Page 37 (2/2)

"Might be burning green cannabis," he said Then he put his head down and said, "Step it up This just keeps getting worse" And he began to jog along the riverbank

Laine could see that a fire had been started inside one of the warehouses; sh cracks in the roof and doors Any o up in flames The whole forest could be at risk, but certainly Jacob’s house, the bunkhouse and the other warehouse

Laine ran past the burning warehouse to the bunkhouse and tried the door, only to find it locked She assuet in She reared back and gave the door a furious kick, but it didn’t budge There was only an old blue pickup near the bunkhouse and now she could see one lone black SUV parked behind Jacob’s house The rear hatch was open and it looked as if Jacob s

And between the beside a stack of firewood

She picked up the ax and ran toward the house She softly opened the front door to the house and heard voices within, slightly ht she could make out at least some of the words--"No, take that box while I fill this suitcase"

"What about that?"

"I’ll take care of that Hurry--there won’t be o?"

"Doesn’t et here"

It was Pilly and Jacob, with no sound from Mercy Ax in hand, she followed the sounds and peeked into a room to find the two of them in the back of the house, a room she’d never seen before It appeared to be Jacob’s office She dared to peek in the door and what she saas surreal--Jacob and Pilly were loading boxes full of stacks of papers--it looked suspiciously like manuscripts His brilliant opus; hiswhat had to be tens of thousands of dollars in bills into suitcases

But of course If he’d been selling his " a completely cash business He wouldn’t have had the luxury of al operation would be exposed Law enforcement always followed the h the house, beginning with the kitchen where she had last seen Mercy sitting at the table, but she wasn’t there She looked in the living room, in the bedroom, searched in vain for a cellar door, but the child was not there Laine felt a rising panic She had some theories about Jacob but in reality she wasn’t sure how sick or crazy he was Would he keep Mercy as soe? Would he just kill her out of spite? And what of Pilly? Was she that bonded with Jacob that she’d leave her baby behind in a compound in flames just to be with him?

When all else had failed, she went to the doorway of the office where the frantic packing up was happening and stood there, ax hefted in two hands

"Where is she?" Laine asked in her asped, but Jacob turned toward her with a controlled expression on his face He was composed And then it happened so quickly, Laine never saw it coun that looked like a Smith & Wesson 40 caliber, turned it on her and fired He hit her in the upper right chest with a force so powerful it blew her out of the doorway and knocked the ax out of her grip Laine whirled around and backed up against the hallall, leaving a large s herself not to fall, Laine hurried down the hall toward escape, leaving a trail of blood behind her

"Jacob, go get her!" Pilly yelled

"She’s too late," he said "She can’t get out She’ll just die out there Get this in the suitcase Hurry We have only ht And she ran from the house, around to the back where the SUV sat with its tailgate open It was her intention to disable it--maybe she’d pull out a bunch of wires and close it down She pulled open the driver’s door to pop the hood and glancing into the backseat, there was Mercy, lying there on the seat, sleeping

Laine had but one usable arm She opened the rear door and pulled Mercy toward her with one hand, terrified that the worst irl "Coirl And thank God, Mercy opened her eyes and sat up "Coel, we have to hurry Co profusely; she held that arainst her body and with the other, she scooped Mercy out of the SUV and lowered her to her feet "You have to help el You have to run with me"

"Ma you to her right now Coht not bother too e to slow her down, but he was going to be enraged when he saw that Mercy was gone Knowing this, Laine pulled Mercy by the hand in the opposite direction from whence she cae, but after she crossed it, she huddled in the darkness beneath it at the river’s edge The rushing water would muffle any sounds they made should Mercy start to cry

"Not a sound," she cautioned Mercy "We have to hide here now, long enough for him to leave and then I can take you to yourweak and a little dizzy She shivered; the wet and night air were only s worse She tried to keep Mercy above the water, dry as possible, but poor Mercy shook with the cold But little Mercy was so brave, burying her face in Laine’s neck It seee, screahts shining

Laine heard a couple of gunshots, and with Jacob in the truck she wondered if they were under attack She consoled herself that if he tried to escape out of the front of the coot far She waited tensely for the sound of that big SUV to rattle across the bridge, but it didn’t co away and she took a peek and saw soht down the river She shook her head in confusion, standing up to peek over the bridge and yes, he was driving down the river There must be some back road out of here, totally concealed and blocked by the forest The right jacked-up SUV could travel down the rocky river in the shallow parts, then exit the river to a road that Laine had never been aware of and she’d poked around asalmost too much to stand up, Laine pushed the Mercy with her "Coel, we have to hurry away" But she could barelyto stand Mercy was on her feet and Laine tried to push up with her one good arht was, Shit, I’ to die fro and Laine was literally crawling Even if she had to crawl to the break in the fence, she was going to get Mercy out of this compound and as close as possible to the police barricade

And then she are of footfalls, heavy thuds, running toward her She glanced up to see a man in a dark ball cap and dark shirt with dirt on his face running toward her He was carrying a gun and she did what caround and covered her with her body And there werelifted off Mercy, Laine struggled and fought, but it only caused her shoulder to screa that came from her throat "No! No! Let the child be, leave her alone! No!"