been keeping in the backseat when Schumacher had been talking to Gideon and Tom before the two had left them. If Schumacher had seen that, she really would have disapproved. Only Rafe displayed his weapon openly and Schumacher had also frowned at him.