Stunned to see the warehouse door still closed, Leah sprinted over to where Jon was waiting. He looked somewhat surprised, too, but as she got closer to the building she heard the sounds of people shouting and screaming inside. This had to be Hallie’s attempt to stall Krantz. Good girl!
“Run!” Jon commanded as he grabbed the gun.
Without a word, Leah ran to the area where Jon had told her to wait. By the time she got there, Jon had his back against the building. The gun was aimed toward the door, and Jon looked ready to shoot. Even though the dusky light was getting dimmer she could still see the determined look on his face. Although he looked tense and ready, she knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Anything could go wrong. And two men! How would Jon manage?
She tried to envision how it would go down when Krantz and his buddy eventually emerged. Would they have the girls and her mother in front of them? All coming out at once? And, if so, how would Jon make the men take him seriously without risking the others? Praying in urgent silence, Leah thanked God for the distraction tactics that had gone on inside and pleaded for God to continue helping them, begging Him to keep her mom and the girls safe—and to bring those horrid men to justice.
Jon waited by the building, and he suddenly seemed so vulnerable. Barely able to walk and worn-out. What if he couldn’t get a clear shot at the men? Or if the cowards used their victims as human shields? One shot was all it would take—from either Krantz or his cohort—and Jon would be gone. She prayed even harder for God to protect him. Keep him out of the line of fire.
Just then, the door burst open. The light from inside made the figures look like shadows to Leah, but Jon must’ve seen them better because he burst into action.
“Drop to your knees!” he shouted.
By now Leah could see that Krantz had Rosita and her mom, but, surprised by Jon, he immediately released them. In the same instant that Rosita tugged Leah’s mom back inside the building, Krantz went for his revolver—and Jon shot. Leah watched in stunned relief as Krantz crumbled to the ground. Yelling in pain, he dropped his gun into the shadows.
“Freeze!” Jon yelled at the other man, holding the rifle on him as the three females cowered inside the door.
Before Jon could say another word, she sprinted toward them. She knew that the revolver was still within Krantz’s reach, and he was going for it. But Jon needed to keep his attention on the other guy. Plus, with his bum leg, he wouldn’t be able to leap for the gun. Not the way she could.
“Let the girl go!” Jon yelled at Stocking Cap. “Get on your knees!” Meanwhile Krantz continued writhing on the ground, moaning in pain as he inched closer to his gun.
“No!” Leah screamed as she stomped hard on Krantz’s outstretched hand, stopping him from getting his revolver. He swore as he jerked back his injured hand, glaring at her with dark, beady eyes. She kicked the gun away from him, but before she could snatch it up, someone jumped her from behind. Grabbing her ponytail, Stocking Cap wrapped his other arm tightly around her neck as he dragged her toward the gate. Keeping her in front of him for a shield. And now the girls and her mother began screaming and crying.
“Put her down or I’ll shoot,” Jon yelled.
“No, you won’t!” Stocking Cap taunted.
Leah knew Jon couldn’t possibly get a clean shot. And the revolver was still on the ground. She suddenly remembered her high school self-defense class. Pulling an elbow high, she came down with a fast, solid blow directly into Stocking Cap’s rib cage. He gasped in pain, loosening his grip on her. In the same instant, she spun around, delivering a hard kick. Stocking Cap doubled over and, cursing in pain, he took off through the gate. Jon shot twice, but Stocking Cap kept running, escaping into the dark wooded area.
“Let him run,” Jon yelled at Leah. His rifle was still aimed at Krantz. “Come help me with this lowlife.”
Leah dashed back over. “Sorry,” she said as she scooped up the revolver. “But I saw Krantz going for—”
“It’s okay. You did the right thing. And Krantz’s little buddy was unarmed. I expect that’s the last we’ll see of him.” He glanced at Leah, but she knew this wasn’t over yet.
Jon fished his pocketknife out and handed it to her. “Go find something to tie Krantz up with,” he instructed. “I’ll keep watch out here.”
Still holding the revolver, Leah went into where the girls and her mom were still cowering in the doorway. Their hands were bound with nylon handcuffs. She paused to hug her mom. “It’s going to be okay.” Not surprisingly, her mom didn’t register any recognition. In times of high stress—like this—her Alzheimer’s was always at its worst. Leah turned to the tall blonde girl that had to be Hallie.
“You did a great job tonight, Hallie.” Leah used the knife to cut the handcuffs off the teen. “Can you free Rosita and my mom now?” She handed her the knife. “While I find something to tie up Krantz.”
“Yeah.” Hallie took the knife. “There’s a box of rope and junk in the kitchen.”
