Desperate Rescue (6 page)

Encouraged by the hesitation, Eli plowed on. “Don’t protect Noah. Not after he set those explosives.”

The older officer spoke. “They stopped for gas near the house. One of the children mentioned to the attendant where they were headed, who said they could go a bit farther and see some great theme parks, but the kid had never heard of any of them. That’s how come the attendant remembered them.”

Eli blinked, his breath locking itself in his lungs as he digested the police officer’s words. The boy who’d filled his tank knew where they’d gone?

Wait. He knew his brother. Noah wasn’t heading south for the winter. Maybe the rest, but not him.

Beside him, Kaylee let out a long breath. A premature breath, but now wasn’t the time to tell her so.

“I still don’t understand why Noah would blow up his own home,” one of the officers said. “He could toy with you doing something less risky to himself.”

Eli stood, slowly, his mind whirring. With what the police had just said, it wouldn’t be hard to find Phoebe.

No longer a cold trail. He’d missed Phoebe this time, but—

All eyes in the room fell on him. Cold dread began to trickle down his back. “He threatened to kill Kaylee. And he wants me to stop searching for our sister because I’m the closest thing to a threat to him. Booby-trapping his own home could kill two birds with one stone.”

And, Eli thought grimly, Noah wouldn’t give up.

N
o one spoke. Eli waited, hearing only Kaylee beside him, as she let out another thankful sigh. Relief because she believed Noah was gone.

Eli knew he wasn’t, but he had no proof. And what about Phoebe? It wouldn’t be hard to find her. The trail was no longer cold. A few phone calls and his investigator could easily learn where she was headed.

Except, what about Kaylee?

“Why do you say that?” the policeman asked. “Do you have any proof he wants you both dead?”

“Nothing, except his threats.”

With a hint of skepticism, the officer turned to Kaylee. “What do you think?”

She moistened her lips. “It’s over. And I’d just like to go home.”

Across the table from them, the officer gathered up his pen and paper. “I’ll need an address from each of you, should we need to ask more questions.”

“Of course.”

The addresses given, they were allowed to leave. Outside, the evening had turned crisp, with sharp chips of bright stars overhead and the feeling of frost slicing through him. When they reached his car, he offered another short prayer of thanks that it hadn’t been destroyed, then turned. “We need to talk.”

Kaylee stopped. Several people walked past them. A few dry leaves, shed from the trees by a rogue wind, crunched underfoot.

She turned. “What’s there to talk about?”

He took her arm, discarding any gentle sympathy he might have. This was too serious an issue to sugar-coat. “We have to talk about what happened back there in the farmhouse. By the door. Among other things.”

She fidgeted. “I thought you were Noah, but I was wrong. Noah would have abandoned me there, then detonated the explosives. You came up from the basement. I remember hearing you now.” She yanked her arm free and reached for the passenger door.

“There’s more, Kaylee. And you know it.”

Her hand stilled on the handle. He leaned forward. “You thought I
was
Noah.”

“I was mistaken. I just said that.”

“You accused me of trying to teach you some kind of sick lesson. Do you need to talk about this?”

“No.”

He needed her to trust him. Her life was on the line and he would not allow Noah to destroy it.

“I’d rather we not discuss it,” she added. “I’m tired and I want to go home. I know it’s late, but would you please drive me home?”

“I could find us a couple of rooms in a motel here—”

She spun around. “I’ve had quite enough of the motels here! I’d rather go home.”

Trisha. How could he have forgotten? He could have kicked himself for his stupidity. “I’m sorry. Yes, I’ll take you home. But first, what sick lesson were you talking about?”

She rubbed her temples with her fingers. He waited, the wind chilling him. The leaves from a nearby maple flew around, several snagging the windshield wipers of his car.

Finally, she whispered, “The sick lesson was on trust. A lot of Noah’s sermons talked about that. Trust in him, of course, as the voice of God. But…you know…God?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Exasperated, she smacked the car window. “I thought you were trying to
make
me trust God!” She made a disgusted noise. “I don’t know! I thought you were trying to scare me because I didn’t trust God enough. Except I thought you were Noah. And Noah would say trust in him was trust in God.”

She folded her arms, rubbing them lightly with her hands. “I thought you were horrible to do that.”

He touched her chin and tilted it to face him. To his surprise, his heart was pounding hard. “I would love for you to trust God completely. But that’s not easy, even for a lot of Christians.”

