“There’s plenty of food in the cupboards. You won’t starve.” With that, Sarah yanked the door shut. More banging erupted moments later.
I waited. Until the footsteps on the wooden porch faded and the ATV rumbled to life and sped away, I waited. As soon as I was sure they weren’t coming back, I sprang off the couch.
Walter moved toward me, a wary look on his face. “What are you doing?”
“Getting us the hell out of here.” I reached the front door and grasped the handle, but the door refused to open.
Dammit. She’d either locked it or nailed it shut.
Spinning around, I marched to the window and unlocked it. The sash lifted easily, giving me access to the board covering the opening. I pushed on it, probing to see how solid it was. The piece of plywood barely moved.
“You can’t do that. We need to stay here.” Moving from foot to foot, Walter stood a few feet away.
“You can stay, but Mina and I are leaving.” I looked at him. “Unless you have some plan to stop us? Sarah didn’t leave you a weapon, did she?”
Walter’s already pinched expression grew more so. “No. I don’t have a phone, either, before you ask. Miranda took my sat phone when she found me.”
I grunted and went back to probing the board. “Sounds like they planned to hold you hostage all along.” I pushed on the board again, this time putting all my weight into it, but it still didn’t move.
“Let me guess,” I said, turning to look at him once more. “They were the masterminds behind killing Moira all those years ago, and you were just the patsy who got in over his head.”
The old man’s grizzled jaw worked, and he glanced away. “I didn’t kill her. I never wanted her to die. I just wanted my land back.”
