Plain Refuge Read online

  Her eyes blinked in the dimmer light of the hall. She had forgotten how dark this old house was.

  Sophie had opened her mouth to call out, when a different voice yelled.

  She knew that voice. Cash Wellman, a young man who worked with Uncle Phillip. She’d talked with him a time or two in the past. He had asked her out, and she had politely declined. He seemed like a nice enough man, but Sophie had long ago decided that she would not date a man who didn’t share her faith.

  “You’ve disappointed me, Cash.”

  Her uncle’s voice again. Now she could tell he wasn’t injured. His voice was harsh. Angry.

  “I’ll make it up to you, sir. You’ll see.” Cash’s voice sounded weird. Like he was terrified. Why would he fear her uncle?

  “You’d better.”

  She shivered. Phillip’s voice became smooth with a menacing edge. “I have quite a large sum of money riding on this deal. If these weapons don’t reach the correct hands by Saturday, my client will go seek out another supplier. I can’t let that happen.”

  Sophie shoved a fist into her mouth to hold in the horrified cry that bubbled in her throat. Were they actually talking about selling weapons? Her uncle sold insurance. Or at least that’s what she had always been led to believe.

  Suddenly her innocent errand reeked of danger.

  She needed to leave. Now.

  Spinning, she slammed into someone. Hard, muscular arms grabbed on to her. To steady her or to imprison her?

  “Sophie.”

  She trembled from head to feet at the sound of her uncle behind her. The man holding her stepped back.

  “Ah, Adam. You’re early, as well.”

  The dark-haired man she had slammed into gave a sharp nod, his cold eyes zeroing in on Phillip’s face. She couldn’t breathe. Spots danced in front of her eyes. She’d never been so terrified. Celine! Her sister was so close, alone and vulnerable. What would happen if she decided to come and find Sophie?

  “Is there a problem, Mr. Larson?” Adam rumbled, his voice soft and deep. There was no emotion in his voice. He could have walked in on a picnic.

  Sophie found her voice. “Uncle Phillip, I just came by to give you these papers. So, if you’ll excuse me—”

  Phillip chuckled. It was a humorless sound. “Just like that? Ah, Sophie. You know that I can’t have that. You have walked into a mess. I can’t have you telling tales. Adam,” he said, his cold eyes assessing the man, “you’ve been valuable. I can’t seem to trust my associate Cash here to deal with the delicate details.”

  The man called Adam stepped over to her and grabbed her by the elbow. The barrel of a gun poked into her ribs. “I’ll take care of it for you, sir. For a fee, of course.”

  Her uncle nodded. “Of course. Of course. Not here, obviously. I have too much at stake to allow anything to happen on these premises.”

  “You can leave it to me. No one will ever find the body.”

  Before she could blink, Sophie was being dragged outside. The nudge of the gun in her side helped keep her under control. She knew that she needed to stay focused so she could rescue Celine.

  “Walk so the neighbors won’t get suspicious,” her captor growled in her ear.

  Her car was still running. She could see her sister, still sitting in the back seat. Celine looked up, and her eyes flared wide with alarm. Adam opened the passenger-side door and pushed her toward it.

  “Get into the driver’s seat, and don’t try anything funny.”

  How could she get out of this without Celine being hurt? Her whole body shook as she obeyed. She slid across the seat and climbed over the console, aware of the man folding himself into the passenger seat. For a brief moment, Sophie contemplated scooting out the driver’s-side door, but then what? She couldn’t run down the driveway to the street and leave the man in the car with her sister. No, she’d have to wait and pray for an opportunity. Her kidnapper slammed his door closed and ordered her to drive. She shifted into Drive and continued along the U-shaped driveway until she was back on the main road. No one was around. The small hope that she’d see someone outside who might be able to help them faded. A trickle of sweat rolled down the back of her neck. Her eyes met the terrified hazel gaze of her sister in the rearview mirror. All the color had fled Celine’s young face.