Her eyes widened, catching the yellow glow from the streetlight. She blinked, once, twice, then swallowed.

He yanked back his hand, choosing instead to run it through his hair than to touch her. The short ends scraped against his palm. Frustration tightened the muscles in his neck. “But I would never use a sick lesson to teach that. I would…”

He heard himself trailing off. He’d brought her here, done everything short of kidnapping in order to get her to show him the hidden way into the compound. She could have just told him where the break was, but he’d expected that she’d want to be part of Phoebe’s liberation. And he practically dragged her here, hoping she could somehow help.

And she’d tried, against her own fear and better judgment. It didn’t make him feel any better.

“It may not have been a sick lesson, but what I did was just as bad,” he said, half to himself. Then he focused on her face, as she pulled her jacket closer to her neck. “And I would never pull a stunt like trying to be someone else.”

She held her jacket collar close and refused to meet his eyes. “I know that it wasn’t you. Now, anyway. But before…I thought you were Noah and…I thought I saw you out in the yard, moving around.” She shook her head. “But it was probably an animal.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “You mistook an animal for me?”

She smiled briefly, acknowledging with some embarrassment the attempt at humor. “No. I panicked. Never mind.”

A cold breeze found a break between his collar and his neck, driving a chill down his spine. Could Noah be that close? No way. He’d have triggered the explosives while they were still in the house, not waited until they’d escaped over the fence.

“It was probably just an animal. Raccoons can make quite a racket for their size.” He unlocked the passenger door. “Let’s go.”

The drive home was long, excruciating and deathly silent. Out of all she’d said, even that she’d thought he was Noah, one thing lingered in Eli’s mind throughout the drive. That she thought that trusting in God was horrible. Or even teaching someone such. Sure, the method she’d mistakenly thought was being used was just plain wrong, but still, the dislike of even trusting in God had been harshly evident in her tone.

Any advice, Lord? I sure could use it now.
His casual prayer sounded impudent and he cut it off sharply.

Lord in Heaven, guard my thoughts. Give me the words I need to minister to Kaylee.

All he felt in the quiet of the car was a sense of patience trying to reach into him.
Wait,
the Lord seemed to say.
Patience.

Patience with Kaylee? Or for finding Phoebe?

But for seven years, he’d been patient. More now? With Phoebe gone who knew where? He didn’t feel like being patient anymore.

It was well after dark when Eli finally turned off the highway to head into Riverline. They passed the motel where he’d taken a room. But the edge to the evening told him that he wouldn’t sleep there tonight.

He’d be watching Kaylee’s house instead.

“I’m sorry you didn’t find Phoebe,” Kaylee told him softly as he pulled into her driveway. “What are you going to do now?”

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll stick around for a few days. I have some calls to make and it’ll be easier if I stay in one place.”

“Suit yourself.” She climbed out, grabbing her small knapsack and eyeing him with caution as he thrust his own door open. “I just know that I’m planning on sleeping a whole lot better knowing that Noah is far away.”

He walked her to her front door, contemplating whether or not he should remind her of what he’d said back there in the police station about Noah wanting her dead, as well. Should he ruin one decent night’s sleep for her?

Instead, he asked, “How do you feel now that the whole compound is gone? The buildings, house, everything?”

“Relieved. Plain and simple.” She studied his face. “Why? How do you feel? I’m sorry I said that stuff about Noah killing the rest of them.” She tried a smile. “But we, I mean, the police dog, didn’t find any bodies.”

“Thank you.” The night breeze had picked up a chill from the river and he knew he should let her go inside.

But being here with her…felt normal. And for a long time, nothing in his life had felt that way. Suddenly, a part of him didn’t want to remember that Noah may not have fled south.

He cut off the thought. No. He had to stay very aware of that fact.

“I’m glad that there was no one in the house,” he answered quietly.

“But you’re not happy that Phoebe’s gone.”

“True. She’s still alive, though. I’ll find her.” He stepped back onto the narrow sidewalk leading to her little house. “Will you be at church on Sunday?”

“You weren’t planning on staying that long, were you?”

He lifted an eyebrow and watched her cheeks redden in the glow from the streetlight above his car. “It may take me a few days to get the information I need, and I’d like to see your church.”

She hastily unlocked her front door. “It’s not my church. But of course, they’d welcome you. I tease Lois that she’s always looking for fresh blood.”

