“A quiet day.” Roark turned from the window, the sound of thunder and lightning clashing out over the mountains.
“Not anymore,” Marcus said. “Looks like that storm is finally going to let go.”
Jackson rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “We’ve accomplished a lot. Parker should be in custody by now and we’ve got some solid evidence on Martino. Even Parker could help there if he talks. He saw the two thugs at Eloise’s apartment.”
Roark stretched. “And we’ve matched hair fibers to both the rope we found at Ms Smith’s apartment and the rope found in Parker’s apartment—both containing fibers of his hair and Meredith Parker’s hair. Yep, now if we can just find Martino, this will all be over.”
Jackson got up, put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I’m thinking of taking Eloise out of Montana.”
That got the attention of the other two men. “That might work, sir,” Roark replied, “but what about Martino? He’ll keep searching for her.”
“Not if I get to him first.”
“But…will she go for that?”
Jackson looked at Marcus. “Probably not, but we can’t stay hidden away here forever. I have responsibilities back in Chicago. We all do.”
Marcus let out a sigh. “Yeah, I so miss the city. Who needs fresh mountain air and all these trees?”
“We can keep tracking Martino,” Jackson said, thinking this might be the only way to end things. “We have the lead on the Secret Crush roses and once the warrants are in place, our agents will be in on that.”
“But that’s a long shot,” Marcus said. “The man has a whole slew of powerful lawyers.”
“Well then, I’ll keep digging,” Jackson said, his voice rising. Outside, the thunder and lightning slashed across the sky in angry, rolling waves of black darkness warring with white-hot zigzags of light.
Both Roark and Marcus glanced at him and then at each other. “We’re getting cabin fever,” Marcus said. “Maybe we do need to try something new. What are you thinking?”
Jackson gazed up at him. “Let’s go over this. We know Martino is close. Maybe we should split up, go out and scout around. Bring in the rest of the task force now that Micah’s got Mac Sellers under wraps.” They couldn’t just sit here and twiddle their thumbs. “I’ll put Micah on that. He and the two other agents can help us track Martino. We know his men are in the area but somehow they’ve managed to evade the locals and us.”
He glanced toward the stairs. Eloise and Thea were up in their bedroom getting ready to turn in. “Of course, Martino’s power stretches to lots of places. He’s probably got his own safe house around here somewhere. And he might have someone else besides Sellers on the inside.”
Roark looked at Marcus. “I’m willing to go out and do a little recon and surveillance.”
Jackson lifted his chin. “We’ve got a plan, then. I’ll let Micah know to put the heat on and we’ll do the same. If we have to turn over every rock between Great Falls and Snow Sky then that’s what we’ll do.”
“That’s the spirit,” Marcus said.
Jackson shot the other two an appreciative look. He couldn’t do this alone and thankfully, they were both a lot more objective about this case than he’d been. “Thanks, guys. We’ll start first thing in the morning.”
A loud clap of thunder silenced any further discussion.
Upstairs, Eloise and Thea were in their comfy sweats, both sitting up in bed reading by the light of the bedside table lamps. Duff was out on the landing in his favorite spot, right near the daybed where Jackson always slept.
“That storm sounds fierce,” Thea said, her alert gaze moving around the room. “Maybe we should go back downstairs, ma’am.”
Eloise looked at the clock. “It’s getting late. I’d hate to wake everyone.”
“Oh, I don’t think they’re asleep,” Thea said, eyeing the door. “I don’t like storms.”
Eloise couldn’t hide her surprise. “Theresa, you’re one of the bravest women I’ve ever known and you’re scared of bad weather?”
“I know it’s silly,” Thea said. “But my grandmamma lived in Kansas and we got caught in a tornado one time when I was staying with her. I didn’t enjoy that.”
“I’m sorry,” Eloise said, getting up. “Of course we can go downstairs.”
Thea was headed for the door when the electricity went out.
The house went dark. Jackson scanned the room. “Boys, everything okay?”
“I’ll get a flashlight and check the circuit box,” Roark said, already moving through the darkness. He came around the kitchen counter with a low-beam light. “I’ll be right back.”
