Page 72 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)
“ H olden will be there soon.”
Liam didn’t reply, and Rowan shot Ben a worried look.
They were back at Haven House, having left Izzy and the feds to protect Evie.
Josie stayed behind at the hospital with Simone and Abe, but Annabeth and the Cohens had returned with them.
Will said he needed quiet to think, and Rowan couldn’t agree more.
“Liam, check in with the authorities when you arrive,” Rowan told him, holding the phone out so everyone could hear him. “Anderson has two teams en route to Eureka Springs.”
“He’s not in Eureka Springs.” Will studied the map spread across the folding table in front of them. “Holden said Beaver Dam.”
“Western side,” Liam mumbled. “I’m starting there and working my way around.”
Bernie came up behind her husband. “Local officials can help.”
“Then someone can call them because I’m not stopping for a chat.” Liam blew out a lengthy exhale. Rowan had no idea how he was still going after driving straight through the night. “Ben, when are you coming?”
“My jet is ready. The FBO landing field is on the lake’s western side, and I’ll have a car waiting.”
“Does Holden have a car waiting?”
Ben was at his breaking point. He and Will hadn’t gotten far when the call came that Jamison wasn’t in the van. “He does. ”
“Good, we can spread out and search.”
“Where do you want me?” Will asked his son. “Coordinating here or in the field?”
“I don’t know.” They heard what sounded like Liam’s hand smacking the steering wheel. “I don’t fucking know.”
“Go with Ben,” Annabeth said, thumbing through her phone as she did her best to help by scouring the internet for details on the area. “If they took Jamison to Arkansas, that’s where you need to be.”
“But keep the planes on standby,” Liam added. “We might need to move fast elsewh…”
He trailed off, and Rowan’s brows snapped together. “Liam?”
“I swear to God I just saw Bruce,” Liam hissed. “He pulled out of a gas station in front of me.”
The screech of tires tore through the speaker, and Will snatched up the phone. “Son, you’re functioning off very little sleep. The likelihood of you seeing Bruce right away is insane.”
“The fucker shot me,” Liam snarled. “I know what he looks like.”
The call disconnected, and Rowan split the screen on his laptop, tossing Liam’s GPS onto the media room projector while pulling up satellite imaging. “Shortstop Conoco, Marshall Street in Garfield, Arkansas. Heading southeast on Highway 127.”
Will called someone and relayed the info. “No, he won’t do anything but search for Jamison Fairweather, so please stop asking for my son to check-in. Get your people out there.”
The dot showing Liam’s signal increased its speed. The satellite feed wasn’t live, holding a short delay, but could catch up in a matter of thirty to ninety seconds.
“He really thinks he’s after something,” Bernie said quietly.
“The sun’s up,” Ben said, leaning over his shoulder as Rowan made his way into another satellite to try for a better signal. “We can’t chalk this up to Liam mistaking someone for Bruce because it’s dark.”
Annabeth darted across the room to a stack of files. Rowan tried to stay focused, but she’d become shaky in the last few hours, and he wanted to make sure he stayed on top of anything she might need.
“Babe, what are you doing?”
Digging through a file, she waved away his concern. “Looking for something. ”
“He’s turned off the highway,” Bernie said, redirecting his attention. “County Road 917.”
Will tried to call Liam, but he didn’t answer. “Are all sons this stubborn?”
“Yes,” Ben replied grimly. “Yes, they are.”
Rowan started sorting through property records in the area. There weren’t many, and the further Liam drove, the fewer options there were to search.
“Okay, so County Road 917 becomes Hayden Road, and then Hayden Lane?” Rowan hated rural areas like this. The service was always shitty, and the old maps weren’t worth crap. The satellite would never sync to a truly live view, and there was a slim possibility of losing sight of Liam.
Annabeth returned with a sheet of paper she’d extracted from a file, typing on her phone one-handed. “Seligman, Missouri,” she said and continued to type. “Seligman is just north of Beaver Lake.”
Rowan expanded the map, and sure enough, there was a Seligman, Missouri. “Yeah?”
