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Home. He really wanted to go home. Simon swallowed hard and pushed himself up. But first he had to do his job.
Just like Sheriff Luke would do.
* * *
“THERE’S HIS BIKE.” But Simon was nowhere in sight. Holly jumped out of the car before Luke had a chance to shift into Park. Cash tumbled out behind her, barking his way up the path as Holly grabbed the bike and steered it to Luke’s truck. “I guess you were right.”
“Simon’s a healthy, curious boy, Holly.” Luke slid out of the car and grabbed a satellite phone. She didn’t know how Luke was staying so calm, but she was grateful for it. If he wasn’t panicking, she could keep it together. “We’ll find him and get him home.”
“I know.” But that uneasy sensation, the one she’d only felt a few other times in her life, was descending full force. “I’m hoping today isn’t the day he’s taken things too far.”
“I won’t let that happen.” Luke held out his hand and they headed up the narrow path into the woods.
“You don’t think this is him rebelling, do you?” Holly had to admit the thought had crossed her mind on more than one occasion. “That I keep hold of him too tight?”
“I know rebelling.” Luke shook his head. “This is Simon being Simon and not thinking things through. Something that will end today.”
“It will?” Hope zinged through her as she struggled to keep up. Why was he walking so fast? Did he know something...?
“It will if I have anything to say about it.”
“You have something to say as far as I’m concerned,” Holly huffed. A stitch built in her side. She was going to have to get a treadmill after this.
“Right now all I want is that kid home, safe and sound, and for word not to get out about this little excursion of his.”
Holly frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I checked. Three board members and the vice principal of the TrueLane Academy live in Butterfly Harbor, Holly. Given how news travels at light speed in Butterfly Harbor, how long before you think they hear what’s going on?”
“I didn’t even think—” How could she have forgotten? All these months her solitary focus had been on getting through the summer with her son intact so he could walk into TrueLane with a clean record. Considering what was happening now, what did all that matter?
Luke stopped in the middle of a small clearing. At first she thought it was because he was tired, but then she realized how much she was panting. He’d stopped for her, to give her a chance to catch her breath.
“I want to be there, Holly,” he said, and while he winced into the afternoon sun, she didn’t take it for a regretful cringe or an uncertainty. “I want to be there for both of you. Good and bad. If you’ll let me.”
She nodded, not caring that she didn’t have an ounce of breath left in her lungs. He’d just given her everything else. “I want that, too.”
“Okay. Let’s go bring your boy home.”
* * *
“OH, WOW!” SIMON GASPED as he stepped inside the rickety cabin. The door swung back so hard it bashed him in the butt. The uneven boards split to let shards of sunlight stream in. An old dusty table and crooked chairs sat off to one side. Wooden crates and boxes sagged against each other in various piles along the walls. He could see the outline of a tree leaning into the roof and walked in a wide circle to avoid passing beneath it.
He found the flashlight Kyle had left behind and snapped it on to aim the beam around the room, scanning the markings on the boxes and crates. There was an old metal tool chest near the wall where Simon had spied through the knothole, but it was the open box that captured his attention and drew him forward.
Metal rungs held wooden shelves that clung haphazardly to the walls. One sharp kick and the entire thing could collapse. He dropped to his knees and aimed the light into the box Kyle had been so curious about. Long sticks wrapped in faded red paper, with a crusty substance coating the top edge, were stacked on top of one another, with narrow thin boxes shoved into the empty spaces. Bullets.
Simon cringed and he pulled his hand free. He knew better than to touch anything to do with firearms. Even if his mom hadn’t given him the gun lecture over and over, they’d been taught in school never to be around one without adult supervision.
If only he had a cell phone! He could take pictures of all this stuff and show Sheriff Luke he was right about Kyle all along. He hadn’t even been able to find his notebook outside. It was probably gone forever, along with everything he’d written about Kyle and what he’d seen during his surveillance. Why didn’t anyone listen to him? He needed to get back to town and let them know he’d found something dangerous.
The door to the cabin was shoved open. Simon spun and jumped back as a hulking shadow barreled through. Simon clicked off the flashlight, but it was too late.
“Well, well. What’s this? Another thief? Town’s lousy with ’em.” The man sounded funny, his words were slow and lazy, and Simon’s nose wrinkled. He smelled really, really bad. “Just what I needed. Another busybody kid who can’t keep his hands off my stuff.” He stumbled forward and Simon lurched to his left side, but he lost his balance as he grew dizzy. He felt himself falling.
His arms flailed and he smacked against the bottom shelf. The world shifted into slow motion. Boxes toppled. Shelves creaked. Metal fasteners creaked and strained as he saw the floor coming up to meet him. The only thing he could think to do was cover his head as he went down.
Before the wall caved in on top of him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Holly skidded to a stop and squeezed Luke’s hand.
An enormous crash exploded from around the bend, but it was all Luke needed to hear to let go of Holly’s hand and start running. The cabin was barely standing, sagging beneath the weight of decades-old trees and neglect.
“You don’t think he’s in there?” Holly whispered.
He didn’t think. He knew. “Holly, listen to me. I don’t want you to panic, okay? But Kyle told me there are firearms and explosives in that cabin.”
“No. Please, Luke, you’ve got to get him out of there.”
“I’m going to.” It took everything he had not to tell her that Simon probably wasn’t alone. “But I can’t focus on Simon if I’m worried about you. I want you to take this.” He pushed the phone into her hands. “And call the station. Tell them we need all the help we can get. EMTs, fire department. Have them put out the call to everyone they can think of. And then wait here. Cash, stay.” The dog whined, but took up sentry beside Holly.
“I can’t just wait—” He let go of her long enough to hold her face in his palms. He could barely keep his own panic under control. “I’m going to get him out, Holly. I promise. And remember what I told you? I do not break my promises. I stick. Do you understand me?” He focused on her skin, memorizing her face, adding her desperation and fear to his mental arsenal. “You have to let me do this. Now go. Call Fletch and Ozzy.” He pressed his lips to hers. “I love you.”
It was the first time he’d said those words to anyone, and instead of seeing the rejection he’d always expected, tears flooded her eyes and she nodded. “I love you. And, Luke?” She grabbed his wrist. “I trust you. I know you’ll keep your promise.”
He returned to the cabin, taking an extra second to make sure she did as he’d instructed to move down the road and call for help. The responsibility didn’t weigh him down. The oath he’d given spurned him on.
Simon was what was important. Right now Simon was the only thing that mattered.
Knowing what was on the other side, Luke took careful steps toward the leather strap–hinged door. Whoever had built the structure hadn’t known jack about construction. He could hear the wood straining against itself, as if sheer will was the only thing keeping it upright. There was no telling how much time he had. He shoved the door open a crack and had to wedge himself inside. His foot caught and he tripped forward, the door snapping shut behind him.
“Simon?” Luke regained his footing and yanked out his cell phone, aimed the flashlight app around the suffocating, dusty cabin. His mind registered the writing on the boxes and crates, and he took mental inventory as far as safety. There was a massive pile of debris in the far corner of the cabin. And something was moving under it. “Simon?” Luke hurried forward, but something locked around his ankle. He tripped and pitched forward.
He threw his arms out and braced himself for the fall as Rex Winters rose from the floor like a vapor, the rage on his face glowing against the dim light of Luke’s cell phone. Luke rolled and kicked out, finding Winters’s knee with his foot. Winters cried out and dropped, giving Luke time to push to his feet and knock Winters toward the door.