Upstairs, Jackson heard what sounded like a door opening. “Thea?”
No answer. But he heard hurried footsteps, followed by Duff’s whimpering. “Duff, come here, boy.”
The dog yelped once and then went quiet.
Jackson felt it in his bones. Something had just gone wrong. Very wrong. “Marcus, upstairs!”
“I’m on it!” Marcus took off up the stairs.
Jackson grabbed his gun and did a quick scan of the downstairs, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. “Thea? Ellie? Everything all right? Marcus?”
Nothing. No answers and no barking dog.
He found his way up the stairs but couldn’t see into the bedroom and he couldn’t hear for the crashing thunder. But in a vivid flash of lightning, he saw Duff lying near the chair by the window. Hurrying to the dog, he immediately smelled chloroform.
He found Marcus lying just inside the door to Eloise’s bedroom. His heart racing to beat the band, Jackson felt for a pulse and thankfully found one. Marcus groaned but didn’t move.
“Eloise?” Jackson called. “Marcus, where are they?”
“Gone,” Marcus managed to grunt out. “Hit me over the head. He took them.”
Jackson stood up and looked around the room. The door to the upstairs deck was standing wide open, rain pouring in. And Eloise and Thea were nowhere in the room.
So this was it.
Eloise kept thinking that as she and Thea were being dragged through the pouring rain. Wet bushes and trees hit at her hair and face, but the man holding her didn’t seem to mind the rain or the wet foliage.
Randall Parker had a gun to her head and his hand on her arm in a grip that showed exactly how angry he was.
She chanced a look behind. Another man had Thea.
“Bet you’re surprised to see me, huh?” Parker said in a shout, his tone sarcastic and sure.
Eloise didn’t want to talk to him but she had to know. “You turned yourself in.”
“Yeah, I did. And then, my new friends got me out.”
The Mob.
He didn’t have to tell her the whole story. She knew how the Mob worked. They’d probably bribed a judge or paid a hefty bail or just hired a pricey lawyer to twist the truth. “They aren’t your friends,” she retorted, her teeth chattering in spite of the calm inside her heart.
“Better friends than anybody else around here,” he shouted back. “Just shut up. You can save all your talking for Mr. Martino.”
The calm didn’t change. Eloise accepted that her life was about to end. She asked God to spare the others, please. Spare her daughter, the agents and Jackson, please. That prayer held her together and gave her courage.
“Where are you taking us?” she asked.
“You like the falls?” Parker asked, laughing. “Not the best night for a moonlight stroll but we don’t have time to complain. Just keep walking.”
He pushed her ahead of him. The rain tapered off to a steady drizzle. Eloise was cold and wet and to the point of no return, her cotton sweatshirt and pants clinging and heavy. Whatever happened from here on out, she had no control. And she almost welcomed the end. Heaven didn’t have a Witness Protection Program. Heaven held so many possibilities to come out into the light.
Thea shoved into her. “Don’t give up on me, ma’am.”
Surprised that the young agent could read her thoughts, Eloise whispered, “I don’t have any other choice.”
Thea glanced back at the big man holding a gun to her head. “There’s always another choice.”
Eloise thought about that, the words washing over her like the rain. She remembered holding her gun toward the door the day Randall Parker had come looking for her. She’d had a choice that morning and Jackson had convinced her to make the right one.
Was she so willing to die tonight?
If it meant saving Jackson and her child, yes.
But what about life? The voice sounded loud and clear in her head. What about an opportunity to finally live, really live with the people she loved by her side?
The thought was sobering and exhilarating.
I do have a choice, she thought. I do have a choice. Then she asked God to help her make that choice. All along, she’d been praying to him to spare the ones she loved but what if she worked to that end and somehow managed to survive herself? Could she do that? Did she have the strength left for one final fight?
She looked back at Thea then turned toward her captor. “You’re right, Thea. Thanks for helping me to remember that.”
Roark met Jackson on the stairs. “Sir, somebody cut the power so the electricity and the alarm both went dead. The storm worked as a good cover.”
Jackson heaved a breath. He had to remember to keep breathing, just keep breathing. “Did you see anyone?”