“Give me a minute.”
Liam’s tracker dot stopped, reaching the end of the road. Will stood from his chair, walking toward the screen. “Something’s wrong. Rowan, how much longer until satellite catches up?”
“It’s never going to be live-live. This one is about a ninety-second delay, but it’s the best option considering the area and provides us a better lay of the land than the tracker software, which uses an older map system.”
“My God, this woman posts everything,” Annabeth muttered, her finger swiping across her screen repeatedly. “No one cares about your casseroles, Janice. Ah, here we go. Photos from 2017. At least she’s organized.”
Bernie swooped around the table to see what Annabeth was doing. “Who is Janice?”
Annabeth flipped the phone around to show an elderly woman and Bruce standing together at what looked like a barbeque. “Bruce grew up in Seligman. It didn’t click until I saw the map because it’s in Missouri, right over the Arkansas border. I found his mom’s social media account with no problem. ”
“I’ve already checked that,” Rowan said. “I’ve checked every relative of every person connected to Sinclair.”
“But did you check his mother’s great-aunt’s hairdresser’s page? The one who comes to their family parties and is tagged in a few photos?” Annabeth shrieked and dropped her phone on the table. “CeCe!”
Will dove for the phone and, checking the screen, went pale. “We were right.”
Rowan rushed over to see what Will was looking at, and right there, mixed in with photos of casserole recipes and cats, was a photo of Cecilia Miller snuggled up next to Michael Sinclair.
The pair smiled at the camera, happy and carefree with Bruce beside them.
The caption read, Bruce taking his friends Mike and Cecilia to see property for their forever home. #lakelife.
“It’s always the most random people in your life that will give away your most private details.” Will tossed the phone back at Annabeth. “Annabeth, keep digging. Rowan, see if you can find any other satellite to give us a more up-to-date lay of the land.”
He was already in one, and while Liam’s tracker map showed nothing but forest surrounding him, the new satellite feed revealed a different story. “Bingo.”
Everyone froze as he merged the satellite with Liam’s tracker dot, a collective gasp filling the room.
Nestled in the burnt oranges of the Ozarks, just off Hoot Owl Hollow, was a structure.
It wasn’t in the older aerial snapshots, and held two entrance roads.
A main one cutting through a thick forest before ending at what looked like a gate, and then a side road that traveled closer to the water and rear of the property where Liam was currently located.
Haven House.
Smaller.
Hidden.
A near perfect replica.
“Will, call Anderson,” Bernie’s voice shook as they realized the full scope of what they were seeing. People. Dozens of people were moving around the property. A full army against Liam. An army with a terrorist at its helm. “Will?”
Will shook his head, his gaze locked on the dot representing their son. “We need to get up there. ”
Unbeknownst to anyone else, Rowan was already keeping an eye on the teams Anderson and Klausen dispatched from Little Rock. They were taking their time and not yet close.
“Holden is about forty minutes from reaching Liam.” Rowan switched the screen and pinged the plane carrying Holden and some of Anderson’s men.
Carter had wanted to go with them, but was still feeling the effects of the sedative.
“At least, that’s what I’m calculating based on where he is in the air, car retrieval, and the eighteen-minute drive. ”
“It’ll take us a little more than two hours to fly there.” Ben was already going for the door. “Will, let's get in the air now.”
The two men were gone before anyone could get a word out, and Bernie collapsed into a chair, her mouth moving as she whispered to herself. “Two hours, and then driving time is approximately an hour total without a variation in traffic patterns.” She met Rowan’s gaze. “They’re too far away.”
Keeping his phone on speaker to help calm Bernie, Rowan called Holden and relayed what they knew. “And now Liam’s not answering his phone.”
“Can you send me a feed of the satellite?” Holden asked.
“Yeah, I can.”
Sending him what he had, they watched together as Liam’s indicator dot moved onto the property. “He’s not answering because he’s not waiting for backup,” Holden said after a long pause. “But one thing is for sure.”
“What?”
“They know he’s there.”