“What about the woman and this bastard?”
“We leave them. We shut down. We can’t risk trying to take them with us.”
“Then it’s all for nothing?”
“We can come back after things cool off here. Chances are no one will think to check the barn. Either way, we’ll know.”
“They’ll die without food and water—”
“Then they die.” His voice hardened. “Traitors deserve death.”
Ham coughed. “Traitors?”
Both men ignored him. Tatro said, “I thought you wanted Major Brooker.”
“I do. And you want Deputy Longstreet.” The other man’s voice was soothing again. “Patience, Mr. Tatro. That’s what I’ve learned in recent years. Patience.”
In the haze that was his brain, Ham put pieces of what they were saying together and came out with a bad ending for himself and whatever woman was already in the barn.
The guy with the shaved head opened the door, and Tatro shoved Ham inside, pushing so hard he practically pinwheeled across the floor.
He landed against a wall that smelled like hay.
It was dark inside, but some daylight came through cracks in the walls.
In short order, Tatro tied Ham’s hands and feet, then gagged him with a bandanna, but didn’t bother with a blindfold. He grinned. “Have fun.”
The door slammed shut.
Ham managed to sit up. Did these bastards think he was going to take a nap and wait for them to get back?
Hell, no.
His eyes adjusted to the semidarkness. He could make out the outlines of the two doors. And whoever owned the barn had never bothered to clean it out entirely. There were rusted antique farm tools that could probably pull in a fortune on eBay hung on nails and pegs, and there were old barrels, car and tractor parts, a wagon wheel, wooden apple crates. Even if Tatro and that other guy had locked him in, Ham figured he could find something in this mess to get himself out of there.
Turning, dizzy, he blinked rapidly, trying to make out what was in the far end of the barn.
A giant meat hook hanging from a rafter. A thick rope shaped into a noose.
What was this place?
There were car batteries lined up side by side on the floor under the meat hook. There were jumper cables. A bucket of water.
Mesmerized, shocked by what he was seeing, Ham didn’t move.
He thought he heard something. A muffled cry, a moan.
His stomach lurched. He didn’t want to throw up with the gag on.
The woman Tatro had mentioned.
She was tied to a chair, her feet bound, her mouth gagged, her eyes blindfolded.
Oh, my God, he thought, making a guttural noise to get her attention. She flinched. She had to be terrified.
But who was she?
Ham’s pulse raced. Mia O’Farrell. It had to be.
There was nothing either of them could do but wait.
When she saw Matt on the road, Wendy almost cried with relief. She ran out to him, her knees buckling under her. He caught her by the arm, steadying her, and she kept gulping in breath after breath, trying to get control of herself.
“Easy, Wendy. Just take it easy. Your family’s looking for you—”
“He’s got Ham.” She got the words out, felt her fingertips and her cheeks go numb. “Someone. I don’t know who. I didn’t see him. I was at the lake. I decided to scatter Teddy’s ashes, like you said and—and—”
“Who’s Ham?”
“I don’t know. A guy. He was in a kayak. He’s from Texas. The army guy—Brooker. Aunt Juliet’s friend…he’s from Texas, too.” But she couldn’t seem to speak to make herself coherent and was sure Matt didn’t understand what she was saying. “Please. We’ve got to call nine-one-one. I need to tell my dad.”
“Okay. We will.”
She started to cry. “I didn’t mean to worry anyone. That’s why I snuck out of the house. So I wouldn’t worry them. Now—I’m scared, Matt. The pack—Ham’s pack. There are emeralds in it. The doorman, Juan. He asked me about precious gems. Why would he do that? Why would he and Bobby Tatro think that Aunt Juliet had emeralds? Who—”
“Wendy—whoa, honey. Slow down. We can get all your questions answered. Let’s concentrate right now on getting you to your family and calling the police. Okay? Makes sense?”
She took a breath, nodding, and made herself stop blurting things out.
“Where are the emeralds?” he asked.
“What?”
She stared at him, her heart pounding, that buzzing, alert feeling happening again.
Something was off.
She heard a noise in the woods behind her. “Hey, little girl.” Bobby Tatro stood under a maple branch. “Why don’t you take me to the emeralds?”
Matt looked pained. “I’m sorry, Wendy. I like you. I really do. But I can see now this just isn’t going to work.” He shifted his attention to Tatro. “Stay in the woods, out of sight. Don’t hurt her unless you have no other option. Bring her back.”