“No, but I found muddy footprints right by the circuit box inside the open carport. “I came right back inside. Is everyone—”
“They took her. And they have Thea, too. Came in through the upstairs balcony. Marcus is down and Duff got hit with chloroform. I think they gave him a treat then put him under.”
Roark let out a grunt. “What now, sir?”
“We track ’em,” Jackson said, trying to focus on the work. And that meant tracking, staying alert, looking for signs. That meant not thinking past the obvious—finding the woman he’d come here to protect. The woman he loved.
He wouldn’t think beyond that right now.
Eloise could hear the falls.
Parker pushed her toward the edge of a sloping rock where a square, covered pavilion stood as an overlook site. Down below, the water hit the rocks with a rapid fusion, running fast now that it had been fueled by the storm’s rage.
A set of dim yellow lights glowed in the darkness, giving the little refuge a sinister feel. She could see the mist of rain in the light’s casting glow.
Then she looked straight ahead to the man waiting there, a big bodyguard standing by his side. Vincent Martino looked sleek and elegant in his dark designer suit. He was comfortable and dry. And he was smiling.
“Eloise Hill,” he said, his fat hands swinging wide, his dark eyes surrounded by sagging, puffy skin. “It’s been a long time.”
“Not long enough,” Eloise replied, a new energy coursing through her system.
Vincent’s smile died on his lips. “You don’t understand, do you, lady? You don’t see that justice has to be served.”
“Oh, I see, all right,” she said. “And I believe justice will prevail, in spite of all your efforts to stop it. You can get rid of me, but you won’t be able to hide forever.”
“Nothing worse than a smart broad,” Vincent replied, his angry frown making his features craggy and ugly. He stared over at Randall Parker. “You brought me the woman. Now it’s time to repay you for your service.”
Parker smiled. “I’d appreciate that, Mr. Martino.”
“So you want a one-way ticket out of town, huh?”
“Out of the country,” Parker shot back. “Just like you promised.”
“We can easily arrange that,” Martino answered. Then he nodded toward the henchmen. “Push him over the side of this mountain.”
Jackson’s cell buzzed. Holding up a hand to Roark, he spoke in a whisper. “Yes?”
“Vincent has the woman,” came the raspy voice. “He’s going to kill her.”
Jackson forgot the whisper. “Tell me something I don’t know, lady. Tell me where they took her.”
The Veiled Lady let out what sounded like a sob. “I’m watching them right now. They’re near the falls—underneath one of those lookout shelters. It’s to the west of your hideaway.”
“You’d better be telling me the truth.”
“I am, Agent McGraw. I’m going up there right now.”
“No, don’t—”
It was too late. The woman had cut the connection.
“No!” Eloise shouted the one word, watching in horror as the henchman came toward them.
Vincent started chuckling. “Don’t worry, Ms. Hill. I’m not going to push you over with him. I’ve got better things in mind for you.”
A chill grabbed at Eloise’s backbone, causing her to bristle. Randall Parker let her go to stare at the man coming for him. “Hey, we had a deal. I find the woman and you get me out of here.”
“That’s what I’m going to do,” Vincent replied.
“Not like this,” Parker shouted. “Man, not like this.”
“Did you kill your wife?” Vincent asked, his gaze locking on Randall Parker. “You’d better tell me the truth. My father had my mother killed, or so they say.” He shrugged. “It happens, understand? But I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit. Makes me sick to my stomach.”
Parker looked doubtful. “It was an accident. We were arguing and she fell.” He turned to Eloise. “I loved her.”
“You pushed her,” Eloise said. “And I want you to live to tell that to a judge.”
“Enough of this reminiscing,” Vincent said, a hand held up in the air. “I don’t like talking about judges and I really don’t like wife-beaters. Get rid of the cop and the cute little agent. I’ll take care of Ellie Smith.”
Eloise couldn’t let them kill Thea. She glanced back, hoping Thea would fight. The agent gave her a determined look, even while she was being shoved toward the stone-and-wood banister. “Thea?”
“I’ll be okay, ma’am.”
