Chapter 8 - No More Going Alone
“Absolutely not,” Tessa said.
I had already reached for my coat.
“He asked for me.”
“He asked for leverage.”
“He has Sloan.”
“And if you walk into that lodge alone, he'll have you too.”
Lily surprised both of us.
“Dad, sit down.”
I turned.
She looked exhausted, bruised, and more like her mother than she had in years.
“You spent my whole childhood telling me brave people ask for backup.”
“This is different.”
“No. It's exactly the same.”
She held out her good hand.
“Don't teach me one thing and live another.”
I sat.
Tessa built the operation in six minutes.
State police outside Nolan's chain of command. Federal marshals. FBI public-corruption agents. A medical unit. A negotiator.
No local radio traffic.
No sirens.
Melissa provided a floor plan from old insurance files.
“There are two buildings,” she said. “Main lodge and equipment barn. Richard's father built a storm cellar under the barn.”
“Access?”
“Exterior hatch and interior trapdoor.”
Tessa pointed to the map.
“We assume Sloan is underground. We assume Richard has weapons. We assume he has cameras.”
I listened.
Then Lily said something none of us expected.
“He'll watch Dad.”
Tessa looked at her.
“What?”
“Richard always watches the person he thinks matters most. At parties he watched the richest man. At dinners he watched the person he wanted approval from. When he hurt me, he watched mirrors.”
A chill moved through the room.
“He likes seeing reactions,” she continued. “If Dad goes to the front door, Richard will focus on him.”
Tessa slowly nodded.
“We can use that.”
I hated that the plan made sense.
At 7:08 p.m., I stood outside the hunting lodge as darkness settled over the woods.
A porch light came on.
Richard stepped outside holding a pistol low beside his leg.
My earpiece carried Tessa's voice.
“Visual on subject.”
Richard smiled.
“You came.”
“I said I would.”
“Alone?”
I spread my arms.
“Looks that way.”
He laughed.
“You were never as smart as my father thought.”
Behind the barn, a federal team moved through the trees.
I kept Richard looking at me.
“Where's Sloan?”
“Alive.”
“For now?”
Richard lifted the pistol.
“For exactly as long as you keep walking.”
I took one step.
Then another.
May you like
In my earpiece, someone whispered,
“Cellar hatch open. We found blood.”