He smiled and she returned it immediately. He could feel how relaxed she was and wished he felt the same.

He should remind her of his concerns. “Kaylee, there’s something you should know.”

Immediately, a dog nearby started to bark. The insistent yelping sounded like it came from the back of her house.

“That’s Lois’s dog, Pepe. He’s always sneaking into my yard. I think the previous tenant used to feed him.”

The dog’s barking turned frenzied. With a shake of her head, she pushed open her door. “I better call Lois. She’s the only one who can settle him down, but I think she’s a bit hard of hearing, so she doesn’t always know what he’s doing.”

Twisting around, she caught the light from the street. She looked much like a teenager, a scared, wide-eyed one who’d seen too much for her young age, one of those haunting girls who might grace the cover of a missionary magazine. So cautious, so wanting to trust, he felt the image burn into his brain. He cleared his throat, unsure of what to do with the emotions churning inside of him. “I’ll say good-night now and see you Sunday, then.”

She hesitated. “I don’t know. I’ve been so tired lately and a chance to sleep in…”

“No,” he said, stepping a few inches closer, “don’t shut out this opportunity. Don’t let Noah win here. You should see and prove to yourself that this church can help you. And that Noah was wrong. About everything.”

“You don’t know anything about that church. How can you say that?”

Gut feeling? God-given? Instead of those answers, he gave her one of logic. “Lois cares for you and she goes to that church. I’ve heard what some people in town say about the congregation. Don’t judge them prematurely. It’s not fair to Lois or the people who can help you.”

She dropped her head slightly and sighed. “I don’t want to prejudge them.”

“Good. I’ll see you there.” Then, smiling, he added, “Good night.”

She didn’t return it. Eli watched her close and lock her door. He walked back to his car, all the while listening to the dog’s frenetic barks growing wilder. A few minutes later, a door opened at the next house and he could hear Lois call her pet.

As he climbed to his car, the dog stopped barking. He tapped the steering wheel, torn between going back to Kaylee’s house to tell her his suspicions and letting her have one good night’s sleep.

Leave her alone.
She needed some time to digest all that had happened. It had been a brutal day for both of them. He hadn’t expected the explosives anymore than she had. Only working with the police taught him to be wary and to recognize danger.

Dropping his head down on the steering wheel, he shut his eyes. The prayer he tried to form came out jumbled, chaotic, but he knew that wasn’t important. He just didn’t seem to have the strength to sort out the right words.

Grimly, he backed out of the driveway, drove down the street and parked in front of a small convenience store that had closed for the evening. From there, he could see Kaylee’s house and the street that intersected her cul-de-sac.

He waited, too drained to do anything but shut his eyes.

A sharp rapping jolted him. Turning, he winced at the blinding light in his face. When the flashlight dropped, he blinked into focus the time on his car stereo. Seven something.

He’d fallen asleep. He’d been watching her house and drifted off. Automatically, his attention shot to Kaylee’s house, beyond the police car that was parked broadside to him. It looked no different than last night, except that her lights were off.

“Want to get out of the car, sir?”

He peered at the nametag of the police officer staring in at him. Auxiliary Police Officer Jim Reading, it said. From the looks of the burly man, he was older, maybe retired from the military or regular police force. Eli climbed out.

“Did you spend the night in your car, sir?”

“Yes, I did.”

The officer asked for registration and driver’s license, which Eli provided. That done, the man asked, “Why did you spend the night here?”

“I wanted to keep an eye on Kaylee Campbell’s house.”

“For what reason?”

“My brother threatened her and I believe he’ll carry out his threat.”

“So you don’t believe he’s gone south?”

Eli’s brows knitted together quickly. “You know him?”

The officer didn’t answer right away.
Of course.
Kaylee had told the state police where she lived. They would call to confirm her address and offer a courtesy call to let the police here know what had happened.

“We had some water bombers on standby to douse any forest fires that may have started from the explosions. The bombers scoop up water from the river, so they usually let our detachment know their plans.” He tilted his head to the left to study Eli. “But I don’t think it’s wise to follow Kaylee around.”

“Have I broken the law being parked here?”

“No. You just made a few of the residents of this street nervous, that’s all. They woke up to see the same car there as the night before.” He tucked his flashlight away and folded his arms. Eli noted that they were equal in height. The officer met his gaze with something more than just politeness. His tone changed, softened slightly. “It’s okay to be concerned for a friend, but wouldn’t it be wise to let us know?”