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39
Alex didn’t so much drive down the dirt road that hopefully led to the cabin she was looking for as she slid her way down it. Thankfully, it was covered with small rocks that gave her just enough traction to control the car.
She passed four small cabins but saw no lights or cars. Either they were abandoned or the owners didn’t think November was a good time to take a vacation. They all looked pretty rundown anyway. She finally saw a street sign. Waywind Road. The road that old man, Elmer, told her she should find.
After she turned, she noticed a mailbox on a pole and slowed down. It was hard to see clearly through the sleet, but there was no structure behind the mailbox. Just a concrete foundation. Obviously that place had been torn down.
She wanted to turn on the interior lights of the car in an attempt to overcome the blackness that covered her, but she fought the urge. It would make her visible to whoever might be out there—although the chances of anyone except her being out in weather like this were slim.
As she headed down an incline, her car suddenly turned sideways and slid into a ditch. Alex tried and tried to get the car out, but her tires just kept spinning. Wondering what to do, she peered down the road. She was certain she saw a light glowing from a small house. Someone was there. What should she do next?
A sense of panic started to set in. She was alone in the dark. Just like she’d been at Willow’s. Visions of the first night in her aunt’s house worked their way into her brain. She’d cried herself to sleep lying on the bedspread because the sheets looked dirty. Finally, she was so cold she decided to risk it and get under the covers. The bed smelled. Not like urine or anything. It just smelled dusty. Old. Like it had never been cleaned. She started to fall asleep again when something crawled up her neck and onto her cheek. She’d shrieked and brushed it away.
Then something crawled up her leg. She jumped up and ran over to the light switch. When she flipped it on, she was shocked to see roaches running across her bed. They scattered, hiding under the bed’s frame. Alex stood shaking, next to the wall. Fear caused her to wet herself.
She’d pulled her suitcase out of the closet and took out clean underwear and another nightgown. After she changed, she put the soiled clothes in a zippered part of the suitcase and stuck it back in the closet. Then she spent the rest of the night shivering and crying, sitting on a chair with all the lights on, visions of her mother’s body slipping into her thoughts even though she didn’t want to remember. The mother she’d adored despite her shortcomings had deserted her, and now she was here. Alone and unprotected. She promised herself that when morning came, she’d take care of herself and never rely on another human being again.
“Stop it!” Alex shouted. When would she get past all that? When would she overcome these fears? A young woman’s life might be at risk if she gave in to this terror that wrapped around her now like a shroud. The stakes were huge here. If Adam Walker was in that house, she might be able to thwart his plan. Her stupid fears couldn’t be allowed to hinder her mission.
She checked her gun. Fully loaded. She wished she’d brought another clip, but slipping her wallet out of her satchel had been the best she could do without alerting Logan and Monty. She wasn’t worried. Walker was just one man, and he wasn’t trained like she was. She donned her FBI-issued jacket again, then took her knit cap out of one of its pockets and slipped it on her head. She was thankful she was wearing jeans and a thick, warm sweater. And that she’d chosen boots over pumps this morning.
She pulled up her hood, then took a deep breath and opened the car door. She struggled to get out of the ditch, slipping several times before she finally made it. Then she lowered her head and pushed against the ice that pelted her as if trying to keep her away from her destination. Her jacket was lined, but it didn’t offer much protection against the bitter cold and ice crystals that felt like tiny knives flying toward her with ferocity.
It seemed to take forever to get near the house, but she finally stepped onto the property. She was right. Someone was here. The light she’d seen came from inside. Maybe a lamp. Did they have electricity for this place? She made her way to a side wall and leaned against it. Her legs felt like limp spaghetti, but she pushed herself off and inched her way toward the front of the house. She stepped lightly onto the porch and carefully looked through a window. The drapes were partly closed, but as she peered through the crack, she saw a lantern close to the back of the house. It was still too dark to make out anything, though.
She edged her way off the porch and walked around to the other side of the house, which provided more protection from the weather. She noticed a car and an SUV parked behind the house and crept near them. The car was a silver Honda Accord. The SUV had to be the vehicle he’d been using undetected—or at least one of them.
This was it. She’d found him.
After taking her phone out of her inside pocket, she discovered she still had no reception. Between the trees and the fact that she was at the bottom of a hill, there was no way a call was going out.
She put her phone back, then took out her gun. She’d started back around the house when she noticed light coming from a window near the ground. A basement window. Alex knelt to look inside, then gasped at what she saw—a large wooden table with a young woman tied to it, the only light coming from a few lanterns. A dark-haired man stood to the side, looking down at the girl. Alex couldn’t see his face, but he had to be Walker.
Although the last thing she wanted to do was face the Train Man alone, she had no choice. He was going to kill that woman, and then he would begin his plan to murder even more people. She had to stop him. No one else could.
She stood and crept back to the front porch. As the ice hammered down around her, drowning out any other noise, she quietly tried the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. She was about to push it open when something hard touched the back of her head.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a male voice said. “Put down your gun and kick it away, or I’ll pull this trigger.”
“Okay,” she said. “Whatever you say.”
Alex hesitated, trying to find a way out of this. If she could get him off his feet and grab his gun, she had a chance to subdue him. But if she tried that and failed, helping the woman in the basement and finding the virus would be impossible. At least Logan and Monty would know what she’d done by now. And Harrison knew about Lake Lotawana. Were they on their way? Would they get here in time?
She needed to stall. Her best move was not to provoke this guy. Make sure the woman downstairs stayed alive and hope the cavalry showed up soon. She put down her gun and kicked it away.
“Good. Now go inside. We’ll join our friends in the basement.”
Walker was his friend? What did that mean?
“He’s had help, I see,” Alex said. “We’ve been wondering about that.”
He pushed her through the door, then stopped and put his hand on her shoulder, turning her around. This was Walker. As they’d guessed he would, he’d dyed his hair blond and grown a beard. She’d forgotten he’d probably be in disguise. To untrained eyes, he wouldn’t look anything like himself, especially not with those big thick glasses.
So who was the other man? His “friend” in the basement?
“I’d appreciate it if you’d show some manners in front of my wife and children,” Walker said. He kept his gun trained on her with one hand while with his other hand he made a wide sweeping motion toward a couch. “This is my beautiful wife, Sally. And these are my adorable twins, Gabby and Trey.”
Alex looked around. Even in the dim light, she could see the room was in shambles. In fact, the entire place looked ready to collapse. Dust covered everything, including the old, tattered couch he’d indicated. But no one was sitting there. She looked at Walker to see if he was joking, but she found only madness in his eyes. He was delusional. This wasn’t a man who could be bargained with, and that made him ten times more dangerous than she’d expected. They’d profiled a psychopath, but they hadn’t anticipated his psychotic break.
