I'll Be There Part 16

"Darkness overshadows the light at the end of every day."

"Still, light pierces the darkness when the sun rises."

"But the two can't co-exist."

"Dawn and dusk are a mingling of the two."

"But ultimately, one overcomes the other."

The look in her eyes unnerved him. After a beat of silence, she asked, "Are we still talking about the pendant or have we moved on to something else?"

Cord grasped her waist and stood. He moved to fridge to get something to drink. He gulped down half the gla.s.s of orange juice he poured. Of course, she followed him. Before she could continue her verbal a.s.sault, he said, "Take a walk."

"What?"

"Bundle up, use my coat, don't go far." When he looked at her, she blinked, but didn't speak. Clearly, she hadn't expected him to tell her she could leave the cabin. "Go now, before I change my mind."

She took a few steps back, her eyes narrowed, her mind clearly still on their exchange. But she turned and went to the rack where his coat hung. She pulled a knit cap over her hair, slid her arms into his coat and zipped it. Next she stepped into his oversized boots. She looked like a little girl playing dress up with her daddy's clothes, a comical thought given the fact that the heat flowing between them was far from familial. She still looked s.e.xy as h.e.l.l, even with all her lines and curves concealed.

She pulled the dark hood up. Cord turned away. The door opened and closed. He didn't have to look to know she was gone; he felt her absence. Bracing against the counter, he hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He'd been content to be alone all these years, and now, after only a few days, she'd gotten to him. Made him feel something he didn't want to feel-something he had no business feeling for anyone. The darkness in his soul could only extinguish the light in hers.

His cell began ringing, the sound of the old-fas.h.i.+oned telephone shattering the silence. Surprised that he'd found a spot with signal inside, Cord pushed away from the counter and pulled the phone out of his pocket. He recognized the number even though he hadn't seen it in years.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Cord? Is that you, man?"

"Yeah. It's been a long time, Jay."

"Too long. How are you?"

Cord and Jay Kennedy had worked together at the Bureau in Nashville. Before that, they'd both been Naval intelligence officers. Jay had recruited him just after his discharge as a troubleshooting, undercover agent given the most difficult a.s.signments. The ones everyone else had failed at and mostly in the illegal substance division.

"A witness in a high-profile case was lost on some G.o.dforsaken mountain near you. I heard you might know something about it."

"Yeah. I'm holed up with her on a farm outside Angel Ridge."

"I'm a little surprised you didn't contact me."

"I didn't know you were involved. Sounds like a mess. Not typical for you, Kennedy."

"How'd you get tangled up in this?"

"I was on an overnight hike in the area where the marshals lost her."

"Lucky for her. I don't have a man better than you to put on the case."

"I'm not on it, Jay. You need to extract her. She's not safe here."

"No. This is good. I've talked to the sheriff, and the location where you have her will be d.a.m.n near impossible to compromise."

So he'd talked to Grady. He should have known. "I'm not in the bureau anymore, Jay. I can't handle her, and you know why."

"The U.S. Attorney handling the case has prepared a motion to get her testimony moved up. She's just waiting for my call to tell her Jenny's safe. I'll contact you ASAP with the date."

"You're not hearing me. You have to retrieve her. I can't protect her here. We're in an old clapboard house a strong wind away from falling down, and it's in the middle of open farmland. The position is too vulnerable. We'd be sitting ducks if they found us."

No response.

"Jay-"

He checked the cell. No signal. "d.a.m.n it!"

He tossed the phone onto the table and raked both hands through his hair. He needed a plan for what he'd do if they were found. He walked over to the window. Jenny stood some distance away from the house making s...o...b..a.l.l.s and tossing them at nothing. She looked so exposed out in the open like that. The snow came nearly to her knees and was still falling. If they couldn't get out, he had to trust no one could get in. But his mind spun scenarios where these people hiked in from the road, came by horse or snow mobile.

He'd have to stay alert until the weather broke, then he'd get Jenny out of here. At his cabin, there was a trail that led to the road from the trees behind his cabin. It would be a hard, uphill hike, but it was the best plan. They'd be much safer on the mountain. Until then, he'd have to hope that for the first time since she'd been taken into custody, their luck held and they'd go undetected.

"Hey buddy, if you've got a minute I could use some directions from a local."

"Sure thing."

The man wearing a faded flannel s.h.i.+rt and dirty blue jeans spit a line of tobacco juice onto the pavement. Ignoring that and the smell, Jackson opened his map and held it up to the door of his utility vehicle.

"Nice ride, man. Is it one of them there Hummers like they use in the military?"

