Known (37 page)

Now the man looked confused. “He’s been with you for years?”

His accent puzzled her. She didn’t think he was British or Australian. His eyes were a piercing blue, and he looked as if he could have been a body double for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first
Terminator
movie. He was one of the biggest men she’d ever seen and he’d tossed her into his SUV as if she were a doll. His bulk filled the backseat.

Violet hated him.

She eyed the gun in his shoulder holster. If she was blessed with the chance, she wouldn’t hesitate to use it on him. She’d frozen when he’d shot Jamie and leaped to obey when he’d turned the weapon on her and barked orders at her to move and drive. By the time she’d lost some of her terror and been ready to drive the car into a building, he’d ordered her to stop, and they’d changed vehicles. It felt like they’d driven for hours with her in the backseat of the SUV, but she had no concept of time. She’d slept briefly at one point and woken up stunned that she could sleep when she was terrified out of her mind.

Did Jamie die?

Bitter cold had greeted her when he opened the door to climb into the backseat. She’d stared in surprise at snowy fir trees and scrambled to sit up, scanning outside the vehicle. They were back in the woods. He gave a final blow to her thigh and moved back to the driver’s seat as she curled up in pain. She didn’t care where he was taking her. A few minutes later he stopped and she looked out at the narrow driveway where she’d spent that horrible night in their Suburban, terrified her mother would never stop vomiting. The vehicle was gone, towed by the police, and the road to the cabin was plowed, completely clear of snow and ice.

The difference a few days could make.

He slashed her bindings with a knife and dragged her into the burned shell, ripping down the yellow police tape that blocked the door. Violet stared up at the ceiling in horror, frozen in fear and balancing on her one good leg. She could see the gray sky and trees through the holes in the ceiling and remembered Chris’s concerns that the roof could collapse. He shoved her onto a soot-covered couch and started the questions about the thumb drive again. “My mom hasn’t lived with Grandpa since she went to college,” Violet replied. “But he’s always been part of my family.”

Comprehension crossed his face, quickly replaced by anger. “Not Saul Messina. His brother Richard.”

“Richard? My real grandfather died years ago,” Violet said slowly.
He’s crazy. Does he think I’m someone else?
“Before I was born. My mother was just a child when her parents died.”

“Bullshit. Richard has been hiding for years.”

The floor seemed to fall away beneath Violet.

“You all tried to keep it a secret. Richard was scared shitless that Leo Berg knew about the attempts on his life.”

Leo?
Violet knew the man only as the owner of the company created by her real grandfather.

“Leo’s always been good to us,” Violet said slowly. Her mother always had high praise for the man who’d honored her grandfather’s role in founding the technology company. According to her mother, most of their income came from a portion of the company’s profits even though her grandfather had died decades ago.

The man laughed. “Leo’s walked the line for a long time, but he’s not the one calling the shots. My father kept that company from drowning years ago. Leo owes everything to us. Richard had to have hidden the thumb drive here,” her kidnapper said. “I searched his apartment, your house, and Richard didn’t have it on him when he died. He was hanging around this cabin watching the two of you. He must have planted it here somewhere.” He pulled two cushions off the other couch, looking underneath them while still keeping his weapon trained on Violet. Gray ash formed clouds and he coughed. Violet covered her nose and mouth.

“Look in those drawers,” he ordered, waving his gun at her and pointing at an end table.

She slid one open, peered into the empty space, and wiped her hand on her jeans, feeling warm blood soaking one of her legs. “What’s it look like?”

“You don’t know what a thumb drive looks like?” he sneered.

“Of course I do. But is it any shape in particular? My school one is a cat on a key ring.”

“I don’t know what it fucking looks like. Keep digging.”

“What’s on it?” Violet asked. “Why do you need it?”

He took a step closer to her, deliberately looking down the barrel of his gun at her face. “Shut. Up.”

Sweat broke out under her arms and her good leg fought to hold her up. The image of Jamie crumpled on the street flashed in her brain. She turned away and opened another drawer.

“Just understand that your life depends on us finding it. Your life and your mother’s.”

Reid heard the vehicle approach the burned-out cabin. Stepping to the window, he barely moved the curtain to look outside. A county sheriff’s SUV had stopped in front. He could make out two silhouettes inside.

“Shit.”

He turned to check on the girl.
Useless.
Violet had finally collapsed onto one of the couches, crying that her leg hurt too badly for her to move. Rage shot through him. Why had he saddled himself with the girl? They’d searched nearly every square inch of the ashy cabin looking for the thumb drive. He
knew
Richard had stashed it somewhere.
If not here, then where?

He should search Gianna’s home again.

Maybe she’d be home this time.

The slam of a car door turned his attention back outside. Two men stepped out. “Hello!” one hollered at the cabin. Reid glanced back at Violet, silencing her with a stare and drawing his weapon. Her eyes were wide, her hands clasped around her injured leg.

