Page 101 of Seven Deadly Sins

“Are you letting me go?” Hope leaped in the boy’s eyes.

“No. We’re moving locations.” He gripped Reynold’s arm and dragged him to the car where he gagged and bound him before shoving him into the backseat.

Lucy threw things in the trunk, slammed it closed, and climbed into the driver’s seat. “I’ve got one more hiding place, Robert. You better start moving through the rest of those sins fast before we run out of options.”

She drove them up the mountain to a secluded cabin that had seen better days. A sagging porch, rotted wooden steps, and boarded up windows. “No luxury here, I’m afraid. No heating and air. Water comes from a well. Here’s to roughing it.” She opened her door and stepped into knee high weeds.

Robert’s mouth hung open. He couldn’t live like this. “We’ll go to a hotel.”

“Can’t risk it with the boy.” She marched toward the cabin.

With a groan, Robert exited the vehicle and pulled Reynold from the back. “Think of it as camping.”

“I’ve never camped a day in my life unless you count resorts.” His eyes widened.

“I have, and I hated every minute of it. Let’s go. We’ve a game to set up.”

~

“They went off air.” Harper restarted her phone. “Why would they go off air?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” He pressed his foot harder on the accelerator as Harper turned on the whirling red light to signal other drivers to move over.

It didn’t seem like Robert to stop his game in the middle, but if he had started to unravel, who knew what he would do? She called the station and asked Macey and Harris to meet them at the address they were headed to.

Despite Liam keeping the car at 80 mph, it seemed as if they crawled to their destination. Fear threatened to choke her. What if Reynold had been overly defiant? Would Robert have had him killed?

Wouldn’t they have seen the boy’s behavior on camera? She shook her head in an attempt to stop the questions spinning out of control.

“Is that smoke?” She peered through the front windshield.

“Yep.”

A fire truck, sirens blaring, sped past them.

Harper’s mouth dried. “It’s got to be Lucy’s house.” She felt it in her bones.

When they reached their destination, Harper darted toward the fire engulfed house. “Did anyone check the basement? There was a teenager in there.” She raced around to the back despite orders from the firemen to stay back.

Liam grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet. “Stop. Let the firemen do their job. You aren’t close enough to help Reynold.”

“Let go of me.” She kicked backward, connecting with his shin. “Don’t you dare manhandle me ever again.” She whirled to face him. “How can you stand there and do nothing?”

“Because the roof is about to fall in.” As if his words were the only thing holding back the collapse, the roof caved in with a groan. Burning embers floated into the sky, bright orange against an azure blue.

“Reynold.” They’d failed him. She buried her face in Liam’s chest, not caring that she didn’t look like the tough detective she tried to be.

His arms wrapped around her, providing a small element of comfort. “Stay strong. We don’t know that he’s under there. There is no sign of Robert and Lucy. Maybe they took him with them.”

“How would they know we were coming?” His jacket muffled her question.

“I’ve been thinking about that. Come on.” He led her back to the jeep. “I called my IT guy last night and gave him both of our numbers. I think we’re being tracked.”

“My phone hasn’t been where someone can snatch it.” She pulled her phone from her pocket.

“If a person is good enough, they can put a tracker connected to your phone number. They don’t need your phone in their possession.”

“New phones?”