Lone Star Justice (23 page)

Maddie filled a paper plate with pizza, then followed Brandy back to the living room. "It's almost over. Just have a little faith and patience."

"Yeah? And what if something happens to Rand and Aaron gets away again? Then what do we do? Hide out for the rest of our lives? He'd find us anyway. I know he would."

Brandy turned away, but Maddie heard the tears in her daughter's voice. She put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. "Rand will be okay. He's armed, he has the FBI with him. Nothing's going to go wrong."

Brandy swiped a hand across her cheek. "Promise?"

"I promise. Now let's eat."

***

Rand sat at his desk in his dark office, and the undercover agents sat close together on the couch, the television on but neither one paying any attention. From outside, Aaron would never be able to tell they weren't Brandy and Maddie. He'd texted Aaron back, pretending to be Brandy, to tell him she'd told her dad about the text and he wouldn't let her leave the ranch. That they couldn't be friends anymore since he wanted to hurt her mom. Rand hoped it would piss him off enough to make him show up at the ranch, especially after the long rambling text Aaron had sent Brandy telling her he was sorry about what had happened, that he still wanted to be her friend.

The FBI seemed to think by rebuffing his overture of friendship, Aaron would be compelled to try to contact Brandy face to face. They thought he seemed to feel a kinship of sorts with her. But it didn't feel right. Rand knew this was a long shot, that Aaron wasn't stupid enough to fall for the trap. So where was he? Was he out there, watching? If so, the FBI was waiting, ready. If not, they had an all out manhunt planned for first light.

That restless feeling started up again. Something was very, very wrong and he had no idea what it was. He called Cody to check on Maddie and Brandy. No answer.

He waited a few minutes and tried again. Still no answer.

Rand radioed the deputies posted outside "You guys got this under control?"

"Yeah, boss. What's up?"

"I don't know. Cody's not answering and neither are any of the others. I'm heading for the safe house. Give this another fifteen minutes and if Aaron doesn't show up, abort this and come back me up." He put a call out on his radio, asking for any available law enforcement to meet him at the Anderson compound. All state police or city cops in the area would know where it was. Then he pulled onto the highway and drove as fast as he dared on the dark country roads, lights flashing and bathing the trees in blue and red.

He shouldn't have left them. Dammit, he'd promised he'd stay with them, protect them. He should have come up with his own plan instead of listening to the FBI analyst. Aaron wasn't the kind of killer you could count on to work in predictable ways. If he was, they'd have figured this out years ago and he'd be behind bars.

He continued to call Cody as he raced for the compound. Still no answer. Maddie had given her cell phone to the FBI undercover agents, so he couldn't call her. They'd agreed not to use the radios in case Aaron was monitoring the transmissions, but he was about to break that agreement. If Aaron already knew where they were, it wouldn't make any difference anyway.

It took fifteen minutes to reach the compound. Fifteen excruciating minutes for his imagination to run wild.

When he arrived, everything looked normal. He could see the deputies at their posts, alert for any sign of trouble. His heart was still pounding, but it was obviously for no reason. So why hadn't anyone answered his calls?

***

He really should talk to Rand about the pitiful shape of the sheriff's department. Honestly, they didn't see him following them? And they'd played right into his hands by bringing Maddie to the Anderson place. He knew every inch of the house. He'd worked on the construction crew that built the damned thing. He'd be willing to bet the deputies didn't know about the tunnel that led from the barn at the back of the property right into the safe room. But he did.

This would be much easier than he thought. He'd come prepared for just about any eventuality. The trunk was stocked with a sniper rifle, flash grenades, potassium chloride and syringes, night vision goggles, food and water for several days and even a signal jammer to put their cell phones out of commission. But he probably didn't even need the latter. The compound got terrible cell phone reception.

He could wait them out, or go in after her.

Going in was the first choice. He could steal Maddie out from under their noses before they knew what happened.

He parked the car behind the barn and put on a vest with multiple pockets packed with everything he might need. Once he found the tunnel entrance hidden in the rear stall, he opened the door and made his way down the steps, closing the door behind him. Then he turned on his flashlight and started the long walk to the house. He regretted the need to hurry, to bring this to a quick end. He wanted to take his time with Maddie, draw out the torture and watch her beg for mercy. Instead, he'd have to kill her quickly, before anyone figured out she was gone.

Poor Brandy. She'd screwed up by telling Rand about his text message. He would have taken her with him, taken care of her. But she'd betrayed him. If he had more time, he'd hang her beside her mother, but he could always take care of her later. She'd have to let her guard down at some point. And it would give him something to look forward to.

When he reached the house, he climbed the steps to the safe room door and stopped to listen. No sound came through the door. This would be the trickiest part. If they were in the safe room, they would see him before he got inside.

He eased the door open quietly, just far enough to see that the room was empty. Then he settled in to wait. He knew they'd come. Why else would Rand choose this location if not for the safe room? They could have taken her almost anywhere, but he'd chosen this place And if they didn't come soon, he'd go looking for them.

***

Rand used the prearranged signal, three long buzzes of the doorbell, followed by two short bursts. Cody opened the door, gun in hand. "Rand? What are you doing here? Did you get him?"

Rand pushed his way inside and closed and locked the door behind him. "No, he hadn't shown up by the time I left. Why didn't any of you answer your phones?"

Cody looked at his phone. "It never rang. Damn, there's no signal at all."

"All the way here I was imagining you all dead and Maddie gone." His voice caught and he cleared his throat. "We need to get them into the safe room. I think Aaron is here somewhere."

"Here, boss? How would he know where we are?"

