“She always was.” Kelly’s voice was rough and aching, older than his years by decades. “He hurt her, Da—Owen. He hurt her bad.” The boy’s near-miss on his name had Owen’s heart tripping fast in his chest. “I shoulda been here.”
“If you were here, it wouldn’t have stopped him. He would have killed you, and then still done the same, and where would Shiloh be now?” Owen shook his head and started the car, letting the engine idle. He pulled the tablet out and sent the drone high, scanning the area between where he was parked and the highway. Nothing showed, no incoming cars. He angled the drone back towards the cabin, pleased to see the silhouettes of the dogs and kids remained within the circumference of the fencing. All clear, and everything according to plan. “Him dumping you where he did saved both your lives.”
“You saved our lives.” Owen glanced over his shoulder to see Kelly’s gaze boring into him. “If I couldn’t kill him, I’m glad it was you.”
The bloodthirsty statement didn’t bother him, and Owen answered in kind, treating the boy as an equal. He’s earned that, and much more. “I’m glad it was me, too.”
Owen put the car in gear and eased his foot down on the gas pedal, rolling smoothly out of the woods and back onto the private lane. At the highway, he quickly dealt with the chain, leaving it lying across the opening as he drove out and onto the larger road. A few minutes later, they were back on the interstate, free and clear, and rolling south towards home.
Owen turned on the radio and kept the volume low. He selected a local station he knew would interrupt with breaking information and drove, the sun rising to his left, slashing across his face as he wove in and out of traffic. They were an hour away from the compound when the first news briefing hit the airwaves. Owen had already seen a few emergency responder vehicles headed in the other direction, lights on but no sirens.
Any minute now, Terrence would be telling them all about the masked man who’d set the boys free.
Any minute now, law enforcement personnel would storm the cabin, finding only one dead occupant.
Any minute now, the call would go out over the darknet to hunker down, shelter in place, not draw any attention to themselves.
For all of those moments, it was too late.
Terrence could talk about Owen all he wanted; the careful work Owen and Alace had done made damn sure there was nothing to tie his mask-hidden reality to the pedophile ring.
The forensic investigators could take the cabin apart board by board, and they would still only find what Owen wanted them to find. Evidence of the man’s depravity, but nothing to point to Kelly or Shiloh ever existing. Even if Shiloh left DNA in the cabin and the authorities managed to find it, he had confidence she wouldn’t be in the system. The boys might talk about a little girl, might talk about her being removed tonight, but the state lab couldn’t type the entirety of the cabin. It simply wasn’t financially feasible.
And for the last tidbit, it was far too late for the sick bastards who had preyed on those children to feel safe. I’ll hunt ’em down one by one. Kill ’em all. Owen glanced in the mirror, finding Kelly’s eyes still directed his way. Revenge. That was a currency both Owen and Alace had dealt in for a long time.
He thought about the image Eric had sent him, the contrast between the surreal picture of Alace fully invested in motherhood, and the scene in the seat behind him. “Alace is gonna lose her mind.”
“Who’s Alace?”
Owen allowed himself a tiny grin at the question. He’d bet even Alace wouldn’t be able to fully answer that particular inquiry. “She’s a friend. The one I called the other day, and then I talked to her again while you were sleeping. Does the same kind of work as me. She and I work together a lot.”
“So she’s a good guy, like you?”
The car jerked to the side with his reaction, swaying within the lane, but only barely. “Kelly, I’m not a good guy.” Better to burst that bubble right here and now than allow the kid to build him up as some kind of hero. “I’m far from good.”
“You saved me and Shiloh.” Kelly’s shoulders moved up and down in the mirror. “Proof enough for me.” Owen opened his mouth, and the boy shook his head fiercely, gaze burning through the reflection. “No, you don’t get to say that’s not how it is. You think I don’t know bad from good? After what I’ve seen, after what’s happened? You said the reason me and Shiloh are alive now is because Earl dumped me in the woods where you were. That means you’re the reason we’re alive. What if you hadn’t been there? What if someone else had been?” Voice shaking, Kelly turned and stared out the window. “It was you. All along what we needed was you.”
Lost for words, Owen fixed his own gaze out the front windshield, studiously ignoring the mirror for the remainder of the drive.
After pulling into the garage, he sat in his seat while the overhead door rumbled shut behind the vehicle, listening to tiny stirring sounds from the back seat. The girl’s high piping voice murmured something he couldn’t make out, answered by Kelly’s raspy tone.
Picking up the tablet, Owen woke it with a touch, quickly scanned the view below the still-hovering drone, and grinned. There had to be more than a hundred heat silhouettes in view, with a ratio easily that of four adults for each child. Terrence and the rest of the kids were safe. Owen updated the drone’s settings and watched while the scene changed, becoming a racing flow of treetops as the device headed back to home base. Wherever that is. Retrieving a USB stick from a recess in the back of the tablet’s case, he inserted it and touched the icon that appeared, agreeing to the warning that appeared next. Within seconds, the tablet was not just back to factory settings but had been bricked, requiring a complete software reinstall to become useful again. The device itself would go into the recycle bin at the local electronic store the first chance he got.
He didn’t know why he was stalling, not really. But once he carried that little girl into his house, their path would be set. Taking her here instead of a hospital laid the framework for the next few hours at least, and probably the following few weeks. Still time. I could haul them both to an ER and drop them off. Hospital would call social, and they’d take care of the kids. He didn’t think Kelly would disclose Owen’s part in Warrant’s death. Doubted if the boy would be able to tell someone how to find Owen. Take ’em inside, and they’re no longer the kids; they’re mine. The thought should have been disturbing, but it wasn’t. Mentally acknowledging the connection he’d developed with the two kids settled him, steadying him. Long as they need me, I’ll be here for them. Long as they need me, I’m gonna be right here.
With a deep breath, he reached for the door handle, stepped out of the car, and turned to see two sets of eyes staring at him from the back seat. Shiloh was definitely wide awake.
Seated side by side as they were, the physical differences were startling. Kelly’s paler skin was topped with dark hair, the not-yet-adolescent stretch of his limbs speaking to his eventual size and growth. Shiloh’s skin was darker, arms and legs a creamy mocha brown. But the shape of their faces, color of their hair, and the startling clarity of their green eyes were more than enough to brand them at least half-siblings.