“Which, presumably, is why your father doesn’t want to destroy all the records of the experiments and why he doesn’t want to obliterate all traces of the Phoenix Mine.”
Sam smiled. “Good guess. The world is going to need new sources of power in the future. Engineered correctly, those crystals might be an answer.”
“What happened to Dalton?”
“He was killed in an explosion that occurred when one of his experiments went out of control. All of the crystals he was working on at the time disappeared, and most of his notes were lost.”
“Just like the explosion in the Phoenix,” Abby said.
“Yes. I told you, those crystals are dangerous and highly volatile.”
Abby thought for a moment. “So Thaddeus was trying to warn you that someone is after the lab book. But we already knew that.”
“I don’t think that’s what Webber intended as the takeaway from his last message.”
“What, then?”
“I think he was trying to tell me that someone has one of the Phoenix stones and has figured out how to turn it into a weapon. That’s what the killer used to murder him.”
“Oh, my God,” Abby whispered. “Lander Knox.”
“Maybe. I knew that Thaddeus Webber was murdered by paranormal means. Now I know the nature of the weapon. We need to find that lab book, Abby.”
She took out her phone. “I’ll see if any of the deep-end dealers have responded to my offer of a preemptive bid.”
He drove very fast along the graveled lane and pulled out onto the main road, accelerating hard. He saw a car parked sideways, blocking both lanes, when he came out of the first turn. A man was slumped over the steering wheel.
The psi-chill that had been riding him hard for the last hour flashed into full-blown awareness of impending disaster.
“Hang on,” he said.
Abby looked up from her phone and saw the car. “There’s been an accident.”
“I don’t think so.”
He hit the brakes, slamming to a stop. He heard dog claws scrabbling wildly on the rear seat.
He snapped the SUV into reverse and shot back around the turn.
The maneuver got them out of sight of the blocking car, but he knew that they had only a couple of minutes, at most. There was bound to be a second vehicle coming up from behind. A classic pincer move.
He braked again. “Out. Into the woods. Go.”
Abby did not ask questions. She freed herself from the seat belt, opened the door and leaped to the ground, still clutching her phone. Sam followed. By the time he got out, Abby had freed Newton from the backseat.
“Head for the rocks,” Sam ordered.
They ran up the hillside into the cover of the trees, aiming for the jumble of boulders that formed a natural fortress.
“What is going on?” Abby asked, panting alongside him.
“Not sure, but I think that whoever murdered Webber left some thugs to watch the house.”
“But why?”
“Someone wants you, Abby. Someone wants you very, very badly.”
18
HE PULLED ABBY DOWN BEHIND THE COVER OF THE MASSIVE rocks.
“Keep Newton quiet,” he said. “I don’t want him giving away our position. Whatever you do, stay down.”
She nodded and tugged Newton down beside her. She put her hand on his muzzle. The dog seemed to comprehend that this was not a game.
“What’s happening?” Abby whispered.
He did a fast assessment of the available evidence.
“I think this was supposed to be a simple carjacking followed by a kidnapping. In a minute or so, they’ll realize that it’s gone bad. Won’t take them long to figure out which way we went. From this location, I will be able to spot them before they find us.”
“And then what?”
He took the pistol out from under his jacket and settled onto his belly to peer through the narrow crack between two rocks. “Then I use this. With luck, they won’t expect me to be armed. As far as most people are concerned, I’m just a guy who spends way too much time in a lab, studying rocks.”
“Sounds like an excellent career path to me.” Abby tightened her hold on Newton. The dog wriggled a little in her arms, trying to get free.
There was a fierce, all-too-familiar tension about Newton that Sam recognized. They were both experiencing the icy energy that accompanied danger, he thought, a unique kind of rush. He switched his attention back to the view of the road.
Down on the pavement, a man loped around the corner and into plain sight. It was the guy who had been slumped over the steering wheel of the blocking car. A second man got out of the chase car and joined his companion. Together they both looked at the open doors of the SUV, and then they turned to gaze up into the trees. One of them pointed at the pile of granite boulders.
“They just figured out that we’re up here,” Sam said.
“Not like we had much of a choice when it came to hiding places,” Abby whispered.
Down below, both men took out guns and started up the hillside They separated, working their way toward the boulders, trying to use the trees for cover. But it was clear that they were not accustomed to moving through heavily wooded terrain. One of them skidded on a pile of needles and stones and nearly went down. Dead branches crackled under their feet.
City thugs, Sam decided. Guys like this were used to dealing drugs in back alleys, conducting smash-and-grab robberies and carjackings, crimes more suited to an urban environment.
They were out of their element today, and working under a major strategic disadvantage, whether they knew it or not. They were advancing uphill on an opponent who had the high ground, a fortified high ground at that. And they didn’t know yet that the opposition was armed.
Sam settled into the zone. I can work with this.
The second man stumbled again and fell to one knee. “Shit.”
In the deep silence of the woods, the curse was clearly audible.
Sam squeezed off a warning shot. A branch exploded above the second man’s head.
“Shit,” the second man yelped again. He lunged for the cover of the tree trunk. “He’s got a gun.”
The first man scrambled for cover. “Yeah, I can see that.” He raised his voice. “You up there, the guy with the gun, listen, man. We’re armed, too. But this doesn’t have to get messy. We don’t care about you. We want the woman. Send her out and everyone walks away from this now.”
Sam let the silence echo. City thugs were no good when it came to the waiting game. They tended to be a jittery, impatient lot. They lacked the discipline for this kind of hunting.
“Hey, we’re not going to hurt the woman if that’s what you’re worrying about,” the second man shouted. “It’s okay, man. We’re just going to take her with us for a little while. We were hired to pick her up, that’s all. There’s this guy who wants her to do a job for him. When it’s over, she goes home, safe and sound. Nobody gets hurt.”
There was another long silence. The first man couldn’t take it. He leaned around the tree and fired blindly. Most of the bullets plowed harmlessly into the ground. A couple zinged off one of the larger boulders.
When the silence became intolerable again, the second man called to his friend.
“Maybe he’s out of ammunition,” he said, sounding hopeful.
“Like hell,” the first man responded. “He’s going to wait up there and pick us off if we try to get to those rocks. Shit, this isn’t going to work.”
“I’ve had it,” the second man said. “We didn’t get paid enough for this. Let’s get out of here.”