  Keep still, she mouthed, praying Celine would read her lips. To her credit, the twelve-year-old kept her cool. She nodded, her mouth trembling, then sank down against the back seat.

  Sophie swallowed hard, her blood pumping in her ears. She ordered herself to stay calm.

  “Turn left.”

  She followed the man’s directions, all the while desperately searching and praying for an escape. Movement in the back seat caught her attention. Her eyes met Celine’s in the mirror again. Her sister had put her processors back on. Fiercely, Sophie clamped down on the hysteria rising up inside her. She couldn’t afford to panic. Not if they were going to get out of this alive.

  Adam what’s-his-name reached into his pocket and removed a cell phone. As he moved, his leather jacket shifted, giving her a clear view of the gun strapped to his side.

  She shuddered at their precarious position. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t see a way out of this mess. This man, Adam, was leading them to their deaths. At her uncle’s orders. All of her goals in life shrank to one single prayer.

  Please Lord. Protect my sister.

  TWO

  Aiden could smell the fear emanating off the woman beside him. As much as he hated being the cause of her fear, he couldn’t risk breaking his cover. Not yet. Not until they had put enough distance between themselves and Larson.

  When had this job become so complicated? He’d been so close to getting what he needed. The man responsible for his best friend and fellow lieutenant’s death had no idea that one of his trusted men was really an undercover police lieutenant working on locking him away for the rest of his life. Seeing Phillip Larson behind bars had become Aiden’s reason for getting up in the morning. It was the only reason he was able to stomach being thrust into the underbelly of the crime ring in Talon Hill, Ohio, for the past six months. All of his hard work, all of his sacrifices. Gone. And all because of the pretty redhead seated inches away from him.

  She couldn’t have known that showing up early would result in such disastrous consequences. Still, the tide of resentment that rolled through him had him gritting his teeth. He thrust the emotion aside. She and her sister were the innocents in all this.

  Despite hoping that everything would work out, he’d known the moment he had walked into the house and seen her standing there, horror written on every inch of her face, that she had heard too much. The moment she’d run into him, he’d recognized that his time was up. He’d had to act fast to save her and himself. He’d steeled himself for action, knowing that he needed to find a way to get them both out of the house.

  And then Phillip had walked out and seen her. In that instant, Aiden had read her death in the other man’s eyes. The fact that she was his niece made no difference. Money came before everything in the world he’d entered. Including family.

  Fortunately, Phillip was very conscious of his reputation. He enjoyed entertaining in the privacy of his home. Which meant that he wouldn’t have wanted anyone to kill her on the premises. No, Phillip would not have wanted that mess in his home. Which gave Aiden time to act without suspicion. But only for now. Suspicion would fall on him soon enough.

  It didn’t matter now. He was out of the game, and someone else would need to go in and clean up the mess he was leaving behind. Hearing a slight sniffle in the back seat, he turned his head and saw the young girl, pale and trembling. He’d been so anxious to get the woman out of the house and away from her murderous uncle, he’d not paid too much attention to the girl.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket. Grabbing it, he looked at t
he display and hesitated. He needed to answer, but any hope of maintaining his cover until they were farther away would most likely die with it. It couldn’t be helped. He sighed and answered the call.

  “Forster.”

  “Your GPS shows that you’re moving away from the Larson house, Lieutenant,” Chief Daniels commented, a question in her smooth voice. “I thought you were supposed to be there for a meeting.”

  “Yes, ma’am. There was a complication.” He cast a glance over at the woman driving the car, her hands clenched on the steering wheel. She was listening to every word, her mouth tight and her brow shiny with perspiration, even though the car was cool with the air-conditioning humming.

  “Complication? Explain,” the chief rapped out.

  “Hold on a second.” He pulled the phone away from his mouth briefly. “Turn onto the interstate.”

  She didn’t answer as she flipped on the blinker. Her hands weren’t shaking as much as they had been. The color was coming back in her face. She shot him an intense glance rife with confusion and curiosity. Interesting. The fear seemed to be draining from her like a tire slowly deflating. She was probably figuring out that he didn’t really plan on killing her.

