Page 148 of Running to You

Sam growled beside her. “He ever hurt you?”

“Never came close to me. Gil would’ve killed him if Jed didn’t fire him first.”

“Did Elliot seem to be itching for a fight?” Grant asked.

“No, no. Not like Gil, anyway. Elliot’s strong, though.” She looked at Sam. “You fought him twice. What did you think?”

“He was capable.”

Grant’s lips twitched. “Not as capable as you, I guess.”

“I was fighting for our lives. That’s what we call motivation.”

“You think…?” Eliza wasn’t sure how to ask the question. Or maybe she just didn’t want to. She directed her words at Grant. “You think you’re going to have to fight them? Gil and Elliot and the rest of them?”

He didn’t shake his head or smile or act like it was a silly question. “We’re going to do whatever we have to do to rescue your son and your mother.”

“And Nicole.”

“Right. If that means battle, then yeah. That’s what we’ll do.”

“And you don’t have a problem with not calling the police?” Sam asked.

His lips slipped into a smirk. “It’s not my first choice, but I understand the reasoning. Thing is, when it goes down, I think we should alert them. If anyone gets killed, we’ll need the cover.”

Her mind hitched on one word… Killed. She swallowed the terror it raised. “But…but how can you…? Wouldn’t it be safer to have someone else go in? I don’t want any of you to get hurt or…” She couldn’t help but glance at Sam when she asked the question, but his focus was on his brother.

How could she live with it if Grant or Michael or Jon got hurt? How could she live with it if Sam did?

His arm slid around her, and he pulled her to his side. “We’re just going to take one step at a time and pray the Lord guides us.”

Grant smiled. “Jon and I’ve run some difficult ops. We got this.”

The door opened, and Jon stepped into the sunroom. “Talked to a guy who works in parks and recreation. He gave me the name of three possibilities we can check out. One’s closed, but the other two are operational.”

Footsteps on the wooden staircase outside had them all turning as Michael reached the door. He stepped inside and hurried to his laptop. “I got a name. Birch Grove Christian Camp.”

“That’s one of the names I just got,” Jon said. “It closed about thirty years ago.”

Grant was already typing. “Found it. It’s within the coordinates.”

“Jed’s parents told you that?” Sam’s voice held a hint of skepticism. “Can we trust them?”

“The mother wouldn’t talk to me,” Michael said, “but his stepfather gave me an earful, starting with demanding to know how I found them. Apparently, Jed doesn’t know where they live, and they don’t want him showing up.”

“What?” Eliza said. “Why?”

“Cushing said he threatened to kill them if they ever came near him again.” Michael tapped on his screen. “Apparently, the last time Keller was at Birch Grove…” He read something, nodding slowly. “Yup, yup. This is it.”

Sam leaned to see his screen. “It burned down?”

“Not the whole thing,” Michael said. “One of the dorms caught fire, and it took out another one and a lot of trees. Fortunately, firemen got it stopped before it spread and took out the whole place.” He looked up, gaze flicking to Eliza before it settled on Sam. “It was arson. The Cushings think Keller set it. The fire was started at lunchtime when the kids were at the mess hall. But one kid was sick and in his bed. He died of smoke inhalation.”

Icy fingers trailed down Eliza’s back. She wished she could protest, tell them the man she knew could never do such a thing. Five years earlier, she would have. But now…anything was possible.

“It was an accident?” Jon asked. “Not the fire, but the kid who died?”

Michael’s head shook. “Can’t know for sure, of course. But the victim and Keller didn’t like each other. The night before, the guy had beaten him in a race or something. Keller was humiliated and angry.”