“Kitchen?” Leah looked around the creepy building.
“That table over there,” Hallie explained. “We call it the kitchen.”
Leah picked her way through piles of trash and crates and bottles and miscellaneous junk. The place reeked of human filth—of people in captivity without access to plumbing. Leah cringed as she saw the kitchen. Unwashed moldy cans of partially eaten beans and other things overflowed from a cardboard box on the floor. A bucket of grungy-looking water with a tin cup was next to it. Drinking water? She was not that thirsty.
She rummaged around until she found a plastic box that did have some rope in it. Grabbing a coiled bundle of nylon cord, she hurried to the door, picking up a T-shirt from the floor as she went. It was dirty, but it would work as a bandage for Krantz’s leg. He might get an infection, but at least he wouldn’t bleed to death.
“Hallie,” she called out, seeing the girl had gotten the handcuffs off the others. “Can you help me get this man tied up and back in here? My friend Jon has a bad leg, and we need to move fast.”
“Yeah.” Hallie followed her out and, seeing Krantz still on the ground, she gave him a solid kick in the back.
“Easy does it,” Leah said gently to Hallie. “He’ll get what’s coming to him.”
“He’d better.”
Leah and Hallie rolled Krantz over on his stomach, tying his hands tightly behind his back before they rolled him back over. Already he had a good puddle of blood in the sandy dirt. Leah took a moment to examine the gunshot wound to his leg. Unlike Jon’s wound, this one had gone right through the center and, Leah suspected, had shattered the bone. Krantz wouldn’t be walking anytime soon.
Leah wrapped the T-shirt snugly around his thigh, bandaging it as tightly as she could without making it a tourniquet, which wasn’t necessary.
“Why are you helping him?” Hallie demanded angrily. “He’s a monster!”
“I know. But I don’t want him to bleed to death while we’re gone,” Leah said as she tied it off.
“Why not?” Hallie scowled. “He deserves to die.”
“Maybe, but I’d rather see him go to prison.” Leah reached for the nylon cord.
“We’ll get him inside,” Leah told Jon. She paused to instruct Hallie on how to lift him, then they dragged him back into the warehouse, dumping him on the floor next to the table in the “kitchen.”
“I’ve got his keys,” Jon called out. “Send your mom and the other girl out to the car. Then hurry!”
“Tie his feet together,” Leah told Hallie. “Then we’ll secure him to the table.”
While Hallie was hog-tying Krantz, Leah went to Rosita. “I know you’re scared, honey,” she said gently. “But help Ellen, okay? She’s my mom, and she gets a little confused sometimes.”
“I know,” Rosita said. “She’s scared, too.”
“Help her out to the car, okay? We have to get out of here. Then we’ll get you back to your parents. Just as soon as we can.”
Rosita’s eyes lit up a little. “Okay.”
Leah returned to see that Hallie was already tying Krantz to the table. “Nice work,” she told Hallie. “I doubt he’ll try to go anywhere with that leg of his, but it’s good to be safe.”
“If the door’s locked, he’ll be stuck in here anyway,” Hallie pointed out. “Since he won’t have his keys.”
“Let’s go.” Leah headed for the door.
“Should we turn off the light?”
Leah shrugged. “Nah. Let him enjoy this lovely place he created.” She slammed the heavy door shut, waiting as Jon turned the keys in the locks. Then they hurried out of the compound area, and Jon locked the gate. Leah could hear her mom sobbing in the car. In the backseat with Rosita, Ellen was close to hysteria now. “Hallie, you sit in front so I can sit with my mom,” Leah told her. “I’ll try to calm her down.”
“And I want everyone to stay down low,” Jon said as he started the engine. “In case there’s anyone out there with a gun pointed our way.”
“But won’t they assume Krantz is driving—” Leah suddenly realized the driver’s-side window was missing, leaving Jon completely exposed. “Oh, yeah, I guess they’ll see you, huh?”
“Pretty much.”
Leah put her arms around her mother, pulling her close and rocking her like a little child as Ellen continued to sob quietly. “It’s going to be okay, Mom,” Leah reassured her. “You’re going home now.”
“Home?”
“Yeah,” Leah said, trying not to remember the home she’d grown up in—just her and her mom. “Back to The Willows.”
“Willows?” Her mom sounded a tiny bit hopeful.
“And we’ll get you some ice cream,” Leah said enticingly. That was her mom’s favorite treat.
“Ice cream?”
“Yeah. With bananas and chocolate sauce.” Leah gently stroked her mom’s short blond hair. “And your friends will be there, and everything will be okay.”
