Every Precious Thing (25 page)

Finally, Diana pulled back and said something to her sister that Logan couldn’t make out. Sara asked a few questions, each time looking at Logan. Finally, the three siblings walked over to him.

“Sara, this is Logan Harper,” Diana said.

Logan held out his hand, but Sara didn’t take it. “You say you’re a friend of Alan’s but I don’t know you.”

“No. I never said that. I said I’m here because of Alan. I
am
a friend of his lawyer, Callie Johnson.”

“Callie? You know her?”

“I’ve known Callie all my life. She used to babysit me.”

This odd detail seemed to soften Sara a bit. “I don’t understand how you’re involved.”

“She asked me to help,” he said. He gave her a quick version of how Alan had been looking for her, had enlisted Callie’s help, and how she had found out that Sara didn’t exist.

“I still don’t understand why they involved you,” she said.

“Because I’m a friend, and she knew she could trust me.”

She looked at him, clearly not satisfied with his response.

He shrugged. “And I know how to get things done.”

“Like what?” Sara asked, growing tense again. “What needs to be
done
about me?”

Logan paused. “At first, I think Alan just wanted to know what happened to you, for himself, and also for Emily, so when she grows up she’d understand why her mom went away.”

“You said ‘at first.’”

“When they realized you weren’t who you said you were, Alan became concerned.”

Richard jutted out his chin. “He thinks she cheated on him or something?”

Logan could see that Sara didn’t believe that at all. “No,” he said. “He became concerned that your sister was in trouble, and he wanted to help. He
is
her husband, after all.”

“Oh, and you’re that help?” Richard scoffed.

Sara touched her brother’s arm. Richard’s previous tough demeanor cracked a little, and he whispered to her, “Sorry.”

She looked at Logan. “I am in trouble, but there’s nothing Alan or you can do. The fewer people involved, the better.”

“But Alan’s your husband. Emily’s your daughter,” Logan said. “They’re your family.”

“Don’t you see? They’re the reason I had to leave. The people after me, they don’t want me. They want…”

“Emily,” Logan said, knowing that was what she was going to tell him.

She nodded.

“But why?” he asked.

She took a moment, then said, “Because they believe she’s their property.”

“What do you mean, ‘property’?”

She looked at the ground. “Go back to Alan, tell him...tell him that I love them both, but it’s better if they just forget me.”

Logan was about to ask another question, but Diana cut him off. “Okay. I’ve brought you to her. You’ve talked. Now you can go back to her husband and set his mind at ease.”

“Exactly how am I supposed to do that when you haven’t told me why Sara’s on the run?”

Ignoring his question, she said, “We’re done. We’ll drive you out and drop you off in Tusayan.”

She put an arm around Sara, and started walking back to the cabin. Richard followed them.

“Dev’s still got your phone,” Logan said, joining them.

“I’ll get a new one.”

The intensity of the rain began to ease.

“Where will you go?” he asked.

“Better if you didn’t know.”

“You’re making a mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“You all can’t run forever.”

Diana looked back at him. “We don’t need to run forever. Just…long enough.”

C
HAPTER
F
IFTY

W
HEN DEV PAID
the entrance fee to the park, he was given a map and told the best place to start out was Grand Canyon Village. From there, the ranger said he could get pretty much anywhere using the free shuttle bus system.

Dev didn’t care about park transportation. He just wanted somewhere with a lot of cars where he could leave the El Camino, then walk a little ways away and watch without being observed. The village turned out to be perfect for this. It was a mixture of rustic-looking motels, restaurants, tourist shops, and tiny cabins for the seasonal workers.

He found a spot in a parking lot next to a gift shop called Hopi House. On the other side of the building was a wide sidewalk, then the canyon itself. Dev had been to the park a few times when he was younger, but the intensity of the view and the sheer scale of the canyon were just as breathtaking now as they had been then.

He was able to find a spot along the walkway near the rim of the canyon from where he could still see Logan’s truck. The place was crawling with tourists, so there was no chance he’d be spotted.

