Rising Darkness (23 page)

Zac pushed himself away from the car. “Well, if that money is in the mine, six million dollars is going up in smoke tomorrow.”

“Frankly, I don't care anymore.” I kicked at a rock with the toe of my shoe. “I'm giving everything I have to Paul. Who knows? Maybe he can use it to find Chase. That would be awesome, wouldn't it? I'd really like to see the families of those guards get some justice.”

“Yes, that would be awesome.” Zac casually put his arm around me and gave me a quick hug. “You can only do what you can do. Then you've gotta let it go. Something I'm learning.” He tilted his head toward his car. “Can I give you a ride back to Esther's?”

“No, thanks. I think I'll walk. Clear my head. But thanks, Zac. For everything.”

He grinned. “Not sure what I did. Keeping your secret didn't last long. Seems the cat's outta the bag now.”

“That's for sure. I'll give you a call and let you know when I'm back in town. We can set up that dinner. Oh, and if you'd drop that glass off at the restaurant on your way out of town, I'd appreciate it.”

He waved. “Will do. Not sure how I'm going to explain that to Randi, but I'll try.” He got into his car and drove away.

I started down the road. It was a little chilly, and I wished I'd brought my coat. But it didn't take long to get to Esther's. The house seemed empty with everyone gone.

By the time I got upstairs, I'd started feeling really sleepy. I was certain it was from all the stress. I set the alarm on my phone to wake me up after two hours, but when I climbed up on the bed, all I could do was lie there and stare at the ceiling. Clyde and Maizie joined me, cuddling up next to my legs. Even their gentle purring didn't lull me to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about what Jonathon had said. What
did
I really want? I didn't know how to answer that question. I wanted to be an investigative reporter, but for some reason the desire wasn't as strong now. I was beginning to see that a job wasn't enough to make me feel like a success. My real value was in God, and in the people He put in my life. People I cared about.

“What about Jonathon, Lord?” I said aloud. “I love him so much that I want the best for him. And I'm not sure that's me. He needs some woman who can play the piano, bake cookies, and lead the women's Bible study. And that's definitely not me. How can I be selfish and ruin his life?”

The room was silent. I sighed so loudly that Maizie raised her head and stared at me.

“Sorry,” I said to her. As if satisfied, she put her head down again.

It would be nice if Jesus would just walk into the room, sit down, and have a conversation with me. “I can keep it brief,” I whispered. “Just a few minutes.”

I was answered with silence. I hadn't really expected to hear an audible voice, but it was worth a try. “I'm not sure what to do, Lord. All I can do is count on You to lead me. I don't have the answers, so I'm just going to try to trust You to show me what to do at the right time. Thanks.”

A scripture I'd heard at church once drifted into my mind.
Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him
, and He shall bring it to pass.
“I guess that's what I'm doing, God. I'm committing this to You and trusting in You to work it out.” As soon as I said the words, I began to feel more relaxed. When my alarm went off, I didn't even remember falling asleep.

I sat up in the bed, gently moved my feline sleeping buddies, and turned off the alarm. I went to the bathroom, refreshed my makeup, and brushed out my hair. Then I hurried back to my room and changed clothes. I picked black wool leggings, a black skirt, and a soft turquoise sweater. My dangly silver earrings and matching bracelet set off the outfit. As I pulled on my black leather boots, I thought I heard someone knock on the front door. A quick look out the window revealed Jonathon's truck out front. I quickly scribbled a note to Esther so she'd know where we were, and then I grabbed my leather jacket out of the closet and ran down the stairs.

After putting the note on the kitchen table, I flung the door open and found Jonathon standing there, a strange look on his face. Evan Bakker stood behind him. It wasn't until Jonathon stepped inside the house that I saw the gun.

Shocked, all I could do was step back as Evan pushed Jonathon through the front door.

“Get over there and sit down,” Evan barked out.

Jonathon and I obeyed, walking quickly over to the couch.

“I don't understand,” I hissed. “What's happening?”

“I don't know,” Jonathon said. “He met me at the door.” He glared at Evan. “I don't suppose you plan to explain yourself?”

“Shut up!” Evan yelled.

“Esther could be back any minute,” I said, my voice shaking. “I don't want her to walk in on this.”

“Esther goes to Reuben's house every other Sunday,” Evan fired back. “It's her routine. She doesn't come home until after dinner. We're not going to be here that long. Unless you force it. Then I'll have to take care of her, too. It's your choice.”

I thought about the note on the kitchen table. When she read that, she wouldn't wonder about me at all. She wouldn't realize I was missing until tomorrow morning.

