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Vera’s stomach hollowed out when the woman answered. "Five."
"Just keep moving." Mackey pulled on her elbow as they were swallowed up by the woods. A few agents hurried passed as they went, nodding at her escort. It wasn’t until they hit the familiar hiking trail they were alone.
“Why are they acting like they know you?” Silence. “Where are we going?” She was panting now with the effort to stay upright. Pressing a thumb into the wound at her wrist was the only evidence left that she’d been bound. Someone cut the ropes and took them. Maybe she’d gone insane. Or the women did something to her inside that circle and she’d snapped.
The trail fell away as they reached the lot. It was full of matching nondescript vehicles.
“Get in.” Mackey jerked open the back door of a black SUV and shoved her inside. Sliding in after her, she flipped on the overhead light.
Chapter 45
Teddi
It took an hour for the Feds and medics to release Teddi. When she’d sufficiently vouched for Sam, they agreed to let her go too. Together they were guided by a bland-faced agent out of the woods towards the road. J stayed with them the entire time, biting her thumbnail but saying nothing. They’d each taken up a spot in the reception area in the OIA office back in Fort Collins.
That was hours ago and still no one spoke. Teddi wasn’t sure she knew how. She wasn't sure her vocal cords worked anymore with how acutely they hurt. There may not ever be words for what she witnessed. What she felt when Vera disappeared inside that firestorm of blood and pain. The mortal fear that burned away every inch of warmth within her when she screamed her name. Her ears still rang from the sound.
The heat was long gone from the cup of tea J set in front of her. Sam had dropped right onto the couch and fallen asleep. She wanted to sleep too but every time she closed her eyes the images dug themselves deeper into her lids. Etching every horrifying shape there forever.
Swiping her hand across her face, she stopped when she caught the edge of a bandage. She needed stitches on her cheek. Bubbles from second-degree burns graced her hands. Some ends of her hair were singed and frazzled apart. Now dressed in a spare sweatsuit, her clothes were in the garbage bin out back. They were ruined by blood, mud, and flame. The scent of smoke wafted from them until J threw them out. She scrubbed until her hands were raw but there was still blood stuck under her fingernails.
J cleared her throat as she sat down across from her, finally daring to break the silence.
“I brought you a new one since you didn’t even bother to touch the last and you’re still shivering.” She placed a blanket around her shoulders at some point but Teddi gained no warmth from it. She felt outside of herself, far away, still in the grove of dark brutality. “Teddi?” Her friend’s voice was subdued, pulling her from that nowhere place in her mind where she couldn’t quite pick a thought to settle upon.
“Yeah?”
“Drink the tea. Now.” Teddi refused to acknowledge how her hands trembled as she reached out for the mug of steaming liquid. The hanging tag from the bag danced softly against her skin as she brought it to her lips.
“Thank you.” Her voice was ragged and worn, much deeper than normal.
“I’m glad you’re not catatonic anymore.” The edge of her lips tilted up but it was wobbly. “And I’m glad you’re alright. When our call ended I did everything I could to find you guys but Mackey insisted we call in the feds immediately.”
Teddi wasn’t sure of what to say. She knew what she should say. That she was grateful. That she made it. That she didn’t understand what happened when she woke up, face down on the ground. The women were gone. Sheriff Malis disappeared. The hatch, which she’d told the FBI agents about, was empty of any evidence. None of that was what came out though.
“Where’s Vera?”
J sighed as she collapsed back into the chair. “She’s at home.” Home could mean so many things for Vera. Sometimes all the wrong things.
“In D.C.?” She tried to keep the anxiety from her voice but it came out broken.
J watched her over the rim of her cup, eyes pinched. Teddi knew J wasn’t Vera’s biggest fan and why, but all of that was weightless in comparison to what she witnessed.
“Last I heard she was at Ximena’s.” Teddi tried not to sag in her chair in relief.
“Is she alright? Is she injured? Did they charge her?” At her last question, J’s face screwed up.
“Charge her for what?”
“Well, for the… for what she…” She couldn’t find the words to blame her. She wouldn’t be the person to say it out loud, putting all those words into one damning sentence. “What happened to the women?” A safe question.
J leaned forward, not willing to let the original question go. “What women? Why did you ask if they charged Vera?”
Teddi looked down, unsure of how to tell her what she saw. Turning the mug of tea from one hand to the other, the small white tea tag flipped over and revealed its quote. “One cannot know oneself until handed power unearned.”
“What happened to the body?” She wondered aloud as she turned the tag away.
“Didn’t you hear anything I said on the way back? Mackey briefed me on everything and I relayed it all to you.” She paused, hoping Teddi would fill in the gaps. She couldn’t, not when it felt like a nail was hovering right above her coffin, threatening to fall and lock her in. “We didn’t find anyone but you and Vera out there. Sam as well but she was hiding in the woods.” Teddi’s head jerked up, eyes ablaze. “They looked in that hole in the ground you mentioned, it’s probably an old cellar where a house once stood but there was nothing in there.”