  “Who are you talking to, Forster?” Chief Daniels brought him back to the moment.

  “Larson’s nieces showed up at his house this morning at an inopportune moment. I’m not sure how much they know, but he wasn’t happy with their presence.”

  The older sister flicked her eyes in his direction again, eyebrows raised. Now he was positive she was connecting the dots. Hope flashed in those hazel eyes. He nodded at her, hoping she would understand that he wasn’t really the enemy.

  “Describe unhappy, Forster.”

  “He ordered me to take care of them,” he reported.

  A soft cry came from behind him. The younger sister. He winced. Ouch. She’d been so quiet he’d forgotten about her.

  The older sister lifted her right hand and made several deliberate motions to her sister. Was that sign language? The girl sat back. Lifting his visor, he peered at her in his mirror, noticing what looked like taupe-colored behind-the-ear hearing aids on both her ears. Except these didn’t look like any hearing aids he’d ever seen before. These were connected to a wire and flat circular objects that stuck to the sides of her head. And there were no ear molds. How had he missed them earlier?

  The young girl wilted back against the seat. Whatever the redhead said had obviously reassured her sister. Just how much could the girl hear and understand?

  “I’ll send a crew to assess the damage. See if we can get a tap or something to check if your cover’s been blown,” Chief Daniels said.

  “I’m going to assume it has. When I don’t return with proof that I have carried out his request, Larson’s bound to send men after us.” He looked over at the woman beside him.

  “I’d tell you to bring the civilians in, but we’ve had some sensitive information reach the wrong people in the past two weeks. You need to find a place and hole up until we find out who’s doing this.”

  A mole? Seriously? Could this day get any worse?

  “I will, Chief.” He grimaced, knowing his cover was officially blown. Well, he couldn’t change it. “First, though, I need to return to my loft and gather the intel I’ve collected on Larson. We might have enough to go to the DA with what I have.”

  “Do you need me to send another lieutenant out to get the women? I can send Baylor.”

  He thought about it for a few seconds. Baylor was as solid as they came. Still, the time factor was a concern.

  “We’re in crunch time. I need to go now before Larson sends someone there to trash my place. By the time another unit arrives, it might be too late. In fact, I’d just about guarantee it.”

  The redhead—Sophie, he reminded himself—sat straight in her seat. Casting a glance her way, he could practically see the pieces coming together in her mind.

  Chief Daniels was silent for a moment. When she replied, he could hear the reluctance in her voice. Chief Daniels was a practical woman. She might not like the situation, but she would move forward with what could be done. “Very well, Lieutenant. I’m relying on you to keep yourself and those women out of trouble.”

  “Understood. I’ll keep sharp. Once Larson figures out what’s what, there’s no way he’d let me walk away alive if he can stop it. Not after the things I’ve seen and heard.”

  * * *

  Gathering intel? Chief? Bubbles of hope rose in Sophie, and her suspicion was confirmed. Adam wasn’t really who her uncle thought he was. With this knowledge came the comfort that he wasn’t planning on killing them, even though her uncle had ordered their deaths. She was still shocked at how casually he’d tried to dispose of her and Celine.

  “Who are you?” Sophie whispered when he put his phone away. It was easier to breathe now that she had decided he wasn’t going to shoot them and drop their bodies off a cliff somewhere.

  The man, Adam or Forster or whatever his real name was, didn’t respond right away. Instead, he turned his head away to stare out the window. She was getting ready to ask again when he turned back to her, snaring her eyes with his dark ones.

  “My name is Aiden Forster. I’m a lieutenant with the Talon Hill Police Department. We’ve had Phillip Larson under investigation for various crimes, including murder, drug smuggling and selling illegal weapons, for over a year now. I was undercover to gather enough evidence to prosecute the man.”

  A lieutenant. All the bits and pieces from the conversation she had overheard clicked into place. How close had he been to arresting Uncle Phillip? Another chilling thought entered her mind.