“Why are you doing this, Evan?” Jonathon asked. “I've known you for a long time. This doesn't make any sense.”

Evan sat down in the chair across from us, his gun leveled straight at me. This was the second time I'd had to face a gun today, and I was getting tired of it.

“Surely this has nothing to do with Terrance Chase,” I said. “You're not him.”

“You're right,” he said slowly. “I'm not him. You were so close to the truth, but you missed the most important part of the story.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“You were right when you guessed he came to Sanctuary. It was in 2009. After the robbery, he hid out with some friends near Kansas City for a while. Then someone told him about Sanctuary. Someone who used to live here. Sounded like the perfect place to hide, so he came here. He used the name Peter Bakker.”

“Your brother?” Jonathon said, surprise written on his face.

Evan made a sound that could have been interpreted as laughter, but there was an edge of anger to it that made it unpleasant and disturbing. “Not even close. Terry used the name Bakker because of some old family friend.” Evan pulled off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve. On his upper arm was a frightening tattoo. Of a snake.

“You're . . . you're Richard Osborne. The partner. The man nicknamed Snake. But I thought you were dead.”

“You and everyone else. Including my so-called partner. He left me with a doctor who nursed me back from the brink. But by then, Chase was gone. He didn't bother to leave a forwarding address.”

“But you found him?”

Osborne crossed his legs, still keeping the gun trained on me. “Yeah. Chase's friend in Kansas City knows my sister. After I recovered, I hid out for a while, living in two-bit dumps where no one cared who I was. When the heat died down, I went to stay with my sister in Washington, Kansas. She contacted Chase's friend, and he told Chase I was alive.”

“So Chase went to Washington to see you.” I couldn't believe I was finally hearing the whole story. “That's where he met Tom.”

“Tom? Oh, you mean the kid who sold license tags? Yeah, that's when they got together.”

“Why did you come here?” Jonathon asked.

“Chase said it was a good place to hide. And the money was here. He said he felt bad about leaving me behind and wanted to make it up to me. I think he meant it.”

His innocent, geeky persona had disappeared, and I could see the hardened criminal he actually was.

“When I got here, Chase told me he'd give me half, but I told him no. I'd spent years living like a dog, hiding from the cops. I deserved a lot more. But he refused. We got in a fight, and I killed him. Didn't mean to. Not before I got my money, anyway. I just made up a story about him going back home to care for our poor old mama. My mistake was in not letting him live long enough to tell me exactly where the money was.”

“You . . . you killed him?” I was horrified. “Chase is dead?”

“Well, I hope so. I threw his body down a deep shaft in that old mine outside of town. If he wasn't dead then, he certainly was after that. And then I went looking for the money. I figured it would be easy to find. But Chase messed
me around again. I've never found it. The joke's on me, huh?” His toothy grin couldn't hide the cruelty in his eyes.

“If you'd gotten the money, you would have left town,” Jonathon said matter-of-factly.

“Obviously. I've been stuck in this stupid, one-horse town ever since. But I'm going to get what I deserve now, aren't I, Sophie? You're going to tell me where it is.”

I stared at him with my mouth open. “Is that what this is about? You've done this for nothing. I don't know where Chase hid the money.”

He stood up, his face twisted into a snarl. “I was ready to walk away. After your comical attempt to find Chase ended in the church, I thought I was through with you. But then you said you had an idea where the money might be.”

“Oh my goodness. An idea doesn't mean I know anything for certain.”

He advanced on me with the gun. “You're going to tell me where you think it is. And if you don't”—he swung the gun toward Jonathon—“I'm going to shoot your boyfriend. You hear me?”

Fear coursed over me like a cold shower, driving all the feeling from my body. Even my lips felt numb. I tried to form words, but terror made me mumble and make noises that couldn't be understood.

“Put the gun down,” Jonathon ordered. “You're scaring her. If you don't stop, you'll never find out what you want to know.”

Osborne slowly lowered the gun. “Okay. Now spill it. Where is it?”

“That was you in the basement, wasn't it?” I asked. “You hit me on the head and took my notes. I thought it was Donnie.”

“Yeah, it was me,” he snarled. “I knew what you were up to when I saw that picture in the post office. I kept hoping you'd give up. When Pastor Troyer told me you were going through those church records, I figured out what you were looking for. I even burned the books so you wouldn't be able to find anything that pointed to me. But you still wouldn't take the hint.”

I took a deep breath and tried to slow down my breathing. My heart pounded so hard it felt as if it would jump out of my chest. “I—I only thought . . . I mean, Tom said he heard Chase on the phone, talking to someone. He . . . he mentioned Sanctuary, and he said . . .”

“It was protected by an angel.”

