Body and Soul (Twist of Fate 3)

We stopped long enough to meet up with Wade at the head of Diamond Road and I felt my belly drop out at the sight of Keith and Russ waiting with him, along with another man I recognized as the owner of the outdoor store in Haven, the one that sold hunting gear. The idea that we weren’t walking into this whole thing completely alone was reassuring, but I knew their presence didn’t mean Zach’s plan was a slam-dunk win.

I watched as Zach talked to Wade through the car windows, and then Wade handed Zach a few items. The exchange lasted less than a minute and then we were moving again. The other vehicle followed for less than a hundred feet before it veered off and went up a steep utility road. It didn’t even stop for the wooden barrier blocking off traffic–it just barreled right through it.

“Here,” Zach said as he handed Jake something.

It was a small folding knife. Before the four of us took the final curve in the road, Jake handed it to me. “Put this in your boot. I’m sure it won’t do us a damned bit of good, but at least I’ll feel better if you have something.”

I looked down at the tiny folding knife in my palm and back up at Jake.

“They might not see you as much of a threat, so maybe they won’t search you like the rest of us.” He shrugged as I leaned down to slip the little knife into my snow boot. “Can’t hurt, anyway.”

As the SUV pulled up to the end of the road, I caught sight of two dark-windowed SUVs parked in front of the abandoned wood-sided building in front of us. Jake turned to me with determination etched in his face.

“Oz, remember—”

“I know,” I said with a nod. “I promise.” My gut lurched at even the idea of running and leaving Jake behind, but I needed to remember why he was asking it of me.

We got out of the car and trudged up the short staircase to the building. I could hear what sounded like someone crying inside, and it caused my heart to jump into my throat. Before we got to the door, a voice from the edge of the woods nearby called out.

“Stop right there.”

Two men approached us carefully, guns in hand. One was Lyle. The other I didn’t recognize. “Hands up,” Lyle demanded. While he held a gun on us, the other man took his time searching each of us. I held my breath when he got to me. When he reached my boots, I waited for him to order me to remove them, but when he saw the intricate lacings of the Sorel boots, he glanced up at me, then looked me up and down as if trying to figure out something. “They’re clean,” he finally announced, and I barely managed not to let out a whoosh of air as I realized Jake had been right.

The fucker had dismissed me as not being any kind of real threat.

God, I really hoped he wasn’t right.

Lyle motioned us forward with the gun. As soon as Jake opened the door, a deep voice boomed from inside the small, broken-down building. “Come in, come in. No need to be afraid. I’m sure we can have a quick conversation and let all of you be on your merry way.”

Jake reached out his arm to draw me behind him as we entered the small abandoned maintenance shed. It was relatively empty with only two small windows on each side, a few pallets, and debris on the floor.

“You and I both know nobody is leaving here alive,” Jake said as we moved into the open room and let our eyes adjust to the darker space.

“You two,” Lyle said as he waved his gun at Xander and Zach. “On your knees, hands behind your back.” They did as he said. Their hands were quickly bound behind them with zip-ties. I was still standing behind Jake but managed to look around him enough to search out Zoey, Bennett, and Lucky. I found them huddled together off to our right. They were sitting tied on a wooden pallet. But while Zoey and Lucky just had their hands bound with zip-ties, Bennett was actually secured to a pillar. He had a winter hat pulled down over his eyes so he couldn’t see and a piece of fabric of some kind tied against his mouth as a gag. The pillar was at his back and his arms were tied behind it. His ankles were tied in front of him.

Zoey and Lucky’s frightened eyes met ours, and I could see both of them were crying. They were huddled together against the pillar on the other side of Bennett.

Xander’s croak cut through the room. “I’m here, Benny.”