“Okay,” she mumbled, starting to relax in Leah’s arms.
Leah could hear the police radio running up in front, but the volume was low and she didn’t really understand the code language anyway. “Do you know what they’re talking about?” she quietly asked Jon.
“Sounds like trouble,” he told her.
“What do you mean?”
“Road block up ahead.”
“A road block?” Leah tried to keep her voice calm. “But how do the police know we’re in a vehicle?”
“I’m guessing Krantz’s buddy got word to the cops somehow. Sounds like they know we’re driving his car. They’re on the lookout for us.”
“At least Krantz won’t be with them. That’s one less bad cop,” she reasoned. “Maybe the roadblock is being manned by some honest cops, Jon. Maybe we could just surrender to them and—”
“I’m not sure we want to take that chance, Leah. Not without some backup from state police or someone we can trust. Even a so-called good cop will be under the impression that we’re dangerous criminals. If Krantz’s buddy got to them, they know I shot a cop. That’s not good.” He was driving much slower now.
“What’ll we do?”
“I’m trying to think.”
“Hey, I noticed a beach access trail that cut into this road,” she said suddenly. “It’s easy to miss, but should be near here. Unless we passed it already.”
“I didn’t notice any access to the beach.”
“But if we find it, couldn’t we drive on the beach?” she asked. “Miss the roadblock?”
“Beach driving won’t be easy since it’s high tide right now. But it might be safer than the road.” He slowed the car down even more. “I think I see a place where the road widens a little. Is that it?”
She peered over the back of the front seat. “I think so.”
“Is everyone buckled into a seat belt?” he asked. “This is going to be a bumpy ride.”
Leah buckled her mom’s seat belt.
“Hold on,” Jon called as he went down the beach access road.
Leah wrapped her arms around her mom’s shoulders, trying to make it seem like this was a fun trip. “We’re going to take a moonlight ride on the beach,” she said cheerfully as they bumped along.
The ride grew less bone-jarring as Jon drove the car along the beach. “I’m going to turn off the headlights,” he announced after a bit. “In case anyone happens to be looking down here.”
Leah could still hear the coded chatter on the police band radio and although she couldn’t make out most of it, she did catch some. “Are they saying we killed Krantz?” she whispered to Jon.
“Sounds like it. His buddy must’ve got back to the cops somehow.”
“But they’ll eventually find out he’s wrong. Krantz is alive.”
“He was alive when we left him.” Jon made a shush sound, turning the radio’s volume up slightly. Leah strained her ears to listen but still wasn’t quite making sense of the jabber.
“It gets even better,” Jon said sarcastically.
“What?”
“We’re the ones suspected of trafficking now—both humans and drugs. Armed and dangerous cop killers and traffickers to boot. No wonder they’ve got roadblocks. And not just up by the cabins, either. Along the highway out of town, too. They’re probably all wearing riot gear and bearing high-powered automatic weapons.”
“We’ve got to get the word out to some good law enforcement,” Leah said weakly. “Make them understand. There must be some good cops out there somewhere, Jon. Ones not involved in Krantz’s dirty schemes.”
“Even so, the ones around here are assuming the worst about us. And anyway, we know there must be a few other cops involved with Krantz and his trafficking schemes.” Jon shook his head. “And how do we know who’s good and who isn’t?” He sighed. “And does it even matter?”
Leah nudged Hallie on the shoulder. “Have there been others involved in kidnapping? I mean other cops that you know of?”
“There are three cops,” Hallie said solemnly. “Three that I know about anyway.”
“And the guy with Krantz tonight? Was he one of them?” Jon asked.
“I never saw that guy before.”
“So then there are at least four involved in trafficking?” Leah had never questioned the police in Cape Perpetua before. Never had cause to. Was it possible that everyone on the force was crooked? It seemed unlikely.
“Uh-oh,” Jon said quietly.
“Uh-oh—what?” Leah asked.
“Up ahead on the beach. Do you see that?”
Leah peered over the back of the front seat again, but saw nothing but darkness up ahead. She looked down at the phone that she’d been hoping to get connectivity with, but it was still useless.
“It’s a cop car!” Hallie’s voice was filled with fear. “On the beach.”
“Looks like there are two of them,” Jon confirmed. “About a mile or so past my parents’ cabin. They’ve blockaded the beach.”
“They don’t want us to get out of here,” Leah said quietly, trying not to upset her mom, who was already trembling.
“They’ll never let us go,” Rosita sobbed. “Never!”
“They’re gonna kill us,” Hallie said in a calm but chilling tone. “Just like they said they would do—if we ran.”