Darcy searches for an argument but can’t find one. Even if the FBI doesn’t front the cost, she’s happy to pay. She can’t put a price tag on safety.
“Okay.”
Hensel’s eyes widen.
“Okay? That’s it? I thought I’d need to drag you kicking and screaming to the hotel. Thank God, that’s a load off my mind.”
“Free Wi-Fi, breakfast, and the occasional car driving past. I won’t need to twist my kids’ arms to convince them. The hotel might be a tougher sell for Laurie.”
Reaching into his pocket, Hensel removes his phone and locates the hotel’s phone number.
“It’s the Hampton Inn on Northland Avenue. How soon can you take the room?”
“Give me time to drive back and get everyone packed. We’ll be at the hotel by eight.”
Hensel’s smile is infectious. The corners of Darcy’s mouth curl up, the weight hanging off her heart not so heavy anymore. He holds up a finger.
“It’s ringing. I’ll set you up with the front desk. Grab Laurie and the kids and get there as soon as possible.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jennifer doesn’t require convincing when her mother suggests they move into the hotel. She spent the afternoon following Hunter around the house, clenching her teeth every time she lost sight of her brother. A bonus, Agent Hensel scored a second room for Laurie. Two queen beds and a sofa which pulls out to a cot. Humble compared to their home on Genoa Cove, but a huge leap in quality from the dusty, drafty farmhouse.
Her mother works in the kitchen with Laurie while Jennifer sits on the bed, watching Hunter pace the room like a caged rat. She calls his name twice. He doesn’t so much as glance at Jennifer until her thumbs fly over the phone, composing a message for Bethany.
Need to talk to you about Hunter. Important.
Hunter stops and glares at Jennifer as if he senses what she’s about to do. She narrows her eyes.
“What?”
He shakes his head and stuffs his hands into his pockets, resuming the infernal pacing. Jennifer has never seen Hunter this distraught. When he turns his back, Jennifer sends the message to Bethany. And waits for the carrier to deliver the text. She keeps waiting.
Jennifer curses under her breath when the signal strength drops to zero. Moving to the window, she grabs the pane and throws it open. A chilling gust lurches into the room and hurls the dust into a cyclone.
“Are you crazy? Close the freaking window.”
Hunter never explodes at Jennifer. At least he hadn’t before they moved into this godforsaken house in the middle of nowhere. But opening the window works, and for a brief second, two bars appear on the phone screen. Then the signal vanishes, the message undelivered and waiting for a higher power to whisk it away and push the text through the network. Slamming the window shut, Jennifer marches to the door.
“Don’t go anywhere,” she says over her shoulder.
The death stare he shoots her tells Jennifer he won’t wait much longer. He’ll leave tonight. Steal Mom’s keys off the nightstand and slip out of the hotel room, the white noise from the fan masking his escape.
Jennifer stands in the hallway with her hand on the bedroom door as if a wishful part of her attempts to send her brother serenity and strength. As she treads down the stairs with Laurie’s voice ringing out from the kitchen, she glances behind her. The doorway stands closed. Quickening her pace, careful to avoid the creaky steps, Jennifer creeps down the stairs. In the hallway, she hunches over and stays below the wall dividing the kitchen from the living room.
She pauses at the front door, certain she’ll alert her mother when the night air pours inside. Gritting her teeth, she edges the door open and slides through the narrow opening, holding the knob so the mechanism doesn’t click when she pushes the door shut.
Jennifer stands with her back to the door. Breathing and waiting, breathing and waiting. When she’s confident she slipped past her mother without drawing attention, she leaps off the top step and into the grass and hits the lawn running. She doesn’t stop until she reaches the corner of the garage where she’d messaged Kaitlyn. Her phone hums when the message to Bethany sends. Two bars. That’s enough.
A full moon beams eerie light into the dark yard, turning the meadow and surrounding hills ethereal. Crouching beside the wall, the splintered wood rough against her shoulder, Jennifer watches for Bethany’s response. The wait is short.
Is something wrong with Hunter? You’re scaring me.
Jennifer exhales. This isn’t the response she desired.
Easier if you call me. Please. Won’t take long to explain.
No sooner does the text send than the signal crashes again.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jennifer holds the phone at arm’s length and turns in a circle, and when that method fails, she stands on tiptoe and holds the phone toward the moon as though offering sacrifice to a pagan god.
The grass crunches behind her a moment before the hand reaches out of the dark and clutches her mouth. Instinctively, she bites down on the soft flesh and kicks back as a second arm snakes around her throat and drags her toward the brush. Toward the meadow and forest.
The powerful grip stifles her scream. Her arms flail and grasp blindly at the unseen attacker.
Jennifer’s phone rings as it tumbles out of her hand. Lost to the night and the screaming moon.
***
The lunar light tainting the meadow looks wrong to Darcy. She dries the wine glass and places it on the kitchen shelf as she eyes the night outside the window. Laurie returns from her bedroom with an overnight bag thrown over her shoulder. She tosses the bag on the kitchen chair and places her hands on her hips.
“Your kids are awfully quiet tonight. You’d think they’d be bouncing off the walls waiting to get out of my house.”
Darcy pulls herself away from the window, the growing trepidation that something is wrong threatening to cripple her. It’s not like Hunter or Jennifer to nap during the evening. The kids are on their phones, she decides. Even if they’re messaging friends, Darcy will allow the transgression. Soon they’ll be inside a well-lit hotel with three FBI agents down the hall. For the first time since October, Darcy feels safe.
“Hunter? Jennifer? You up? We’re leaving in five minutes.”
After calling up the stairs, Darcy waits several heartbeats. She’s about to yell again when Hunter sticks his head into the hallway. Then his eyes light with anxiousness, and he ducks inside the room.
“Hold on a second,” Hunter says, and Darcy knows he’s stalling for time.
Darcy shares a look with Laurie. The two women climb the stairs, Darcy taking the steps two at a time and racing ahead of her cousin.
“Where’s Jennifer?”
Darcy carefully steps into the room as though land mines lay beneath the floor. She takes in the bedroom, Jennifer’s bag packed beside Hunter’s at the foot of the bed. But she’s not here.
“Hunter, answer me. Where did your sister go?”
Hunter glances between Darcy and Laurie with frantic eyes.
“I’m not sure. Outside, I think.”
“You weren’t watching her?”
“I’m not in charge of—”
Darcy doesn’t wait for Hunter’s excuse. She throws the bathroom door open, knowing Jennifer won’t be inside. Then Laurie’s room. Empty.