The agent sounded so sure. How did she know that? Then Eloise remembered all the agents wore those tiny transmission gadgets. And Thea always had her thin little cell phone in her pocket. Had Thea somehow managed to alert Jackson?
“Thea was smart to turn on her cell and send us a page,” Roark whispered from their post about fifty yards from the pavilion.
“Thea’s a smart woman,” Jackson replied, his rifle scope centered on Randall Parker, because Randall Parker was holding Eloise. “They didn’t take the time to frisk her, thankfully. Thea must have hit the GPS to alert us somehow.”
“Let’s go, then,” Roark said, rising up.
“Not so quick.”
“I can get a shot if we move a little closer,” Roark replied. He tested the scope on the high-powered rifle. “I can take Martino out, even from here.”
Jackson wasn’t so sure. “What if you miss? They could kill both of them before we make it up there. And we need Martino alive so we can shut down his whole operation.”
“Okay, then what?”
“Let’s move in a little closer,” Jackson advised, his own rifle solid in his hand. “We might have to take the quick shot but it’s too risky from here. And they’re too close to that ledge.”
“You’re the boss.” Roark’s tone told Jackson he wasn’t so keen on this idea. But Jackson couldn’t risk it. Not yet. Not when he could see Eloise and she was still alive.
But then, everything shifted as he watched in horror while one of the men tugged Thea and Parker toward the edge of the cliff. Jackson didn’t have to think about things anymore. Tightening his grip on his rifle, he shouted. “Go, go! I’m right behind you.”
Randall Parker grabbed Eloise and tugged her in front of him. “If I go, she goes with me.”
“Oh, no,” Vincent said. “That’s not how it works.”
Parker laughed then quickly whispered to Eloise. “Help me out here and I’ll save both of us.”
She didn’t believe the man. He’d killed Meredith and he’d have no qualms about taking her down that cliff with him. She glanced at Thea. The agent stared across at her then tilted her head to one side, looking behind Eloise. What was she trying to say? Maybe that help was on the way?
Jackson, of course.
Eloise tried to stall. She glanced at Martino. “Why don’t you let them both go? After all, you came here for me.”
“Ah, such a noble gesture,” Vincent replied. “But I ain’t buying it. They’re eyewitnesses, honey. Can’t have that.”
Eloise shot Thea another glance. The man who’d dragged Thea up the slope had the agent against the banister now. Thea looked down at the cascading falls then back at Eloise. “It’s going to be all right.”
Eloise couldn’t think about the falls. “You’re right, Thea, because I’m not letting you go over this edge.” Giving Thea a pointed stare, she used every ounce of her strength and elbowed Randall Parker in his midsection and followed that by a hard stomp on the top of his foot. He yelped and said something crude but her actions caused everyone to stop and stare. And gave Thea just enough time to squirm away from the ledge and take her captor by surprise with a poke of her fingers in his eyes. The man went down screaming while Thea grabbed his gun and turned it on him.
Vincent Martino shouted at the other guard. “Take care of this mess, right now!”
Then Eloise heard a voice booming through the night.
“Stop right there, Martino!”
Jackson’s voice.
She whirled to see Roark and Jackson emerging through the trees with their rifles trained on Vincent Martino.
“It’s over,” Jackson shouted. “You hear me, Martino?”
“I hear you,” Vincent said. Then in one swift move, he pulled out his own gun and started firing. A bullet burst through one of the weak yellow lights lining the pavilion, knocking it out.
Eloise screamed, watching the black shapes moving all around her. Thea shouted at Eloise to get down then took cover behind Martino’s confused guard and tried to get off a shot. Martino fired back, hitting his own man. The other guard lunged to protect Martino and went down in a hail of bullets.
“Here, come over here!” Randall Parker stumbled up to grab at Eloise, pushing her to the ground and shielding her while bullets hit all around them. Then he toppled over, trapping her with his weight.
“No!” Eloise resisted, watching Jackson, screaming his name as she tried to claw out from under Parker’s now-still weight. “Jackson!”
“I’m here, Ellie!” Jackson locked his eyes on Eloise then he grabbed his left arm and fell to the ground.