“I have the envelope and I’m almost there.”
“What did you tell Pops?”
“Nothing, like you said.” She paused a moment. “Do you really think this is going to work?”
“It’s not an army. It’s just a few guys, and they’re the kind who were paid to be here. They don’t have any loyalty at risk in this,” he said. “So when you get here, show them the envelope but don’t move away from the car. I need you to be close to cover if it comes down to it. The car will give you something to duck behind.”
“You think they’re going to shoot at me!”
He tried to keep his voice low so that he wasn’t discovered. “There’s a slim chance. Don’t quit on me now, Tess. If you didn’t want to be in this situation, you could have just called the sheriff’s department and told them what your dad said to you. You’d have let them take care of the whole thing.”
“You’re probably better at stuff like this than the entire department.”
Caleb tried not to let that complement go to his head. “I will be here to keep you safe, but you also need to do what you can to keep yourself safe. If it comes down to it.”
“Okay, I can do that,” she said.
“They need to see the envelope, but I need them to come outside. So don’t make any move to go toward the house. Get them to come to you so that I can get a head count of how many there are.”
“What about my dad?”
Caleb gripped the phone, one knee in the dirt. Trying to be reassuring while he also tried to gear himself up for the fight ahead. “We need them to bring him outside. So you’re going to demand they bring your father outside so you can see him before they get anywhere near the envelope. Got it?”
“Okay,” Tessa said. “I just pulled off the highway. I should be there in a couple of minutes.”
“Can you do this?” He didn’t want to doubt her, but she also needed to understand what she was getting in the middle of.
“I want to help.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to put your life in danger. Or that you might want to.”
“I want my nice, normal and safe life back.”
Caleb wondered if that would even be possible at this point. Her peace had been shattered, but if she needed to do this to feel like she was working to get her sense of security back then he wasn’t going to argue. “Say a prayer before you get out of the car.”
“I feel like I haven’t stopped.”
“Me too,” he said. “God has this in His hands, right?”
“Absolutely.” She hung up on him then. Probably to give herself a few seconds before she came into view of the cabin so that she could collect herself. She’d get out of the car at least attempting to look calm and collected.
Caleb spotted the front end of her car between the trees and turned to watch the cabin. The curtain moved in the front window as someone looked out, but he didn’t see who stood inside. At least not enough to make out any features.
She parked the car and shut the engine off. A long second later Tessa pushed the door open holding the envelope. She stared at the cabin.
The front door to the structure opened and a man stepped out. Jeans and boots, a gray T-shirt and heavy blue jacket. “Bring me the envelope.”
His voice boomed across the clearing.
Tessa pulled in on herself for a second, then rallied and lifted her chin. “I want to see my father first.”
He was proud of her that she didn’t pretend like she had no idea what was happening. This man wasn’t going to respect a woman who just wailed questions the whole time. She needed to be decisive—and he’d told her exactly that.
Still, they had surprised this guy enough that it took him a second before he turned back to the door. He said something too low for Caleb to hear. Probably Tessa too.
Another man came out, holding onto the preacher. Miles Ashland looked years older than the last time Caleb had seen him. Maybe not just from what he’d been through today, but it was certainly a factor. He had blood down the side of his face and on his T-shirt. His head dipped, and he swayed slightly as he walked. The other man kept him steady.
Tessa gasped, lifting her hand to cover her mouth.
