“I CAN TALK TO HIM?” Luke asked.

“Yeah.” The agent pointed to a small mike. “He can hear us. We wired everything so we can talk back and forth.”

“Woody?”

His friend looked up. “That you, Luke?”

“Yeah. Are you okay?” It was then Luke noticed that Woody was not alone. There was a dog beside him, looked like a shepherd. He had his head on Woody’s thigh and Woody was gently stroking him.

“All things considered. Any word on Abby?”

Luke looked at the agent, who shook his head.

“Not that I’ve heard. What happened to you guys?”

“Oh, I must be getting old. He got the drop on us. Then after he trussed me up, he ran off with Abby.”

“Did he say anything? Was he planning on using Abby as a hostage?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say hostage. He did say that he wasn’t the monster; his wife was. But his actions kinda make me doubt that. I hear Orson went down.”

“He did. He’s in surgery but okay, from what I’ve heard. Stuart claimed Victoria was the monster?” Luke frowned. “What, so he’s been hiding all this time because he’s innocent?”

“That’s what he said, that he’s afraid of her. Wanted to make sure we wouldn’t tell her we’d found him.”

“That makes no sense. After what he did to you, to Orson, and to Abby, now the whole world knows we found him.”

Napier whipped the cover off of the car, and Abby coughed at the dust cloud it caused. Under the cover was a clean, older model Camaro. He lifted up the hood and began to fiddle with the battery, eventually hooking it up to a battery charger. She could see clearly now, and in spite of the dilapidated outward appearance of the storage facility, this unit had power and plumbing; there was a sink on the other wall. She could also see what appeared to be a portion of a counter. This unit could have been a one-room apartment but for the car in the middle of it.

“You’ve had this car hidden here for fifteen years?”

“Not quite that long, but yes.” He spoke without looking at her. Now he was busy digging through the boxes at the back of the unit. “I knew Victoria would get close. I had to be prepared. It took her longer than I expected.”

“That’s because you almost killed her.”

He dropped the box he was looking into and rushed to get in Abby’s face. “I did not kill my children and try to kill Victoria. She did it all.”

Abby could only lean back so far. His breath was harsh and bitter-smelling. “She tells a different story. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

He straightened up and began to pace. “Of course she’d tell a different story. That’s her conniving, manipulative way. She’d started struggling with depression. Nothing in this world challenged her anymore, she said. It was a drag being around her.”

He waved his hands as he talked and paced. “I told her she needed medication, she needed to deal with the problem, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She never listened to me. She wanted a suicide pact.”

“Suicide because of depression?”

“That’s what I said.” He pointed frantically at Abby. “She just moped all day long. I was fine. The boys were fine. Who demands that someone who is fine commit suicide? Who does that?”

He began tapping again. “I didn’t know what to do. I’d never seen her that way. At first I agreed with her plan just to get her off my back, but then I couldn’t go through with it. I loved my boys. I couldn’t leave them. That’s what I told her. I couldn’t leave them.”

He stopped tapping, shoved his hands into his pockets, and faced Abby. His face was ashen. “That was when she killed them. Shot them both while they slept. She said I had no excuse then. I . . . I was appalled, shattered, disbelieving. I went for her throat. We struggled, the fire started, the gun went off, and I ran. She screamed after me that she’d kill me.”

He stood a few feet away, shoulders slumped, looking defeated and lost.

Abby swallowed. She needed Woody’s “I’m a police officer and your friend” voice. “Then turn yourself in. Tell the truth. The more people you hurt, the less you’ll be believed.”

A hand came out of his pocket and he began tapping again. He shook his head. “No. They’ll believe her. They’d never believe me. I’m not going to hurt you. As soon as the battery is charged, I’m just going to disappear again. I have money and a plan. I’ll leave you with the combination for the device and tell your colleagues where they can find you.”

With that he resumed digging through the boxes at the back of the unit.

“What can I do to help?” Luke asked. Van Horne had left the mobile operations vehicle and there was another agent with Luke.

“Nothing. This is ours now.”

“But Woody and Abby are my partners. I have to do something.”

He shook his head. “You’re not even a cop.”

Luke looked around him at all the assorted law enforcement personnel, their faces basically telling him the same thing. But he couldn’t just watch things play out on the monitors.

He left the trailer and started toward the house where Woody sat. A deputy tried to stop him, but Luke shoved him aside. The deputy then tried to grab him, but Luke knew control holds better than the deputy did.

“You can’t go in there. That thing could detonate,” the deputy said as Luke twisted his wrist so tight it made the man stand up on his tiptoes.

“He’s my friend. I want to talk to my friend, touch him, pray with him. You’ll have to shoot me to stop me.” He let the man go and shoved him away.

The deputy’s hand went to his gun. “You can’t go in there.”

Luke ignored him and continued into the house. The gun didn’t go off.

His friend was seated on the floor, leaning against a pillar. Luke knelt next to Woody and put a hand on his shoulder. The dog looked up and his tail thumped the floor.

“Hey, partner, how are you really doing?”

Woody looked at him, fatigue evident in his face. “I’m okay, Luke. Worried about Abby, but okay. They undid the handcuffs before they backed out and left me. Told me I could move around a bit, but I just want to sit here. And I’ve got my friend here to keep me company.”

“Did the bomb guys take a look at the device?”

“Yeah, they did. They took X-rays of the thing with a nifty little gadget. They’ve been back a couple of times. They’re good guys, especially Van Horne, but none of them want to be responsible for blowing my head off. The note said they couldn’t disarm it, but they told me they’d keep trying to find a way to disarm it. The quickest way would be to find Napier and get the combination.”

“I’ll work on that. I promise. I want to pray with you before I go.”

“Have at it. . . . You know, it’s funny.” He patted the dog. “My buddy here knew there was something off about Napier. As soon as the guy opened the door, he tucked tail and ran. It was only after Napier left that he came back and sat down here with me. I don’t want him to get hurt, but I . . .” He stopped and Luke could see that he was getting emotional.

“Lord, I lift my friend Woody up to you, Woody and his new buddy, praying for their safety and for Woody to have complete peace in this crazy situation. Help him to stay peaceful and steady until we can disarm this device, and help me find the person responsible. Amen.”

“Thanks, Luke. I’ve listened to Abby enough over the years. I know I need what you two have, what you talk about all the time. It hasn’t fallen on deaf ears.”

“Glad to hear it. And God isn’t deaf ether. Call on him.”

Woody gave as much of a nod as he could with the device around his neck. “One more thing. Napier said he was prepared for this, that he had a plan B.”

“Like maybe a hiding place?”

“Could be. A fugitive would be wise to have a backdoor escape plan. Someone who knows him well might be able to help you figure out where he is. Did these guys call his wife?”

“I don’t know. They haven’t said. At least they aren’t telling me much.”

“It would be the place to start.”

Luke nodded, squeezed his friend’s shoulder, and stood to leave.

“Luke . . . if this doesn’t go right . . . if, well . . . you know . . . Will you look after Zena?”

Luke swallowed a lump, unable to look directly at Woody. “Of course I will, but you’re going to be fine. I promise.”