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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

T HIRTY YEARS AGO.

Tonight was the night.

So far, everything had gone according to plan. The Planner and the Crusader had met and driven to a pay phone, where the Crusader had called her husband and asked him to meet her at their overlook. She’d had to get emotional, even managed to conjure some tears, but ultimately, he’d agreed.

His parents were at the house because the baby was sick, so he wouldn’t have the kid in tow. It was all working out perfectly.

He and Jane took the main road to the side street that led to the lumber company. He’d traveled this route more than once during the planning stage, but he’d never seen so many cars parked along the road. Somebody was having a party.

He averted his gaze from the cars parked there. Hopefully, they were all empty, but one could never be too sure. Jane didn’t seem worried. She chatted about what a difference they were going to make, about how they were changing the world.

He wasn’t sure about that. This would be a blip, an inconvenience for one company. If they managed to close this one down, another would come in and buy up their land and their equipment. They were only making a statement, nothing more. But it would make Jane happy. For that, he was willing to risk his freedom.

After this, she’d be his. He was sure of it.

They reached the parking lot and were about to drive past to the loading zone in the back, where they’d leave the device, when he caught sight of a car in the lot.

A car.

“Stop.”

She slammed on the brakes, and he pointed. “Someone’s here.”

Jane’s eyes were wide and excited. “Bad luck for them, I guess.”

She eased her foot off the brake and continued on.

“We can’t do it. We’re not trying to hurt anybody.”

But she didn’t hear him or didn’t care.

She giggled and kept going.

He planted his hand on hers on the gear shift. “You have to turn around. We’re not doing this tonight.”

She ignored him, parking exactly where they’d decided. Out of the view of the cameras. Dressed in all black, he’d planned to keep his head down and run across the lot. He’d set the timer for five minutes, and they’d be out of there before it detonated.

But he wasn’t going to do any of that, not now.

He turned to her and took her hand. “Jane, there’s somebody inside. We’re trying to save the forests, but it’s not worth killing for.”

Her head bobbed. He’d gotten through to her.

“Okay, okay.” Her gaze flicked from him to the building and back. “Why don’t you go see what you can see. Maybe the car is just broken down or something. Go see if there are any lights on inside.”

Rather than argue, he said, “Don’t get out of the car. Promise?”

Again, she nodded. “I won’t move.”

He climbed from her little hatchback and crept across the lot, keeping low. No need to take the device with him. There was no way he’d be setting it up and starting that timer, lights on inside or not. That was a line he was not willing to cross.

He reached the building, then crept around the side and out of sight. He stopped beside a grouping of windows and checked his watch. He’d wait sixty seconds, then go back to the car. He’d tell Jane he’d seen a light on and get them out of there.

While the second hand made its slow circuit, he picked up a sound. Was that…? Yes, inside, somebody was crying. A woman, by the sound of it.

Crouching again, he jogged back across the lot to Jane’s car, parked on the far edge. He slid into the passenger seat.

The driver’s seat was empty.

He climbed back out, looked around. “Jane!” It was a whispered shout that sounded too loud in the silent night.

There was no answer.

He checked the backseat, dread filling his middle.

The device was gone.

No.

He stood in time to see Jane bolting across the lot. “Get in, get in!”

“Tell me you didn’t?—”

“We have three minutes. Go, go!”

“There’s someone inside!”

She stopped abruptly, eyes wide. Shook her head. “It’s empty. It’s empty. You said it would be empty!”

“There’s a car.”

“Nope. It’s empty. Nobody’s here.” She climbed into the driver’s seat.

What should he do? He could run to the building, bang on the window, try to get the woman out.

She wouldn’t hear. Even if she did, she wouldn’t know what he was saying. She wouldn’t get out in time.

He could try to stop the device, but he’d have to find it. The area where they’d planned to leave it was large enough, it would take time in the darkness.

Either way, it would go off. He’d die too. Or survive and be charged with murder.

“We have to go!” she shouted. The car started moving.

It was too late to save the stranger. He could only save himself and the woman he loved.

He yanked open the back door and dove, barely getting it shut before she floored it.

He was still trying to sit up when he felt her pick up speed. He peered out the front. “You’re going the wrong way! You’re supposed to take the…”

The explosion shook the ground beneath them, nearly sending them off the road.

Somehow, Jane kept the car on the narrow drive.

He was screaming, screaming at her to turn around. Everybody would see. They’d be caught.

But the Jane he saw in the rearview mirror wasn’t the woman he’d fallen in love with. Her eyes were wild. Her hands were clenched on the wheel as she raced down the hill from the burning remains of the lumber company. She was talking, but her words made no sense. Or maybe he just couldn’t comprehend them in light of what she’d just done.

What they’d just done.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, he ducked while she took the corner too fast. All those cars. All those people would have heard the explosion. They would have come outside. They’d see Jane’s car.

It was over. It was over, and they were going to prison.

For murder.