As he settled in to wait for Dr. Paskota to drive by, he noticed gray clouds moving in and threatening to blot out the otherwise blue sky. Looking around, he saw that several of the other canyon visitors were carrying umbrellas. He didn’t have one, but was getting the feeling it was something he might need very soon.

Just inside the back entrance to Hopi House, he saw a display of umbrellas. He checked the road, saw no sign of the woman, and dashed inside. He made a quick purchase, and was back out in less than a minute. He was confident that even if she had driven by while he was inside, she would have still been around, trying to figure out where Logan and Dev had gone.

Five minutes after he exited Hopi House, it began to rain, proving his timing had been good. It was a light rain at first, but then it got heavier and heavier. As the intensity grew, lightning started striking closer and closer. Park rangers quickly moved along the walkway, advising everyone to find cover inside one of the buildings. Dev joined the crowd on the covered porch of the El Tovar Hotel.

An hour passed with no sign of the gray sedan. He thought the woman must have been cautious. Maybe she’d even parked somewhere else and was watching the El Camino on foot just like Dev was.

Doing nothing to draw attention to himself, Dev looked around and indentified all the locations someone could covertly watch the truck from. Then, keeping his exposure to the open sky to a minimum, he visited each one by one. No Dr. Paskota, not even one of the men who’d been with her.

Confused, Dev looked out at the road that led toward the entrance.

Where the hell are you?

C
HAPTER
F
IFTY
-O
NE

O
NCE THEY WERE
back in the car and had reached the partially blacktopped road, Logan called Dev.

“Hey,” Dev answered. “Everything okay?

“Well, I guess. Yeah,” Logan said.

“Did you find her?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And?”

Instead of answering, Logan asked, “What happened there?”

“Nothing happened here.”

“What do you mean, ‘nothing’?”

“She hasn’t shown up.”

“At all?”

“Haven’t seen her or her car.”

That was definitely not what Logan had expected. He took a moment, then said, “Head back to Tusayan. Same gas station as before. I’ll be waiting there. But keep your eyes open. Maybe she’s just been waiting for you to come back out.”

“You going to be there
alone
?”

“Undetermined at this point.”

“All right. See you in a bit,” Dev said.

As soon as the line went dead, Logan called Ruth.

“I’ve got someone in my office,” she said quickly before Logan could speak.

“Anyone I know?”

“As a matter of fact.”

“Oh, God, it’s Jon, isn’t it?” Jon Jordan was the head of Forbus International, and the man responsible for blaming Carl’s death on Logan.

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Well, please don’t tell him hi for me.”

“I think that’s a sound plan.”

Before she could say good-bye, he said, “Ruth, I need you to check on that cell phone that was in the car following me earlier. I have to know where it is.”

“That might be a little difficult.”

“Please, Ruth.”

“I’ll tell you what. Let me finish up here, and I’ll give you a call back.”

“How long?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry. Talk to you soon.” She hung up.

Logan set the phone in his lap and looked out the window, his mind willing Ruth to hurry.

“Something wrong?” Diana asked. She was sitting in back with him while Sara sat up front with Richard.

“I’m…not sure.”

“Not sure about what?”

“It’s probably nothing.”

“Oh, I see. Now you don’t want to share.”

He was tempted to remind her she wasn’t sharing, either, but instead he said, “The woman who was following us. My friend never saw her.”

She became instantly concerned. “You don’t think she could have followed us to the cabin, do you?”

“If she had, she’d have probably tried to take us by now, don’t you think?”

“What woman are you guys talking about?” Sara asked, looking back.

“There are four people, actually,” Logan explained. “Three men and a woman. They tried to kill my friend and me last night. The woman seems to be the one in charge.”

“What’s she look like?”

The fear Logan had seen on Sara’s face back in the woods had returned, only it seemed even more intense now.

“She’s maybe forty. Short blonde hair. Fit.”

Sara stopped breathing.