The deputies strolled to the black Escalade and cupped their hands to look in the windows. Their posture was relaxed, no tension or preparedness at all. Clearly they thought they were simply checking on a strange vehicle. They had no inkling of what they were about to encounter.
They’re going to wish they’d taken this more seriously.

The two of them scanned the area and shouted at the cabin again. Inside, he held Violet to silence with a death glare. One of the deputies laughed at something the other said and started up the few steps to the cabin. Reid put his hand on the door handle and took a deep breath.

He flung open the door and shot the deputy in the face.

Violet screamed.

He took two steps, aimed, and fired at the other deputy, who’d frozen, staring at Reid. Blood appeared on his neck and he slapped his hands over the spot. Blood spilled from between his fingers and he spun around to run. Reid took another step in his direction, kicking the legs of the first deputy out of his way. The other deputy lunged, tripped, and fell, his hands still clutching his neck.

Reid slowly moved down the steps, his weapon trained on the deputy flailing in the yard. The man was still by the time he reached him. He kicked the man in the gut. He didn’t move.

He turned to see Violet in the doorway, supporting herself with one hand on the doorframe. Her mouth hung open as she stared from the faceless deputy at her feet to Reid.

“Where did you and your mother go when you left this burned-up piece-of-crap cabin that morning?” Reid asked her.

She didn’t answer.

“Where did you go?”
he screamed. He raised his weapon and aimed at her face.

“C-Chris’s cabin.”

“Show me.”

Two county sheriffs’ vehicles blocked Chris from entering the winding driveway to Gianna’s rental cabin.

“Good,” he said. “They got here first. Becker and Hawes must have gotten word to them to check the cabin.”

Gianna leaned forward in her seat, eyeing the group of deputies next to the vehicles. “Something’s happened.” All heads had turned toward them. One of the men stepped forward, holding up his hand to stop Chris and keeping the other hand on his weapon at his waist. One other deputy moved toward Gianna’s side of the vehicle until he could see her clearly, but stayed back, his hand also on his weapon. His gaze was dead serious.

“They’re on alert,” Chris said quietly. He lowered his window. “What’s going on?” he asked the deputy.

“You need to turn your vehicle around. This area is closed for now.”

Chris gestured toward Gianna. “This is Gianna Trask. Her daughter is Violet Trask, the girl you were alerted about in relation to the black Escalade.” The deputy took a hard look at Gianna, his face clearing as he saw the similarity between her and the girl they’d been told to look for.

“Two of our guys were following up on a possible spotting of the Escalade at this location.” The deputy clamped his mouth shut, his face paling.

Gianna’s heart dropped at the sorrow on his face. “What happened? Where’s Violet?”

“She’s not here, ma’am.”

Her heartbeat returned to normal, but the deputy wasn’t done. “Two of our best men were just murdered. We’ve got every available unit searching for that Escalade and have reached out to OSP and the FBI for support and more boots on the ground.”

Chris’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “Were they shot?”

The deputy’s eyes burned with anger. “Yes. We’d been told they believed they’d found the Escalade back in Portland, so when someone spotted one way up here, I don’t think they took the precautions they should have.”

“This was the vehicle they’re looking for,” said Chris.

“No shit.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Gianna, fighting back tears.
Where is Violet? Please don’t hurt her.

“Thank you, ma’am. We’ll find your daughter. The state detectives handling her case should be here soon.” His voice returned to a business tone. “You still need to leave the area. If you need a place to go, there’s a ranger station not far from here.”

“Was there anything else unusual at the cabin?” Chris asked. “You know Gianna and Violet were nearly killed when it burned a few days ago.”

Comprehension crossed the deputy’s face. “I didn’t know this was related to that case.
Someone
has been in the cabin. The warning tape was ripped off and the interior was clearly disturbed, couch cushions on the floor, drawers opened. But that could have happened at any point in the last few days . . . except . . .” He closed his mouth.

“What?” asked Gianna. “Please. It’s my daughter. What did you see inside?”

“I didn’t see it, but I was told there’s fresh blood on some of the couch cushions and floor.”

Gianna’s lungs stopped. “How much?” she croaked.

“Not a lot,” he rushed to assure her.

It was a small thing to cling to.

Chris asked a few more questions, but Gianna’s focus was shattered. What had happened inside? Was it Violet’s blood? The deputy deflected Chris’s questions and suggested again that they go wait at the ranger station. Chris put the SUV in reverse and backed out of the area.

“Are we going to the ranger station?” Gianna asked. “I don’t know if I can go sit there and simply wait for Becker and Hawes to show up.”

“Let’s stop at my place first.”

“He killed those deputies,” Gianna said quietly.

Chris nodded. This wasn’t the hiding-in-the-shadows killer he’d first imagined when the two John Does had turned up. Or even the coward who’d shot Frisco from the cover of the woods. This man had shot Jamie and two cops in broad daylight. And clearly didn’t care who saw him. Either he’d been pushed beyond caring about his own skin or he had been mentally ill to start with. He thought back to Leo’s report. Reid Kruger had had to leave South Africa for his violent ways.