"Yeah. I'm looking for a place off this road. Craig Road. You know it?"

The man peered at the map, tilted his head to one side, then extended a dirty finger to trace a line from left to right. He scratched at a few days growth of beard. "Sure, I do. It's a few miles outside of town. Ain't nothin' on that road 'cept the Craig farm, and the roads that way won't be pa.s.sable."

"Any trails for off-roading from there?"

"Naw. That's private property."

"Oh, well, anybody live out that way? Maybe I can get permission from the owner?"

Surely they weren't stupid enough to take the woman to a private residence and hide her in plain sight right here in Angel Ridge, but this was definitely where the boss had said she was.

"I wouldn't go nosin' around private property if I was you. That's good way to get shot around here."

"I'll take my chances. Would you be willing to ride out that direction to show us where the owner of the property lives?"

"Sorry, man. I can't help you."

"I'll make it worth your time." He flashed a hundred dollar bill and the man smiled.

"Naw, man. I gotta git home to the wife and kids."

And with that, he left. Jackson watched the man hunker down and head to his four-wheel drive pickup, then looked at his watch. The parking lot of the diner was deserted, but since the woman who ran it had a room on the second level of the building, he and his men had been able to get a meal and use the bathroom. He signaled, and the boys pushed their coffee cups away and streamed out of the building.

"What'd you find out, boss?"

"Not nearly enough. Load up."

"Where we headed?"

"Huntin'."

Chapter 13.

Grady picked up his ringing phone, saw who it was and said, "Hey, Dixie. What's up?"

"A band of the slimiest creeps I've seen in a long time just slithered outta my diner. I don't mind sayin', I didn't move far from where I keep my gun behind the lunch counter the whole time they were in here."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"Don't think the thought didn't cross my mind, but-"

"But what?"

"I don't like admitting it, but I was afraid they'd get suspicious about who I might be calling, and I just wasn't up to taking my life into my own hands today."

"How many?"

"Four."

"You recognize any of them?"

"No. Grady, what the h.e.l.l? You're scaring me. You don't seem at all surprised by what I'm telling you."

"They say where they were headed?"

"They asked me about how to find Craig Road."

Grady couldn't keep his voice from escalating. He stood, put on his coat, and motioned to Woody to follow him out of the office. "Did you tell them?"

"What's going on?"

Grady ground his teeth. "Answer the question, Dixie!"

"Of course I didn't. I know better than to tell a stranger where someone lives, especially when they are so clearly up to no good. What could they want out at Cole's place?"

"What were they driving?"

"I can't help noticing that I'm answering your questions, but you aren't answering any of mine."

"I'll explain later, Dix. Just tell me." Grady got in his Jeep and Woody slid in beside him. He fired the engine and put it in gear.

"They had a dark Hummer pulling a trailer that had a couple of four-wheelers on it."

"Stay put, okay? I'm going to go check it out. You should lock up and put the *Closed' sign on the door in case they come back. No one should be out in this weather, and anyone who is... well, just close up, okay? I'll check on you when I get back."

He disconnected the call. He'd pay for this later. Dixie could be relentless when something was going on she didn't know about. He dialed Cord's number. It rang funny, like there was no service, then went to voice mail. "d.a.m.n it!" He dialed Cole next.

"h.e.l.lo."

"Cole, it's Grady. There's a band of men headed your way in a Hummer hauling some ATV's."

"What the h.e.l.l?"

"I tried calling Cord to alert him, but he doesn't have service on his cell. We need to move Jenny."

"How are we going to move her in this weather?"

"We don't have a choice. Get down there now."

"On my way."

Cord stood at the kitchen window, watching for Jenny. When he saw Cole coming, he went to the door and held up a hand in welcome.

"Get Jenny. We gotta move her. Now!"

Cord went out to meet him. "What's happened."

"A band of strangers were just at the diner asking for directions to get out here."

Cord's heart nearly stopped. "She's not here. I let her go out for a walk."

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know."

"d.a.m.n it, Goins, how could you let her leave the house alone?"

He went back in the house, got his rifle, put on an extra sweater and sweats.h.i.+rt, then jammed his hat down on his head. There'd be time to blame himself for the critical mistake later. Outside, he scanned the clearing behind the house. "I told her not to go far." Snow fell. The hushed, white valley lay out before him.

Cord wanted to shout her name, but if anyone was out there, the sound would lead them straight to their location. He looked down at the tracks leading away from the back door. "We'll just follow her tracks. She couldn't have gone far."

He and Cole followed tracks that angled down away from the house. The sound of a creek became stronger.

"You go this way, I'm going to angle back up to the house. Maybe she wound up there."