Page 54

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

S even minutes later, Forbes helped Brooklynn into his pickup.

He was going to keep her safe if it killed him. God willing, they’d both make it out of this alive. Now that the police were involved, now that Forbes had names and dates and evidence, the people who’d murdered his family would be brought to justice.

Leo Taggart and Maury Stratton.

A cop and a real estate agent, of all things.

He could hardly fathom it. After a lifetime of wondering, of searching and digging and praying, he’d finally found the truth—thanks to Brooklynn.

He put her backpack, a shopping bag filled with the clothes he’d bought her, and his duffel bag onto the backseat beside the box he’d hastily filled with evidence.

“You’re sure there’s no tracker on the truck?” Brooklynn asked.

“I left it on the workbench. We’re safe.” When they were both buckled, Forbes hit the remote attached to his visor, and the garage door lifted. “You got the directions?”

“Yup. Should take us a little over an hour to get there.”

An hour.

One hour, and he’d hand all this over to Lori Putnam and the state police. He’d loop in the FBI as soon as he got a name.

It would be out of his hands. No matter what happened next, he could rest in the knowledge that he’d done everything he could.

Brooklynn’s phone dinged, and she glanced at the screen. “Jon sent his FBI contact.”

“He’s johnny-on-the-spot, isn’t he?”

She must’ve clicked the number because her phone was ringing. “We’ll send him a gift basket.”

Smiling, Forbes shifted and rolled the truck out of the garage into the darkness and around the winding lane to the circular drive in front of the house.

Up ahead, something glinted in the moonlight.

He slammed on the brakes.

She looked up. “What’s?—?”

A car was parked between the stone pillars, blocking their exit.

A tiny voice was speaking through the phone, but there was no time for that now.

A man stepped out of the hedge that Brooklynn had pushed through a few days earlier. He raised an object that reflected the dim light.

“Watch out!”

Her words were followed by a booming thump.

“Get down.” Forbes shifted into reverse and twisted to see the way back to the garage. If they could get inside…

A man dressed all in black jogged from the side of the house.

Forbes cursed.

Brooklynn twisted to see. “What is?—?”

Another gunshot. The truck jostled with the hit.

“Stay low!” He jammed the gear into drive, then floored the accelerator. The tires spun on the old, cracked asphalt, kicking up gravel.

The pickup lurched forward.

Forbes turned onto the yard and aimed for the forest.

Men were moving in. He’d counted three in front. When the truck rounded the far corner of the house, a fourth man approached from the back.

Bullets pelted the pickup.

The rear window shattered.

Brooklynn, irrationally, was watching behind them.

He palmed the back of her head and pressed it forward. “Stay. Down.” He needed her to be safe so he could focus.

“Sorry sorry sorry.” Her words came high-pitched and fast.

He aimed for space between the thick trees. “As soon as I stop, jump out and run for the cave.”

“What? I’m not leaving?—”

“I’ll be right behind you.”

“I don’t know where it is.”

Right. Of course she wouldn’t remember. Forbes had ensured it was hidden well.

He’d just have to survive.

He yanked the car to the left to give them cover from the bullets. “Out. Get out.”

She did, and he crawled over the console and followed.

The woods were dark and deep, but Brooklynn still wore the pale-blue jogging suit. It would stand out.

He grabbed her hand and ran for the cave entrance.

Shouts followed them, and gunshots.

A bullet hit a tree trunk a foot from his head.

She was moving too slowly. He’d forgotten about her injured ankle. No time to stop and carry her.

Come on, come on!

But he didn’t say that. She wanted to live as much as he did.

He usually got to the entrance via the trail, and angling from this direction… Where was it?

Lead me, Lord.

He scanned the woods. His gaze landed on the bent birch that dipped over the entrance like a gateway.

He shifted that way, practically dragging Brooklynn behind him.

They reached the entrance. He pushed the vines aside. “Go, go.”

She slid inside, and he followed her down the steep slope into the heavy blackness.

Outside, the gunshots had stopped.

“They went this way,” one man shouted. That sounded like Niles.

“No, they were over here,” another said. Could be Bryce, but Forbes couldn’t be sure.

Had the men passed the cave entrance? Were they moving deeper into the woods?

He hoped so. Prayed so.

He and Brooklynn had gone maybe ten steps when he bumped into her. “Sorry.” His voice was barely a whisper. “You okay?”

“I don’t know where I’m going.”

He should’ve gone first. Not that he knew every turn and dip, but he was accustomed to this space. He knew what to expect. “Press against the side, and I’ll get in front of you.”

She did, and he squeezed into the narrow space between her and the wall.

He could feel her fear, her warmth, her so-vulnerable, so-precious flesh.

He should keep moving, get them farther into the cave, though if the men found them here, there would be no escape.

He pressed his hand to the cold stone behind her and leaned in. “I’m sorry.”

“None of this is your fault.”

That wasn’t true.

He should have sent Brooklynn away at the first sign of her snooping. He should have taken her to her cousin’s house, or to a friend’s house, or…anywhere far from him.

He just hadn’t wanted to. He’d wanted her near him. Even before he’d developed feelings for Brooklynn, he’d craved her lightness and optimism and hope. He’d needed her like dry earth needed rain.

Now, he needed her more than ever. Needed her to be safe to live her life and grow old and be happy. He’d make sure Brooklynn had that. No matter what, if it meant never finding his family’s killers. If it meant sacrificing himself, he’d do whatever it took to get Brooklynn out of this.

“Brooklynn, I lo?—”

“Don’t do that.” Her fingers covered his mouth. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later.”

Her palm found his whiskers, her fingers trailing through them to the back of his neck. “You got us here. We’re going to be okay.”

And there it was, her optimism, her hope.

He held her and whispered a prayer in her ear, asking God for their lives. For justice. For help.

And then he took her hand, and they continued deeper into the cave.