“Take us to the nearest stream, Sheriff.”
Blessed picked Autumn up in his arms and followed Ethan and Joanna. Thankfully, she still slept because those two had exhausted the poor child, dragging her through the wilderness, probably not giving her enough to eat or drink in their rush to get her away from him and Grace. The sheriff seemed to know where he was going, even in the dark. Blessed was impressed.
51
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Thursday morning
An orange glow lit up the gray dawn sky. Even this early there was lots of traffic on the road, mainly trucks and vans. They checked into a small Hilton because they were both exhausted, but sleep didn’t come. Sherlock finally sat up. Hazy morning light now filled the room. She saw Dillon was awake, staring up at the ceiling.
“We’ve got Shepherd out of circulation,” she said with satisfaction. “She’s behind bars, scaring her fellow inmates with her chants.”
Savich turned his head to look at her. He smiled. “When she screamed at one guard, I thought he was going to faint.”
“See? We did good. You told Ethan we were going to cut off the snake’s head and we did.” She kissed his ear, then looked toward the windows at the bright morning sky. “Well, I don’t think sleep is going to happen.” She called Ox’s cell and, glory be, got through to him. She turned on the speaker and Ox told them they were getting ready to go in since it was light enough now. But Ox sounded really worried.
“I’ll call you guys as soon as we find them, or I know more.”
She told him about Shepherd in jail in Atlanta, then, “Ox, we think Blessed and Grace are headed back home, to Bricker’s Bowl. Please keep in touch.”
When she punched off her cell, Savich said, “I’ve tried to call Autumn, but there’s no answer.” He sighed. He was scared for them, really didn’t see a good outcome here if Ox and all the rest of the deputies hadn’t heard from them. Then again, there wasn’t much reception in the wilderness.
Sherlock was right. They’d had one victory. He thought of everyone’s shock when they first saw the little old lady in cuffs, being hauled into booking. The chanting and screaming took care of the shock. Shepherd was tucked away tight. That left Grace and Blessed. He felt panic nibbling away and wanted to smack it out of his head. Well, he’d gotten what he’d wanted. He’d bet his gym membership Shepherd had somehow contacted Blessed and Grace.
He had four FBI agents at Bricker’s Bowl, staking out the house, waiting for them to come back. But what if they didn’t come back? Maybe Joanna and Ethan were both dead. No, Savich couldn’t accept that, he simply couldn’t. He had to stop this, he was driving himself crazy.
He said, “I wish Autumn would pick up my call.” He gathered Sherlock against him and they fell into an exhausted sleep.
It was near eleven o’clock in the morning when Savich’s cell phone sang out Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”
It was Ollie Hamish. Just as Sherlock had done with Ox, Savich turned on the speaker.
“Savich, everything’s okay, let me say that first off. Lissy Smiley and Victor Nesser somehow found your home address. As you know, we’ve been keeping your house under watch. Dane Carver and Jack Crowne spotted them trying to sneak around to the back just after dawn this morning. They spotted each other, actually. They’d man-aged to get back to their car and floor it out of there before Dane and Jack could bring them down. Lissy was hanging out the passenger-side window, shooting at them for all she was worth. Victor knocked down a couple of mailboxes and mangled a kid’s bike on the way. Thank God none of your neighbors were up and about yet.
“Jack told me it was a wild honker chase, with a half-dozen local cop cars joining in. They left an injured pedestrian and a small Volkswagen flipped over on its side near the Potomac, and got across the bridge before we could close it. Then they drove right into the gates of the Arlington National Cemetery.”
Savich was gripping his cell. It was hard to be silent and wait and listen. He wanted to shake the words faster out of Ollie’s throat. Finally, he couldn’t stand it. He said, his voice flat, “They didn’t get them. Lissy and Victor got away.”
“So far,” Ollie said. “They blew out a rear tire driving over the grass and bushes, knocked over some of the grave markers, and skidded into a tree. Dane said the car was totaled, both front and back windshields shattered from gunfire. But Lissy and Victor were out and away before they reached the car.”
Savich said, “That means they’ll have to get a car, and they’ll car- jack one if they have to, doesn’t matter how many people are around.”
“Yeah, we’ve got local police patrolling the streets within a mile of Arlington National Cemetery, setting up a perimeter, checking all the houses. You know, Savich, Lissy can’t be back to one hundred percent yet, so she’s got to slow them up. We may get them yet.”
But Savich wasn’t at all sure about that. It was a whole lot easier being a killer than a cop—cops had to follow rules. Lissy and Victor could have grabbed a car and been on the road again in five minutes, if they were willing to create havoc—and they were indeed willing, Savich knew. They didn’t care what they left in their wake. Lissy would kill everyone in the car if it would give them a few minutes before the bodies were discovered.
Dane, Jack, and Ollie knew it too.
Savich said, “I’m an idiot. I should have had Sean and Gabriella moved out right away, but I didn’t think there was a chance Lissy and Victor would be back so quickly. Sherlock and I were going to Titus Hitch or maybe back to Bricker’s Bowl, we weren’t sure yet exactly where, but not now, not with those two running around in Washington. We’re coming home, Ollie, as soon as we can.”
Ollie knew he’d do the same thing; he’d run all the way back if he had to, to ensure his child was all right. He said, “I understand. Listen, our agents will continue the watch on your house in Georgetown. Go to the airport. I’ll call you as soon as I have a couple of reservations for the first flight to Washington. Listen, guys, Sean’s okay.”
When he flipped off his cell, Savich felt Sherlock’s warm breath on his neck. “That was too close, Dillon, way too close. They’re not going to give up. Lissy won’t stop until she’s in handcuffs or she’s dead.”
“I agree. Revenge is what’s driving her, nothing but rage and revenge. If Lissy’s driving the horses, and I think she is, we can expect more crazy behavior and not much planning. What they did early this morning—trying to break into our house in Georgetown, the sheer craziness of it—scares me to death.”
“We’ve got to try to find them before they try another attack. And the fact is, we don’t know where Ethan and Joanna and Autumn are right now. But maybe we can get Victor and Lissy.”
“It could be,” Savich said slowly, “that Victor’s really scared, that he wants to find a rock and crawl under it. But not Lissy, never Lissy. Still, even though we know she’s the alpha dog, I’m betting they’re going to go back to Winnett.” He shook his head, shrugged. “But what do I know?”
“You know it in your gut, don’t you?”
He nodded, and she kissed him and tossed him his pants. “Let’s get dressed and get to the airport. We’ll have a better idea of what’s going on after we get home.”