I gulped in surprise. “Yes. That's it.”

“That was me on the phone. But I couldn't ever figure out what he was talking about. I figured he got religion.”

I shook my head. “Look, today at the restaurant, we were talking about the mine outside of town. Someone mentioned the original name of the mine. It was called the Gabriel Mine. See what I mean? I just wondered if he might have been referring to the mine. Maybe he hid the money somewhere in the mine.”

Osborne's jaw dropped. “I've been in that mine several times. I never saw any money.”

“There are a lot of tunnels inside,” Jonathon interjected. “I doubt seriously that you searched them all.”

Osborne nodded, as if coming to some conclusion. “You're right. The money's probably been there all this time. I've been tearing Chase's house and yard apart. And checking every spot I could think of in the post office. I—I never thought about the mine. It's so public.”

“But it's not,” Jonathon said. “We do everything we can to keep it closed because it's unsafe. Actually, it's the perfect place to hide something.” His eyes widened. “Look, if you're thinking about searching that mine before they blow it up tomorrow morning, forget it. There are spots inside already collapsing. And most of the supports have been removed. It's way too dangerous. You could die. Is it really worth it?”

“Is it worth six million dollars?” Osborne laughed maniacally. “Yes, it's worth it.” He backed up a bit, the gun still pointed at us. “I've been stuck in this town all these years because I was determined to get what I'm owed. I'm not giving up now.”

“You accidentally killed Terrance Chase, a notorious thief and murderer,” Jonathon said. “There's still hope for you. Why don't you give yourself up? You've been a model citizen in Sanctuary for several years. You might be surprised by the light sentence you could get.”

Osborne's expression tightened. “You don't get out of prison for killing three people.”

“Th-three people?” I stammered. “
You
killed the guards?”

“While Terry went to get the money, I shot them. First up was the one who was supposed to let us in. He wimped out and tried to call for help. When I shot him, the other guard shot me. Almost killed me. I shot him just as Terry came back. That guard just wouldn't give up. He fired off one more shot before he kicked the bucket. Hit Terry in the arm. Boy, Terry was mad. He didn't want anyone to die. He was weak, but I'm not. I went in there knowing we had to clean house. Especially the guy who wanted out. He knew our names. He would have turned us in.”

I didn't know what to say. I realized in that moment that Osborne planned to kill Jonathon and me.

Osborne looked at his watch. “We need to get going.”

“Get going?” I said. “Where?”

He pointed the gun at Jonathon. “You're going to drive your truck to the mine. I'll be right behind you. With her. If you do anything funny, I'll kill her. Then I'll come after you. You understand?”

“You're going to kill us anyway,” I said. I sounded calm, but I didn't feel that way inside. I'd just begun to find something in my life. Something wonderful. And this criminal was about to take it away.

“I'm not going to kill you,” he said. “I'll leave you tied up inside the mine. When I have the money, and I'm far enough away, I'll call and tell someone where you are.”

I knew he was lying, and from the look on Jonathon's face, he knew it, too.

“Now get up.”

It was clear to me that if we got in those cars, we wouldn't be coming back. In my mind, I cried out to God for help. Jonathon and I were walking toward the front door when I suddenly heard a screech that sounded like something from another world. I turned to see Clyde streak out of the room as if he were being chased by demons. Obviously, he'd gotten under Osborne's feet, and Osborne had stepped on Clyde's tail.

I took that moment of distraction to fling myself at the gun, trying to grab it out of Osborne's hand. As I yanked it away, Jonathon tackled him, throwing him to the floor. Osborne began to fight back, striking Jonathon in the face. I began to pray. If I had to shoot Osborne to save Jonathon,
I would. But I knew it would haunt Jonathon forever, so I decided to give him every chance to subdue Osborne without me pulling the trigger. Finally, after Jonathon landed a few good punches, Osborne was unconscious.

“Get something to tie him up with, Sophie!” Jonathon yelled. “And give me that stupid gun!”

I handed him the weapon, glad to get rid of it. Then I ran upstairs and grabbed some scarves and a couple of belts out of my luggage. I hurried back down the stairs, taking two steps at a time until I reached Jonathon. Together, we trussed up Osborne so tightly, there was no way he could get loose.

“Call Paul,” Jonathon instructed me, still training the gun on the hog-tied criminal. He rattled off the number while I dialed. When Paul answered, I tried to explain the situation to him without sounding insane. I must have done a reasonable job because he promised to be right over. When I disconnected, I slumped down on the couch and cried, waiting for Paul to arrive. My tears were tears of relief and thanksgiving to God for hearing my prayers. Who knew He would use a cat named Clyde to save our lives?