Mercenary's Perfect Mission

The cave was a maze of rooms, some small, some much larger, some with wooden doors and some without. The temperature was slightly cooler away from the kitchen area, but not unpleasantly so.

They finally came to a medium-sized room that held several cribs and child-sized cots. “We have a couple three-year-olds, but they’re sleeping with their mommy in another room, so right now he’s the only little one we have here,” June said as she motioned for Olivia to place Sam in one of the cribs.

Sam awakened and as always gave his mother a beatific smile and then when he saw the bottle June held, his fingers worked in a gimme fashion. “Bot,” he exclaimed.

June smiled and gave him the bottle and as he began to drink it, his eyes drifted closed once again. The two women backed out of the nursery and June showed her the room next door. “We’ll put you in here, that way you can hear if he needs anything throughout the night.”

This area was small, with a door and a double bed covered with what appeared to be clean sheets and a lightweight blanket. A small rustic wooden table sat next to the bed with an oil lantern burning to light the room. “I’m afraid it isn’t exactly the Ritz, but we all manage.”

“It’s fine,” Olivia replied, still feeling as if she’d entered a surreal world she didn’t quite understand.

“We’d better get back to Micah. He’s probably chewing off his own arm waiting to ask you some questions.”

When they headed to the kitchen, the scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. Micah was seated where he’d been when they had left, but three cups of coffee were on the table. “I wasn’t sure how you drank yours,” he said to Olivia.

“Black is fine.” She curled her fingers around the warmth of the mug and then looked at June. “What is this place and what are all of you doing here?”

“The cave was built a long time ago by an architect who went crazy and became an eccentric survivalist—decided to prepare for the end of the world. He was something of a genius when it came to using the natural resources accessible in the mountains. Rumor has it that he died when he’d finished construction and it was left to a distant relative of his. About five years ago, when we realized what was happening in Cold Plains, we knew we’d need a place of safety so we contacted the owner who told us to do whatever we wanted with it. We did a little refurbishing to make it once again livable and here we are,” June explained.

Olivia was aware of Micah’s dark gaze lingering on her, but she wasn’t finished getting answers from June. “So, this is about an investigation of some sort? Are you a police officer of some kind?”

June smiled. “Heavens no. I’m just a widow who, years ago, lost my family to a cult and now I’ve made it my life’s mission running safe houses for members who leave and need a place to hide and to be deprogrammed.”

“A cult? But Cold Plains is just a beautiful small town, a wonderful place to raise children. It’s a place of health and prosperity.” She frowned, recognizing she was parroting Samuel’s words.

She tried not to think about the fact that she’d planned on getting the D tattoo on her hip before she left Cold Plains and that she’d been completely devoted to Samuel Grayson—until that moment two nights ago when everything she’d believed about the man had exploded apart.

“It’s definitely a cult and it’s run by a very dangerous man,” Micah said.

“Your brother.”

He nodded and his green eyes transformed to a darker shade like the deepest forest shadows.

“You look a lot like him,” she replied.

“An unfortunate accident of genes. We’re fraternal twins. I’m here working with the FBI to bring down Samuel and all his cult enforcers.”

Olivia stared first at June and then back at Micah, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the perfect little town she’d called home was actually run by a group of evil “cult” members. “It’s a beautiful town. Everything shines with prosperity and newness. They’re even drawing in celebrities and big investors. I lived in a charming little house and had a great job. My children were happy and had the best health care available.” Once again she was aware that she was saying what she’d been told, what had been almost a mantra of the townspeople who followed Samuel’s teachings.

Still, she didn’t need to be deprogrammed by anyone. Her break with anything to do with Samuel and his messages and his way of life had happened in a single heart-stopping instant.

“So, what are you doing here? Why were you hiding out in the woods looking for the safe house?” Micah asked.

Olivia’s heart began to beat an unsteady rhythm as she remembered what had happened, what she’d seen two nights before. “I worked at the Community Center as a secretary. That day Sam had been fussy so I’d kept him with me at work. Samuel never minded if I needed to have him with me. As usual Ethan, my three-year-old, had gone to the Cold Plains Day Care.”

She took a sip of her coffee, hoping the warmth would heat the icy chill that had suddenly gripped her heart. “I worked a little later than usual, so it was dark when I finally left the Community Center. The day care wasn’t far away and I took off walking, knowing that Ethan would be eager to see me and his little brother after such a long day.”