“We don’t know if it’s her,” Diana said, trying to calm her sister down. She glanced at Logan. “It’ll be better if we drop you outside of town. Shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes to walk to the gas station.”

Logan wanted to ask who it was they thought the woman might be, but his phone rang. Ruth.

“Well, that was almost awkward,” Ruth said.

“How’s Jon?”

“The same.”

“Still a dick, then.”

“Pretty much.”

“Can you tell me where the other phone is?”

“I’m pulling it up now.”

He waited.

“Whoa,” she said. “Um, okay. I’m looking at the phone you’re calling on and the other three on the map. I see the one that was out on its own is with you now.”

“Yeah, that’s not the one I’m interested in.”

“The other one’s heading south from the canyon.”

“You mean the one that was following me?”

“No. That one’s clear back on I-40, heading west.”

Logan was surprised. “Toward California?”

“Not there yet, but that direction.”

“Okay, thanks.” He disconnected the call.

Why had Dr. Paskota backed off? It didn’t make sense. If Logan had been in her place, he would have stuck with the tracking device, knowing it was his best lead to find Diana or Sara. In fact, the
only
reason that could have gotten him to back off was if either woman had been located elsewhere. But they were here, with Logan.

Wait
. There was one other possibility.

Emily.

If Dr. Paskota knew where she was, then she wouldn’t need Diana or Sara.

“Are you going to tell us what’s going or not?” Diana asked.

Ignoring her, he called information, and had them connect him to Callie’s law firm. A few seconds later, he was put through to her office.

“Logan, where have you been?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

“Sorry, I’ll explain later,” he said quickly. “Right now, I need you to have Alan and Emily—”

“Logan,” she cut in. “Harp’s missing.”

He thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. “I’m sorry?”

“Your father is missing.”

“What happened?”

“You need to call Barney. He can give you the details. Do you need his number?”

“Please.”

She read it off to him, then asked, “What was that about Alan?”

“Get them out of Riverside. Someplace safe that only you know about. Don’t tell anyone.”

“My God, what’s going on?”

“Maybe nothing. I’m probably being overly cautious. Just do it, okay?”

He hung up, and immediately started dialing Barney’s number.

“You think Alan and Emily are in trouble?” Sara asked.

Logan held up a finger. “Give me a minute.” He put the phone up to his ear and listened to it ring.

A click, and then Barney said, “Hello?”

“It’s Logan. What’s going on?”

“Oh, Logan. Finally,” Barney said. He told him what had happened.

“You checked everywhere?”

“Yes. He’s not here.”

“Stay by your phone.”

One of Logan’s strongest points was his calm in the face of chaos and danger, but he’d never been in a situation like this that involved his father. He had to force the pounding in his head to relax, and cage his emotions so they wouldn’t overtake him.

He called Ruth back, and had her do a similar check on Harp’s phone. It was sixty miles east of Braden, seemingly stationary, just off the interstate. But that wasn’t the worst part.

The phone in Paskota’s car—Logan’s phone—was traveling down the freeway off-ramp at the very same exit where Harp’s phone was located.

C
HAPTER
F
IFTY
-T
WO

“N
O,” RICHARD SAID.
“There’s no way to know that for sure. We stick to the plan, leave him here, and get you someplace safe.”

“But what if he’s right?” Sara asked.

They were parked behind the Grand Canyon Camper Village at the north end of Tusayan. Dev had pulled up several minutes earlier, but sat waiting in the El Camino. Logan had spent the time laying out what he had in mind. Now it was up to them to decide. He already knew what he would have to do, one way or another.

“And what if he’s wrong?” Sara’s brother retorted. “Or maybe it’s a trap just to get you.”

“Richard!
I’m
not the point, remember? Emily is. They’re not going to use her to get to me.” She paused before speaking in a softer voice. “If he’s wrong, then we’ll know soon enough, and we can still disappear.”

Richard clenched his jaw. “I don’t like it.” He looked at Diana. “You don’t like it, either, do you?”