  “Uncle Phillip—he’ll be after us. He knows us, has access to so much information about Celine and me. I don’t know what we can do.”

  “Sophie, would he really hurt us? His own family?” Celine sat forward in her seat, situating herself so she could read lips better. If they were stopped, she could face her sister to make communication easier.

  Sophie winced at the question. Now that she was wearing her implants, Celine could hear most of their conversation. She was able to catch the rest through reading lips. She hated that her baby sister was having to deal with this horror and betrayal. She’d been through too much already. They both had. But she didn’t shy away from answering. What good would it do? Celine was an intelligent girl who had clearly connected the dots.

  “Yeah, he’d hurt us. I don’t know everything he’s got going on, but it’s bad.” All she had to do was visualize the cold expression on her uncle’s face at the house to know with bone-deep certainty that he would do that, and more, to protect himself.

  Beside her, Aiden shifted so that he was partially turned on the seat. Did he realize her sister would benefit from seeing his face?

  “Look, I have to get the evidence I’ve been collecting for the past few months, then I’m going to get you to a safe place while I help shut down this operation.”

  “Why aren’t we just going to go to the police?” Sophie demanded, a sharp edge to her voice.

  He seemed to hesitate for a moment. “There have been several instances when information has gotten into the wrong hands,” he finally stated.

  She digested this morsel of intelligence, startled. “There’s a leak? Who?”

  He shook his head. “We have no idea who. I don’t even know if it’s definite that it’s from inside the department. But until I find out, I don’t think it would be safe to take you there.”

  Sophie shook her head. This was stuff right out of a bad soap opera. Her uncle was really a crime boss of some kind, the man he ordered to kill them was an undercover cop, and there was a mole somewhere. Unbelievable. Any minute now she’d wake up from this nightmare.

  She opened her mouth to tell him so, when a ding from the dashboard distracted her.

  “What was that?
” Aiden asked, leaning near her to peer at the dashboard gauges.

  Great. And now the low-fuel light was on.

  “We’re going to have to stop for gas.” She bit her lip. As much as she didn’t want to keep driving without direction, she suspected they hadn’t driven far enough away from Uncle Phillip to satisfy their captor-turned-rescuer. Daring to cast a quick glance Aiden’s way, she saw a deep frown settle on his face.

  “I’d like to get a little farther down the road before we stop. But, eventually, we’re going to have to find a way to switch vehicles anyway.”

  “Wait...what?”

  “Sophie, your uncle is bound to realize that I am helping you when I don’t return. He knows your vehicle. It’s only a matter of time before someone comes searching for us.”

  “Can you call him or something?” She thought frantically. “Call him and tell him you took care of us. And maybe you need to dispose of our bodies or something? You know...stall for time.”

  “Ugh.” Celine’s face had paled. “That’s really gruesome.”

  Aiden flashed Sophie a look. Was that respect she saw?

  “Sorry, kid. I know that it sounds awful, but your sister has a good idea. That might give us a little more wiggle room.”

  “My name’s Celine. Not kid.”

  If her sister was feeling feisty enough to argue about her name, it was a good sign. Still, the whole mess had to be freaking her out.

  “Celine,” Aiden corrected himself, pulling his cell phone back out of his pocket. “I don’t need to tell you ladies to be silent while I make this call.”

  Celine flopped back against the seat, the epitome of an offended teen. If the situation wasn’t so deadly, Sophie might have been tempted to smile.

  She didn’t, though. Sophie kept driving, her heart pounding as he made the call. How were his hands so steady? She knew he was a police lieutenant, but she couldn’t imagine having the ability to deal with what he did so calmly. Her stomach clenched tight. The volume was up enough that she could hear Uncle Phillip’s phone ringing. And then it wasn’t. Queasiness gripped her as she heard his distant voice answer. She couldn’t make out the words he said, but just realizing that the man she’d known since she was born was holding the phone on the other end, waiting to hear that she was dead, was too twisted for words.