Emotion once again pressed tight in her chest, rising up the back of her throat, but she swallowed hard, needing to get through this before she allowed herself to completely fall apart.

She took another sip of the strong coffee as Micah and June waited patiently for her to continue. She set the cup back on the table, aware that her fingers were trembling.

“There was an alley adjacent to the street,” she continued. “I saw Samuel and another man standing there talking and I didn’t really think too much about it. They didn’t look angry or upset, but as the man turned to leave, Samuel pulled a gun and shot him in the back of his head. There was no sound. He must have used a silencer, but as the man fell to the ground, I ran.”

She had run like the wind, with panic stealing away all rational thought. Get away. Get away, that had been her only thought. She’d dashed away, praying that Samuel hadn’t seen her, fearing not just for her own life but for Sam’s life, too.

“Did Samuel see you?” Micah asked as he leaned forward.

A trembling began in the very center of her very soul. “I don’t know. I didn’t stick around to find out. I just ran, with no thought, with no particular plan in mind. I’d heard rumors that there was a safe house someplace up the mountain but I had no idea how difficult it might be to find. I went for Ethan, but the day care was dark, empty, and I didn’t have time to locate him. I was afraid that if Samuel had seen me, I’d never make it to my son. And I’d be putting Sam in danger, as well.”

“You need to give this information to Hawk,” Micah said. “An eyewitness account to murder is just what we need to get Samuel into custody.”

“Who is Hawk?” Olivia asked.

“Hawk Bledsoe. He’s a native from Cold Plains but he’s now an FBI agent working on the case.”

“And what exactly is the case?” Confusion coupled with exhaustion made everything difficult to comprehend for her at the moment.

“The main investigation is into the killing of five women. We believe Samuel is responsible for their murders.”

Olivia gasped and shot a hand to her head as an ache began to pound at her temples. She’d heard some vague rumors, but she hadn’t believed any of them. Still, as terrible as it sounded, at the moment she didn’t want to hear about murdered women. She didn’t want to hear about cults and Samuel.

She dropped her hand back to the table and looked Micah in his cold, dark green eyes. She raised her chin, refusing to be intimidated by him and firm in the decision she’d just made. “I’m not talking to anyone until I get my son back.”

And then to her horror she burst into tears.

Chapter 2

“Can we trust her?” Hawk asked Micah an hour after Micah had radioed for Hawk to see him. The two stood in their meeting place, a small rocky area next to the stream that eventually made its way into Cold Plains where it became Fog Creek. There was a tree nearby that had been scarred by a lightning strike at some point in the distant past.

Fog Creek was important to Samuel. His cohorts bottled the creek water and sold it to everyone who attended Samuel’s many seminars. It was rumored to have magical healing properties, but Micah knew the only thing it really did was line his brother’s pockets.

“She seems like the real deal,” Micah said as he thought of the pretty blonde. Once June had led her away from the kitchen to show her the shower facility and to find some clean clothes for her to wear, he’d taken off to meet Hawk and let him know this latest development.

Hawk’s brown eyes narrowed as he quickly raked a hand through his sandy-colored hair. “It would be just like him, you know—to use a woman and a child to try to find the whereabouts of the safe house.”

“Believe me, that thought crossed my mind,” Micah replied drily. “But her story had a ring of truth and she seemed genuinely traumatized.” He quickly told Micah what Olivia had told them about seeing Samuel shoot the man in the alley. “She freaked and she ran and, in her terror, she had to leave behind one of her kids who was no longer at day care.”

“A shot to the back of the man’s head.” Hawk leaned against the tree behind him. “Sound familiar?”

“Too damned familiar,” Micah replied darkly. They both knew that Samuel’s favorite form of murder was a bullet to the back of the head; clean, cold and efficient. Unfortunately, knowing it and proving it were two different things. And so far, Samuel had managed to evade all efforts to tie him personally to anything nefarious that was happening in the town.

“Is it possible Samuel kept one of her kids as leverage and then sent her out here to spy on us?” Hawk asked.

“You know with Samuel anything is possible,” Micah replied, his stomach churning at the possibility.

“I’ll check her out and if she is the real deal, then a statement from her would go a long way in helping us build our case against Samuel,” Hawk said.

“She already told me she isn’t talking to anyone official until she gets her other son back.”