The pounding rain and occasional thunder seemed to match Sienna’s mood as she processed everything Devin had told her. Thankfully, they were only about thirty minutes away from the Jennings Center now, and she’d be able to hold Colby for herself—and maybe get some pain medication to ease the throbbing in her leg.
She hated to admit it, but she felt a little sorry for Anita. Or should she refer to her as Angela? Sienna didn’t know. She only knew the whole situation was twisted and messed up.
And, even as more answers poured in, Sienna still didn’t understand why she’d been dragged into this. What could Anita possibly have to gain by asking Sienna to watch Colby? What had been so important that the woman had left Colby behind?
“People will go to desperate lengths to get what they want, won’t they?” Devin said, his voice matching the cadence of the windshield wipers as they lazily sloshed back and forth. It was almost like he could read her thoughts.
Sienna turned her gaze away from the window for long enough to glance at him. “They will. Even if it means committing a crime.”
“I suppose our minds and thoughts get twisted, sometimes. We get fixated on how we think things should be instead of taking what we’ve been handed.”
Sienna wondered if there was a deeper meaning behind his words. Was he talking about himself as well? They’d both been in situations where life hadn’t gone as they planned. He was right—it was always a choice how to respond to things.
“I suppose that’s true,” Sienna said. “But, you know, I’d always thought there was something off about Anita. Despite that, I tried to be nice, and I scolded myself for being judgmental. If I’d kept my distance, maybe none of this would have happened.”
Devin reached over and rested his hand on her knee, offering her a moment of comfort. “She would have found someone else, Sienna. These people always do. And if she found someone else, she may have gotten away with this. She probably didn’t anticipate you’d be such a fighter. Everything happens for a reason.”
Everything happens for a reason. Sienna believed that. Now she needed to live like she believed it. She’d been put in the position for a reason. Much like Esther, she knew that sometimes a person’s position in life happened for such a time as this. She couldn’t fail now.
She let out a long breath, trying to think everything through. Until she had more answers, she wouldn’t be able to stop. “We don’t even know if Anita is still alive. I mean, sure, that body was found with her necklace. But Anita could have staged it.”
Devin frowned and took a long sip of water. “I have a feeling that wasn’t Anita. I have a feeling that body was just another way of throwing us off their trail.”
“If not Anita, then who?” Sienna ate another peanut butter cracker, hoping it might make her feel less jittery. But the sick feeling remained in her gut as the gravity of the situation hit her.
Devin grimaced. “Now that you mention it, I have an idea that I need to call Jenson about. I need him to look into a theory for me—even though I desperately hope I’m wrong about it.”
What was he talking about? Sienna braced herself as she waited to find out.
He put his phone on speaker as he dialed. Jenson answered a moment later.
“Jenson, that body you found—the one burned in the woods,” Devin started.
“What about it?” Jenson asked.
“You haven’t had any luck identifying it yet, correct?”
“That’s right. My guys are working on it. You know as well as I do that these things don’t happen as quickly in real life as they do on TV.”
“I understand that, but listen. Can you run the dental records on the body and compare them to a reporter named Lisa Daniel?”
Sienna drew in a deep breath. Lisa? Could Lisa be dead?
She remembered the pictures of Lisa. The woman was about the same size and height as Anita. Could it be…?
She didn’t even want to think about it. Didn’t want to think about what turn of events might have led to a tragedy like that. Or who was responsible. Because if that body wasn’t Anita’s, did that mean that…Anita was behind this?
It was definitely a possibility.
As Devin ended the call, Sienna turned toward him, wanting to see his expression as she asked her next question. “Where did that theory come from?”
“Lisa Daniel disappeared two days ago—soon after the body was discovered dead in the woods. The timeline, unfortunately, fits. I don’t want to believe it’s true, but…”
“I hate this, Devin.” A shiver went down Sienna’s spine at the coldheartedness of it all. “I hate the devastation and destructiveness of what’s happened.”
“It’s something I’ve had to come to terms with as an FBI agent. We live in a fallen world full of sin. The consequences of sin…they’re hard to swallow sometimes.”
“Hard to swallow? I can’t swallow them. Not at all. They cause me choke.”
“And rightfully so. You have a pure heart. Always keep that, Sienna. Always.”
His words warmed her. Funny how far the two of them had come over the past few days—from not speaking or really even liking each other, to finding support in the other’s presence.
Devin pulled onto the lonely road that headed toward Rick and Trina’s compound. They were almost there. The end was almost in sight.
And soon, Sienna would hold Colby and see for herself that he was okay.
The road was isolated, surrounded by trees and nothing else. Sienna would guess that the Jennings Center had purchased a lot of the surrounding land for privacy purposes. But something about the desolation made her shiver.
Rain still pounded the roof of the car when Devin threw on the brakes. The truck’s headlights illuminated something in front of them.
A tall fir tree had come down across the road, blocking it from being passable—at least, that’s how it looked.
Had the storm done this?
Or had someone done it?
Someone like Anita or Justin?
Sienna didn’t know, but she didn’t like the possibilities before her. Especially since those possibilities kept her away from Colby.
* * *
Devin blanched when he saw the blockade in front of him. The fir tree was tall and long, and it looked like it had been dying for a long time. All it had needed was a subtle push to send the brittle trunk toppling across the road.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Devin muttered. “Stay here.”
He climbed out and went to inspect the damage himself.
He didn’t know what he hoped to find or prove by coming out here. Because the tree was clearly all the way across the road. It was big. Heavy. Impossible to move or get past.
Cold rain pounded him as he stared at it a moment.
There was no way to get around, he realized. The edges of the road were not only covered by the tree, but they were also steep—too steep to drive around.
He gazed in the distance as thunder rumbled overhead and lightning flashed in the sky.
Considering their already challenging day, this ending shouldn’t be unexpected. It was, however, frustrating.
They were probably a good five-or ten-minute drive away from Rick and Trina’s still. That would equal at least an hour of walking, maybe more, especially because of Sienna’s hurt leg.
He could call his friend—he knew Rick wouldn’t mind. But it was four in the morning.
Devin sighed. Out of curiosity, he walked toward the base of the tree to see what had happened. It had been a rainy spring, so the ground was moist and soft. Trees being uprooted wasn’t entirely abnormal.
But he wouldn’t take anything at face value right now—not when he considered everything that happened.
As he reached the base of the tree, he paused.
There was a mark on the tree where the bark had been scraped away by something.
He stepped closer.
Something glinted in the woods in the distance.
Was that…
He inched nearer, his nerves on edge.
It was just as he thought.
A car.
A maroon car with a smashed-in bumper.
This was the car the man had jumped into when escaping from Lisa Daniel’s place.
It had somehow run off the road, hit this tree and knocked it into the road.
The direction of everything was messed up, though.
Then he realized that this hadn’t been a casual accident. No, someone had veered off the road on purpose, lined up their car perfectly and hit that tree to purposefully fall across the road.
His pulse spiked.
That meant trouble was close.
Really close.
He had to get Sienna.
Now.