Page 54 of Safeguarding the Witness

“Or Madison’s warning got to us in time. We all survive and live happily ever after.”

His hug and his calm, practical attitude should have soothed her rising panic, but she still didn’t feel totally safe. She trotted down the staircase at his side while filling him in on Dad’s whereabouts.

“He’s staying with Mrs. Hernandez?” Spence shook his head. “Do they have a romantic thing going on?”

“Doubtful,” Mollie said. “Dad is a dedicated, lifelong monogamist. The only woman he’s ever cared about in a sensual way is my mother.”

They made a detour through the kitchen, where Thornton transferred a tray of fragrant cinnamon rolls from the oven to the countertop. Spence grabbed a bagel already smeared with cream cheese. Mollie was hungry but didn’t think she could eat while her stomach curdled with anxiety.

At a closed door beside the downstairs library and office, Spence glared at the keypad. “Green light. Not a good sign. It means the alarm is off.”

He handed her the bagel, drew his Beretta and twisted the unlocked handle. The door flew open. Inside, she saw three solid walls of electronics: screens, sensors, dials and switches. Several of the screens were blank. Sitting in their midst was a security guy with his wrists fastened behind the back of the chair with zip ties and silver duct tape over his mouth. His eyes were closed. Unconscious, she hoped.

“Now you can panic,” Spence said.

And she did. But first, Mollie noticed a small green symbol in the corner of each otherwise blank screen. A four-leaf clover. A message directed toward her. A reason to hope.

Spence went into action, freeing the guy in the chair, who was still breathing but barely conscious. He called for Thornton, who dashed into the room with his weapon drawn and ready. When Spence told Thornton there was a bomb in the house and possibly in the garage, the young man moved fast. Everyone needed to be immediately evacuated. But there might also be snipers outside.

While Spence hoisted the unconscious security man over his shoulder and went through the kitchen to the rear exit, Mollie took a bite from the bagel. Might be her last nourishment before the bomb exploded.

One of the SUVs pulled up to the house, and they loaded the unconscious guy inside. Though he had no visible contusions or injuries, he must have been drugged and was in need of medical attention.

The others dispersed quickly. Mollie caught glimpses of them slipping through the sheltering moss-covered trees, disappearing into shadows. They all were armed—some with rifles—and she wished she had her own weapon. Nobody spoke, but they all knew what to do. As though they were thinking with one mind, heading in the direction of a meadow. Their actions followed a preprogrammed plan with some being the front line while others brought up the rear. Mollie huddled near the middle, sticking close to Quintana.

Mollie whispered, “How many were in the house and garage?”

“Six, not counting you and Spence. Everybody got out.” She pulled a G43 from her ankle holster and gave it to Mollie. “You know how to use this, right?”

“I do. Thank you.”

At a signal from Spence, they stopped and ducked down. Watching and waiting in the forest, a heavy silence fell over them. None of the usual chirps and whistles echoed from the birds and wildlife. Even the wind through the trees had gone still. In the quiet before the storm, she knew something was going to happen.

Spence crept through the undergrowth and crouched beside her. He pulled her away from the rest of the group and whispered, “This was an inside job.”

“I know.” Guilt flooded through her.

“An outsider couldn’t have gotten through my security measures. They would have been checked and turned around. But if it was Madison…” He pushed her hair off her forehead. “They would assume it was you. Nobody would have stopped you, Mollie. They’d recognize you on sight.”

“I know.”

“You could go anywhere on the grounds or in the safe house.”

Which had to be what her twin had done. Mollie didn’t want to believe it. She knew she wasn’t responsible for her sister’s actions but couldn’t help feeling like she was somehow at fault. “You saw the four-leaf clover on the darkened screens. Madison left that for me. Like a signature.”

She heard a loud popping noise. Gunfire. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from. A sniper. Another shot. They must have been fifty yards away from the safe house. All around them, the tree branches, bushes and ferns rustled as the security team searched for the shooters. Some of them returned fire.

She heard a cry. Someone had been hit.

A ferocious explosion shattered the air. Flames danced across the first floor of the cabin. Heat shimmered in the air. The leaves and branches trembled. Turning away from the flickering orange-and-yellow fire that tore through the house, she peered into the darkness of the forest, looking for shooters.

A second concussive blast—twice as loud as the first—blew out all the windows, hurling shards of glass toward them. A deafening roar erupted. More flames, a virtual wall of fire. Black smoke poured into the forest. A third explosion hit the garage. Mollie saw the Escalade and another vehicle burst into flames. There was no means of escape. They were trapped here.

A searing pain stabbed into her left shoulder. She’d been hit.

Chapter Nineteen

Spence gathered Mollie to his chest. She was bleeding heavily, but there was no good way to use a tourniquet on her shoulder. He pressed against the wound, trying to stanch the flow. Though she was barely conscious, she refused to relinquish her grasp on a lightweight Glock 43 that Quintana had given her.