Leah was just about to release her hold on the fence and tumble backward when she heard Jon call out. “It’s just me. Sorry to startle you.”
“Jon!” she exclaimed as she eased herself back onto the ground. “You scared me.” She turned to see him limping toward her with a look of pain in his face and something heavy in his arms. “I looked everywhere for you. Where’ve you been?”
“Rock hounding.”
“What on earth for?” She hurried over and, seeing he was toting a rock about the size of a watermelon, she reached over to remove the bulky stone from his hold.
He looked relieved as he stood up straight. “Thanks. Sorry to be gone, but it took a while to find the right rock.”
“What’s it for?”
“I have a plan.” He looked hopeful as he wiped the back of his hand over his moist brow. “Did you reach the state police or—”
“No.” She glumly tipped her head over to where they’d hidden before. “Let’s get under cover. Just in case they’ve tracked me.”
“They?”
After they were tucked back into the brushy area, she explained about the helicopter, the rifle shots and trying to lead her pursuers into the preserve. “I wanted to throw them off, make them think I was trying to get to town.”
“Was it a coast guard helicopter?”
“No.” She described it to him.
“Sounds like a private copter. But that’s reassuring. I’d like to believe the coast guard wouldn’t cooperate with someone like Krantz, especially when he was attempting to shoot down an unarmed person.”
“Me, too.” She pointed to the large rock on the ground beside him. “Seriously, what is this for?”
“Plan B. Or maybe it’s C or D. I think I’ve lost track.” He made a tired sigh. “We know Krantz will be back here. If Hallie was right, and he plans to put them on a boat at high tide, which, according to this morning’s tide, should probably be around seven or so this evening, I expect he’ll show up around dusk. Maybe sooner.”
“Yeah?”
He tapped the rock. “We’ll wait for him to go inside the building and then I’ll use this rock to break a side window and get into his car.”
“Uh-huh?”
“I’ll get his automatic rifle and when he comes out of the warehouse, I’ll be ready for him. I’ll catch him unawares and force him to drop his revolver, which I assume he’ll have on him, or else I’ll just shoot him.”
Leah studied Jon. “You really think you can shoot him?”
“I know I can shoot him. I’m actually a pretty good marksman. I’m probably a better shot than Krantz, which isn’t saying much.” He made a half smile. “My grandpa was quite a hunter. He taught me to shoot when I was a kid.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “So you’re a good shot. But do you really have the nerve to kill someone?” Leah wasn’t sure that she could kill someone. Especially since her line of work was about saving and protecting life. And for some reason Jon did not strike her as a violent man. Maybe it was the kindness in his eyes.
“I didn’t say I would kill him.” He pursed his lips. “But I wouldn’t mind incapacitating him—just enough to stop him and get him behind bars, where he belongs.”
“Good.”
“I’m hoping that once I get my hands on the rifle I’ll have enough time to shoot that lock off the gate and get into the compound—I mean before Krantz comes out. That will give me a better chance of getting him before he figures out what’s up.”
“You’ll have to move fast.”
“I know.”
“Maybe you should let me help,” she said eagerly.
“No.” He shook his head. “Too risky.”
“But think about it, Jon. With your bad leg, you can’t move that fast. Every second will be precious. If Krantz hears the rock crashing into his car, he could be out here in a flash.”
“That’s true.”
“What if you’re not ready for him?”
“It’s a chance I’ll have to take.”
“Okay, what about a slight revision to your plan?” she asked hopefully.
“What kind of revision?” He looked doubtful.
“What if—as soon as Krantz goes inside—you get yourself positioned by the gate?” She pointed to the fence. “Meanwhile I could break in, grab the rifle and run it over to you—and you’d be all set to shoot open that lock. It’d be lots faster.”
“I don’t know, Leah. That rock is heavy. Do you think you could even hoist it through a car window?”
She stood now, picking up the rock. “Watch, I’ll show you.” Then, pretending Krantz’s car was parked where he’d parked it earlier today, she held the rock over her head and, using both hands, she threw it sideways like it was going through a side window. To further make her point, she pretended to reach through the invisible window and open the door, then she grabbed the pretend gun and sprinted to the gate. All within a few seconds, too.
“Impressive.” Jon clapped quietly as she picked up the rock and after roughing her running shoe through the dent the rock made in the sand, as well as scuffing over her footprints, she hurried back to join him, dropping the rock with a dull thud.
“I’d venture to say that if we both went through the same little exercise—and timed it—I would be the winner.”
He arched one brow. “Are you always this competitive?”
“Just when it comes to life and death.” She made a sheepish smile. “Okay, maybe I’m competitive at other times, too. But I’m not a sore loser...not usually anyway.”
“For someone so small, you’re pretty strong.” He reached over to test her biceps muscle, which she flexed with pride. “You must do weights or something.”
“Working in the nursing home, we have to lift and move our patients a lot. It helps to be in good shape.”
He leaned back into the log with a weary sigh. “Normally, I’m not such a wimp, but this leg is killing me.”
She nodded sympathetically. “I think that wound was worse than I thought. And all that running probably tore into some muscle. I can’t imagine how painful that must be. When we get out of this mess, you’ll probably require some surgery to get it put back together right.”
“When we get out of this mess...”
She looked at her watch. “If Krantz doesn’t come until dusk, we could have a couple of hours to gather our strength.” She turned to him. “Take a nap if you want, I can keep watch.”
“I don’t think I can sleep.” He frowned over at the building. “And maybe, just to be safe, we should go over my plan again.”
“You want me to go do my demonstration again?” she said in a teasing tone.