Rand shrugged. "He probably followed you. He's a lot smarter than we've given him credit for."

"Dad!" Brandy ran into his arms and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I was afraid something had happened to you."

Maddie appeared in the doorway and he breathed a sigh of relief. She was okay.

"Listen, I need you both to get into the safe room and stay put until I tell you it's safe to come out, understand?"

"Do we have to?"

"Yes, Brandy, you have to. Come on. I'll show you where it is." Rand ushered them down a hallway to a heavy steel door. A key hung on a hook outside the door and he used it to unlock the room. He flipped on the light and scanned the twelve by twelve space to be sure it was empty, then waited until they were inside before closing the door and locking it behind him.

By the time he got back to the main room, the driveway was filling up with state police, officers from several nearby towns, and even deputies from Smith and Kaufman counties. He spent several precious minutes organizing them into search teams. He'd bet his last dollar that Aaron was somewhere nearby, and he wasn't leaving anything to chance. They had to find him, now, before he could get to Maddie again.

He sent Cody to guard the safe room, along with one of the deputies. He doubled the protection around the house, then sent the teams out to search the grounds and nearby woods. He teamed up with one of the state police officers to search the outbuildings.

***

"This room is so cool!" Brandy roamed the small space, checking out the electronic equipment. She flipped a few switches and the overhead monitors came on, giving them a close up view of what was going on outside. "Look, Mom. We can see everything, inside and out."

Maddie looked up and, sure enough, they could watch the teams heading out two by two, fanning across the yard, some headed for the woods while others moved toward the sheds and storage buildings.

"This is awesome. It's just like watching one of those cop shows." She flipped another switch and the view changed to the inside of the house. They could see the guards outside the door, a couple of state troopers helping themselves to the pizza in the kitchen, the undercover FBI agents who'd switched places with them coming in the front door. "I wonder what this button does?"

"You probably shouldn't touch this stuff. You might mess something up."

"Geez, Mom. Give me a break. I'm not hurting anything." Brandy pushed a button and now they could hear what was going on, as well as seeing the activity. "I want a room like this in our house. Can you imagine how much fun that would be?" She switched the screens back to the outside.

Maddie smiled at Brandy, then froze as Rand came into view.
God, please, protect him from Aaron.

With their attention riveted on the screens, they didn't see or hear Aaron sneaking up behind them.

He grabbed Brandy and held a knife to her throat. "Not a sound, or I'll cut her throat. You know I'll do it."

Maddie nodded. "Don't hurt her. I'm the one you want. Let her go and I'll go with you."

Aaron sneered at her. "Of course you will. There was never any doubt." He pulled a roll of duct tape and a handkerchief from his pocket. He stuffed the gag in Brandy's mouth, then wrapped the tape all the way around her head to hold the gag in place. He pulled her hands behind her back and slipped a pair of plastic cuffs over her wrists.

Brandy tried to kick him and he backhanded her across the face.

Maddie made a move toward him and he put the knife back against her daughter's throat. "Don't make another move or I'll kill her."

Aaron marched Brandy across the room, taped her ankles together, and shoved her into a closet. Then he turned to Maddie, triumph shining in his eyes. "I always knew I'd get you some day." He grabbed her arm with one hand and held the knife against her throat with the other. "Let's go. We don't have much time."

He shoved her ahead of him down the steps to some kind of tunnel. Where did it lead? If she took off running, could she beat him to the other end and scream for help? Or would he go back for Brandy?

Her hesitation cost her. He reached the bottom of the steps and twisted his hand in her hair, giving it a painful jerk. "Don't even think about running. I'll catch you and kill you. Then I'll go back for your daughter. But I wouldn't kill her at first. I'd take her away with me, keep her as my personal slave for a while. But I would kill her eventually."

He pushed her forward. She tried to drag her steps, delaying the inevitable. Would anyone know she was no longer in the safe room? Probably not for hours yet. They'd left food and water in the room and locked the door. They might not even open the door before morning.

There was no one to save her this time. She'd have to figure out a way to save herself, and her daughter. Maybe if she talked to him, tried to figure out why he'd fixated on her, she could find a way to change his mind. Not too likely, but worth a try. "Can you at least tell me what I did to make you hate me so much?"

"Shut up!"

She tried to look at him over her shoulder, but he held her hair tightly. Too tightly. "Don't I deserve to know why I'm about to be murdered?"

"You don't deserve anything."

"Exactly! That's my point. I haven't done anything to deserve this. Neither did any of those other women."

He stopped and jerked her head back until they were nearly nose to nose. It was disconcerting, looking at him upside down.

"Women are supposed to be subservient to men. They used to know their place. At home, cooking and cleaning. Keeping their mouths shut. Now they talk too much, tell things that are none of their business. A man's business is his own, not for a woman to judge and spread lies about."

"So you think I told someone about something that was your private business? But I didn't. I never had a chance to say a word."

His hot breath washed over her face. She was grateful that he at least paid attention to basic hygiene, like brushing his teeth. "You threatened to tell. I don't like tattletales. Now shut up and quit stalling." He pushed her forward again.

"Is that why you killed your mother?"

She didn't see it coming. The butt end of the knife caught her across the temple, almost making her black out. She howled in pain.

Aaron jerked her around to face him and grabbed her chin. "If you want me to cut your tongue out now instead of after you're dead, just keep talking."

Maddie shut up.

"That's better. Now move."

***

Brandy couldn't breathe. She was hyperventilating, getting light headed. She tried to calm down. Passing out wasn't going to help her mother.
Okay, breathe through your nose. Slow and easy. You can do this.