CHAPTER 61
Jake tried to reach Laney again, but she didn’t pick up. He tried Yoni and still nothing. He didn’t like it. Something was wrong.
Pushing down the accelerator, the tires of his Suburban squealed as he turned onto the winding lane that led to their rented house. A quick glance in the rearview mirror showed that Henry, who was following in the other Suburban, had matched his pace.
Jordan Witt glanced over at him. “Problem?”
Jake and Jordan had served together in the SEALS. When the tough Californian had left the military four years ago, he’d joined the Chandler Group at Jake’s urging.
“Can’t reach anyone at the house,” Jake replied tersely. “Something feels off.”
Jordan nodded and turned to the four armed men seated behind them. “Trouble ahead, gentlemen. Suit up.”
The house was the only one on the block and stood almost a full mile from the street. As Jake approached the drive, he noticed a shape lying in the drive.
“No,” Jake growled, his heart starting to pound. “Keep your eyes peeled.”
Jerking to a stop at the front of the drive, the men poured from the car taking up defensive positions around it. Jake and Jordan quickly moved to the body and rolled it over.
“Do you know him?” Jordan asked.
Jake nodded, scanning the area. “He was part of the security detail Henry brought in this morning.”
There were discarded shell casings strewn across the drive, but there was no sound. Whatever had happened seemed to be over.
Jordan watched the woods surrounding them. “There were four other members of that detail. Right?”
“Yes,” Henry said as he joined them, his Glock at his side.
Jordan turned to the men to direct them. “We’ll find them.”
Jake sprinted back to his car with Henry on his heels. “We need to get to the house.”
Henry didn’t even respond as he threw himself into the passenger seat. Jake slammed the car into drive. Henry trained his handgun out the window as they sped along the long drive.
There was no movement as they raced towards the house. Jake told himself to calm down, but fear was threatening to choke him. And it wasn’t fear for himself. He needed to see that Laney was all right. Approaching the house, he cursed as he swerved to avoid another body in the drive.
He pulled up short in front of the house. As he stepped from the car, the front door flew open. Dropping to his knee, he pulled his gun in one fluid motion. From the corner of his eye, he saw Henry do the same.
“Hold your fire,” Yoni yelled, his hands raised as he came into view. “It’s me.”
Jake lowered his weapon. “What happened?”
Yoni shook his head. “They came at us from the front and the back. But they left. I don’t understand why. They knew I was still alive. Why wouldn’t they finish me?”
“Because they didn’t come to kill us. They wanted something else,” Henry said looking around.
Jake moved towards Yoni. “Where are Laney and Patrick?”
Yoni started running towards the back of the house, calling out over his shoulder. “I was just going to look for them when I heard your car. They were smoked out. They ran into the woods.”
Jake sprinted in the same direction as Yoni and took over the lead. He glanced at the bodies that littered the lawn only long enough to know that they weren’t Laney. Come on, Laney. Where are you?
As he crested the hill, he saw Patrick moving unsteadily towards them, his hand held to his head.
“I’ve got him,” Henry yelled as Jake and Yoni continued forward.
They followed Patrick’s trail to the encasement of rocks and then stopped. “Patrick must have been hit here.” Yoni pointed to a pool of blood. “But where’d Laney go?”
Jake looked around, and seeing no sign of her, closed his eyes. He pictured Laney when he’d met her. She’d wanted to lead Paul away from the high school kids, not wanting to put them at risk. Then, she risked her life to save Rocky. In both situations, she could have just saved herself. But that wasn't who she was. His eyes popped open.
“She would have tried to lead them away from him.” He stood up and looked at the ground, finally finding a footprint in the ground a few yards from where Patrick had fallen. “She went this way.”
With a start, Jake realized she had followed the same trail she’d taken this morning when he’d caught up with her. He remembered the feel of her lips on his. He shook himself free of the memory, focusing on the task at hand.
They crossed through the wooded area, over a fallen tree, to a body lying face down on the path. Jake’s heart stopped before he realized it was a man. They continued on into a clearing and found two more men that Jake couldn’t identify. They looked around. The clearing was encircled by rocks.
Yoni looked up. “I bet she settled in there and took these two out as they came into the clearing.”
Jake nodded, picturing it in his head. “And then she went back for her uncle.” He turned around and retraced his steps to the man they’d found in the woods.
Jake rolled him over. There was an almost perfect hole in the man’s forehead. “Laney didn’t do this.”
“How do you know?”
Jake pointed to the bullet hole. “Powder burns. Whoever did this put his gun right up to the guy’s skull and pulled the trigger. It’s cold, not panicked. She couldn’t have done that.”
“Then what happened?”
Jake struggled to keep his voice even as he stared into the woods surrounding them. “I don’t know. But I think Laney’s gone.”