“No, that’s not necessary. But let’s work out the details, starting with right after you hand me the rifle, okay?”
“Good idea.”
“So as soon as I’ve got the rifle, I want you to take off for the other side. You know the spot where we hid the first time we came here?”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“I will have shot the lock open and will go inside, hopefully before he comes out. I’d like to be right next to the door so that I can really take him by surprise.”
“But what if you can’t get there before he comes out?”
“Then I’ll just have to take him by surprise however I can.”
“What about staying behind his car?” she suggested. “Then you could use it as a shield.”
He seemed to consider this. “I suppose if I didn’t make it clear to the door, that might be a good backup plan. But I really hope this won’t be a shoot-out.”
“What if he brings them out with him?” she asked suddenly. “I mean, like, he could use my mom or a girl as a human shield. What then?”
“That’s why I wanted to be all the way in the compound. So that I could come at him from the side, instead of head-on. It seems the safest way to shoot him without hurting anyone else. If he refuses to drop his revolver.”
“What if he takes his rifle inside with him?”
Jon frowned. “I really don’t see why he’d do that. He’ll need his hands somewhat free if he’s going to get his hostages out and into the car.”
“You’re probably right.”
“So mostly we just really need to break into his car as quietly as possible, Leah.”
“Is that possible?”
He glumly shook his head. “Probably not.”
“So, really, we just need to be as fast as we can.”
“Yeah.”
“I have an idea.” She stood up. “What if I tip off the girls and my mom—inside the compound. I’ll let them know we’re trying to rescue them and if there’s a way they can slow things down inside—stall somehow—that it might help us to do this.”
He slowly nodded. “Not a bad idea.”
“I’ll be right—”
He grabbed her hand. “But I don’t like you being in the compound, Leah. Too dangerous.”
“I’ll be really quick,” she promised. “You can keep a lookout on the road. You see anything and you can just signal. Do your hoot owl call. And I’ll hotfoot out of there and I’ll come back around through the brush.” She looked at her watch. “Come on, Jon, the sooner I do this, the better.”
“Okay.” He looked uneasy as he pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll watch the road. Just keep your ears peeled.”
“Done.” And now she sprinted around to the back, but before she climbed the fence, she removed the loose warm-ups, tossing them on the ground. Too much fabric with too much potential to get snagged up on those nasty barbs. She quickly scaled the fence again, gingerly slipping between the cut razor wire, then turning around to let herself down into the yard. She paused for a split second, listening to the still air around her. No owls.
She dashed around to the front of the building, glancing over to where Jon was still positioned by the road before she started beating on the door. “I’m here to help you,” she yelled. “Hallie? Rosita? Mom?” Then she called out her mom’s name. “Ellen, are you still in there? Hello? Can anyone hear me?”
“We’re here,” a girl’s voice answered. “Who are you?”
“I’m Leah. I think my mom’s in there. Is Ellen still there?”
“Yeah. Can you let us out? Please?”
“Are you Hallie?” Leah asked.
“Yes. I’m Hallie. Please, get us out of here—please!”
“We’re working on a plan.” Leah looked over her shoulder to make sure Jon was still watching the road. “But we need your help, Hallie. When Krantz—the creep who kidnapped you—gets back inside there with you guys, I need you to do something to stall him a little while.”
“What?”
“We need you to stall him. Make a fuss or something. Just slow him down, okay?”
“Okay.”
“It sounds like he plans to transport you all by boat. But you need to do something to waste some time so that we can rescue you. Okay?”
“Okay! Just get us out of here. Please!”
“You help us, Hallie. So that we can help you. Do you understand?”
“Yeah! Stall Krantz.”
“That’s right.”
“And you’ll get us out of here?”
“Yes!” Leah checked on Jon. “Is Ellen okay?”
“She’s been crying all day. But she’s asleep now.”
“Good. She’s got some memory problems, and she gets confused,” Leah explained. “Please, help her if you can.”
“I will. But please get us out of here,” Hallie pleaded again.
“We plan on it! It won’t be long now.” As Leah ran around the back of the compound, she heard three distinct hoots. Jon was warning her! Krantz was on his way! With a pounding heart, she grabbed onto the fence, hurrying to reach the top and trying to be silent. But on the top, she nearly slipped as she was trying to turn around and maneuver past the razor wire. A scream froze in her throat as she grabbed onto the chain-link fence, clinging tightly as she dangled over the edge.
Instead of climbing down, she simply dropped to the ground. As she grabbed the discarded warm-ups, she heard another set of hoots and wasn’t sure which way to go. If Krantz was in front, she didn’t want to blast around the other side. But she didn’t want to get stuck back here, either. So she raced for the brush, leaping right into it in order to hide herself and get her bearings.
Krantz had to be here to pick up the girls—and her mom, too! That meant she needed to get around to the front of the compound, to rejoin Jon—ASAP—or else their plan for breaking into the car would be ruined. As she stealthily worked her way through the bushy undergrowth, she tried to listen for the sound of an approaching car, but all she could hear was the rustling of the brush as its sharp thorns tore into her bare legs.
When she reached the side of the building, she paused, straining her ears, trying to listen for the sound of a car engine or Krantz’s footsteps—or even Jon’s hoot owl warning. But not hearing a single sound—not even the birds—she was afraid to move. Was it possible that Krantz had shown up on foot? What if he had other trackers with him? The ones who’d been with him in the helicopter, dropped off in the dunes. What if they already had Jon in custody? He would be defenseless against a group of armed men. A nearby rustling sound sent a chill through her. Holding her breath, she waited. Was that them? Were they here? What now?