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“Where’s Shane?” she asked, thinking a third hand with a gun would not be a terrible idea.
Kurt and Kelly feared for their safety. Knowing two bodyguards stood watch might put them at ease.
“Doing a full-scale search of Roger’s cabin with Cam. They have some equipment to detect explosives and are going to plot out the safe places to move around on the property.”
The words fell flat inside her. “You mean they’re over there searching for his body.”
One of Holt’s eyebrows lifted. “Did I say that?”
He could skip the defensiveness, because she got it. From the first time she saw that blood pool, she’d known. This was not a case of Roger faking his death. This time he was gone. She could feel it to her bones. “Didn’t have to.”
With Grant dead and her the lead suspect for some reason, Holt claimed reporting Roger missing would only shine the spotlight brighter on her. The decision not to run to Frank Jr. with this, too, eased some of the anxiety pinging around inside her.
She followed Holt’s gaze. Watched him do his usual scan of the area. He stood always ready to protect and defend. It was one of the many things she liked about him.
He frowned at her. “I thought you told them we were coming.”
As much as he seemed to enjoy the frowning thing, it annoyed her. She filed that away for later because she would tell him. “I did.”
Holt leaned against the front of the truck. “Looks like no one’s home.”
“Always does.” Lindsey was prepared to be worried about a lot right now but not this one thing. “That’s part of the subterfuge.”
“They’re certain that someone from New Foundations is going to track them down and, what, drag them back?” The tone made the idea sound far-fetched. As if Simon Falls had better things to do with his time.
Lindsey knew better. “Kill them. The stockpile of weapons have some people up there twitchy, and that was before the newest round that you say is so dangerous was delivered.”
“It’s hard-core lethal.”
That was the part Lindsey couldn’t understand. Never did. They had the weapons and the ability to fire them. What then? Unless the guy planned to do battle with the next town over, the arsenal didn’t make sense.
She joined him in leaning. Felt the heat of the engine seep through her clothes. “Is Simon Falls planning on blowing up the town of Justice?”
“I wish I knew. If someone is in on it, they’re keeping it quiet.”
That wasn’t even a little hard to believe. “People up there thrive on secrets.”
“True.” He stood up and held out a warning hand to her. “Stay here.”
As far as exits went, that was a good one. But it would not get him anywhere. They stood twenty feet away from the front door, and Lindsey doubted the Noonans would let them get more than a few inches closer without unleashing something. “They won’t let you in.”
“I get that, but I need to know it’s safe for you to come with me.” Holt kept walking, watching her but throwing glances in the direction of the building’s front door.
When he breached what she knew Kurt considered to be the final perimeter and nothing happened, something twisted inside her. She jumped away from the car. “Holt, wait.”
He immediately stopped. Didn’t question her warning, just obeyed. “What is it?”
“Something.”
He gestured toward the truck with a flick of his chin as he hit a button on his watch. “Get back in.”
“Too late.” She didn’t know, but she sensed that to be true. It was as if a huge ticking clock swung over her head and she could hear the ripping sound as it tore away, ready to crush her.
“Do not move.” He held a hand out to her as if that would stop her.
She might listen, but he still didn’t understand the people he was dealing with here. Kurt and Kelly were people with nothing left to lose because they’d lost everything, including the parents still inside whom they hadn’t seen in two years. “I could be wrong and if I am they won’t let you in.”
He frowned at her. “Yes, they will.”
She was all for confidence and a healthy shot of ego, but this was about safety. The idea of seeing him go down and watching the blood run out of his body nearly dropped her to her knees.
She had the sudden need to heave but bit it back. “They are trained, Holt. They will shoot you without question and not care how much I scream for them to stop. They might only be in their early twenties, but they spent most of their teen years being indoctrinated into a certain way of dealing with outsiders.”
Something got through, because his demeanor changed and resignation set in. “Fine.”
